Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

Slanted

Posted on February 25, 2022 by smellincoffee

Slanted: How the News Media Taught Us to Love Censorship and Hate Journalism© 2020 Sharyl Attkisson316 pages I stopped watching television news in 2009, a decision made for me by the overnight obsolescence of my TV set when the industry … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Of cyclists, colonial Catholics, and crappy endings

Posted on February 21, 2022 by smellincoffee

Last weekend I stayed at the Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, there to be evaluated for admission to their kidney transplant list. Much of my downtime was spent (how else) reading. How Cycling Can Save the World is a straightforward argument … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 13 Comments

Hunting the Eagles

Posted on February 18, 2022 by smellincoffee

Hunting the Eagles© 2016 Ben Kane402 pages Six years ago, Rome was humiliated and a tenth of her army destroyed when a faithless auxiliary lured three legions into a boggy ambush in the Teutoburg forest. Centurion Tullus, one of the … Continue reading →

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

A Hole in the Wind

Posted on February 17, 2022 by smellincoffee

A Hole in the Wind: A Climate Scientist’s Bicycle Journey Across the United States© 2017 David Goodrich304 pages A Hole in the Wind features a retired climate scientist touring from Delaware to to Oregon, speaking with people along the way … Continue reading →

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The Harrows of Spring

Posted on February 13, 2022 by smellincoffee

The Harrows of Spring© 2016 Jim Kunstler384 pages The long winter is ending, and the earth is growing green again, but it is still a time of hardship and sorrow. Food stores are limited, and predators — human and animal … Continue reading →

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Songs of America

Posted on February 11, 2022 by smellincoffee

Song of America: Patriotism, Protest, and the Music that Made a Nation© 2019 Jon Meacham and Tim McGraw289 pages Songs of America is a partial history of America, illustrated by its music, one celebrating the progress of Americans toward greater … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , | 4 Comments

A History of the Future

Posted on February 10, 2022 by smellincoffee

A History of the Future© 2014 Jim Kunstler336 pages Christmas has arrived in Union Grove,  and unlike their ancestors in days past – for whom the season was an exhausting, expensive enterprise involving frantic consumerism —  the people  of the … Continue reading →

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Brave New Home

Posted on February 3, 2022 by smellincoffee

Brave New Home: Our Future in Smarter, Simpler, Happier Housing© 2020 Diane Lind272 pages Prior to the 20th century, Americans enjoyed the same rich diversity of housing options as anyone else: detached houses of varying sizes, granny flats, boarding houses, … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Living in the Long Emergency

Posted on February 2, 2022 by smellincoffee

Living in the Long Emergency: Global Crisis, the Failure of the Futurists, and the Early Adapters Who Are Showing the Way Forward © 2020 Jim Kunstler288 pages In 2005, James Howard Kunstler penned The Long Emergency, building on his earlier … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , | 12 Comments

The Secret Life of Groceries

Posted on January 31, 2022 by smellincoffee

The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket © 2020 Benjamin Lorr336 pages The Secret Life of Groceries opens at a fish counter and invites the reader to consider how much labor, creativity, money, pain, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments