Category Archives: Reviews

The Iron Dream

Posted on October 7, 2025 by smellincoffee

You know how I mentioned October would have a nod to German history, and maybe combine it with horror? …this is not now I expected that to happen. This will surely be my strangest book read for 2025. There I … Continue reading →

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Merlin’s Tour of the Universe

Posted on October 3, 2025 by smellincoffee

This is a book I’ve been meaning to read for years, though the only thing I knew about it was that it was authored by Neil deGrasse Tyson. Tyson is the director of the Hayden Planetarium and a public advocate … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Reviews, science | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

American Orthodox

Posted on September 30, 2025 by smellincoffee

A few months back, I happened to hear one of my favorite Orthodox pieces of music, the Paschal Troparion, put to the tune of an Appalachian folk melody. As it happens, I adore folk music: I spend time actively memorizing … Continue reading →

Posted in Religion and Philosophy, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

The Day of Battle

Posted on September 29, 2025 by smellincoffee

Although I’ve been reading about World War 2 for most of my life at this point, beginning in middle school, the scope of my reading has never broached the Italian campaign. This is probably due to the huge role D-Day … Continue reading →

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I Gave Yeh All I Had, I Did

Posted on September 24, 2025 by smellincoffee

Dear reader, are you familiar with the “Mom can I have _______” | “We have _______ at home” | “_______ at home: ” meme? If not, this may give you the idea. I open this review with that ominous question … Continue reading →

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Knife Creek

Posted on September 23, 2025 by smellincoffee

Mike Bowditch and his biologist girlfriend Stacey were out in the woods doing game warden things — specifically, seeking and destroying feral hogs invading from New Hampshire — when they stumbled upon a shallow grave for a baby wrapped in … Continue reading →

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Backcountry Lawman

Posted on September 22, 2025 by smellincoffee

Readers may remember that earlier this year I fell into CJ Box’s game warden novels starring Joe Pickett with the eagerness of a winter traveler who finds a cabin laden with quilts and fresh chili. I subsequently found Paul Doiron’s … Continue reading →

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Riding with Evil

Posted on September 19, 2025 by smellincoffee

Ken Croke spent two years living a double life, one in which the ATF agent’s suburbanite existence was increasingly overshadowed by his second life as a sergeant in arms for the notorious PAGANS motorcycle club. The story unfolds in the … Continue reading →

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Dominus

Posted on September 17, 2025 by smellincoffee

Di immortales, it’s been a while since I read any Steven Saylor! For those who don’t know the name, Saylor is an author of Roman historical fiction; I found him in college, and devoured a long series starring “Gordianus the … Continue reading →

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

The Storm of the Century

Posted on September 15, 2025 by smellincoffee

In 1900, a powerful hurricane swept Galveston Bay and destroyed a boomtown that in time may have become the New York of the Gulf. In ways, Al Roker’s Storm of the Century is rather similar to Isaac’s Storm, in that … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments