Workreads I

Secretly reading ebooks on my phone while colleagues probably assume I'm doomscrolling social media like a normal person.

Alex Horne, Birdwatchingwatching

2009 / Ebook / 384 pages

****

Littler Alex Horne embarks on a Hawks/Gorman/Wallace-esque kerrazy kwest for a year. I do like these silly things, though, and the enthusiasm and callbacks kept me hooked. It would also have been very educational about birds if I thought I was going to retain any of it.

Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – The Captain's Table – The Mist

1998 / Ebook / 271 pages

***

Maybe it was bad reviews that had always put me off from trying my preferred DS9 flavour of this nicely themed crossover series I'd enjoyed at the time and since, or maybe it was the off-model Sisko likeness that extends to such basic errors as the wormhole leading to the Delta Quadrant rather than the Gamma Quadrant, et al. A forgettably generic tale, not improved by the frequent, annoying interruptions, but it was still a nice return trip.

Robin Stoate and Andrew Shail, Back to the Future

2019 / Ebook / 96 pages

****

Stuffy academic revelations on genre and context that enhanced my appreciation even further.

John Cavanagh, Pink Floyd's The Piper at the Gates of Dawn

2003 / Ebook / 136 pages

***

Informative if bland background notes.

Alrightgames: Pulp Invasion! X1

Pulp Invasion! X1

2021 / Bag building card game expansion / 1 player

**

Resold

An essential expansion if you want to convert the doomed solo mission into a competitive space duel, but it offers very little for players who aren't interested in doing that. It came with my second-hand base game, but it wasn't worth keeping for a few extra cards.

Alrightgames: Pulp Invasion!

Pulp Invasion!

2020 / Bag-building card game / 1 player

***

Resold

It wasn't my first cubes-based solo space game, but it was my first bag-building game, and this novelty and the vintage space art persuaded me to keep coming back for more punishment for a while. I liked how it all worked, but less that there didn't seem to be any possibility of winning without investing in expansions that retroactively balance the difficulty, which is a bit cheeky.

Alrightgames: Star Trek Star Realms – Borg Invasion (DIY)

Star Trek: Star Realms – Borg – Invasion (DIY Solo Mode)

2025 / Deckbuilding card game variant / 1 player

***

As a straight-up reskin of Star Realms for Star Trek fans who'll only play a game about battling spaceships if it's clumsily pasted over with pictures of the specific spaceships they're already familiar with, I had no interest in the pointless spin-off – until they released an expansion with some unique elements that were easy (if quite fiddly) to mock up using the standard sets.

Getting to play as the Borg and assimilating your friends and family could be fun, but the solo mode felt like more hassle than it was worth compared to the alternatives (even if I wasn't substituting spare authority trackers and non-ship/base trade cards for the components), and even a bit annoying. The drones are basically Fluxx zombies, but even less amusing.

Alrightgames: Basic Fantasy Adventure – Temple of the Moon (Adapted)

Basic Fantasy Adventure: Temple of the Moon (Adapted)

2015 / Roleplaying game adventure / 2+ players

****

A creepy church and its cursed basement were supposed to test our patience and stretch our session length a little, but the fearless/foolish young hero made such a racket that the slimy and spooky baddies came to us and saved us the hassle of exploring. That also gave me an idea for the convenient resolution I hadn't worked out ahead of time.

Babyliography CCLIII

Becca Heddle, Oxford Reading Tree: Explore with Biff, Chip and Kipper – At Sunset

2018 / Library book / 12 pages

**

Not getting around to any of her more appealing summer library books to get her final reading challenge sticker because she was too busy with her own Baby-Sitters Club non-library books (which she reckons don't count), I suggested looking for the shortest read possible while also checking off some non-fiction learning at the same time, and this was our almost insultingly simple solution. Just get it bloody done. I'm confident I'm giving the right lessons.

Ann M. Martin and Ellen T. Crenshaw, The Baby-Sitters Club: Stacey's Mistake

2023 / Paperback / 160 pages

***

The squabbles are predictably repetitive now, but she enjoyed the change of scenery.

Joe King, Knock Knock Jokes for Kids

2019 / Library book / 176 pages

**

The first one we tried didn't even make sense and it was downhill from there.

Ann M. Martin and Arley Nopra, The Baby-Sitters Club: Claudia and the Bad Joke

2023 / Paperback / 160 pages

***

Like Karen's Roller Skates, but with more of the leg and the usual Claudia melodrama.

Ann M. Martin and Ellen T. Crenshaw, The Baby-Sitters Club: Kristy and the Walking Disaster

2024 / Paperback / 160 pages

**

Summer reading wrapped up with our favourite subject: American sports! Come on you reds, etc!!!

Babyliography CCLII

Ann M. Martin, The Baby-Sitters Club: Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls

1986 / Ebook / 153 pages

**

Skipped in the graphic novel adaptations, we tried the first, comparatively long chapter for bedtime once, but didn't bother carrying on.

Ann M. Martin and Gabriela Epstein, The Baby-Sitters Club: Good-bye Stacey, Good-bye

2022 / Paperback / 160 pages

**

Still sad, but less devastating after the dog death one.

Ann M. Martin and Chan Chau, The Baby-Sitters Club: Jessi's Secret Language

2022 / Paperback / 160 pages

***

An especially wordy one, whether dispensing useful sign language instruction, emotional support or overly detailed ballet synopses.

Various, Senses: Hearing in Living Things

2000 / Hardback / 32 pages

**

Something boring but educational that showed up in Morrisons library to tick off reading and science home schooling for a couple of sessions, though we mainly added comedy yells and sound effects to the expressive photos.

Ann M. Martin and Cynthia Yuan Cheng, The Baby-Sitters Club: Mary Anne's Bad Luck Mystery

2022 / Paperback / 160 pages

***

We'd been looking forward to Best Baby-Sitter being back in the torchlight, and this charmingly dated and desperately uncreepy tale of cursed chain letters hit the spot.

Alrightreads: Risin' Up [From the Grave], Back on the Street

R. L. Stine, Fear Street: One Evil Summer

1994 / Ebook / 163 pages

****

Gaslighting and pet slaughter galore with one of the series' most wicked villains. This was a fun one.

R. L. Stine, 99 Fear Street: The House of Evil – The First Horror

1994 / Audiobook / 148 pages

****

The haunted house book you might have expected from the series all along, and way more intense than you'd expect if you'd been reading along. This is one I would have loved to have been traumatised by at the time.

R. L. Stine, 99 Fear Street: The House of Evil – The Second Horror

1994 / Audiobook / 155 pages

***

For a trilogy released in consecutive months, this comes off disappointingly like a belated retread.

R. L. Stine, 99 Fear Street: The House of Evil – The Third Horror

1994 / Audiobook / 163 pages

***

R. L. Stine's New Nightmare. This didn't exactly need to be three books. First horror was best horror.

R. L. Stine, Fear Street: The Mind Reader

1994 / Ebook / 160 pages

***

Not bad for a junior Twin Peaks, but it didn't do much for me.

Junior Gamesmaster: Tails of Equestria – Magice / Scary Lights (DIY)

My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria – Magice / Scary Lights

DIY roleplaying game adventures

A quick improv double feature before bedtime: one in the traditional mould, incorporating dice and pony standees, as we explored the Everfree Forest to find a potion to reverse a spell and save the day; the second a Monster High doll play session helping her to process her first optician visit.

Alrightgames: Basic Fantasy Adventure – The Tomb of Threy (Adapted)

Basic Fantasy Adventure: The Tomb of Threy (Adapted)

2014 / Roleplaying game adventure / 2+ players

***

This seems like it'd be a bit too basic to be a satisfying expedition for grown-up dorks, but it served as a Sunday afternoon quickie for earning our ponies some magical items, and the setting meant I finally got to use the Quarray Eel standee. The young player unexpectedly called in NPCs from previous adventures for assistance, represented by her toys. Story arcs take care of themselves.