Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

Conspiracies and other stories that make us human

Posted on March 16, 2021 by smellincoffee

Early last week I read Brian Dunning’s Conspiracies Declassified: The Skeptoid Guide to the Truth Behind the Theories. I used to listen to Skeptoid over a decade ago, enjoying Dunning’s research into the facts behind popular theories and unsolved mysteries. … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Rebekah

Posted on March 11, 2021 by smellincoffee

Rebekah© 2001 Orson Scott Card416 pages When I stumbled upon Orson Scott Card’s ‘women of the bible’ series, I knew I had to try it just out of curiosity. The idea of a science fiction writer turning his hand to … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Tuesday trifecta: hacking, prepping, and making shine

Posted on March 9, 2021 by smellincoffee

I’ve been dog & cat-sitting away from my computer since last week, and without a TV or computer to distract me I’ve been doing that ‘reading’ thing. First up, I read Just in Case, a prepping-for-newbies book the library acquired … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews, science fiction, Society and Culture | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Disaster by Choice

Posted on March 5, 2021 by smellincoffee

Disaster by Choice: How our Actions Turn Natural Hazards into Catastrophes© 2020 Ilan Kelman180 pages What makes a natural event — rising waters, a hurricane, a sudden slip of tectonic plates — a disaster? Human suffering — and Illan Kelman … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , | 9 Comments

Camino Winds | Jesus the Son of Man

Posted on March 3, 2021 by smellincoffee

Amid a category 4 hurricane that levels homes and floods an entire town, a man is murdered. The police shake their heads, insisting he was merely struck by storm debris. But falling limbs don’t leave blood splatter inside a home … Continue reading →

Posted in Religion and Philosophy, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

The Last Stargazers

Posted on February 26, 2021 by smellincoffee

The Last Stargazer: The Enduring Story of Astronomy’s Vanishing Explorers© 2020 Emily Levesque336 pages Emily Levesque was drawn to the stars from childhood on. Having realized her dream of studying them for a living, in The Last Stargazers she offers … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Cold Sassy Tree

Posted on February 24, 2021 by smellincoffee

Cold Sassy Tree© 1984 Olive Ann Burns391 pages “I know now the difference between a writer and an author. A  writer writes, and an author speaks.”   Those words came from Leaving Cold Sassy, an unfinished sequel to this work … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics and Literary, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Death and madness in China

Posted on February 22, 2021 by smellincoffee

The Cultural Revolution: A People’s History© 2016 Frank Dikotter433 pages In twenty-five years of reading history, I know of no man who has instigated more human suffering and death at a broader scale than Mao Tse-tung, the rebel turned architect … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 13 Comments

The Lost Classics

Posted on February 18, 2021 by smellincoffee

The Lost Classics© ed. Jim Casada1950s-60s pieces by Robert Ruark from Field & Stream and other magazines260 pages A hunt for southern literature outside the Faulkner/O’Connor domain brought me to the happy surprise that was The Old Man and the … Continue reading →

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

Double play: Mobile & Latin America

Posted on February 15, 2021 by smellincoffee

This past week has seen a little progress on the ol’ TBR front, as I knocked out three books from the list, including The Network and those below. First up was E.O. Wilson’s Why We Are Here: Mobile and the … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews, World Affairs | Tagged , , , , , , | 15 Comments