Supra Restaurant dinner with Bill
Glorious meal of snapper carpaccio (with persimmon); chickpea fritter (with enoki mushrooms & olive); zucchini (with crushed pea & pumpkin seed sauce); and pumpkin gnocchi (with sage butter, black vinegar, and hazelnuts).
#billhastings #dinner #delicious
Generative AI is garbage 🗑️
The Chicago Sun-Times used AI to write a Summer Reading list - and it was full of garbage including recommending books that don’t exist …
www.thepopverse.com/literary-…
www.theatlantic.com/technolog…
Finished reading: Star Wars The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire by Chris Kempshall 📚
An excellent “in-universe” history of the Star Wars Galactic Empire - filled with insights and analysis relevant to any consideration of the emergence and defeat of totalitarianism….
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
Finished reading: Patria by Laurence Blair 📚
This book is a genuine wonder. It explodes myths and reveals hidden stories of the history of South America and demonstrates the importance of a broader and deeper understanding of this continent, particularly the vital role of its indigenous peoples and the struggles they shared with settlers and slaves seeking liberation and identity.
Wonderful weekend in Ōtautahi Christchurch. Great to party hard and spend time with friends enjoying brunch, visiting art galleries and bookshops, and having a late afternoon cocktail overlooking the city. Christchurch is looking great!
New book stand (featuring “Atlas of the New Zealand Wars, Volume 1”)
Finished reading: The Venetian Heretic by Christian Cameron 📚
This book was wonderful. You are transported to seventeenth century Venice, and swept up in a tale of political intrigue, cultural and religious conflict, and some good old-fashioned sword work! The characters are vivid, interesting and well written and developed, the plot(s) are fascinating and move things along at a spritely pace, and the writing is just great.
Highly recommended and can’t wait for the next installment!
Currently reading: Patria by Laurence Blair 📚
This book is a revelation. I’ve now finished the first two chapters and I can’t recommend it highly enough! Such excellent writing - weaving together contemporary travel, politics, and a bold fresh historical perspective. And wit!
Read it.
Finished reading: Open Throat by Henry Hoke 📚
That was a lot. Starts strong, then a little strange, then devastating.
Finished reading: Artificial Condition by Martha Wells 📚
These are so taught and snappy I can feel the twang :)
Finished reading: The Mad Ship (The Liveship Traders, Book 2) by Robin Hobb 📚
This just keeps getting better!!
Hapua Street Anzac history
Local ANZAC history - a selection of write-ups of the stories of those from a small selection of Hataitai streets who participated in the world wars. Placed in the Hapua St bus stop.
A brilliant humanisation of the impact of war on a local community.
#history #localhistory #anzac #wellington #wellingtonnz🇳🇿 #pōneke #aotearoa
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)
Finished reading: The Life to Come by E. M. Forster 📚
E. M. Forster’s short stories about love between men sadly unpublished in his lifetime.