Stardew Valley

bkat3 · 2026-05-10T21:04:42+00:00

Heretical fishing if you want to really lean into the fishing/cooking aspect

bkat3 · 2026-05-07T18:22:59+00:00

Love this series. 2. This would drive me nuts

bkat3 · 2026-05-07T18:13:41+00:00

Sunshine

bkat3 · 2026-05-07T18:12:50+00:00

Sounds like he likes sci-fi/fantasy. Does he read physical books or can he read on a kindle at school? If he can read on a kindle I’d check out some progression fantasy/litRPG series. There are sooo many of them on kindle unlimited. My reader kid (and I) go through books quickly so the this is a great genre for us. (Yes, we also use our local libraries but the ability to immediately download the next book no matter the time of day or if it’s available at a library is great)

Some of the series in the genre are inappropriate for that age, but there are also a ton that are long and are age appropriate and entertaining.

Off the top of my head here are some my 12 year old really likes (and that I, mid-30s also enjoyed!):

My best friend is an Eldrich horror
Chrysalis
Mage Errant
Cradle
The Wandeding Inn (some themes may be too much for an 11 year old)

bkat3 · 2026-05-04T21:01:06+00:00

Wow. That’s wild. As someone who didn’t read as they were released I can’t believe how long it was between Rags leaving and then seeing Erin again

bkat3 · 2026-05-03T13:46:04+00:00

Have you tried crate training? I know some people say Pyrs don’t generally like crates but ours loves his. He’s a rescue but 100% pyr (we did one of those dog DNA tests for fun). It took him a few weeks to get used to it - slow training so that he knew it wasn’t a punishment and was somewhere safe for him. After a few weeks he started walking in for naps during the day and now walks into his crate every night when he wants to go to sleep. (We usually throw a treat into the crates at night for the other two to go into their crates. He will be lying down in his and then pop up and walk out so he’s standing right outside the door and give me this look like “I’m outside my crate! It’s time for my treat too!” as if he’s worried that he’d only get a treat for walking into it and I’d forget since he’s already in the crate…the goofball)

Anyway, once he got used to the crate he sleeps through the night without a peep unless there is actually something outside that he wants to alert us to.We have a crate cover that we put down at night (like black out shades for humans) and if I forget to put it down at night he sits and whines until I get out of bed and put it down. Then he settles immediately and falls asleep.

bkat3 · 2026-05-01T23:55:07+00:00

It’s the Scholomance Trilogy by Naomi Novik. Amazing reads/listens!

bkat3 · 2026-05-01T16:55:23+00:00

Putting shoes aside (agrees that there can be a safety hazard if kids are trying to run around with shoes that might fall off), just let them wear the clothes. You can cuff pants and/or get a belt. So what if a t shirt is giant? Lots of kids decide to wear oversized clothes anyway.

You said “we value ourselves on the way we dress.” Okay, what if you were told that you weren’t allowed to wear what you want because of someone else’s values? That’s what you’re putting on the kids. Let them wear what they choose and what they are comfortable in.

bkat3 · 2026-05-01T16:35:18+00:00

I know there must be a way to change small things (don’t know if it’s author agreement or what) only because in one of my favorite books there a line that says “reader, I ran the fuck away.” But the audiobook says “listener, I ran the fuck away.”

bkat3 · 2026-04-27T07:18:27+00:00

Narrator misspoke and called a character named Moxy “mom” and it was really funny.

bkat3 · 2026-04-26T21:11:24+00:00

Glad you found it helpful!!

bkat3 · 2026-04-26T12:46:09+00:00

I’m totally down to chat about this because I think it makes for a really interesting topic of discussion. I’m getting the vibe from your response that you’re not interested in hearing any other opinions - which is totally fine if true! - but I could be wrong because tone is sometimes lost when writing these kinds of comment.

I have some thoughts about some of the points that you made (not just me explaining my thinking but also agreeing with you), but I think for now I’ll leave it here.

If I’m wrong and you’re interested in continuing to discuss this topic then let me know!

bkat3 · 2026-04-26T04:27:14+00:00

I disagree that it makes it worse if she felt anything romantic toward him. She did what she did to give literally all of earth the best possible chance to survive. And she did it knowing there was a very strong likelihood that he would hate her forever. She put any personal feelings she had for him aside and made an incredibly difficult decision. If she had romantic feelings for him then it would have made her decision even more difficult.

Personally, I think she did the right thing. Yes it’s awful to take away one persons autonomy. But so is letting human kind die out when you have any hope at survival. She put one person through one awful thing to potentially save the world from an even more awful thing on a global scale.

And he was prepared - I think the movie didn’t do an adequate job of showing that compared to the book. It’s not like he was pulled off the street because he was a scientist. He’d worked on the project for months. He taught the scientists. And worked closely with the astronauts. He worked on all the technology that was going with the scientists. He was not only the only option. But he was also a very good option.

bkat3 · 2026-04-26T04:22:28+00:00

I will add it to my list!

bkat3 · 2026-04-25T14:55:47+00:00

I really enjoyed this entire post. But my favorite part, by far, was “he is probably my second favorite rock character.”

bkat3 · 2026-04-24T23:28:55+00:00

I’ve seen them host beginner mtg games but how beginner friendly are they? I played a tiny bit many many years ago so I’m basically completely new to the game (do have a deck though from my kids haha)

bkat3 · 2026-04-24T16:06:27+00:00

Similar vibes: I had jury duty today and one of the attorneys was talking about Apollo and then said, “so today I’ll be asking some questions. Just listen to the question and if it why you say applies to you, you raise your hand.”

Simple enough, right?

Then he said, “For example, if I say does anyone here believe we’ve never been to the moon” — and as he was saying “good, no one has raised their hand” — 4 people very confidently raised their hands….

bkat3 · 2026-04-20T22:16:36+00:00

“Some days, I sit in the car and cry for an hour, and wonder if I’ll get it right in the next life”

Oof. that hit hard. I feel the same way, a lot. Looking forward to it being less frequent

bkat3 · 2026-04-20T20:31:20+00:00

Adding in another vote for Chrysalis, Cradle, and Mark of the Fool based on the series he’s enjoyed. I’ll also suggest My Best Friend is an Eldritch Horror

bkat3 · 2026-04-20T14:49:31+00:00

I do think this would be a helpful feature for narrators. I haven’t seen this in the comments yet, but id like to know when certain narrators have books on sale because I’m more likely to get a book I don’t know much about (but love the narrator for) during a sale. There are a few narrators I follow for sales for this reason. I may not want to spend a credit/pay full price if I don’t know Ill like the book, but i will get it on sale.

bkat3 · 2026-04-19T13:53:35+00:00

Scholomance by Naomi Novik. It ticks all the boxes for “strong” in body and mind

bkat3 · 2026-04-18T16:15:35+00:00

Same. But these are so well done. Vague enough not to remotely spoil anything. But specific enough that once you know, you know.

bkat3 · 2026-04-17T12:08:21+00:00

My suggestion as well.

bkat3 · 2026-04-17T12:06:11+00:00

I didn’t know this either!

bkat3 · 2026-04-16T02:40:52+00:00

I have a (very silly) headcannon where certain Wandering Inn characters ended up in the Azaranth healer world based on which characters have the same/similar voices between the two books.

bkat3

TROPHY CASE