Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

A southern trilogy: Rick Bragg’s folks

Posted on December 30, 2021 by smellincoffee

All Over but the Shoutin’ is perhaps Rick Bragg’s most well-known work, beginning a trilogy that, in its focus on one family in the early and mid-20th century,   takes readers into the generally ignored territory of the poor white working class of the South.   … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Wide open spaces: riding with state troopers and a British lass

Posted on December 26, 2021 by smellincoffee

Goals and ambitions disappear in the glow of Christmas lights, lost in the end-year hubbub and reflection. I’ve been taking it easy by reading a couple of on-the-job memoirs, one by a Nevada state trooper and the other by a … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

The Speckled Beauty

Posted on December 16, 2021 by smellincoffee

The Speckled Beauty: A Dog and his People© 2021 Rick Bragg256 pages There’s no bond like that between a boy and his dog – except, maybe, that of an old man and his dog.   Rick Bragg never meant to adopt “Speck”, the mangy and … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Sharpe’s Assassin

Posted on December 9, 2021 by smellincoffee

Sharpe’s Assassin© 2021 Bernard Cornwell400 pages Boney is beaten, his ruined army streaming across the country. The way to Paris is open for the Allied armies, and yet Richard Sharpe’s war is not yet done. As much as he’d like … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Studying naked people

Posted on December 2, 2021 by smellincoffee

The Naked Woman: A Study of the Female Body © 2005 Desmond MorrisThe Naked Man: A Study of the Male Body © 2009 Desmond Morris Years ago I read Desmond Morris’ The Naked Ape, an anthropological look at humanity. In scrutinizing human beings’ animal … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Once Upon a Wardrobe

Posted on December 1, 2021 by smellincoffee

Once Upon a Wardrobe© 2021 Patti Callahan 311 pages Once Upon a Wardrobe takes us to Oxford, 1950, where a young woman named Megs nervously approaches a tutor of English, C.S. Lewis, and asks: where did Narnia come from? She … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

The Reading Life

Posted on November 23, 2021 by smellincoffee

The Reading Life: The Joy of Seeing New Worlds through Others’ Eyes © 2019 C.S. Lewis 192 pages One of the reasons I’ve grown so fond of Jack Lewis over the years is that he and I share some of … Continue reading →

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

The Razor’s Edge

Posted on November 22, 2021 by smellincoffee

The Razor’s Edge© 1944 W. Somerset Maugham314 pages Larry Darrell was an unremarkable young man with a pre-determined future: possessing independent wealth from his family background, he needed only marry his childhood friend and fiancé Isabel, take his place in … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Watership Down

Posted on November 19, 2021 by smellincoffee

Watership Down© 1972 Richard Adams413 pages A small community sits on the precipice of destruction, but the few who realize it are unable to fully warn their comrades. A small band leave everything they’ve ever known behind, to face the … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics and Literary, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 20 Comments

The Great Gatsby

Posted on November 18, 2021 by smellincoffee

The Great Gatsby© F. Scott Fitzgerald It is interesting how the passage of years can suddenly alter a reader’s take on a given book. Take The Great Gatesby, for instance, which I read in early college and was so underwhelmed by that … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics and Literary, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments