Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

Confessions of a Recovering Engineer

Posted on September 12, 2022 by smellincoffee

Confessions of a Recovering Engineer: Transportation for a Strong Town© 2021 Chuck Marohn 272 pages Chuck Marohn is a licensed engineer and urban planner who, in 2008,  began sharing his concerns that the current approach to both building and financing … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Alabama’s Amazon

Posted on September 8, 2022 by smellincoffee

Saving America’s Amazon: Our Most Biodiverse River System is Under Siege© 2020 Ben Raines200 pages The Mobile river delta is one of the most biologically diverse places on Earth, but few know and still fewer appreciate this: for thousands of … Continue reading →

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The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History

Posted on September 7, 2022 by smellincoffee

The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History© 2004 Thomas E. Woods290 pages I don’t remember when I first began to break from believing the Standard View of American history, the view promoted in the textbooks paid for by the State … Continue reading →

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Persuasion

Posted on September 6, 2022 by smellincoffee

Persuasion© 1817 Jane Austen249 pages Persuasion is the story of a young couple broken apart by the young woman (Anne’s) family convincing her that her beau doesn’t have enough money or social standing to be a good match for her. … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics and Literary, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Marine Combat Correspondent

Posted on September 1, 2022 by smellincoffee

Marine Combat Correspondent: World War 2 in the Pacific© 1999 Sam Stavisky344 pages Sam Stavisky was a reporter for the Washington Post on December 7th, 1941, when he and the world bore witness to Japan’s bloody ambition to rule the … Continue reading →

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Is This Wi-Fi Organic?

Posted on August 29, 2022 by smellincoffee

Is This Wi-Fi Organic? A Guide to Spotting Misleading Science Online © 2021 Dave Farina254 pages In The Demon-Haunted World, Carl Sagan warned readers: “We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology in which hardly anyone knows … Continue reading →

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The Hacking of the American Mind

Posted on August 26, 2022 by smellincoffee

The Hacking of the American Mind: The Science Behind the Corporate Takeover of Our Bodies and Brains © 2017 Robert Lustig352 pages Robert Lustig is an endocrinologist who gained public recognition when he delivered a lecture entitled “Sugar: the Bitter … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Of Babylonians, demons, and bankers

Posted on August 16, 2022 by smellincoffee

Continuing in the Big Book Catchup… Paul Kriwaczek’s Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization covers Mesopotamian history from the establishment of Eridu to the rise of the  first Persian empire.  This is a survey of thousands of years of … Continue reading →

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Fighting for Space

Posted on August 11, 2022 by smellincoffee

Fighting for Space: Two Pilots and their Historic Battle for Female Spaceflight© 2020 Amy Shira Teitel448 pages When the age of flight arrived,   women were as eager to take to the skies as men.  Fighting for Space is a … Continue reading →

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The Kaiju Preservation Society

Posted on August 9, 2022 by smellincoffee

The Kaiju Preservation Society© 2021 John Scalzi268 pages I don’t know what a kaiju is, but John Scalzi’s name is on the cover so, I’m sold. At least, that’s…what I thought. Turns out John Scalzi isn’t always at his John … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , | 1 Comment