Simon

@beanprole.bsky.social

90 Followers 84 Following

Dad, reader, average musician, cyber-security nerd, cat friend, and all around tired guy with a sore back. Aotearoa New Zealand.

A stuff.co.nz poll titled "The Super bill is growing. What changes do you think should be made to superannuation?" with the options "Raise the retirement age," "Means test superannuation," "Make KiwiSaver compulsory," and "Nothing, keep it the same as it is."
Monthly reading wrapup image from The Storygraph app, showing 20 books / 7,047 pages read and an average rating of 3.81
News article image and headline from stuff.co.nz - Image is of a building fire being put out by firefighters, with the headline below reading "Ministers condemn firefighters union for 'gambling with lives' after major blaze during strike"
Cover of the book Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon, featuring an ancient greek drawing of a face with googly eyes stuck over the real eyes.
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.
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."
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 reading summary from The Storygraph, showing 19 books read, 6229 pages and an average rating of 3.59
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'
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.
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
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.
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.
The cover of the book Beta Vulgaris by Margie Sarsfield, depicting the head of a woman with beets overlaying her eyes.
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.
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.
Cover of the book The Music of the Primes by Marcus du Sautoy.
Cover of the book The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson
Cover of the book An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks
Cover of the book On Bullshit by Harry G. Frankfurt
Cover of the book Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Cover of the book Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
Cover of the book Soul Music by Terry Pratchett
Cover of the book The Power Of The Dog by Don Winslow
Cover of the book James Acaster's Classic Scrapes
Cover of the book Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Cover of the book Audition by Pip Adam
Cover of the book Heavy by Kiese Laymon
Cover of the book Sirens by Joshua Mohr
Cover of the book Inherited Disorders by Adam Ehrlich Sachs
Cover of the book All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Cover of the book Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber
Cover of the book Hyperion by Dan Simmons
Cover of the book Meet Me In Gaza by Louisa B Waugh
Cover of the book The Sellout by Paul Beatty
Cover of the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M Pirsig
The back cover of the first hardcover edition of the novel Neuromancer. The image shows a futuristic street scene where a woman with cybernetic eyes is leaning up against a payphone booth.
An aerial photo of the New Zealand parliament buildings and some of the 50,000 people who came to protest against the Treaty Principles Bill the government is currently debating.