Stephanie > Recent Status Updates

"Sometimes routine offers certainty. Action without having to give thought. A practice that doesn't require questioning. Sometimes it offers comfort. Sometimes when we lose those routines, we lose ourselves.”

"Women can be heroes."

“Over here, the men lie and they die.”

“We laugh, so we don't cry.”

“With life, there had to be hope.”

"... time has a way of changing; a subtle, secret metamorphosis that surprises us later."

"Sometimes the memories we keep are the ones we'd rather forget, but they have a way of finding us in the night, whispering along the wind, so we remember."

Reading for Read Christie 2026.
January's Theme: Best Opening

"Though my rational mind knew ghosts didn't exist, my imagination could be convinced otherwise. Mirrors might hold haunted things, but windows showed reality."

"It's surprising how much you can miss someone you're not sure ever really loved you."

"How many times had I stopped myself from speaking up? But silence had been the better companion for far too long."

“... fate would deliver whatever outcome it so wished.”

“A mother always knows her baby. It's our intuition.”

“They say women forget, but we don’t. We tuck away the throes deep in our bones, forever carrying the memories in the recesses of our bodies.”

"They are always inventing new words for old things."

"Stories have a way of finding us at just the right, or sometimes the most fragile, moment."

"By now, it was too late to change. It was who they expected me to be, so I played along."

"Of course, sometimes we forget that dreams and nightmares are two sides of the same coin."

"The realization of our mortality came slowly, in dribs and drabs, until we bleakly acknowledged that everything was on loan to us for a short time—the world, our possessions, the people we knew and loved. But we could not spend our time dwelling on our mortality; we still had to behave as if the worst would not happen, for otherwise we would not do very much, we would be defeated and give up."

"When you bet against the lions, you lose more than your purse."

Sandor's back! I didn't realize how much I missed him until he appeared again. It does make me wish [REDACTED] had gone with him, though. Oh, if only she had...

"Never be put off by rudeness, Mma. It is the rude person who is rude, not you."

Oh goodness, I was not expecting that to happen to [REDACTED]. 😨

I'm glad the operation was a success, but I'm worried how the aunt will retaliate.

"We all had to say things that weren't strictly true in order to protect others from hurt."

“It's not easy to be unhappy all by yourself, you know.”

"It's the parents who give children stupid names. It is the fault of the parents."

I knew the younger apprentice's name was going to be revealed in this one (thanks again, Daniel, for letting me know!) so I'm pleased it was in the very first chapter! I'm also pleased we're getting to know more about him.

“We get more frightened as we get older, Mma, or that is what I sometimes think. More and more frightened of everything.”

Does the younger apprentice not have a name? It's been 9 books, and he's still always referred to as “the younger apprentice.” Give the young man a name, please! 😭

Oh, well, I wasn't expecting that backstory for one of the cases.

"There were plenty of people who came out of thin air. They turned up in our lives, and we accepted them without question."

Precious Ramotswe is indeed precious. She's such a wonderfully written character.

"Perhaps we should all keep a few things—a few mementos—to remind us of what we used to be, just in case we forgot."

"Why should I spare his feelings, when no one cares about mine?"

Will Jon soon rejoin his brothers of the Night Watch? I miss them being together.

Sansa can never catch a break, can she? Poor girl.

"... the repaying of rudeness with rudeness was the wrong thing to do as it taught the other person no lesson...."

“People were usually willing to tell you things, if you asked. And many people more over were prepared to do so even if unasked.”

"The truth is all around you, plain to behold. The night is dark and full of terrors, the day bright and beautiful and full of hope. One is black, the other white. There is ice and there is fire. Hate and love. Bitter and sweet. Male and female. Pain and pleasure. Winter and summer. Evil and good. Death and life. Everywhere, opposites. Everywhere, the war."

“A coin is as dangerous as a sword in the wrong hands.”

New Year, new motivation to return to the world of A Song of Ice and Fire!

I still remember main points that happened, so I'm just going to pick up where I left off, haha. 😅

“The greatest fools are ofttimes more clever than the men who laugh at them.”

“I've told you so often you're bound for great things—but what I should have said is that to me, you are the great thing.”

“Appearances can be deceiving.”

Happy New Year! 🥂

Well, I didn't finish this before 2025 came to an end. So! I'll just look at the positive, which is to finish it before the end of New Year's Day! That way it will be my first book read for 2026.

“Anything's possible if you pay attention—and have the brain for it.”

Alfred is the G.O.A.T.

I hope Camille gets Talia al Ghul's fate from The Dark Knight Rises. (Her and the militia make me think of that movie every time.) Girl has zero redeemable qualities, so it would be such a fitting end for her.

So Norman did solve it!

"Questions are power. The world is designed to keep the answers from you. Question everything!"

The flying menace is [REDACTED]! He was one of the possible rogues I had in mind and when I realized he couldn't possibly be Firefly, I hoped it was him.

Oh, Norman. Please wise up and realize she's no good for you.

Got 6 hours and 22 minutes left. Will I be able to finish this before New Year's Day? 🤔

“The people who run things are out for themselves, nothing more.”

Finally getting back to this and oh boy, I feel bad for Norman. I knew it wasn't going to play out the way he thought re: work, but I thought his [REDACTED] had a little more time.

... Still doesn't stop me from being disappointed in him for joining [REDACTED], though.

Happy Jólabókaflóð! Wishing all of you a Happy Christmas Eve and a Merry Christmas!

"People aren't always what they seem. Then again, some people are exactly what they seem—or worse."

And Norman makes his first bad decision: crushing on [REDACTED]. 🙄😒

Hope he smartens up and gets over it quick, but with how everything's going for him right now, I just know it's not going to go how I want it to go. But maybe his involvement will make her storyline more bearable/interesting?

"Revenge isn't righteous—and it's not for you to dole out."

I love Norman. 🥹

In all seriousness, though, I find him to be a very well written character. In my opinion, his scenes are by far the best. And speaking of scenes, while I was happy to see Selina there for the double date, I was not happy to see [REDACTED].

"It doesn't matter if I belong. What matters is you can't tell me I don't."

The prologue has to be my favorite bit so far, and I'm curious to see whether or not Norman was able to solve the Wayne's case, especially after knowing what he did in the last book.

I'm also curious as to who the flying menace is. I have a couple of rogues in mind, but then again it could be someone else entirely.

"I'm a legend in my own time."

I am so hyped to see if and how much of Norman's role here will be revealed in the sequel.

As for Karlo, I really like this version of him. I'm not the biggest [REDACTED] fan, but I hope he survives. If he does, it would also be great if he made a return—even if it's just a cameo—in the next book.