art and culture
So much fun at Fieldgays 2026
Fantastic hosts Hamish & Alistair, amazing crew of Sam, Emile, Mark, Andy & Ross.
Book Critic (RNZ Afternoons)
Bill Hastings joins Jesse Mulligan to review three books:
- Margaret Atwood, Book of Lives, A Memoir of Sorts (Chatto & Windus, 2025)
- Nigel Latta, Lessons on Living (Harper Collins, 2025)
- Erik Kennedy, Sick Power Trip (VUW Press, 2025)
RNZ Afternoons - Book Critic 2:20pm 3 February 2025
‘To-morrow is Saint Crispian’
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say ‘To-morrow is Saint Crispian:’
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say ‘These wounds I had on Crispin’s day.’
20 years of LibraryThing
A very Happy 20th Birthday to LibraryThing and congratulations to everyone who has made this happen - Tim, the team, and all of the readers and users who have been part of the community for the last 20 years.
I joined LibraryThing in April 2006, and in my first month I added 423 books (mostly history books). I’ve now catalogued 2681 books (1259 of which are tagged ‘history’), so my tastes have broadened!
You can access my personal Library here: https://www.librarycat.org/lib/jeremybakernz
Thank you LibraryThing, for everything. You are a key tool in enabling my obsession!
New coat Love this new coat from Mandatory.
Pairing this year’s Okham Prize winner for Best Illustrated Non-Fiction, the extraordinary “Toi te Mana - an indigenous history of Māori art” with “65000 years - A Short History of Australian Art”.
#art #indigenous #arthistory #aotearoa #australia #bookclub
Birthday book haul
Thanks to Mum, Dad, and Bill for the Unity Books vouchers 🥰
- Atlas of the New Zealand Wars (Vol I) (Derek Leask, 2025)
- The Monastic World: A Thousand Year History (Andrew Jotischky, 2025)
- The Revelation of Ireland: 1995-2020 (Diarmaid Ferriter, 2024)
- Bodies of Men (Nigel Featherston, 2019)
- Patria: Lost Countries of South America (Laurence Blair, 2024)
Bill Hastings: Book Critic
Bill casts his eye over two books he recommends for good reading. The books discussed are: Orbital by Samantha Harvey and Ted Lasso and Philosophy.
Ode to empty can of Kingfisher found on a windowsill at Middlemore Hospital
In shaded light, up in the corner
Royally perched on a sill
Not in the middle, to the side
A pale resemblance of itself
The sparkle’s gone; the fizz, no more
It’s empty now, its job is done
This one won’t fish for compliments
But don’t kick the can
Just let it rest a while,
Respite; in dusty repose
(Requested by Victoria Luff)
Stop using Amazon Kindle (before it's too late)
From 26 February 2025, Amazon will stop you downloading your *own* Kindle eBooks. You will be forever stuck in Amazon’s grip.
If you’d like to escape, download all your Kindle ebooks now before it's too late:
https://www.theverge.com/news/612898/amazon-removing-kindle-book-download-transfer-usb
Remove the DRM using Calibre:
Ideally, start using a service that supports local bookstores:
- Libro (audiobooks): https://libro.fm/
- Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/ebooks
Or if you prefer another option:
- Apple Books: https://www.apple.com/apple-books/
- Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/nz/en
- Tom's Guide to DRM free ebooks: https://www.tomsguide.com/tablets/e-readers/no-kindle-no-problem-5-places-to-buy-drm-free-e-books