Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

The Other Side of the Bay

Posted on March 8, 2023 by smellincoffee

The Other Side of the Bay© 2014 Sean Dietrich177 pages There’s a broken down  truck in the woods holding three men,  two drunk brothers and a passed-out football has-been.   By morning, the truck will be discovered in perfect working … Continue reading →

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Blood of Honour

Posted on March 7, 2023 by smellincoffee

Blood of Honour© 2011 James Holland384 pages It’s May 1941, and it looks like the good guys may actually win one for once.   British troops have arrived in Crete to defend it against an anticipated German invasion,   making … Continue reading →

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Monroeville and TKAM

Posted on February 27, 2023 by smellincoffee

Monroeville and the Stage Production of “To Kill a Mockingbird” © 2023 John M. Williams160 pages The first time I ever visited Monroeville, I had the dumb luck to arrive on a day when the courthouse-turned-museum was hosting a theatrical … Continue reading →

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The Joyful Christian

Posted on February 24, 2023 by smellincoffee

The Joyful Christian: 127 Readings© 1977 256 pages Let’s say you’ve never read any of C.S. Lewis’  nonfiction, but you’ve heard his name constantly and are curious.  Published fourteen years after Lewis’ death, The Joyful Christian collects excerpts from his … Continue reading →

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Early Alabama

Posted on February 22, 2023 by smellincoffee

Early Alabama: An Illustrated Guide to the Formative Years © 2019 Mike Bunn184 pages Published in time for the celebration of Alabama’s bicentennial, Early Alabama invites readers back to when the Heart of Dixie was still a wilderness, save for … Continue reading →

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Darkest Hour

Posted on February 17, 2023 by smellincoffee

Darkest Hour© 2010 James Holland384 pages It’s déjà vu all over again.  Sergeant Jack Tanner, only recently arrived back in England from the doomed British defense of Norway,  has been sent to France with the British Expeditionary Force – only … Continue reading →

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Go Tell it on the Mountain

Posted on February 13, 2023 by smellincoffee

Go Tell it on the Mountain© 1953 James Baldwin272 pages A young man faces an enormous choice at a presumed-to-be-uneventful prayer meeting, and at this crossroads of his life,  the reader  experiences the choices of his kin whose lives brought … Continue reading →

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My Ántonia

Posted on February 10, 2023 by smellincoffee

My Ántonia© 1918 Willa Cather175 pages An orphaned young boy and a young girl from another country  arrive together in the Nebraska prairie,   forging a friendship from their shared status as strangers in a new land despite their difficulties … Continue reading →

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The Human Experiment

Posted on February 9, 2023 by smellincoffee

The Human Experiment: Two Years and 20 Minutes Inside Biosphere 2© 2006 Jane Poynter384 pages From this patch of desert in sunny Oracle, Arizona, eight Americans are beginning the trip of a lifetime.  Divided into two tribes and locked into … Continue reading →

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The Hidden History of Chilton County

Posted on February 6, 2023 by smellincoffee

The Hidden History of Chilton County© 2022 Billy J. Singleton144 pages Forget Georgia peaches. The best to be had are in Chilton County, Alabama,  which has been so long proud of its peach orchards that the local water tower, visible … Continue reading →

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