Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

The Ethics of Star Trek

Posted on March 16, 2010 by smellincoffee

The Ethics of Star Trek© 2000 Judith Barad with Ed Robertson368 pages Captain Picard: There is perhaps no greater challenge than the study of philosophy.Wesley Crusher: William James won’t be on my Starfleet exams.Picard: The important things will never be. … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , | 4 Comments

It’s Raining Frogs and Fishes!

Posted on March 11, 2010 by smellincoffee

It’s Raining Frogs and Fishes: Four Seasons of Natural Phenomena and Oddities of the Sky© 1992 Jerry Dennis; illustrations by Glenn Wolff323 pages It’s Raining Frogs and Fishes is a collection of nearly forty essays on the many mysteious of … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

This Week at the Library (10-3)

Posted on March 10, 2010 by smellincoffee

American Infidel is a biography of Robert G. Ingersoll, one which places slight emphasis on his career as a “secular preacher”, one who railed against the abuses of organized religion while promoting liberty and humanism.  The biography is thorough, presenting … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged | 2 Comments

Potatoes are Cheaper

Posted on March 9, 2010 by smellincoffee

Potatoes are Cheaper© Max Shulman 1971235 pages Potatoes are cheaperTomatoes are cheaperNow’s the timeTo fall in love The dearest book in my private library is not a groundshaking or even remotely serious: it is rather a collection of humorous short … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Archie Americana — Best of the Fifties

Posted on March 7, 2010 by smellincoffee

Archie Americana Series: Best of the Fifties, volumes 1 and 2© 1991/1992 Archie Comics96 pages each (I wouldn’t normally comment on comic books, but these are part of a special collection.) I grew up on — indeed, learned to read … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Hitler’s War

Posted on March 5, 2010 by smellincoffee

Hitler’s War© 2009 Harry Turtledove496 pages The year is 1938, and war wages in Spain between the Popular Front — a collection of democrats, liberals, socialists, communists, and anarchists —  and the Nationalists, those supporting the attempted military takeover of … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court

Posted on March 5, 2010 by smellincoffee

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court  © 1889 Mark Twain (alias Samuel Clemens) Bantam Classic edition, 274 pages I read A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court along with other highly-esteemed literature as a child through the ‘Great Illustrated … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Murder at the ABA

Posted on March 3, 2010 by smellincoffee

Murder at the ABA: A Puzzle in Four Days and Sixty Scenes© 1976 Isaac Asimov230 pages     On May 25th, 1975, booksellers and authors gathered in New York City for a weekend of networking, book pitches, and speeches. One such … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged | 2 Comments

American Infidel

Posted on February 28, 2010 by smellincoffee

American Infidel: Robert G. Ingersoll© Orvin Larson 1962 / republished 1993 by FFRF Inc316 pages Robert Green Ingersoll has long been a personal hero of mine, so when during the course of a class on the Gilded Age I was … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

This Week at the Library (24/2)

Posted on February 25, 2010 by smellincoffee

This week at the library…. Dinner with a Perfect Stranger is a glorified Chick tract, although one with a more promising start. The book’s overworked protaganist is invited to dinner with Jesus and accepts, initially providing the reader with an … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged | Leave a comment