User Profile

Delia Locked account

feijoatrees@bookwyrm.social

Joined 1 year, 9 months ago

Pakeha New Zealander, trying to read more and be a bit more grounded in the real. Huge Goodreads fan but also a fediverse fan and keen to try this thing out. Grateful to the volunteers with their ethos that have established all this.

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2025 Reading Goal

17% complete! Delia has read 7 of 41 books.

Charlotte McConaghy: Once There Were Wolves (Hardcover, 2021, Flatiron Books) 4 stars

Inti Flynn arrives in Scotland with her twin sister, Aggie, to lead a team of …

Love the Cairngorms, don’t recognise them here

2 stars

On one hand, loved (some of) the writing, read the book within a day- loved (some of) the themes. Passed the placenta test… but the twin trope was awful and the violence and hypocrisy about responses to violence; had too many happy endings for too many difficult topics

Bruce Pascoe: Dark Emu (2018, Magabala Books) 4 stars

Dark Emu puts forward an argument for a reconsideration of the hunter-gatherer tag for precolonial …

Game changer

5 stars

I’m hoping in time this book will age out, as criticisms of Australian society become unfair, and further knowledge about aboriginal land management informs new industry and preservation… at times feels a bit brow beating but it’s (for me at least) a new perspective, entirely new and exciting

Rebecca Priestley: End Times (Paperback, 2023, Te Herenga Waka) 4 stars

Priestley’s new memoir explores the complications of living in a world under threat across two …

Do not fear uncertainty

4 stars

A great romp through what was essentially deconstruction, circa 1987. Well written and compelling and an enjoyable read and reflection on NZ society in snapshots; almost 40 years apart. Will be recommending to others

Dervla Murphy: Full Tilt (Paperback, 1987, Overlook TP) 4 stars

Made me feel more justified for the rides where I walk up the hill and ride down

4 stars

First up, there are several times where she is astonishingly racist. However, there is such depth and pluck and wonder in so much of her writing that I feel we can learn from her writing and thoughts both good and bad.

Sharee Johnson: The Thriving Doctor (Paperback, 2021, Hambone Publishing) 4 stars

Will be worth reading again periodically

4 stars

A fair amount of this is “well, duh” but where it isn’t it is really helpful for providing tools and ideas for changing how we can cope with situations even if we aren’t able to change the situations. Heavily leans on precepts of acceptance and commitment therapy - being comfortably with being uncomfortable - but also serves well as a reminder of why work is so hard at times. Here’s to having some kind of flow state! 😅

reviewed The Great Race by David Hill

David Hill: The Great Race 4 stars

Seeking terra australis

4 stars

An amazing book, excellently narrated in the audiobook form. I wish I had read it before I went to Fremantle, as many of the objects mentioned are there. A fascinating overview of early European encounters with the land and people of Australia. Best read together with “dark Emu”

After Daybreak: The Liberation of Belsen, 1945 5 stars

Essential read

5 stars

I think there were a few key messages out of this book: Whilst orchestrated and 100% the Germans fault, the extent of the horror was not so much manufactured in the end, but allowed to happen. Neglect in the context of structures designs to dehumanise people is a particularly potent mix. The British were aware but not ready. Only so much could be imagined, but some was known; and more could have been done. Much was done. People who have gone through so much cannot be expected to meet expectations of the rescuer. People can be cantankerous and contrary. Starving and starved people make no sense.

A difficult but important read.