Tag Archives: death and dying

Your one wild and precious life

Posted on May 1, 2022 by smellincoffee

It’s been raining buckets this weekend, but after lunch the sun came out, and I threw on my gym shorts and beaten tennis shoes and hit the road. Water covered lawns, filled ditches, flooded the street — but the bright … Continue reading →

Posted in General, quotations | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Present Concerns and even more Lewis quotes

Posted on December 17, 2020 by smellincoffee

Although Present Concerns’ title makes it sound as though it consists of essays by Lewis written about 1940s issues,   the contents still speak to our present day.  One of the passages, quoted to me from a friend, leapt out … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, Society and Culture | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Selections from “A Grief Observed”

Posted on November 21, 2020 by smellincoffee

A Grief Observed was not written as a book, but was published as such from four reflective notebooks that Lewis kept while reeling from the death of his wife, Joy. The collection is raw, intimate, and personal; we find Lewis … Continue reading →

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The Little Way of Ruthie Leming

Posted on August 26, 2020 by smellincoffee

The Little Way of Ruthie Leming: A Southern Girl, A Small Town, and the Secret of a Good Life © 2013 Rod Dreher 292 pages What is a meaningful life, but one lived in close connection with others?     Journalist Rod … Continue reading →

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This Republic of Suffering

Posted on August 21, 2020 by smellincoffee

This Republic of Suffering:  Death and the American Civil War © 2008 Drew Gilpin Faust 401 pages     Oft in dreams I see thee lying On some battle-plain Lonely, wounded, even dying — Calling, but in vain Weeping sad … Continue reading →

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

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 →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Alice Roosevelt, Linux, and Death

Posted on March 29, 2019 by smellincoffee

Approaching the end of the month, as we are, time to post a few also-reads: Alice and the Assassin, R.J. Koreto. Entertaining historical fiction following the infamous pistol-packing Alice Roosevelt and her cowboy Secret Service bodyguard.  Following the assassination of … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Heavens on Earth

Posted on January 24, 2019 by smellincoffee

Heavens on Earth: The Scientific Search for the Afterlife, Immortality, and Utopiapub. 2018 Michael Shermer320 pages Alone among the animals, human beings live in the knowing shadow of our own mortality.  It is rarely a specter which is embraced,  and … Continue reading →

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

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

Posted on September 9, 2018 by smellincoffee

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory© 2014 Caitlin Doughty272 pages Memento mori — remember your death. Young Caitlin Doughty couldn’t help but remember it; as a child she was traumatized by the memory of another girl … Continue reading →

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