#the 13 problems

[lokis-tardis-companion19]

Lindsey’s Books of the Month (January 2025)

Trying this to track what I read in a month and talk about the books I read!

I will not be doing a star rating system here. That’s for Goodreads.

Fourth Wing, Iron Flame, Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

Yes, I did read the entire Empyrean series (as it currently stands) within the month of January. Technically I started Fourth Wing (a present) on Christmas Day 2024, but with the stomach bug that ravaged my family/our Christmas break, it barely counts as a real start. But once I really started, I could not stop. By the time the 21st rolled around, my daughters knew how much I loved them and told everyone in line at Target “we’re here to get Mommy the Dragon Book.”

I have fallen so completely into this series. Violet is one of my favorite main characters—the way her anger is celebrated by those closest to her has honestly been healing for me. A lot of her struggles with her limitations/the spoilery things she is going through in Onyx Storm made me feel so SEEN (spouse of someone with a chronic illness, hi) and every character in here is fantastic.

And yeah, the dragons don’t hurt either.

Rebecca Yarros you are SO good and I hope your break is restorative for you (and passes quickly for the rest of us).

Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered: The Definitive How-To Guide by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

Karen and Georgia from MFM wrote a book awhile back and it was my winter True Crime Sauna Time book. Funny, insightful, and honestly a book early-20s Lindsey could have used. Highly recommend whether you are a Murderino or not.

Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion, vol. 1-3

These were a Christmas gift from my husband because the anime remains horribly, infuriatingly unfinished (they say they will, but I am not patient).

As Jill Bearup would say, the plot, it goeth thusly:

A young woman is pushed off a building and wakes up in the world and body of a character from her favorite novel. The only problem? She is now Raeliana MacMillan, whose murder spurs the main character of the novel, Beatrice, to solve the crime and avenge her dearest friend. Determined not to die again, Raeliana forges her own destiny and uses her knowledge of the novel to stay alive, including blackmailing the original novel’s MMC, Duke Noah Wynnight, into becoming her new fiancé so she can escape her original murderer. But Beatrice never shows up and Noah doesn’t seem so keen to call off their charade, even after her murderous original betrothed is caught.

It was a nice read between the high stakes of the Empyrean series because it has some of my favorite things: fake engagement of convenience to lovers (at least I hope so, they better not be teasing me), isekai but make it Period Romance (including the costumes!), and a heroine who is super smart. Will be getting the rest of the volumes, highly recommend.

The Grandmother Plot by Caroline B Cooney

This was a completely random read on Libby; the author is well-known for her Milk Carton series but I knew her better for Goddess of Yesterday (a junior high read I still think of often today). So I was scrolling through her Goodreads and found this.

An elderly woman in a dementia care center dies of a smothering, threatening the secrets of our two main narrators and many others in a small Connecticut town.

The characters here all have such depth and variation, and BITE. The descriptions of dementia and what it’s like to live with a loved one whose own mind is slipping away from them? Unflinching and heartbreaking. It was a dark comfort to me, the daughter of an 82-year-old man who has watched her father’s verve slip away after a series of strokes 6 years ago.

Love and Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe

From dark comfort to just plain comfort. This book is like the rom com equivalent of…like imagine Ryan and Shane from Buzzfeed Unsolved were a hetero couple.

Hallie as a character is able to find her voice and confidence with Noah. They support each other and see the best in each other so beautifully. It is a heartwarming book, both in terms of the romance and Noah’s DELICIOUS verbal takedowns of Hallie’s abusive ex.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

This I read aloud to my daughters over several nights in January. It was delightful to watch them fall in love with it, as I did at my eldest’s age.

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

This was actually my first Roald Dahl, so it felt like an appropriate follow up for bedtime reading. And I do not think it gets enough love.

The Appeal by Janice Hallett

This is a novel told entirely through correspondence, including emails and texts.

A local theater group is wrought with strife when the toddler daughter of a leading player is diagnosed with a brain tumor. They pull together to raise funds, but all is not as it (or they) appear. And someone is going to end up dead by opening night.

If you enjoy Agatha Christie, you will love this book. If you like any kind of good mystery, give it a go!

Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie

My January book for the Read Christie 2025 challenge. I have always loved the David Suchet version and am delighted to be delving into the book at last.

Sixteen years after Caroline Crale died convicted of the murder of her husband, their daughter comes to Hercule Poirot. She requests that he solve the murder and prove, as her mother attested in a letter, that Caroline Crale was innocent.

I will be finishing this book in February but I am loving it so far! (The David Suchet episode is excellent btw)

LOOKING AHEAD: February 2025

I plan to stay on the Read Christie train with The 13 Problems, which is a classic collection of Miss Marple stories. Might just read my entire Miss Marple short story collection.

Husband got me Assistant to the Villain for Christmas, so that’ll be on the docket for sure.

Spy x Family volume 13 is out, which will be a lovely, quick read.

I will also be getting back into True Crime Sauna Time and starting The Devil in the White City (finally). Apparently DiCaprio and Scorsese are reviving the movie project, so I want to have that read before the movie comes out.

HOWEVER, Kate Winkler Dawson recently released The Sinners All Bow: Two Authors, One Murder, and the Real Hester Prynne.

Historical True Crime? Check. A Victorian-era true crime authoress being the first to investigate the case? A Scarlet Letter connection? I am the target audience.

I am also going to try Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, as my oldest asked about a sequel at the end of Chocolate Factory. I will be doing the audiobook on my own. If I think the girls will like it, then I’ll either check out the book or just finally buy a Roald Dahl set.

Everything else is up in the air!

[thecindercrow]

[charmac]

[the-real-list-of-ominous-threats]

I’ll cause you to accidentally make a typo on a post where you mention bad writing causing people to accuse you of being 13

[egophiliac]

Do you think this is the Finale of book 7? qwq

at this point I'm not going to believe it's actually over until we get the Diasomnia dorm reruns! those will be the portent I cling to in these times of uncertain anime character drama. 😰

honestly I'd been pretty convinced that 13 would be the end -- or that there might be, like, an epilogue chapter or something, but this would at least be the end of the main plot of 7. but now it looks like the Armor of Dawn Silver card is actually going to be for the second half next week, so...now I'm right back in "WHAT IS HAPPENING" camp! like, I can see a couple of possibilities of how that might still work out, but...well. I guess we'll find out tonight. :')

[wh0-is-lily]

Cigarette Psychology

[un-pearable]

crazy good deal from humble bundle for $13 for digital copies of IDW sonic volumes 1-8, the anniversary specials, AND scrapnik island that goes to support a children’s hospital!!! i know a lot of people who follow IDW but haven’t been buying the comics so this is the perfect opportunity to give back to the team making them :)

[veveisveryuncool]

HII ok so would anyone believe me if i said i'm like 17 pages into my Moominvalley S4 rewrite......

yeah so! here are some fake storyboards i've come up with for a few of the episodes i have plotted out! right now, i've only got about half the episodes with a rough plot, but i've written a crap ton of analysis for each character arc, episode, and overall narrative and how they could be improved, especially since i felt really... unsatisfied with the final season? it didn't feel like a satisfying conclusion to the characters nor story as a whole (due to a lottt of problems, but i think i've rambled about them for too long lol), so i plan to rewrite that fourth season through a mix of art and writing to attempt to give this show the impactful ending it deserves :]

[lokis-tardis-companion19]

Lindsey’s Books of the Month: February 2025

A bit late this month, but here it is!

Again, these are just my thoughts (star ratings are for other apps)

Spy X Family: Volume 13 by Tatsuya Endo

Look at me, back on my espionage-but-make-it-fake-family/lovers-to-found-family/lovers bullshit.

This series remains one of my favorites. And it ended on such a CLIFFHANGER!! September cannot come soon enough.

The Sinners All Bow: Two Authors, One Murder, and the Real Hester Prynne by Kate Winkler Dawson

When Kate Winkler Dawson, one of my favorite historical true crime authors/podcasters, announced that she was writing a book that had to do with the murder that inspired The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, it went on my TBR instantly. And honestly, Lindsey From The Past was so right.

In 1832, young mill worker Sarah Maria Cornell was found hanging from a haystack pole—dead and pregnant. Initially ruled a suicide, her death was soon found to be a violent murder. In 1833, divorced single mom Catharine Williams added Fall River to her already impressive bibliography, and in at attempted to bring attention to what she felt was the wrongful acquittal of Reverend Ephraim Avery. The case would later inspire Hawthorne’s story of Hester Prynne. Now Kate has reexamined the case using Catharine’s reportage, current reporting standards, and the modern forensic techniques we can apply.

Kate doesn’t shy away from pointing out Catharine’s biases (were you expecting Second Great Awakening drama? Because I wasn’t, but it is here), but she also highlights who both women were and paints a vivid portrait of the world they lived in. She also highlights how things have changed (and how they haven’t) since 1833 when Ephraim Avery was accused of the rape and murder of Sarah Maria Cornell.

Catharine’s zingers are included, to my delight. I want this to be a movie. I want Florence Pugh to play Catharine, not sure who for Sarah Maria.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories by Agatha Christie

(Cover of my edition pictured above, but the new one with flowers is also very pretty)

This was my Read Christie 2025 Challenge pick for February, as it contains The 13 Problems. Which is honestly Miss Marple at her best. If Jane Marple isn’t your favorite, this will warm you up to her.

At a series of gatherings, and then in a few very serious cases, Jane Marple lends her keen insight into human nature to the mysteries her family and friends encounter. I read it in one day, and it is delightfully cozy.

Green River, Running Red by Ann Rule

What can I say, I needed something to take my mind off my work. And this audiobook definitely did that.

Ann Rule, famous for The Stranger Beside Me, here tells the story of the Green River Killer.

She centered the victims so perfectly in this, listing all their names before she even states the killer’s name.

I will say that if your audiobook is narrated by Barbara Caruso, she does get some Washington State place names wrong (my WA native husband was very confused when I pronounced a town Tucquillah instead of Too-WILL-uh, solely based on how I heard it). But she does sound what you would want someone else reading Ann Rule to sound like.

The Capture (Animorphs #6) by K. A. Appelgate

2024 was the year I finally gave this book fair staple a whirl. And honestly? I get the hype.

If you don’t know the premise, five kids are given the ability to morph into different animals to help fight parasitic alien invaders. There’s a time limit, both in terms of how long they can be an animal at any given time and in terms of the ticking clock of the invasion.

This book is narrated by Jake, and is absolutely steeped in tension. Without giving too much away, you actually meet a Yeerk (invading alien) in this book and maybe this is just because of Macleod Andrews’ acting choice for the audiobook but my GOSH would Willem Dafoe be a perfect choice for that role.

The whole series is solid sci-fi, easy to follow (especially if you’re new to sci-fi like I am), and — while it does have excellent humor — refuses to shy away from examining the fact that these are literal child soldiers fighting an invisible war with just INSANE odds stacked against them.

Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman? by Eleanor Updale

I have read this book many times. (Captain Holt voice: AND I’LL READ IT AGAIN)

But I happened to find that the one and only STEPHEN FRY does the audiobook, so on my Libby holds it went. It was, as I expected, another layer of absolute delight.

It tells the story of a convict in Victorian London who is exhibited before the scientific society as a doctor rebuilds his body following horrific injuries he received at the time of his capture. While there, he plans to make a fortune by robbing the rich and using the new sewer systems he’s hearing so much about.

This book continues to hold up for me; I still have my original copy from the book fair. (Don’t talk to me about the sequels, don’t TOUCH me about the sequels.)

Looking Ahead: March 2025

Continuing with the Read Christie 2025 challenge, I will be reading Lord Edgeware Dies.

(Above is the first edition cover, not mine. Gosh I wish)

But first, I will be diving into a thrift store find.

I happened upon Among the Shadows: Tales from the Darker Side by L.M. Montgomery quite by chance at a used book store that just opened up in the mall. They were out of Agatha Christie books at the time, but in the few days of March I have found this to be an excellent alternative (especially if you, like me, enjoy Agatha’s spookier stuff).

I still need to start Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer, it seems right up my alley.

In addition, a friend in my local book club has got us all reading her recent favorite The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion so I shall be starting volume 1 of that.

(Also why is there any cover but this one???)

[yan-yn]

[charmac]

The cut... ohwooowoah.. justice for Joyce

[wistfulwatcher]

a collection of ship tag scenes myka/h.g. | otp: you'd have shot me by now

[dr9com9ge-ix]

Happy 4/13 ! Tis an excuse for me to draw Slick- It might be a little late but I am a sleepy little guy

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

I used to despise Eridan and think he was the absolute worst character (barring Cronus ig) but you have shown me the light and completely turned my opinion around and now I think he is such an endearing little freak <3 I read your whole blog already but if you've got any more thoughts on eri or anyone else then I hope you post them bc I'd love to hear more abt it!

i have sooo many controversial opinions about the dancestors you have noooooo idea

[puppetmaster13u]

You know what @f4nd0m-fun I literally finished this last night, so here, have the lil baby hydra. From several prompts.

They're still mostly baby colors, which is all monochrome, but are juuust starting to get more colors like their underbellies and their heads are starting to lighten up, but will start shifting color eventually.

Which makes me wonder what kind of thing might happen if someone tries to study the realm hydras....

(Also have a prompt in the tags lol)