Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Loved But Didn’t Review

Posted on August 10, 2020 by smellincoffee

This week’s TTT …books we read, loved, but didn’t review. The Death and Life of Great American Cities,   Jane Jacobs. This book  completely revolutionized my worldview before I made halfway through. One day I’ll make some meager attempt at reviewing … Continue reading →

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The Architecture of Happiness

Posted on August 5, 2020 by smellincoffee

The Architecture of Happiness © 2006 Alain de Botton 280 pages I never thought much about the meaning of architecture until attending a lecture by James Howard Kunstler, given at my university in autumn 2008, entitled “Peak Oil and the … Continue reading →

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The End of October

Posted on August 1, 2020 by smellincoffee

The End of October © 2020 Lawrence Wright 482 pages COVID-19 gotcha down? Cheer up! It could be worse. A lot worse. Like…the US president dying on live television, bleeding from the eyes worse.   The End of October was published … Continue reading →

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Darth Plagueis

Posted on July 31, 2020 by smellincoffee

Darth Plagueis © 2012 James Luceno 498 pages Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the wise? ….it’s not a story the Jedi would tell you.   Beginning decades before The Phantom Menace, and culminating in its end,  Darth … Continue reading →

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In the Garden of Beasts

Posted on July 30, 2020 by smellincoffee

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin © 2011 Erik Larson 432 pages In 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt needed a man for a post no one wanted to fill: US Ambassador to Germany.  … Continue reading →

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Re-read: The Ethical Assassin

Posted on July 29, 2020 by smellincoffee

The Ethical Assassin © 2006 David Liss 336 pages A few weeks ago for TTT,  I mentioned David Liss as an author who made me smile, and happened to think  about the first novel I read by him, The Ethical … Continue reading →

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The Splendid and the Vile

Posted on July 27, 2020 by smellincoffee

The Splendid and the Vile: A Sage of Churchill, Family, and Defiance during the Blitz © 2020 Erik Larson 464 pages “Nothing could have been more beautiful and the searchlights interlaced at certain points on the horizon, the star-like flashes … Continue reading →

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Harvard and the Unabomber

Posted on July 23, 2020 by smellincoffee

Harvard and the Unabomber: The Education of an American Terrorist Original title: A Mind for Murder © 2003 Alston Chase 352 pages Ted Kaczynski was hunted fruitlessly by the FBI for eighteen years, until finally being done in by his … Continue reading →

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The Obesity Code

Posted on July 17, 2020 by smellincoffee

The Obesity Code © 2016 Jason Fung 326 pages Jason Fung begins with a question: why are there fat doctors?   If the conventional analysis  of fat and its prescription are accurate, why do many people struggle to make long-term headway … Continue reading →

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Stoicism and Western Buddhism

Posted on July 11, 2020 by smellincoffee

Stoicism and Western Buddhism: A Reflection on Two Philosophical Ways of Life © 2018 Patrick Ussher 88 pages We read philosophy in order to live philosophy. In Stoicism and Western Buddhism, Patrick Ussher explores the kindred beliefs and practices of … Continue reading →

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