Simon
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beanprole.bsky.social
Simon
@beanprole.bsky.social
Dad, reader, average musician, cyber-security nerd, cat friend, and all around tired guy with a sore back. Aotearoa New Zealand.
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... 📚🇳🇿
January 6, 2026 at 4:13 AM
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
January 4, 2026 at 6:21 AM
So, uh, anyone hiring a security engineer or infrastructure engineer? ;) #nzpol #firingCVsintothevoid
November 4, 2025 at 10:06 PM
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
March 31, 2025 at 7:40 PM
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 31, 2025 at 7:27 PM
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? ;) 💙📚
March 23, 2025 at 10:09 PM
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 💙📚
March 13, 2025 at 12:26 AM
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
March 1, 2025 at 12:38 AM
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
March 1, 2025 at 12:35 AM
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 💙📚🇳🇿
February 27, 2025 at 3:07 AM
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. 💙📚
February 19, 2025 at 10:01 PM
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 :) 💙📚
February 18, 2025 at 7:26 AM
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
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 ;) 💙📚
February 2, 2025 at 12:17 AM
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:
December 15, 2024 at 8:59 PM
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:
December 14, 2024 at 7:12 PM
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:
December 13, 2024 at 6:42 PM
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:
December 12, 2024 at 8:55 PM
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:
December 11, 2024 at 8:36 PM
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:
December 10, 2024 at 8:28 PM
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:
December 9, 2024 at 8:38 PM
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:
December 8, 2024 at 8:38 PM
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:
December 7, 2024 at 6:40 PM
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:
December 6, 2024 at 8:21 PM
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:
December 5, 2024 at 5:32 PM