Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

Handprints on Hubble

Posted on July 18, 2022 by smellincoffee

Handprints on Hubble(c) 2019 Kathryn D. Sullivan304 pages Handprints on Hubble is a unique astronaut memoir, in part because Dr. Sullivan is a scientist first and an astronaut second. Longing to explore, she began her academic life in oceanography before realizing … Continue reading →

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The Apollo Murders

Posted on July 15, 2022 by smellincoffee

The Apollo Murders(c) 2021 Chris Hadfield 480 pages It’s 1973, and the Apollo program is nearly at its end. One more mission is planned — but it won’t be the mission executed. Instead, the all-military crew of Apollo 18 will … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

The Burning Blue

Posted on July 14, 2022 by smellincoffee

The Burning Blue: The Untold Story of Christa McAuliffe and NASA’s Challenger Disaster(c) 2021 Kevin Cook288 pages So fickle is the human mind that even Apollo could not keep the public terribly excited for very long after the first moon … Continue reading →

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Bringing Columbia Home

Posted on July 13, 2022 by smellincoffee

Bringing Columbia Home: The Untold Story of a Lost Shuttle and Her Crew(c) 2018 Michael Leinbach and Johnthan Ward400 pages On February 1st, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated in the skies above Texas and Louisiana, some sixteen minutes from … Continue reading →

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Of Darwin, dinosaurs, and Denisovians

Posted on July 6, 2022 by smellincoffee

I expect to leave the recovery-suite of the hotel at the end of this week and eturn home, though I’ll be returning to Birmingham every two weeks for checkups for the next few months. During this multiweek siesta, I’ve mostly … Continue reading →

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Letters to an American Lady

Posted on July 5, 2022 by smellincoffee

Letters to an American Lady(c) 1967 C.S. Lewis, ed. Walter Hooper150 pages I was pleased recently to discover that Letters to an American Lady, a collection of letters from C.S. Lewis written to an anonymous southern woman in the 1950s … Continue reading →

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Two for forensics

Posted on June 30, 2022 by smellincoffee

Readers of Sherlock Holmes may remember that fictional character had such a command of diverse sciences and skills that his assistant Watson was impelled to innumerate them. American Sherlock introduces readers to the life of Edward Oscar Heinrich, a real-life … Continue reading →

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Bonaparte’s Invaders

Posted on June 29, 2022 by smellincoffee

Bonaparte’s Invaders(c) 1998 Richard Howard320 pages It is the year 1799, and Napoleon Bonaparte’s triumphant army, having recently earned the Corsican glory and loot in Italy, has now boarded a fleet of ships and sailed east — destination unknown. Bonaparte … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

The Ghost Brigades

Posted on June 25, 2022 by smellincoffee

The Ghost Brigades(c) 2006 John Scalzi384 pages John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War introduced readers to a harsh future, in which humanity competes for space in a crowded galaxy, fighting tooth and nail against a variety of alien baddies. Out of … Continue reading →

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Of shotgun riders and serial killers

Posted on June 22, 2022 by smellincoffee

Medical update: I saw the doctor today and he was extremely pleased with my progress. According to him, my blood chemistry could not look better! I managed a 4-block walk today from the hospital back to my hotel room, after … Continue reading →

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