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beanprole.bsky.social
Simon
@beanprole.bsky.social
81 followers 82 following 95 posts
Dad, reader, average musician, cyber-security nerd, cat friend, and all around tired guy with a sore back. Aotearoa New Zealand.
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beanprole.bsky.social
On to book 3 of the year, Oranges by John McPhee - How did I nearly reach 50 years old and not know Jaffa was a place? What's next? Snifter is a region in Belarus famous for it's ancient mint varietals? Also, I think I might be living in the past and need some more current references... 📚🇳🇿
Text from Orange by John McPhee - "it is exported from Jaffa, and for that reason is known universally beyond Israel as the Jaffa Orange. The Jaffa Orange is the variety that British people consider superior to all others, possible because Richard the Lionhearted spent the winter of 1191-92 in the citrus groves of Jaffa." - Jaffas were a well known chocolate orange candy in New Zealand, comprising of a chocolate orange centre and hard candy coating... while Snifters were similar, but mint flavoured, with a mint nougat centre, surrounded by a chocolate layer then a hard candy coating.
January 6, 2026 at 4:13 AM
beanprole.bsky.social
My kiwi brain keeps getting shocked out of this fantasy novel by one of the magic groups being called Meanas... I was fully expecting the next line to be something like, "aw... chur bro, you're mean as too!" 📚🇳🇿 #meanas #tumeke
Text from the book Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson - "I've heard of Kurald Galain - the Tiste Andii warren." "This is Tiste Edur. You surprise me, Mage. You are Meanas."
January 4, 2026 at 6:21 AM
beanprole.bsky.social
So, uh, anyone hiring a security engineer or infrastructure engineer? ;) #nzpol #firingCVsintothevoid
November 4, 2025 at 10:06 PM
beanprole.bsky.social
Despite not getting the highest rating as I read them, highlights for the month have to be Gene Wolfe's Shadow and Claw... think they'll need a second read to really make complete sense of. Also looking forward to the recently released sequel to My Father's House, The Ghosts of Rome 🖋️📚💙 #pukapuka
Cover collage of the 19 books I read in March... The Claw of the Conciliator (The Book of the New Sun, #2) - Wolfe, Gene The Shadow of the Torturer (The Book of the New Sun, #1) - Wolfe, Gene Daisy Jones & The Six - Reid, Taylor Jenkins Hunchback - Ichikawa, Saou Tigana - Kay, Guy Gavriel Raising Hare: A Memoir - Dalton, Chloe Nemesis (Orphan X, #10) - Hurwitz, Gregg Between the World and Me - Coates, Ta-Nehisi My Father's House (Rome Escape Line Trilogy, #1) - O'Connor, Joseph The Mires - Makereti, Tina Pretty Ugly - Gunn, Kirsty At The Grand Glacier Hotel - Fearnley, Laurence Delirious - Wilkins, Damien Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body - Gay, Roxane Iron Flame (The Empyrean, #2) - Yarros, Rebecca Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1) - Yarros, Rebecca Eurotrash - Kracht, Christian Perfection - Latronico, Vincenzo Reservoir Bitches - de la Cerda, Dahlia
March 31, 2025 at 7:40 PM
beanprole.bsky.social
Mixed reading month in March... including a few short books on the Booker International longlist, some questionable romantasy to see what the fuss is about, the Ockham NZ Fiction award shortlist and some gems while trying to find fantasy that doesn't read like it's written for YAs. 🖋️📚💙 #pukapuka
March reading summary from The Storygraph, showing 19 books read, 6229 pages and an average rating of 3.59
March 31, 2025 at 7:27 PM
beanprole.bsky.social
Normally I don't pay too much attention to my goodreads recent updates feed, but enjoyed this one... Does marking something as Did Not Finish count as getting something done? ;) 💙📚
A screenshot from the goodreads website showing a user has marked the book 'Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity' as 'Did Not Finish'
March 23, 2025 at 10:09 PM
beanprole.bsky.social
Just finished the Ockham NZ fiction award shortlist... enjoyed them all, but the standout was The Mires by @tinamakereti.bsky.social - reminding me that while it's easy to see the differences between ourselves and others it's our commonalities and connections which are truly important. #pukapuka 💙📚
Book covers of the four books that made the shortlist for the 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction. The books are At the Grand Glacier Hotel by Laurence Fearnley, Pretty Ugly by Kirsty Gunn, Delirious by Damien Wilkins and The Mires by Tina Makereti.
March 13, 2025 at 12:26 AM
beanprole.bsky.social
Some highlights from February include: There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib, The Book of Disappearance by Ibtisam Azem, The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, #1) by N.K. Jemisin and Beta Vulgaris by Margie Sarsfield 💙📚 #pukapuka
Covers of the books I read this month... Points of Attack by Mark de Silva There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, #1) by N.K. Jemisin When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin The Dawnhounds (The Endsong, #1) by Sascha Stronach Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh Beta Vulgaris by Margie Sarsfield Pastoralia by George Saunders Prophet Song by Paul Lynch Tree of Smoke by Dennis Johnson The Book of Disappearance by Ibtisam Azem On the Calculation of Volume, Book I by Solvej Balle
March 1, 2025 at 12:38 AM
beanprole.bsky.social
A varied reading month in February... started on the International Booker Prize longlist which has been good so far, crossed a few off the NYT 100 best books of the 2000s unread list, enjoyed a few randoms that popped up in my bsky feed and revisited my favourite book from my childhood 💙📚 #pukapuka
Reading wrapup from The Storygragh... showing 14 books read, 4390 pages and an average rating of 3.84, with the three highest rated books being "There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension" by Hanif Abdurraqib at five stars, "The Book of Disappearance" by Ibtisam Azem at five stars and "The Fifth Season" by N.K. Jemisin at 4.75 stars.
March 1, 2025 at 12:35 AM
beanprole.bsky.social
Reading the International Booker longlist is off to a good start. Ibtisam Azem's The Book of Disappearance is great speculative fiction told from multiple POVs and set in an Israel and Palestine where one day all Palestinians simply vanish. Touching, engrossing and infuriating in under 260 pages 💙📚🇳🇿
Cover of The Book of Disappearance by Ibtisam Azem (translated from the Arabic by Sinan Antoon), depicting a wet patch of ground with the reflection of a person in it.
February 27, 2025 at 3:07 AM
beanprole.bsky.social
This character study in anxiety, paranoia and delusion is like watching a spider in a sink fighting to get out as the plug is pulled and the water circles the drain. As someone who's a bundle of anxieies on a good day, and whose worst horror is their own mind, it all felt a bit too real at times. 💙📚
The cover of the book Beta Vulgaris by Margie Sarsfield, depicting the head of a woman with beets overlaying her eyes.
February 19, 2025 at 10:01 PM
beanprole.bsky.social
Recently saw an imagined interaction with a librarian - "Could I get that book I loved as a child?" "Which version?" "What do you mean?" "The version you remember from childhood or the version with all the issues?" - Just read Harriet the Spy again nearly 40 years later, and boy oh boy issues :) 💙📚
Cover of the book Harriet the Spy by Lousie Fitzhugh, showing the main character Harriet with her spying tools (notebook, flashlight, etc) walking past a brick wall covered in posters.
February 18, 2025 at 7:26 AM
beanprole.bsky.social
I'm a firm believer in the idea that anything that fits between two pages and doesn't damage the book is a bookmark... just made a couple new bookmarks out of offcuts from film that was used for reviewing vfx work in a film based off a book series :)
February 12, 2025 at 8:56 PM
beanprole.bsky.social
Pretty good start to the reading year, especially Hilary Mantel's books after passing them over for years as a genre I don't normally read... Still 79 books left from the NYT 100 best books of the 21st century list, I may be some time ;) 💙📚
Screenshot from the Goodreads website showing the books I read during January 2025. Books in the image are: 1. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, 2. Men We Reaped: A Memoir by Jesmyn Ward. 3. Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel. 4. Pulphead by John Joseph Sullivan. 5. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. 6. Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Riotous Black Girls, Troublesome Women, and Queer Radicals.
February 2, 2025 at 12:17 AM
beanprole.bsky.social
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

#BookSky💙📚
#Books
#BookChallenge

Day 20:
Cover of the book The Music of the Primes by Marcus du Sautoy.
December 15, 2024 at 8:59 PM
beanprole.bsky.social
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

#BookSky💙📚
#Books
#BookChallenge

Day 19:
Cover of the book The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson
December 14, 2024 at 7:12 PM
beanprole.bsky.social
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

#BookSky💙📚
#Books
#BookChallenge

Day 18:
Cover of the book An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks
December 13, 2024 at 6:42 PM
beanprole.bsky.social
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

#BookSky💙📚
#Books
#BookChallenge

Day 17:
Cover of the book On Bullshit by Harry G. Frankfurt
December 12, 2024 at 8:55 PM
beanprole.bsky.social
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

#BookSky💙📚
#Books
#BookChallenge

Day 16:
Cover of the book Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
December 11, 2024 at 8:36 PM
beanprole.bsky.social
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

#BookSky💙📚
#Books
#BookChallenge

Day 15:
Cover of the book Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
December 10, 2024 at 8:28 PM
beanprole.bsky.social
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

#BookSky💙📚
#Books
#BookChallenge

Day 14:
Cover of the book Soul Music by Terry Pratchett
December 9, 2024 at 8:38 PM
beanprole.bsky.social
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

#BookSky💙📚
#Books
#BookChallenge

Day 13:
Cover of the book The Power Of The Dog by Don Winslow
December 8, 2024 at 8:38 PM
beanprole.bsky.social
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

#BookSky💙📚
#Books
#BookChallenge

Day 12:
Cover of the book James Acaster's Classic Scrapes
December 7, 2024 at 6:40 PM
beanprole.bsky.social
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

#BookSky💙📚
#Books
#BookChallenge

Day 11:
Cover of the book Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
December 6, 2024 at 8:21 PM
beanprole.bsky.social
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

#BookSky💙📚
#Books
#BookChallenge
#pukapuka

Day 10:
Cover of the book Audition by Pip Adam
December 5, 2024 at 5:32 PM