Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

Citizens

Posted on July 28, 2010 by smellincoffee

Citizens: a Chronicle of the French Revolution© 1989 Simon Schama948 pages Aux armes, citoyens, Formez vos bataillons, Marchons, marchons! Qu’un sang impur Abreuve nos sillons! Mon dieu, this was a read. My first mentor and first college-level history professor recommended … Continue reading →

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The Buried Age

Posted on July 27, 2010 by smellincoffee

The Buried Age© 2007 Christopher L. Bennett439 pages Captain Jean-Luc Picard’s life changed when, in approaching an uncharted star system,  an aggressive alien vessel attacked him in mid-warp, crippling his ship, the USS Stargazer, and dooming it after twenty years … Continue reading →

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Dynasty of Evil

Posted on July 25, 2010 by smellincoffee

Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil© 2009 Drew Karpyshyn296 pages Twenty years ago, a disgruntled miner-turned-revolutionary-turned Sith Lord destroyed the whole of the Brotherhood of Darkness and became the sole Dark Lord of the Sith. Taking the name Darth Bane, he … Continue reading →

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In search of Asimov

Posted on July 24, 2010 by smellincoffee

I have been aggressively raiding used-book stores recently and wanted to show off some of my victories. Click the image for a preview of some of this year’s reading… 😉 Of the books shown, I’ve only owned three for some … Continue reading →

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This Week at the Library (21/7)

Posted on July 21, 2010 by smellincoffee

Recent reading: A Walk Across America, Peter Jenkins. A disillusioned college student in the early 1970s decides to walk across North America to see if there’s anything in his home country worth staying for. The memoir covers the first leg … Continue reading →

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Hornblower and the Crisis

Posted on July 20, 2010 by smellincoffee

Hornblower and the Crisis© 1967 CS Forester174 pages Hornblower and the Crisis is the last of CS Forester’s Hornblower books, as Forester died in the midst of writing it. This book collects the first 130 pages of the intended novel, … Continue reading →

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Walking towards Walden

Posted on July 19, 2010 by smellincoffee

Walking towards Walden: A Pilgrimage in Search of Place© 1995 John Hanson Mitchell301 pages Just before he set out on his journey to the netherworld, the great pilgrim Dante Alighieri had to pass through a lion-haunted forest where the straight … Continue reading →

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The Life of Elizabeth I

Posted on July 18, 2010 by smellincoffee

The Life of Elizabeth I© 1998, 2003 Alison Weir542 pages “She certainly is a great queen […]. Just look how well she governs! She is only a woman, only mistress of half an island, and yet she makes herself feared by Spain, … Continue reading →

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DS9 #6: Betrayal

Posted on July 16, 2010 by smellincoffee

Star Trek Deep Space Nine: Betrayal© 1994  Lois Tilton280 pages I recently acquired a box of thirty-odd Star Trek: Deep Space Nine paperbacks, and after excitedly pawing through them, Betrayal appeared of immediate interest for its cover, which depicted Marc Alaimo as … Continue reading →

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Travels with Charley

Posted on July 16, 2010 by smellincoffee

Travels with Charley in Search of America© 1962 John Steinbeck246 pages Author John Steinbeck is perhaps most famous for The Grapes of Wrath, the story of the displaced Joad family who travel to California from their home in  Oklahoma in … Continue reading →

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