Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

Marce Catlett and the Force of Story

Posted on December 30, 2025 by smellincoffee

Marce Catlett  The Force of a Story takes a life we’ve visited with previously and then visits with it for a while, learning how the story of Andy Catlett was really a continuation of a story in which his grandfather … Continue reading →

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End Year Short Rounds: Frankenstein, Merlin, and Stephen Douglas

Posted on December 29, 2025 by smellincoffee

Although I ostensibly took a break from the blog on Christmas eve to focus on real life and all that, part of my brain is resolutely blog-oriented and insisted I keep reading so that I did not fail the Science … Continue reading →

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Harry Potter and the Quest to Get Expelled: Full Cast Audio!

Posted on December 28, 2025 by smellincoffee

Recently I took a chance on the full-cast audio version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone that’s just come out. I say “took a chance” because the preview on Audible does not communicate the nature of the book especially … Continue reading →

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WWW Wednesday

Posted on December 24, 2025 by smellincoffee

WHAT have you finished reading recently? Bosom Friends, a book examining the alliance between James Buchanan and William Rufus King, and Zachary Taylor, a biography of President Zachary Taylor. Also, Millard Fillmore by the aptly named Finkleman. I will not … Continue reading →

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Old Rough and Ready Taylor

Posted on December 23, 2025 by smellincoffee

When I think of Zachary Taylor, I can see a craggy face right out of a western– and for some reason, I think of cherries. (My adult brain has somehow managed to remember some 25+ years after reading a book … Continue reading →

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Bosom Friends

Posted on December 22, 2025 by smellincoffee

James Buchanan remains the United States’  only bachelor president –  he was technically joined in this feat by Cleveland for one term, but by the time 22 had returned as 24, he had found his better half.  Buchanan, though,  despite … Continue reading →

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James “I Didn’t Start the Fire” Buchanan

Posted on December 18, 2025 by smellincoffee

What do I know about Mr. James Buchanan? Well, he’s our only bachelor president, leaning on his niece to be his hostess at White House functions; he was very chummy with the founder of my hometown, William Rufus King, and … Continue reading →

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1858

Posted on December 17, 2025 by smellincoffee

1858 is a history of the second year of James Buchanan’s administration, a year notable less for what Buchanan did than for what he refused to do while the slavery debate burned white-hot. He maintained that slavery was no longer … Continue reading →

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The Expatriation of Franklin Pierce

Posted on December 16, 2025 by smellincoffee

Continuing in the tragedy of Franklin Pierce, I chose to follow a short biography of him with this, a more focused look Pierce’s exit from the presidency, when he found himself wholly isolated. Four years ago, he had earned a … Continue reading →

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From Hero to Zero: Franklin Pierce

Posted on December 13, 2025 by smellincoffee

Franklin Pierce wasn’t high on my interest list of presidents to read about for this America @ 250 project until I learned that he was intimate friends with Jefferson Davis and his wife Varina. Pierce and Davis served together in … Continue reading →

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