Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

The Residence

Posted on July 13, 2023 by smellincoffee

The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House© 2016 Kate Anderson Brower336 pages They say that no man is a hero to his valet, but perhaps no man is properly a villain, either. Richard Nixon, despised by the … Continue reading →

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Team of Five

Posted on July 12, 2023 by smellincoffee

Team of Five: The Presidents Club in the Age of Trump© 2020 Kate Anderson Brower320 pages Nancy Gibbs’ and Michael Duffy’s The Presidents Club offered a history of how American presidents have rallied together after their respective terms in office … Continue reading →

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Redcoats , los presidentes, and medieval making-merry

Posted on July 10, 2023 by smellincoffee

Alllrighty, short rounds time, featuring: British Soldiers, American War; The Very Secret Sex Lives of Medieval Women; and The President’s Club: Inside the World’s Most Secret Fraternity. First up, British Soldiers, American War. This is an interesting volume in which … Continue reading →

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A Brief History of Motion

Posted on July 5, 2023 by smellincoffee

Tom, Tom, Tom. You know drinking and driving is a bad idea, but what did you do? You followed A History of the World through Six Glasses with this A Brief History of Motion: From the Wheel to the Automobile. … Continue reading →

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Naked at Lunch

Posted on July 1, 2023 by smellincoffee

Naked at Lunch: Adventures of a Reluctant Nudist© 2015 Mark Haskell Smith288 pages Beware all enterprises which require new clothes, Henry David Thoreau opined. Say what you will about naturism, or nudism – it’s the only hobby I can think … Continue reading →

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Wednesday blogging prompt: recent song I’ve loved

Posted on June 28, 2023 by smellincoffee

Today’s topic from Long and Short reviews is a song that’s been stuck in our heads recently. “A” song. A SONG? Music and song have been a part of my everyday life as long as I have memories, so I … Continue reading →

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The 99% Invisible City

Posted on June 27, 2023 by smellincoffee

The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Ordinary Design© 2020 Roman Mars400 pages I’ve spent many hours in two of my city’s oldest buildings — one a church, the other a mixed-use Italianate beauty turned … Continue reading →

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A Man Called Ove

Posted on June 26, 2023 by smellincoffee

A Man Called Ove© 2012 Fredrik Backman368 pages Ove is a simple man. He likes to wake early, patrol the neighborhood and look for trouble, take care of what needs fixing, grouse about people not doing things properly, and then … Continue reading →

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Of blood and brilliant butlers

Posted on June 22, 2023 by smellincoffee

Rose George has previously shared with readers her voyages across the world following cargo ships and movements to make sanitation both more eco-friendly and readily available to poorer communities. In Nine Pints, she dips into the circulatory system. The result … Continue reading →

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The Psychopath Test

Posted on June 21, 2023 by smellincoffee

The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry© 2011 Jon Ronson290 pages Jon Ronson’s journalistic niche is the weird, so when he learned that numerous intellectuals across the western world had received identical volumes of the same modified book … Continue reading →

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