Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

For Cause and Comrade

Posted on November 20, 2025 by smellincoffee

The moment I saw this book at a university booksale I knew I wanted it, because in the second story of that same library I’d researched my senior seminar paper to earn my BA in history.  For Cause and Comrades … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Over Yonder

Posted on November 15, 2025 by smellincoffee

Woody is an aging defrocked priest in jail for — well, let’s not say, since that’s not fully revealed until the end. At any rate, he’s getting out with a bad heart and an ex-wife who is engaged to another … Continue reading →

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

The Politically Incorrect Guide to….Science Fiction?

Posted on November 13, 2025 by smellincoffee

I was surprised to spot this on the shelves, and intrigued enough to give it a go — especially since this is SF month, after all. It’s not that science fiction is not political: politics is arguably inseparable from SF … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , , | 14 Comments

Springtime for Northheim

Posted on November 13, 2025 by smellincoffee

“Tomorrow Belongs to Me” is one of the more disturbing songs in the musical Cabaret, not because of the song itself, but because of what the viewer knows it portends. It begins simply, with one sweet voice singing at a … Continue reading →

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Adventures of the Rev Samuel Entwhistle

Posted on November 10, 2025 by smellincoffee

A priestly friend of mine handed this title to me with a smile after he read and enjoyed a short story I wrote that carries the subtitle, “A Parish Drama in Three Acts”. I wrote the story on a whim, … Continue reading →

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Star Trek: The Entropy Effect

Posted on November 7, 2025 by smellincoffee

By the Great Bird of the Galaxy, is this really only my second Star Trek read for 2025? Star Trek: The Entropy Effect is, despite its modern cover, a 1981 classic TOS tale that plays with the chaos of time … Continue reading →

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All Systems Red, SFM #6, & Dune Two

Posted on November 6, 2025 by smellincoffee

All Systems Red is a fun action-mystery thriller in a SF context. Our narrator, as the series title “Murderbot Diaries” might suggest, is not quite human. Murderbot is instead a robotic-organic construct that prefers humans see it, or him, as … Continue reading →

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

The Time Traveler’s Passport: Six Stories

Posted on November 3, 2025 by smellincoffee

When checking Amazon for the Old Man’s War series, I noticed a new short story series created by Amazon. I’ve read their FORWARD and WARMER collections before and figured this might be fun. Unfortunately, this skewed more toward the level … Continue reading →

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The Last Jeffersonian

Posted on October 31, 2025 by smellincoffee

My political biography began during the War on Terror, when I developed strong feelings about foreign intervention and the military-police surveillance state.   While reading Howard Zinn in my college years, I was astonished and delighted to learn of a … Continue reading →

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Against the Machine

Posted on October 27, 2025 by smellincoffee

At some point during college, I tried to work out what an ideal human society might look like. This was back when I still strongly identified with the left,  but my dreams were not of a world state and a … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, Society and Culture | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments