Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

Dark Force Rising

Posted on September 16, 2009 by smellincoffee

Dark Force Rising© 1992 Timothy Zahn376 pages I’m continuing in the Thrawn trilogy with Dark Force Rising. When we left the series at the end of Heir to the Empire, Leia Organa Solo was about to pay a visit to … Continue reading →

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Pebble in the Sky

Posted on September 14, 2009 by smellincoffee

Pebble in the Sky © 1950 Isaac Asimov 223 pages After finishing the Foundation and Robots series (save Robots and Empire) I decided to move on to the Galactic Empire series which fits in between them — tying Earth’s near … Continue reading →

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Taming the Mind

Posted on September 13, 2009 by smellincoffee

Taming the Mind © 2004 Thubten Chodron 217 pages I judged a book by its cover when I read this one. Oh, I looked it up on Amazon to see what readers were saying about it — my substitute for … Continue reading →

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Waiter Rant

Posted on September 12, 2009 by smellincoffee

Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip — Confessions of a Cynical Waiter © 2008 “The Waiter” 302 pages While browsing humor site NotAlwaysRight, in which the malevolence and stupidity of the average consumer are celebrated through submitted quotations, I noticed … Continue reading →

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A Murder on the Appian Way

Posted on September 12, 2009 by smellincoffee

A Murder on the Appian Way © 1997 Steven Saylor 413 pages “Oh, the times! Oh, the morals!” – Cicero “Ah, judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts and men have lost their reason!” – Mark Antony, Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. … Continue reading →

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Death by Black Hole

Posted on September 10, 2009 by smellincoffee

Death by Black Hole and Other Cosmic Quandries© 2007 Neil deGrasse Tyson384 pages Although I’ve encountered Dr. Tyson before — chiefly through interviews in podcasts like The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe and the Humanist Network News — I’ve never … Continue reading →

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This Week at the Library (10/9)

Posted on September 10, 2009 by smellincoffee

Books this Update: A History of God, Karen Armstrong The Demon-Haunted World, Carl Sagan Heir to the Empire, Timothy Zahn The Sons of Caesar, Philip Matyszak I started the week off with Karen Armstrong’s History of God, a religious history … Continue reading →

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The Sons of Caesar

Posted on September 9, 2009 by smellincoffee

The Sons of Caesar: Imperial Rome’s First Dynasty© 2006 Philip Matyszak296 pages, 16 pages of plates. Most of my Roman reading has been set in the late Republic, although as a western student of history I have a working knowledge … Continue reading →

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Heir to the Empire

Posted on September 7, 2009 by smellincoffee

Heir to the Empire © 1991 Timothy Zahn 404 pages A few weeks ago I decided to read the Thrawn trilogy in full. Set in the Star Wars expanded universe five years after Return of the Jedi, it seemed an … Continue reading →

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The Demon-Haunted World

Posted on September 6, 2009 by smellincoffee

The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark © 1995 Carl Sagan 457 pages Carl Sagan’s Demon-Haunted World is a classic of the modern skeptical movement. I initially began to phrase that “will be considered”, but quickly changed … Continue reading →

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