Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

The Lonely Hearts Book Club

Posted on February 14, 2024 by smellincoffee

Sloane is a librarian in her late twenties, idly drifting into a contented if wholly nondescript and unsatisfying life. One of the few things she genuinely looks forward to are visits by an old crank, Arthur, a verbose curmudgeon whose erudite insults … Continue reading →

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A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories

Posted on February 13, 2024 by smellincoffee

I was introduced to Flannery O’Connor perhaps twenty years ago when taking English 101 & English 102 at the community college, and I have never quite forgotten the two stories we discussed — “A Good Man is Hard to Find” … Continue reading →

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The Eighth Continent

Posted on February 12, 2024 by smellincoffee

Nick is a commercial diver who, as a side gig, volunteers with a rescue organization to save people during flood disasters. There are a lot of those these days: rising waters, frequent hurricanes, and people who continue to build houses … Continue reading →

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Convenience Store Woman

Posted on February 10, 2024 by smellincoffee

Keiko has known since she was a little girl that she wasn’t quite normal. Her reactions were not like those of her peers, and they were different enough to cause her family alarm. Upon discovering a dead bird, her first thought was that … Continue reading →

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From London with Love

Posted on February 5, 2024 by smellincoffee

Valentina was just a girl entering her teens when her mother disappeared — to London, her dad said. The years passed and nothing was heard from her. Now, as Val reels from the death of her marriage, she receives word of … Continue reading →

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The Lunar Missile Crisis

Posted on February 4, 2024 by smellincoffee

The moon race began in earnest when Yuri Gagarin launched off the pad in April 1961. It ended really quickly when he collided with an alien spaceship and exploded, leading to a full nuclear launch by the Soviets which failed … Continue reading →

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Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops

Posted on January 31, 2024 by smellincoffee

This book is exactly what it says on the tin: a collection of odd remarks overheard in bookstores, numbering a little over a hundred pages. If you are familiar with the Overheard in New York / Overheard in the Office / etc … Continue reading →

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Texas in the Med

Posted on January 30, 2024 by smellincoffee

Well, things is gettin’ interesting around these parts. All of Gaul France is divided into three parts: Nazi Germany occupies part, the tyrant Petain who knocked off the democratic president before Hitler invaded rules Vichy France; and then there’s a few colonies and ships … Continue reading →

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The Lone Star, the Tricolor, and the Swastika

Posted on January 29, 2024 by smellincoffee

Despite the fact that France is technically at war with Nazi Germany, a secret society known as the Order of the Black Pillar have dedicated themselves to destabilizing the Third Republic so that their thirst for vengeance against the Republic of Texas can … Continue reading →

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