Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis

Posted on October 25, 2024 by smellincoffee

Most people encounter C.S. Lewis as a Christian apologist or an author of stories — either the children’s series of Narnia, or his fascinating “space trilogy”, which combined mythology, medieval cosmology, and character drama to good effect. His occupation, though, … Continue reading →

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The Old Lion

Posted on October 21, 2024 by smellincoffee

Imagine if someone wrote a fictional biography of Chuck Norris, but they used the internet legend version of Norris as their inspiration rather than the actor himself. That’s what impression The Old Lion gives me, frankly, a worshipful depiction of … Continue reading →

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How Librarians Will Save us All

Posted on October 17, 2024 by smellincoffee

As promised, I read This Book is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians Will Save us All, by Marilyn Johnson. Before getting into it, though, I found a very quick work on KU that amused me, so I’m sharing it here … Continue reading →

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The Dead Beat

Posted on October 16, 2024 by smellincoffee

Searching for obituaries is the most frequent kind of local history request I field at the library, and I like to joke when I’m disappearing into the archives room that I’m off hunting for dead people. I’ve noticed over the … Continue reading →

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Over my Dead Body: American Cemeteries

Posted on October 12, 2024 by smellincoffee

“There is glory in graves; there is grandeur in gloom”. So begins a poem inscribed on an elaborate tombstone in my favorite cemetery, Selma’s own Old Live Oak. Perhaps it was growing up in a city with such a picturesque … Continue reading →

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Ghosts on the Titanic

Posted on October 11, 2024 by smellincoffee

Billionaire Jackson Riggs has a plan: raise the Titanic! Currents and bacteria are steadily eating away at it, so if the Mary Rose can be brought to surface, why not the big T? (Well, 40 feet versus 12,500 feet….) So … Continue reading →

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Precipice

Posted on October 8, 2024 by smellincoffee

Summer 1914: there’s a man dead in Sarajevo, and ominous rumors of war are drifting from eastern Europe. Across the Continent, war machines are slowly cranking up. At 10 Downing Street, though, the long-serving Prime Minister has more pressing issues: … Continue reading →

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Lost at Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries

Posted on October 7, 2024 by smellincoffee

I’ve been wanting to revisit Jon Ronson and Will Storr, whose books visiting extremists and cranks were both amusing and thought-provoking: October seemed an appropriate month to do so, given their tendency to visit the strange. This collection of pieces … Continue reading →

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A Prophet Without Honor

Posted on September 30, 2024 by smellincoffee

A Prophet Without Honor without a doubt one of the more interesting alt-history novels I have ever read, in part because it is told not through a straight narrative, but via a collection of excerpts from letters, journals, telegrams, and … Continue reading →

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The Secret Life of Albert Entwhistle

Posted on September 26, 2024 by smellincoffee

Albert Entwhistle has had the same routine for years: he goes to work, making his rounds as the village postman while carefully avoids any prolonged conversation, and then he goes home to spend the evening watching TV with his cat … Continue reading →

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