Category Archives: Politics and Civic Interest

People Habitat

Posted on January 10, 2023 by smellincoffee

People Habitat: 25 Ways to Think About Greener, Healthier Cities© 2014 F. Kaid Benfield304 pages The built environment can have an enormous effect on human happiness, facilitating  it or obstructing it; think of the frustration of  taking care of errands … Continue reading →

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Postcards from Ed

Posted on December 18, 2022 by smellincoffee

Postcards from Ed: Dispatches and Salvos from an American Iconoclast© 2007 ed. David Petersen337 pages “Saving the world is only a hobby. Most of the time I do nothing.” Although I was first drawn to Ed Abbey by his nature … Continue reading →

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Together

Posted on November 18, 2022 by smellincoffee

Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World© 2020 Vivek H. Murthy352 pages People are generally open about their physical health; indeed, for men of a certain age, it’s their favorite topic of discussion — at least, … Continue reading →

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Dopesick

Posted on November 17, 2022 by smellincoffee

Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America© 2018 Beth Macy384 pages More people are expected to die from accidental drug overdoses in the next five years than have died in the previous fifteen, part of an overall … Continue reading →

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Unstitched

Posted on October 13, 2022 by smellincoffee

Unstitched: My Journey to Understand Opioid Addiction and How People and Communities Can Heal © 2021 Brett Ann Stanciu224 pages Brett Stanciu had a problem. Someone kept breaking into her small library, pilfering money, and smoking cigarettes.  She knew who … Continue reading →

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Confessions of a Recovering Engineer

Posted on September 12, 2022 by smellincoffee

Confessions of a Recovering Engineer: Transportation for a Strong Town© 2021 Chuck Marohn 272 pages Chuck Marohn is a licensed engineer and urban planner who, in 2008,  began sharing his concerns that the current approach to both building and financing … Continue reading →

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Of Babylonians, demons, and bankers

Posted on August 16, 2022 by smellincoffee

Continuing in the Big Book Catchup… Paul Kriwaczek’s Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization covers Mesopotamian history from the establishment of Eridu to the rise of the  first Persian empire.  This is a survey of thousands of years of … Continue reading →

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Slanted

Posted on February 25, 2022 by smellincoffee

Slanted: How the News Media Taught Us to Love Censorship and Hate Journalism© 2020 Sharyl Attkisson316 pages I stopped watching television news in 2009, a decision made for me by the overnight obsolescence of my TV set when the industry … Continue reading →

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Of cyclists, colonial Catholics, and crappy endings

Posted on February 21, 2022 by smellincoffee

Last weekend I stayed at the Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, there to be evaluated for admission to their kidney transplant list. Much of my downtime was spent (how else) reading. How Cycling Can Save the World is a straightforward argument … Continue reading →

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A Hole in the Wind

Posted on February 17, 2022 by smellincoffee

A Hole in the Wind: A Climate Scientist’s Bicycle Journey Across the United States© 2017 David Goodrich304 pages A Hole in the Wind features a retired climate scientist touring from Delaware to to Oregon, speaking with people along the way … Continue reading →

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