Babyliography CCXXXII

Paul Sloane and Des MacHale, Great Lateral Thinking Puzzles

1994 / Ebook / 96 pages

****

Clever classics and ridiculous stretches, both types entertaining.

Zanna Davidson and Barbara Bongini, Fairy Ponies: Unicorn Prince

2014 / Hardback / 96 pages

**

Short-sightedly incompatible with the later Fairy Unicorns spin-off, but parallel evolution could explain it.

Linda Chapman and Biz Hull, My Secret Unicorn: The Magic Spell

2002 / Paperback / 128 pages

***

We started again after not getting far the first time. She already greedily wants more books advertised on the back of her six-book gift set, but we have to put the work in first.

Catherine Baker and Carl Morris, Collins Big Cat Phonics for Letters and Sounds: Dragon Owner's Manual

2020 / School book / 24 pages

**

She picked up on the disconnect between what's being claimed vs what's actually being shown. She didn't find it funny, but she got it.

Linda Chapman and Biz Hull, My Secret Unicorn: Dreams Come True

2002 / Paperback / 128 pages

**

Backtracking from more recent secret unicorn friend series, it's clear those are copying these ones beat for beat, unless the debt goes further back. At least the cover art kept the other horse's identity ambiguous this time.

Babyliography CCXXXI

Various, My Little Pony: Friends Forever, Volume 6

2015-16 (collected 2016) / Paperback / 104 pages

***

Pinkie Pie comic stories are pretty much her favourite My Little Pony stories, even if none will compare to the Noms story.

Stephen Mulhern, Unbelievable!: The Secrets of Magic Revealed

2025 / Library book / 96 pages

**

A cornucopia of unimpressive tricks, but she liked the lipstick one.

Ben Hubbard, Collins Big Cat Phonics for Letters and Sounds: Sharks

2021 / School book / 24 pages

***

Not as scary as it would have been a few months ago. These books seem designed to desensitise.

Emily Grossman, DK Findout!: Science

2016 / Library book / 64 pages

****

The answers to many of her questions, explained more clearly than I'm able to on the walk to school.

Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

1911 / Hardback / 10 of 200 pages

***

At her insistence, we got through a chapter of this literary classic at bedtime, but she didn't express interest again.

Best of 2025, Not from 2025

Cataloguing a now-40-year-old's increasingly juvenile entertainment picks from the past year, even when he wasn't hanging out with his kid. Not usually things that were released within the past year, unless they were suitably retro.

On the Omnibuses: December 2025

Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol and Other Haunting Tales

The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton (1836) ***

Really an excerpt from The Pickwick Papers, this short festive fancy features a proto-Scrooge and what I could only imagine as muppets, not to its detriment.

To Be Taken with a Grain of Salt (1865) **

I think this was his last Christmas story, or the last one I'm prepared to bother with at any rate. At the end of the journey, I can report the totally unforeseen discovery that A Christmas Carol was actually the best one (though I liked The Chimes well enough too).

Rhys Hughes, Yule Do Nicely: A Ghostly and Weird Advent Calendar

****

A nice excuse to read (or re-read) a variably whimsical story a day (more often two every other day due to forgetfulness). I've saved the bonus stocking assortment for next year.

And they were doing so well

Alrightreads: TV XXIII

Joe Haldeman, Star Trek: World Without End

1979 / Audiobook / 150 pages

***

Another early literary trek unburdened by the anxiety of influence or awareness that they did the same story on the show.

Jack C. Haldeman II, Star Trek: Perry's Planet

1980 / Audiobook / 132 pages

***

A more character-focused exploration of the human condition from the elder Haldeman brother, who seems to have watched more of the show.

Claudia Gray, The X-Files: Perihelion

2024 / Audiobook / 310 pages

**

I couldn't remember how the TV revival had left things, not being worthy enough of my mental space, but this picks up some time later for a one-off case, like the disappointing second movie did, but as a disappointing novel.

Tony Attwood, Blake's 7: Afterlife

1984 / Audiobook / 218 pages

***

An authentic if unexciting continuation of the series that would have worked, but since it wasn't followed up, ending on a less memorable cliffhanger is way worse than the legendary finale the show had.

Mark Morris, Doctor Who: Forever Autumn

2007 / Audiobook / 240 pages

***

I can't recall them ever having made an official Halloween episode off hand. Something like this would have sufficed, though would hardly have been an iconic holiday classic.

Ranking Star Trek: The Next Generation season two

As a young Trekkie sitting patiently through these early repeats before the BBC finally got to the good stuff, I was firmly in the camp that Riker's beard alone is not a reliable gauge of story quality. But nostalgia and curiosity eventually won out, and I returned for more punishment... and was pleasantly surprised.

Season two is still a bit stilted, dingy and sometimes embarrassing, but unlike the first, there's more good stuff than bad. I'd probably take these tentative voyages through a distinctly creepy cosmos over the worn-out final season too.

Ranking the major old-school Carcassonne expansions (except The Catapult)

The competitive medieval landscaping jigsaw Carcassonne is infamous for churning out unnecessary expansions, but if you really like the game, the more the merrier (except the universally unpopular The Catapult, it seems. I'm not going to pay £50+ to confirm).

I'm not interested in the standalone spin-offs, but collecting and mixing in as many compatible modules as possible makes for more dynamic games, even if it means having to look up fiddly rules every now and then (and if your stack is already overflowing the tile tower or bag, it's best to impose a time limit for sanity).

But which are the most worthwhile of the major expansions, and am I obviously just going to say the first two, like everyone else does? Here's my incomplete ranking, based on the long-out-of-print first editions to be extra useful for consumers in 2026.

Alrightgames: Carcassonne – Wheel of Fortune

Carcassonne: Wheel of Fortune

2014 (Big Box 5 version) / Tile placement board game expansion / 2-8 players

**

Move the pink pig for variably convoluted rewards or punishment. One of the most garish and pointless Carcassonne expansions (why is it part of the landscape?! How do they stand on it??!!), I didn't expect it would end up in my collection, but that's what fate decreed when it was chucked into a bundle with the more tempting Hills & Sheep.

Like The School, it's a fun mini-game at first, but becomes an annoying distraction as it goes on. We don't have to use it, but the wheel icons on the base tiles will nag.

Alrightgames: Carcassonne – Hills & Sheep

Carcassonne: Hills & Sheep

2014 (Big Box 5 version) / Tile placement board game expansion / 2-6 players

****

My most desired expansion after Traders & Builders, I thought it'd have to stay that way, with the original edition being so rare and expensive and the affordable alternative being mismatched art. But then I noticed a misspelled Big Box listing under the radar on eBay and my indoor agricultural dreams came true.

Hills ***

Nicer in theory than practice, their tie-breaking function doesn't come up often, and if you're combining expansions, they're going to make your barns and castles wobbly. They're most interesting for taking some blind tiles out of play, assuming you were planning on playing to the bitter end anyway.

Shepherds and Sheep ****

Welcoming a new cast member for some low-stakes gambling that will hopefully amuse the younger player, helped out by a couple of perma-sheep grazing along the banks of the River III. Just try not to forget that they're there.

Vineyards ***

Finally giving cloisters their equivalent of the Inns & Cathedrals (if you manage to get them in there), this rounds out the original expansion series nicely. Some vineyards also feature on River III for good measure.