Tag Archives: Politics-CivicInterest

Why We Hate and How to Heal

Posted on February 15, 2019 by smellincoffee

Them: Why We Hate and How to Heal  © 2018 Ben Sasse 272 pages The tenor of civil ‘discourse’ in America today is disheartening and distressful, in part for at least over a decade there has been little discourse at all, … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews, Society and Culture | Tagged , , , | 16 Comments

The Big Ones

Posted on February 5, 2019 by smellincoffee

The Big Ones: How Natural Disasters Have Shaped Us (and What We Can Do About Them)© 2018 Lucy Jones256 pages Earth is not a peaceful place; even it were stripped of all life, it would still teem with energy, from … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews, science | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Happy City

Posted on February 3, 2019 by smellincoffee

Happy City: Transforming Our Lives through Urban Design© 2013 Charles Montgomery368 pages City air makes one free, but — happy? Throughout the 20th century, Americans fled the urban centers seeking Arcadian bliss. They didn’t find it, and despite an abundance … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Our Time Has Come

Posted on January 30, 2019 by smellincoffee

Our Time Has Come: How India is Making Its Place in the World ©  2018 Alyssa Ayres360 pages The India of the 21st century is more than  the word’s back office;  by some measures, it has already overtaken Japan as the … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews, World Affairs | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Short rounds and the week ahead

Posted on January 23, 2019 by smellincoffee

On Saturday the library was partially evacuated owing to a tornado warning, and today Father Winter has well and truly hit the town.  I’m currently reading a scrutiny of political utopias, transhumanism, and religious-spiritual ideas about life beyond death (from … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

The Limits of Partnership

Posted on January 18, 2019 by smellincoffee

The Limits of Partnership: U.S.-Russian Relations in the 21st Century © 2014 Angela Stent 384 pages The Limits of Partnership examines the Russo-American relationship through four presidential administrations,  reviewing what progress was made  or conflicts each American executive had with his … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews, World Affairs | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

LikeWar

Posted on January 9, 2019 by smellincoffee

LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media© 2018 P.W. Singer & Emerson T. Brooking412 pages The digital world is not simply one in which people can tweet restaurant reviews from the very table at which they’re ignoring their dinner date.  It … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Fear, bikes, and NaNoWriMo

Posted on November 5, 2018 by smellincoffee

Happy Monday! (Or Monday evening, depending on where you are…) My NaNoWriMo is off to a promising start, as I’ve been logging just over 4,000 words per day, well over the 1667 minimum average requirement.   That is completely  unprecedented … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

The Prince

Posted on October 30, 2018 by smellincoffee

The Prince© 1532 Niccolo Machiavelli100 pages Italy, circa 1500, was a rough neighborhood. Divided between powerful city-centered states and frequently threatened by outside empires,  few rulers could rest on their laurels and enjoy a prolonged peace. Even if someone outside … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Dispatches from the Muckdog Gazette

Posted on October 25, 2018 by smellincoffee

Dispatches from the Muckdog Gazette: A Mostly Affectionate Account of a Small Town’s Fight to Survive© 2003 Bill Kauffman206 pages Bill Kauffman, as a kid, went places. Starting from a little town in upstate New York, he journeyed as far … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments