iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

What a joyous way to start the day! 10 years since I watched SanJunipero. Unlike anything I had seen before. Feelings of hope & love & optimism. I think we need those feelings all the more in 2026! This edition from @blackmirrorcomic.bsky.social & @stonewalluk.bsky.social is all of those feelings.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

I know this has been popular with other members of my book group and I cannot wait to get together and discuss it. Another engaging and enjoyable book from @fairlightbooks.bsky.social #DancingInTheShallows.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

I loved the perspective the reader has of characters lives in the past. Helping make sense of artefacts and wonderings of future characters. Having worked through family photos from the past I have also found myself wondering about relationships…why certain photos were kept. #DancingInTheShallows

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

I loved this. So much woven through a relatively short story. I liked the complicated nature of family relationships. How we are individuals beyond the labels our relationships hold. The cottage is a liberating place for those who live there. To be themselves. #DancingInTheShallows

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Starting with Dancing in the Shallows by Clare Reddaway. The blurb has lots of hooks that make me think I am going to enjoy it. Scottish setting, family dynamics, intergenerational storytelling.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Finally, a @fairlightbooks.bsky.social haul. I treated myself to the book group read and two others. Fairlight Moderns are fresh and original. They let me experience different voices and genres set in locations across the world.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Book Group reads for Nov and Dec. I love Fairlight Moderns as they feel so fresh and original. Heated Rivalry is a curiosity. We read Minor Black Figures in August which is by a gay author. We want to explore LGBT themes through the lens of a straight, female author. What will the differences be?

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Preorders: I am itching to read RTD’s memoir. As a huge DW fan so looking forward to that aspect but I think it will be so much more. From interviews he has completed I think there is going to be lots of personal reflection about love and bereavement and aging. Also, BMSJ. Joyous TV. Can’t wait!

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Now I need to choose my next read. Lots of deliveries this week from preorders and for book group. Feeling slightly spoiled for choice!

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

William Sutcliffe also wrote Are You Experienced? which I remember reading in the late 90s and loving it. I might seek it out for a little more nostalgia.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

There were lots of sacrifices. Whole characters and storylines absent. Some paragraphs have inferential information relating to previous scenes possibly cut in the edits. A pleasing nostalgia trip and the main characters are well captured. Vibes of early Tales of the City in narrative structure.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Just finished This Life by William Sutcliffe writing as Sam Coleman. This series was everything back in 96/97. It holds a special place as I went from high school to uni. I was curious how 33 episodes could be compressed to 292 pages. Each chapter is essentially an episode.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

The final two pages are just as powerful in text as on film. “You’ve been feeling tired,” said the stranger “but I can do something about that…” oh wow. When a story makes you feel the emotions in your chest. Just fantastic.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Just finished my first read of Watership Down. In the 80s I watched an off-air of the film on repeat. It is a cornerstone of my childhood. The book has only served to enhance that sensation. Sophisticated and highly readable. I love it.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Took Eric on his first training run as we prepare to do a parkrun together. Apart from the odd toilet stop and one sit down protest, it was a great success!

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

@eisgrogu.bsky.social Have you seen this? Is it everyone that knows you sending links?

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

This is another favourite quote after ‘everyone remember where we parked’.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I think this film was my first experience of the original crew. A real high point in the history of Star Trek. I love it. Whenever I parking in a huge or new car park I hear Kirk say “everyone remember where we parked” in my mind.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Campus Book Group read. It was a curious and quick read. I appreciated the concepts more and more as I read. A very sweet book. Character I most want to be…the ghost lady who spends her day sitting in the time travel chair, reading her book, drinking coffee and cursing anyone who disturbs her.

A copy of Bwfore the coffee gets cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I saw this top a list of greatest novels and realised that not only had I not read it, I’ve never read any George Elliot. I see @grannygrandad.bsky.social enjoyed it too. Add to my list. I’ve never even seen an adaptation of it either. Zero expectations other than its reputation as the greatest.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Delivery joy from @tenacrebooks.bsky.social today. Being a primary teacher, I know the power of a sticker. Surely this is the greatest sticker ever created? I would purchase sheets and sheets of Dr Julia Hoffman. These are the supreme of stickers.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

They look great together. There is just something about the S18 costume that I love. I do have the Castrovalva set and the Traken set (both clearance bargains from Glasgow Forbidden Planet about 10 years ago) but I’m ever hopeful for my own Tom in coat with scarf.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

I covet S18 Tom as I’ve never managed to get one. Live in hope of a re-release. However, such is the strength of my coveting, I am mildly aghast at your actions. Then again, I do have a soft spot for Dimensions in Time…what a dolly dilemma!

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Very cool! Did your Curator figure survive his head transplant?

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Strong mid-to-late nineties vibe with the mixed fonts and graphics. Gorgeous cover. Peaked my curiosity. Being in Scotland means I won’t see this one in the book shop but I look forward to seeing the UK cover.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Also, Eric was curious and kept nosy bonking so I shared the photo of him too.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

I started this at the weekend. The second David Keenan novel I’ve read. Like ‘This is Memorial Device’, the character voices feel so authentic. Even though this is set in Northern Ireland, a commonality between Irish and Scots energy and cadence of speech. Straight off, I’m enjoying it.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Wow that is a lot of people! Great to share with others. Communal energy. Similarity but different, at work today we all shared our sitting in the garden cloud view stories. We all agreed it was a very peaceful experience & even though we didn’t see it, it was still there. We were part of it.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Fantastic pictures. They look so atmospheric. Scottish sky was being very Scottish for me last night so this was what I saw…

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

I know I love a book when I force myself to go slow. Extending my time in that world/reality. I finished it this morning and I am very satisfied. Looking forward to chat about it at Book Group. This paragraph made me think about @sergeanttibbs.bsky.social and 30 years of loving The Hazy Blue.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Half way and I love it. I am excited to find more Brandon Taylor books when I finish. The writing is stimulating my visualisation while reading in the most vivid and powerful way. I feel like I am there. So many themes to relate to. Phenomenal!

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

We watched He-Man. Saw it at the cinema in June and really enjoyed. Thought the same tonight. Lots of fun.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

A third of the way through and I feel embraced by the prose. NYC is vividly captured. It helps that my only visit to New York was during a summer heat wave so the book is stirring those sensory memories. The romantic relationship reads authentically and I am enjoying its development.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Next read is a the summer Book Group read for work. The NYT quote on the cover is promising ‘a genuinely swoony summer romance’. I think this is exactly what I need for my last week (and a bit) of holiday.

The book Minor Black Figures by Brandon
Taylor sits up right on a circular, golden metallic table. To the right of the book is a red rotary telephone.

The cover of the book is of city sky scrapers in New York on a summer evening. It is warm and vibrant looking.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

It was terrifying but also captivating. My consciousness was obsessed.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

By the pool book for a weekend at Lake Como. A pleasing coincidence early on in the book. Matthew’s parents met at Lake Como. I have never ready Chocky before but the TV show made a lasting impression on my childhood. It was a breezy read but enjoyable. I want to learn to count in binary.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

I have just finished watching Babylon 5 for the first time and I am trying to ignore all merchandise possibilities I could start collecting. It took me 30 years to watch the show, I can’t start scouring eBay for merchandise.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

I watched it a few weeks ago and this is a good summary of what I thought too. Let’s fill this brutalist interior with colourful inflatable furniture. Swinging!

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

‘The Bold Kitten’ by Holly Webb. A friend at work read with a group in her P3/4 class. An easy & enjoyable read with avenues to follow for real World themes/social justice/inferential challenge. The children from her class told me I should read it as they thought it was very good. I would agree.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

The memoir covers a lot of distance. I found myself wanting to know more and go deeper in some parts but it is his story and this is how he has chosen to tell it. I liked the inclusion of recipes which linked to some of the events. As I really only know him from Bake Off, it felt appropriate.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

On Instagram John is sharing his experience of walking the Camino. His posts are réflective about his past and current difficulties prompting me to seek out his memoir. I recall watching him on Bake Off in 2012 and really liking him. I haven’t followed him since.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Not what I expected. Felt it rewarded me for sticking with it to the end. I like how important parts of the plot were hinted at or happened elsewhere with the characters discussing/assuming the events. This brought elements of realism that could’ve frustrated but instead pulled me in all the more.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

You know Glasgow so you’ll know Michelle Gomez’s turn as Mary Queen of Scots is sublime, exceptionally sharp and hilarious. Her Thatcher was equally phenomenal. The whole show is so quotable. This morning’s quote was “what is it Joan dear?” when my husband called my name.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Next up ‘The Sparsholt Affair’ by Alan Hollinghurst. I am looking forward to this. It’s been in my to read pile for years.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

I liked how the format meant a creative approach was needed to communicate key parts of the narrative and conclusion given the only witness was not part of the framing device of witness testimonies and reports. I found the way author approached this very satisfying.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

I still find myself thinking about John of John. When I can’t shake off a book I always go to comfort reads in the form of Doctor Who Target books. Immensely enjoyed the three latest offerings. All excellent but The Satan Pit by Matt Jones was my favourite thanks to the engaging epistolary format.

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Brendan McKenico @mckenico.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

It has been a typical Scottish summer with heavy grey skies and abundant rain providing an atmospheric back drop to follow the lives of Cal, John, Ella, Innes and the rest of Falabay’s residents. The writing is poetic and powerful. So vivid that it played like a film in my mind. I loved this book.

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