iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 25/10/2026

My second #coffeeneuring ride of the year seems to have been a long time coming. I’ve had numerous rides that involved both a bike ride & a coffee but didn’t feel that any of them really fit the bill. This was definitely a coffee ride first and there was just an […] [Original post on social.lol]

A hand drawn fake passport page in my journal. It has a hand drawn cover & id page. There are now two hand drawn passport stamps on the page. The second is for a 16km ride to Koow in Christleton where I had a latte.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 11/10/2026

I was expecting to miss out on a #coffeeneuring ride this weekend as my bike was at the shop. But then it was ready to pick up on Saturday so I took a wild and windy spin by the sea and then had a recovery hot chocolate before getting the train home. So I got a […] [Original post on social.lol]

My bike with a Millennium Milepost signpost on NCN route 56 that points the way to New Brighton.

The sea being very wild on the Wirral coast, the waves were coming all the way up to the cycle path.

A view of the wild sea at New Brighton with a lighthouse. The red cranes of Liverpool docks are visible on the horizon.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 05/10/2026

September #reading was a bit of a comedown after a great summer of #books but I still got four finished which is fine by me. I'm happy not to have ground to a halt. I only got two books finished last September so I guess this is double that even if it's dropping a […] [Original post on social.lol]

Graphic calendar showing all the reading I did in September. Bits of six books read and four finished. Most pages read was on the 1st though.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 05/10/2026

I'd been looking out for a book by the "queen of spy writers" for a while and picked up _The Venetian Affair_ by Helen MacInnes in a second hand bookshop. It had the worst cover art. It also has a list of characters so long that I really struggled to keep them […] [Original post on social.lol]

A battered 1960s paperback of the Venetian Affair featuring a woman reaching into a gondola from the dock. There's an unconscious gondolier tied up in the bottom of the boat. This scene doesn't feature in the book. There's a tatty £4.95 price label in the corner but I paid the £2.50 from the newer label on the back cover that you can't see in the picture.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

I finally got around to #sewing up some of the fabric I bought at the Festival of Quilts at the end of July and I'm super pleased with how this t-shirt came out. I was trying to emulate a shop bought t-shirt that I really like and this turned out better than I […] [Original post on social.lol]

close up of a blue/beige stripy t-shirt under construction with really well matched stripes on a seam

me, leaning on a tree wearing a nice beige/blue stripy t-shirt I just made

close up of the hem of a blue/beige stripy t-shirt showing the pale blue bias binding hem

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

September has been the second biggest month of the year for #BoardGames for me. I think the offspring suddenly wanting to play games in the few days before heading back to uni made the difference. Our double Calico morning seems a long time ago now. Quick notes […] [Original post on social.lol]

BG Stats 6 x 5.
Play count:
3: Trio;
2: Calico;
2: Green City;
2: Bottle Imp;
1: Ark Nova;
1: Power Grid;
1: Covenant;
1: Black Forest;
1: Orléans;
1: Apiary;
1: Emberheart;
1: Yonder;
1: Ahoy;
1: Bohemians;
1: Skara Brae;
1: Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition;
1: Dewan;
1: 6 nimmt!;
1: Cities;
1: Legendary: A DC Deck Building Game;
1: New York Zoo;
1: Cartographers;
1: Firm with Brownies;
1: Flippers;
1: Pandemic: The Cure;
1: Space Park;
1: Splendor: Marvel;
1: Eternal Sevens;
1: Codex Naturalis;
1: Omens.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 26/09/2026

This is the weirdest phishing attempt I've ever seen: Visited a website on my mac and a captcha style popover appeared asking me to press "command-space" to open Spotlight, type in "Terminal" then press "command-v" before pressing the "verified" button. So I get […] [Original post on social.lol]

A dodgy shell command that echoes "I am not a robot" to the command line then decodes a long base64 string and executes it.

The decoded dodgy shell script that seems to be wanting to send off my command history.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 23/09/2026

I hadn't heard of _The Safekeep_ by Yael van der Wouden until my partner recommended it to me as he finished reading it. I guess I haven't been paying attention since it won the Women's Prize last year and was also Booker shortlisted. But I prefer a personal […] [Original post on social.lol]

A paperback copy of The Safekeep lying on a chair.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 17/09/2026

I was expecting _The Lifeline_ by Libby Page to be a pretty lightweight feel good read; and it was but it was also unexpectedly good at dealing with how tedious new motherhood can be and the darker side of mental health problems. The characters came alive when […] [Original post on social.lol]

Hardback copy of The Lifeline on a wooden table. The cover is dark blue water coloured with an illustration of a couple of swimmers with a red and white life ring.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 14/09/2026

And that's filled up the pages I set aside for my #SummerReadingChallenge and I'm impressed with myself for getting that done while the weather's still decently summery. Last year I finished two books in July, one in August and one in September; eventually […] [Original post on social.lol]

Hand drawn journal pages. A double page spread with Summer Reading Challenge 2026 written in big bright letters in the middle and fourteen books laid out and coloured in around the outside. Each book has a sticker attached to it too.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 14/09/2026

I picked up _Saoirse_ by Charleen Hurtubise after reading @alicemcalicepants's review of it, and it was great! It was a really captivating and human story about a teenager fleeing to Ireland on a stolen passport and then building up a life that threatens to come […] [Original post on social.lol]

A hardcover copy of Saoirse lying on a table. The tagline is "Can a great love survive a great deception?" which would have put me off by itself I think.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 05/09/2026

I finally got around to finishing this project I started in April. It was actually no more than 5 or 6 very relaxed hours of work to put together this #BookNook of a florist's shop to live on my bookshelf, it just got tidied away and forgotten about for a while […] [Original post on social.lol]

A lit up book nook between books on a bookshelf. It is a 3D model of a florists shop in an alleyway made of little pieces of wood.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 04/09/2026

I'm really pleased that I read a ton in August! Going away on a proper holiday for the first time in a while very much assisted me with getting seven books finished during the month. Last year I only got one finished in August and I feel much more like myself when […] [Original post on social.lol]

A graphic calendar showing the books I read in August and how many pages I read each day. The day I read the most was the 16th with 228 pages read that day.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 04/09/2026

I picked up _The Lie of the Land_ by Amanda Craig mostly because it had a puff from Alison Lurie on the back. I found it a frustratingly inconsistent look at modern Britain through the eyes of a divorcing couple who leave London for Devon. Written in 2017 it's […] [Original post on social.lol]

Hardback copy of The Lie of the Land lying on a wooden windowsill. The title is written on old roadsigns and nestled in overgrown plants.

Journal pages with Summer Reading Challenge in bright letters in the middle and thirteen hand drawn book covers around it. There are also stickers.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 02/09/2026

I’m quite impressed with getting the same number of #BoardGames plays in August as I did in July. During my holiday I missed my regular monthly day of big games but the offspring being home meant I got a few extras in. I bought expansions for both the two top […] [Original post on social.lol]

BG Stats 5 x 5.
Play count:
3: Forest Shuffle: Dartmoor;
2: Wyrmspan;
1: Tigris & Euphrates;
1: Civolution;
1: Puerto Rico;
1: Nucleum;
1: Distilled;
1: El Grande;
1: Path of Civilization;
1: Yonder;
1: Viticulture Essential Edition;
1: Dewan;
1: Tokaido;
1: The White Castle;
1: Cartographers;
1: Fromage;
1: Billabong Race;
1: So Clover!;
1: Splendor: Marvel;
1: Tax the Rich;
1: The Gang;
1: Hot Streak;
1: Mountain Goats;
1: Castle Combo;
1: Hummingbirds.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 29/08/2026

Two nice bike rides from my holiday: One hilly one from Port Isaac to Polzeath. I enjoyed getting some downhill coasting in for a change. nocto.com/photoposts/ride-to-polzea… And one nice flat one along the Camel trail that I persuaded my partner to […] [Original post on social.lol]

Welcome to Polzeath roadsign with pots of flowers in front of it. My bike is lurking against the wall behind it as the road was so steep I couldn't get it to rest against the sign.

My bike next to a green Camel Trail sign

My bike on an old railway bridge with a view of Padstow beyond

My bike in front of a sign post labelled Roscarrock, It's 1 1/4 miles to Portquin, and a mile to either St Endellion or Port Isaac

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 28/08/2026

_Dangerous Ages_ by Rose Macaulay was a good read! It was written (and set) in 1920 and jumps around between various female members of the same family, the youngest is late teens, the eldest is 84 and looks at their lives and opinions. Not a great deal of plot but […] [Original post on social.lol]

Paperback copy of Dangerous Ages on the edge of a picnic blanket on a sandy beach.

Hand drawn journal page that's nearly full of illustrations of book covers. There are 12 different books drawn in with reading dates between 4th July and 24th August. In the middle of the page is a brightly coloured "Summer Reading Challenge" in big letters.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 27/08/2026

The second book with a Cornish setting that I read on holiday in Cornwall was _Light Over Liskeard_ by Louis de Bernières. I went into it blind and wasn't expecting it to be a near future dystopia story about a guy preparing for the end of the world by restoring a […] [Original post on social.lol]

Hardback copy of Light Over Liskeard lying on the edge of a picnic blanket on a sandy beach.

Pages of a dot grid journal with hand drawn graphics. In the middle it says Summer Reading Challenge 2026 in big bright letters and around the edges are the hand drawn covers of the 11 books I've read so far and some summery stickers.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 24/08/2026

I searched the library catalogue for books set in Cornwall and _The Sea Gate_ by Jane Johnson was one of the books I found. It was just what I wanted for holiday reading. A two handed narrative switching between the modern day and the second world war in Cornwall […] [Original post on social.lol]

A hardback copy of The Sea Gate book featuring a green painted wooden gate lying on a wooden picnic bench of about the same colour.

Hand drawn journal pages with Summer Reading Challenge in large brightly coloured letters. There are now ten hand drawn book covers added to the pages as well as stickers.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 22/08/2026

I finished _Love and Other Crimes_ by Sara Paretsky just before I went on holiday. Happy to have it out of the way! I'm just not a short story person even when one of my favourite authors is (mostly) writing about one of my favourite characters. #BookReview #Bookstodon #Books

A hardback library copy of Love and Other Crimes - a black cover picturing a gold heart shaped padlock and key.

my hand drawn summer reading challenge journal pages with a handdrawn cover of Love and Other Crimes added to it.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 10/08/2026

I picked up _The Millstone_ by Margaret Drabble in a second hand bookshop last week. I've read three of her books before and enjoyed the later ones more. This is an early one, and quite celebrated, and I did enjoy it a lot. Published in 1965, it's the story of a […] [Original post on social.lol]

Paperback Penguin books cover of The Millstone with a pop art cover painted by Allen Jones - my brain can make no sense of the image, which is probably the idea, there are brightly coloured strokes and the vagues suggestion of figures including a couple of legs and a tie.

Hand drawn journal page with Summer Reading Challenge in big bright letters in the centre and numerous hand drawn books around it. The latest is a bad copy of the millstone cover and has a flower sticker next to it.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 08/08/2026

I felt like I was probably on board with the ideas in _Inside the Box_ by David Epstein - before I began. That given infinite time and resources we just engage in endless scope creep and do much better and more creative things with a few limits. The first half of […] [Original post on social.lol]

Bright orange hardback book of Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better by David Epstein lying on brick paving.

Handdrawn journal pages with Summer Reading Challenge in big bright letters in the centre. There are handdrawn book covers on the first page and an orange hand drawn copy of Inside the Box on the second page, accompanied by a sticker of a cat in a pink glass.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 07/08/2026

I’ve been out #foraging blackberries again. I’ve picked these since childhood so I know exactly what I’m looking for. I noticed the clusters of berries in the photo and I’m pretty certain they are elderberries? Would appreciate it if someone could confirm for me […] [Original post on social.lol]

Small black berries in clusters on a tree. I think they are elderberries.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 03/08/2026

_Howards End_ by EM Forster was really fabulous and is going straight onto my favourite novels list (not that I know what else is on it, but hey). A 1910 novel about class that nailed sexism as well while it was at it. Some great characters and eminently readable […] [Original post on social.lol]

A hand drawn journal page with Summer Reading Challenge in big bright letters in the middle and six hand drawn book covers around it. The last is a drawing of the Howards End cover and there's a heart sticker next to it.

Paperback copy of Howards End with a bucolic view of a cluster of houses in green hills below blue skies.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 02/08/2026

If I can’t sleep in, and it seems I can’t any more, then being out on my bike along the canal early on a sunny Sunday morning is a good second best. Cheshire Oaks is quite pleasant before the shops open and the people arrive. nocto.com/photoposts/canalside-trail #BikeTooter #cycling

my bike leaning against a marker for the canalside trail, big metal thing telling me it's 8 3/4 miles back to Chester, there are cutouts in the metal making a canalboat scene against the sky

looking down from the roving bridge over the canal, the bridge twists under itself so that a horse pulling a boat can switch sides of the canal without unhitching

massive amounts of weed floating in the canal

dappled sunlight on the brickwork of a viaduct crossing the canal

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 01/08/2026

My #Storygraph #Reading stats for July are a marked improvement on last year. Last year I only finished two #Books and this year five. Last year I read 475 pages, this year 2234. I’m keeping up the #SummerReadingChallenge during August and (hopefully!) overflowing into the next page of my notebook.

Calendar graphic showing that I finished five books in July as well as reading parts of three more. The calendar shows how many pages I read each day. The high was 230 pages on Saturday 4th, the low was 13 pages on Wednesday 15th.

Hand drawn journal page with Summer Reading Challenge in big brightly coloured in letters in the middle of the page surrounded by hand drawn covers of five books and one as yet undrawn book cover.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 01/08/2026

July’s #BoardGames were 28 plays of 23 different games. In a surprising twist the top two - Bombbusters & Eternal Decks - are both coop games that proved hits with my Tuesday night group who are usually the super competitive medium-heavy Euro game type. As much as […] [Original post on social.lol]

BG Stats 5 x 5.
Play count:
5: Bomb Busters;
2: Eternal Decks;
1: Nations;
1: SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence;
1: Paris;
1: Creature Caravan;
1: Yonder;
1: Forest Shuffle: Dartmoor;
1: Goldbräu;
1: Seas of Havoc;
1: Stonespine Architects;
1: The Bloody Inn;
1: Modern Art;
1: Origin Story;
1: Backpacks & Blisters (second edition);
1: Dewan;
1: Cartographers;
1: Torchlit;
1: Deep Sea Adventure;
1: Framework;
1: Space Explorers;
1: Codex Naturalis;
1: Stomp the Plank.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 31/07/2026

Me and my mum took a trip to the #FestivalOfQuilts yesterday and a day really isn't enough time to do justice to all the great art on display as well as doing the rounds of the exhibitors and shopping. These are a few of the quilts that caught my eye and there's […] [Original post on social.lol]

a quilt with a red centre gradually fading to cream as it moves away from the centre. on top are tangled chains of words saying things like - democracy relies on mutual trust and a foundation of shared truth or it is under threat - stoking prejudice and division benefits a small and closed elite - and many other phrases

a quilt you need 3d glasses to view! it's a circle of sticks that jump out at you!

a quilted pictographic map of the river wye, this was made by a group called trease l, sylvia l, fiona b, linda t, linda r

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 31/07/2026

I took a trip to the #FestivalOfQuilts (NEC, UK) yesterday and I’ll post some pics of the display quilts later but first my haul. It’s pretty much all dressmaking stuff as I have enough half finished quilt projects and didn’t want to add more. So now I have two […] [Original post on social.lol]

A pile of sewing things on a table.

- navy boiled wool to make a jacket, with a pattern
- blue/beige Breton stripe jersey to make a t-shirt
- navy flowered jersey to make a t-shirt
- boxy raglan top pattern that I might use with either of the jersey fabrics
- some “me made” woven labels to add to homemade garments
- a fat quarter of laminated fabric with bikes on
- plus a pair of earrings that caught my eye.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 25/07/2026

A sequel to a book I'd really enjoyed by a favourite author meant that there was never much chance I wouldn't enjoy _Love Lane_ by Patrick Gale and it was indeed a really good read. It's now the 1950s and Harry Cane from the previous novel _A Place Called Winter_ […] [Original post on social.lol]

Hardback copy of Love Lane by Patrick Gale with a cover featuring a 1950s car at sunset watching an ocean liner pull in to Liverpool docks.

A hand drawn journal page with Summer Reading Challenge written in bright letters in the middle and five hand drawn book covers surrounding it. Also stickers of flowers and butterflies and ice lollies.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 19/07/2026

Nice bike ride along the Burton Marsh Greenway stopping for a coffee and heading home the same way again because it was so nice. nocto.com/photoposts/default-ride #cycling #BikeTooter

My bike with a boat on sunny marshland with no sea in sight.

Latte and a swedish vanilla knot in a coffee shop

The view from Saltney Ferry footbridge, a long straight river to cycle next to.

Sheep clustering near a gate saying "Private Property". Their's presumably!

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 19/07/2026

I really glad I finally got around to reading _Beloved_ by Toni Morrison because it's an absolute masterpiece of both storytelling and writing. It's obviously tough to read in places considering the subject matter is slavery. It was difficult to review because I […] [Original post on social.lol]

Paperback copy of Beloved by Toni Morrison lying on the arm of a wickerwork garden chair.

Handdrawn journal page with Summer Reading Challenge in bright letters in the middle and four hand drawn and coloured books around it.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 12/07/2026

I picked up _The Trouble with Goats and Sheep_ by Joanna Cannon as I'd read one of the author's books a couple of years back and really enjoyed it. This was a delightful book too. Set in a suburban cul-de-sac during the 1976 heatwave. It starts with the […] [Original post on social.lol]

A paperback copy of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep lying on a table. The blue cover has a picture of a goat in the middle. I think, or it might be a sheep. I think that might be the point of the picture or I just might be bad at recognising animals.

Journal page with Summer Reading Challenge drawn in big bright letters. Now with three books coloured in and this time I found a sticker of an ice lolly to add which seemed appropriate for a book set in a heatwave.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 09/07/2026

I've been reading _What We Cannot Know_ by Marcus du Sautoy for several months, after several years of it loitering in my bedside table stack of books. My #SummerReadingChallenge finally persuaded me to finish it. It's an exploration of the edges of scientific […] [Original post on social.lol]

Cover of What we cannot Know: From consciousness to the cosmos, the cutting edge of science explained. Paperback copy lying on a garden table.

Handdrawn journal page with Summer Reading Challenge in big letters and now two books coloured in around it. Also stickers!

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 04/07/2026

Yep, as soon as I set myself a #SummerReadingChallenge my inner over-achieving hare jumps out ready to take on the race. I read the latter half of _The Killing Time_ by Elly Griffiths today. It’s a time travelling mystery that’s fun when it’s time travelling but […] [Original post on social.lol]

Hardback copy of The Killing Time sitting on a wicker table.

My summer reading challenge journal page with a bad drawing of the cover of The Killing Time filled in in one of the empty book slots.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 04/07/2026

Last summer I had a real reading slump and barely read anything. I’ve already struggled to read through June. So I obviously need a sensible grown up approach to entice myself to read more this summer. Now I think I need to go and acquire some stickers too! […] [Original post on social.lol]

A hand drawn journal page with summer reading challenge written in big brightly coloured in letters in the middle of the page and six empty book outlines drawn around it. A stack of pens is on the page below.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 01/07/2026

Here’s my #StoryGraph #reading stats for June. Beginning of the month was very slow for reading as I was travelling and peopling and generally being worn out. Near the end of the month I suddenly found my brain didn’t want to do anything but read and knocked off two books in four days.

Calendar showing the four books I read in June. Top reading day was the 24th with 169 pages read. Six days had no reading at all.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 01/07/2026

I got 26 #BoardGames in during June, weirdly exactly the same number as in May. Quite happy with that! Continuing to enjoy Yonder & Skara Brae and introduce them to new players. I had a chance to play Speakeasy too and really liked how thematic it felt. Looking […] [Original post on social.lol]

BG Stats 5 x 5.
Play count:
3: Yonder;
2: Skara Brae;
1: Speakeasy;
1: Concordia;
1: London;
1: Planet Unknown;
1: Northern Pacific;
1: It's a Wonderful World;
1: New York Zoo;
1: Through the Desert;
1: Just One;
1: Cities;
1: Bomb Busters;
1: Cribbage;
1: Skull;
1: Slopes of Bordeaux;
1: Camel Up;
1: Courtisans;
1: Felix: The Cat in the Sack;
1: Codenames;
1: Trio;
1: Bandido;
1: Ticket to Ride: London.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 30/06/2026

_A Family Romance_ by Anita Brookner was a nice cool book to read in a heatwave. For the most part I enjoyed the young narrator telling the life of her aunt Dolly. The book was published elsewhere under the title 'Dolly' but personally I thought the juxtaposition […] [Original post on social.lol]

Paperback copy of A Family Romance by Anita Brookner.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 29/06/2026

Twenty years ago I read one of Kate Grenville's books and thought it was great and I should read some more soon. I get there eventually! _Restless Dolly Maunder_ tells the story of Dolly, born on an Australian sheep farm in 1881 and how she grows up and tries to […] [Original post on social.lol]

Hardback copy of Restless Dolly Maunder by Kate Grenville.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 28/06/2026

I picked up _Death Goes On Skis_ by Nancy Spain because the green Virago Classics spine stood out among all the copy cat crime novel covers. Unfortunately the 1940s comic novel within the covers didn't really gel with me. I think the author is probably way. more […] [Original post on social.lol]

Paperback edition of Death Goes on Skis featuring a nice old travel poster style illustration of a woman skiing down a mountain.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 21/06/2026

#3GoodThings 🌺Coming across a bright and beautiful field of poppies by the cycle path. ☕️Remembered to use up one of my free reward point coffees before I paid for it. 🍞 Cleaned a small mountain of crumbs out of the toaster.

A field of red poppies under a cloudy sky.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 19/06/2026

#3GoodThings 🍛 The offspring made me an egg fried rice veggie stir fry for lunch. 👖 Lots of laundry washed and dried. 🌄Figured out a way to get my instagram posts imported on to my website. Some hassle but it'll be worth it to have my archive where I own it.

A pretty bowl with lots of egg fried rice and veg in it.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 17/06/2026

All I wanted to do was put my review of _Love and Friendship_ by Alison Lurie up and I ended up in website software upgrade hell, which is hopefully obscured enough now that it's not obvious, though I doubt everything works. Anyway, this is Lurie's first adult […] [Original post on social.lol]

Vintage Classics paperback edition of Love and Friendship by Alison Lurie featuring a black and white 1960s-ish photo of a young woman in a car.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 09/06/2026

Here's my belated #reading roundup for May. I was off travelling and visiting family last week and then my internet went down when I got home. I've just about caught up on my sleep and have enough energy to do non-essential stuff now! I kept my reading streak […] [Original post on social.lol]

Graphic showing the books I read each day of May. Five books completed, another couple in progress. Top reading day was Friday 22nd with 173 pages read.

Paperback copy of Ink Ribbon Red by Alex Pavesi sitting on a windowsill. The cover has a typewriter illustrated with pages flying out of it. The tagline is "Six friends. Six suspects. One weekend to solve a murder."

Hardback copy of Same As It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo sitting on a blanket. The cover illustration is a really nice artwork of houses on a hill, they kind of reminded me of Yorkshire even though the book is actually set in Chicago. I looked the artist up and the artwork is based in Maine though.

Hardback copy of The Astral Library by Kate Quinn on the edge of a windowsill. The cover features books on library shelves and the tagline "Have you ever wished you could live inside a book?"

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 14/05/2026

I spotted _Kin_ by Tayari Jones as a new release at a newly opened bookshop and couldn't resist it as I'd really enjoyed a couple of her previous books. The setting is smalltown Louisiana in the 1950s, Vernice and Annie have grown up together and the story starts […] [Original post on social.lol]

Hardback copy of Kin by Tayari Jones sitting on a knitted blanket.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 13/05/2026

I took this photo intending to post it for #WIPWednesday last week, but then forget to post. But I’ve barely done any more #knitting since then so the pic is still pretty accurate. I put the first sleeve onto a thread of yarn to hold the stitches while I knit the […] [Original post on social.lol]

A blue and white fair isle jumper with the body and one sleeve mostly knitted. The other sleeve is still on the needles with a ball of off white wool attached.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 02/05/2026

My #BoardGames plays for April were pretty varied. ISS Vanguard comes in at the top. I played the tutorial by myself when my partner bought it in 2022, then we played the tutorial together again in 2024. We finally jumped into the campaign in 2026, and arsed up a […] [Original post on social.lol]

BG Stats 5 x 5.
Play count:
8: ISS Vanguard;
2: Unstoppable;
2: Trendy;
2: Tsuro;
1: Anno 1800: The Board Game;
1: Galactic Cruise;
1: Power Grid;
1: Everdell;
1: Forest Shuffle: Dartmoor;
1: New Frontiers;
1: Yamataï;
1: Skara Brae;
1: Forest Shuffle;
1: 6 nimmt!;
1: Etherstone;
1: Square One;
1: Calico;
1: Torchlit;
1: Union Station;
1: My Shelfie;
1: 7 Wonders Dice;
1: Flip 7;
1: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – Trick-Taking Game.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 02/05/2026

Last summer I got into a reading slump & I was determined not to do the same this summer. But here we are, it’s only April and my reading is already drifting away from me. Only two books read, both of which were decent but I haven’t written reviews for either yet […] [Original post on social.lol]

Calendar showing that I read two books in April and didn’t read anything at all on eight days of the month.

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Kirsty Darbyshire @nocto.social.lol.ap.brid.gy · 22/04/2026

I added a few more bits to the #BookNook. It’s super fiddly and makes me feel like I have giant fingers so I’ve been putting it off a bit. There’s a very small door handle that went flying out of my hand as I tried to push it onto the door that I’m going to have […] [Original post on social.lol]

A book nook model of a florists shop taking shape with various wood, twine & plastic flowers in pots, wooden signs, a bench with a book and a cup on it, and a tiny plastic cat.

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