Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

Posted on May 6, 2024 by smellincoffee

A letter arrives; lives are changed. Harold Fry and his wife Maureen are retired and struggling: their relationship is dead, their beds in different rooms. Then Harold receives a letter that an old friend and coworker is dying of cancer. … Continue reading →

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The Store

Posted on May 3, 2024 by smellincoffee

At a last huzzah in New York, surrounded by former writers who the modern economy has made superfluous, Jacob and Megan announce to their friends that they are doing the unthinkable: they’re joining The Store. The Store dominates the American … Continue reading →

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The Music Shop

Posted on May 2, 2024 by smellincoffee

In a struggling neighborhood in 1988 London, owners and residents like to gather in Frank’s music shop to hear what he has for them. Frank has a gift of being able to hear the music anyone needs at any given … Continue reading →

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Double play: science-y baseball and Tokyo teenage touristing

Posted on May 1, 2024 by smellincoffee

Diary of a Tokyo Teen is a graphic memoir of a Japanese-American teenager’s visit to her relatives in Japan, after an absence of five years. They live in an area not far from Tokyo, and the memoir covers her visiting … Continue reading →

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Between stimulus and response, there is a space

Posted on May 1, 2024 by smellincoffee

Nearly twenty years ago I stumbled upon Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, and the writings of the Stoics. I can’t tell you the exact story because too much time has passed: at the time I was not religious but had an inexplicable … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflection, Religion and Philosophy | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

To So Few

Posted on April 30, 2024 by smellincoffee

France has fallen, the British army barely got out of Europe running from Hitler’s panzers, and now Britain stands alone. Only her brave lads in the Hawker Hurricanes stand between Hitler and global domination! …well, the guys in the Spitfires, … Continue reading →

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The Fall of Roman Britain

Posted on April 27, 2024 by smellincoffee

When we speak of the fall of the Roman empire, we’re usually engaging in hyperbole: Rome’s decline in Europe was more of a slow decay and transformation. In Britain, though, first Rome was there and then it wasn’t — and … Continue reading →

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A Prince of Wales

Posted on April 26, 2024 by smellincoffee

Gwynedd calls for aid! A few years ago, the rightful king of Gwynedd, Lylwelyn, marched to the assistance of the Earl of Chesire, largely out of friendship to the Earl’s men Roger and Roland. Now, ambushed after a parlay with … Continue reading →

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The Dangerous Years

Posted on April 25, 2024 by smellincoffee

Hard to believe, but the bloody war’s over. Lieutenant Kelly McGuire distinguished himself as much as he was able, but it wasn’t much of a naval war, the Great One. But while the big war might be over, peace isn’t … Continue reading →

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The Ransomed Crown

Posted on April 23, 2024 by smellincoffee

Sir Roland Inness is returning to the hills he fled from as an outlaw, as a boy who’d slain three Norman men-at-arms for murdering his father and burning his home. He comes here not merely to pay respects to the … Continue reading →

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