Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

The Beast

Posted on April 7, 2020 by smellincoffee

The Beast: Riding the Rails and Dodging Narcos on the Migrant Trail © 2014 224 pages This is the third of three reviews I needed to publish before the English material can roll. And now, Rule Britannia! The news cycle … Continue reading →

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Bonaparte’s Sons

Posted on April 6, 2020 by smellincoffee

Bonaparte’s Sons © 1998 Richard Howard 400 pages This is the second (of three) posts published during Read of England which have nothing to do with England. I’m trying to get them out of the way before the English stuff … Continue reading →

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Drastic Measures

Posted on April 6, 2020 by smellincoffee

Star Trek Discovery: Drastic Measures © 2018 Dayton Ward 400 pages     The deliberate murder of four thousand people, half the colony’s population, began with an act of mercy.   Refugees were given a new home in the sparsely settled … Continue reading →

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Eyeball-eating cats, an OB-GYN’s diary, and plague

Posted on March 30, 2020 by smellincoffee

Last week I read several titles that  I want to share without necessarily writing full reviews for, since they’re on the shorter side.  They are… This is Going to Hurt: The Secret Diary of a  Junior Doctor, Adam Kay Will … Continue reading →

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The True Soldier

Posted on March 26, 2020 by smellincoffee

The True Soldier © 2014 Paul Fraser Collard 496 pages Jack Lark hadn’t intended to get involved in a civil war. He’d come to America bearing the letters from a friend who had fallen in combat, a man whose side … Continue reading →

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Are We There Yet?

Posted on March 20, 2020 by smellincoffee

Are We There Yet? The American Automobile Past, Present, and Driverless ©  2019 Dan Albert 304 pages Are we there yet? I mean, at the end of the book?  Because it’s not fun.  Oh, sure, the author is trying to … Continue reading →

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Tornadoes, the stars, and eternity

Posted on March 19, 2020 by smellincoffee

I aim to minimize the amount of un-commented-on books in 2020, so here follows some housekeeping! Back in February,  I read Braving the Elements: The Stormy History of American Weather.  It opened with the importance of climate to the various … Continue reading →

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Station Eleven

Posted on March 12, 2020 by smellincoffee

“I stood looking over my damaged home and tried to forget the sweetness of life on Earth.” In New York City, an acclaimed actor collapses in the middle of his King Lear performance. Hours later, the world as we know … Continue reading →

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American Dirt

Posted on March 9, 2020 by smellincoffee

American Dirt © 2020 Jeanine Cummins 387 pages It was the garden party from hell. One moment,  Lydia Pérez was enjoying her niece’s quinceañera; the next, she and her son Luca were huddling in the shower, listening as their family … Continue reading →

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Of murder and meaningful ground

Posted on March 4, 2020 by smellincoffee

A friend recently introduced me to the terms lentic and lotic, referring to stagnant and fast-moving bodies of water, respectively.  My Lenten series has so far been very lentic,   as I’ve been distracted by life’s goings-on.    I have done a … Continue reading →

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