Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

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 →

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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 →

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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

A Furious Sky

Posted on November 17, 2021 by smellincoffee

A Furious Sky: The Five Hundred Year History of America’s Hurricanes© 2020 Eric Jay Dolin415 pages A Furious Sky is a history of hurricanes in American history, opening with Columbus’ attempts to warn a rival governor of imminent danger and … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

Harry Potter Fanfic: They Shook Hands

Posted on November 15, 2021 by smellincoffee

I’m officially reading two nonfiction works. My weekend was spent, however, reading through a fanfiction series called “They Shook Hands“, an alternate-history approach to the Harry Potter adventures. The titular point of departure is that Harry and Draco’s initial meeting … Continue reading →

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Jacked!

Posted on November 11, 2021 by smellincoffee

Jacked! The Outlaw Story of Grand Theft Auto© 2012 David Kushner301 pages Twenty years ago, Grand Theft Auto III released in the United States, to popular and later critical acclaim.  The GTA series had already established a name for itself … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , | 6 Comments