Tag Archives: review

The best of 2020 — in books

Posted on January 3, 2021 by smellincoffee

2020 was….a heck of a year. Hurricanes, pandemic, fires,  the existential dread of an election featuring a wide variety of creepy corrupt politicians, all with their own plans for spending other people’s money badly and killing people overseas on behalf … Continue reading →

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Favorite Nonfiction, 2010 – 2019

Posted on February 2, 2020 by smellincoffee

Okay, folks, this one hurt.  It would have been even worse were I aiming for a top ten list!    Interestingly,  history and science don’t fill the list as I expected; instead, books on society are the heavyweights, and many … Continue reading →

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Favorite Fiction, 2010 – 2019

Posted on February 1, 2020 by smellincoffee

I realize the “right” time to do this was in December, when everyone else was doing decade retrospectives,  but it takes a while to pore through ~2000 titles!    These are in rough chronological order.    Horatio Hornblower series, C.S. … Continue reading →

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2019 Year in Review

Posted on December 31, 2019 by smellincoffee

Well,  dear readers,  it’s that time of year again — for appraising one year’s progress and getting ready for another year’s goals.  I’ve had a fantastic year in my personal life  — paying off my student loans,  making huge strides … Continue reading →

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(Most Of) What I Read in 2019

Posted on December 30, 2019 by smellincoffee

(“Most” because I forgot to keep track, so this just has the stuff I remembered to put on Goodreads. ) Politics and Civic Interest The Long Game: How Obama Defied Washington and Redefined America’s Place in the World, Derek Chollet … Continue reading →

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2017’s pie

Posted on January 23, 2018 by smellincoffee

Every year I like to  load up my books-read Excel list, sort it by labels, count everything up, and then make a chart out of it.  Every year’s label sets are a little different, aside from old reliables like History … Continue reading →

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We Forgot Our New Years Pie

Posted on February 4, 2017 by smellincoffee

Every year I typically post an enormous year-in-review with a pie graph. This year I decided to try out a mere top ten list instead of the usual monograph, but I still need my graph fix. So here’s a graphic. … Continue reading →

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Telling the Future

Posted on January 1, 2017 by smellincoffee

Well, dear readers, another year is upon us!  How shall we use the time?   Here are some things to expect in the coming year from these parts… 1. Discovery of AsiaMy big challenge this year is to make good … Continue reading →

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The Best of 2015: Year in Review

Posted on January 1, 2016 by smellincoffee

Previous yearly wrap-ups:2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 Welcome to the 9th annual year in review, in which I highlight the best of the year’s reading, hopefully without producing a column of text that rivals the Bayeux Tapestry. Big year for history, obviously. This … Continue reading →

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The Best of 2014: Annual Year in Review

Posted on January 3, 2015 by smellincoffee

Previous yearly wrap-ups: 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 What a year for reading!  As usual, a breakdown of major categories from ChartGo.com. (Titles in bold constitute this year’s top ten list!)  Earlier in the … Continue reading →

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