Sydney Reads and Reads: October

Hello! It's December now, and we're all preparing for Christmas but I wouldn't feel right allowing these books and the time I spent with them to go unacknowledged. So, without further ado, I give you my October reads.


I purchased this gorgeous copy of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's riveting account of the Watergate scandal at The Strand in October 2018. As the Impeachment investigations into President Trump began in October 2019 I thought it was finally time to pick it up and read it. The style of All the President's Men on the page largely matches what you see in the on-screen adaptation. a little jolting and non-liner at first, a LOT of names, but once you get rolling you roll fast.

I enjoyed getting a deeper look at Deep Throat through the book; learning how he and Bob met in Washington, and the true terror he felt about being discovered as the Post's source. Another highlight was seeing these two reporters form a partnership and fight tooth and nail to keep the story they brought to light from being passed up the food chain.

All the President's Men is as much a story of Woodward and Bernstein as it is Watergate.  It reminds us why the first amendment matters, and when placed in the care of good reporters, it can define a decade.


I'm in the habit of reading a Stephen King novel each October.  From the time I first read IT in a creepy house in Connecticut during Hurricane Sandy, I was hooked. With the on-screen adaptation of Doctor Sleep coming to theatres this fall, my choice was a no brainer.

In it, we join Dan Torrence, whom we met in The Shining, in adulthood.  Dan has not handled the events at The Overlook well over the intervening years and has turned booze and drugs in an attempt to blot out his shining. Shortly after we reunite with Dan, he kicks the booze and moves to New Hampshire where he finds a job as an orderly at a hospice earning himself the name Doctor Sleep for his unique ability to soothe their dying residents. We also meet Abra, a young girl with a strong shining who establishes an accidental telepathic bond with Dan forming a sort of long-distance shining friendship. What brings them together is The True Knot, a band of vampire-like creatures that feed off the shining to sustain their youth and immortality.  They're after Abra's shine and she needs Dan's help to stop them.

What I look forward to in any King novel are those moments of dread, of bone-chilling fear which only his unique brand of storytelling can bring you.  I can't say I was ever truly scared at any point in Doctor Sleep, but it was a wonderful character study.  Getting to re-visit Dan after 20+ years, seeing him deal with his trauma from The Overlook and that inflicted by his father was in a way cathartic for me as well. Getting glimpses of Dick Halloran, The Overlook's head chef and Dan's shining guide was also a treat. Another King quality I always relish in is his attention to detail.  The tiny, seemingly insignificant things from chapter three that come back and change the whole game in chapter 20. No one does it quite like him. I can't give any away without completely spoiling the third act surprises of this book, but if you've read it and want to dive deep about it with me I am here for it!

I never thought I'd leave a King novel feeling like a warm hug, but with Doctor Sleep I kinda did.


Jar City, by Arnaldur Indridason, was another one of the titles suggested to me by the What Should I Read Next community in preparation for my trip to Iceland.

I didn't love Jar City, but it gave me what I really wanted, insight into Iceland.  They are a nation without a lot of violent crime, so when an elderly man is murdered in his home it's shocking to everyone.  Then when the man turns out to be a rapist they almost lose their minds.  While the characters were reeling I, sadly, failed to be shocked by anything that happened in the story.

Another interesting Icelandic tidbit and plot device is its genetic homogeny.  Iceland is such a small country, with few enough outsiders, that genetic abnormalities can be narrowed down to just a handful of family trees. It feels a little big brother to me to have a government genetic agency tracking all of this, but when it comes to a country's survival and prosperity I suppose Icelanders may see it a little differently.

The truth is, I wanted Jar City to give me the same feelings as J.K. Rowling's Cormoran Strike series, or Stieg Larson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo books, but what I got was a sleepy (by American standards) Icelandic mystery.


Feeling a lack of classically spooky thrillers in my lineup this month I reached for Rebecca, by Daphne DuMaurier.  The last time I read Rebecca was in October 2016 and woah was my blogging style different!

I can tell my experience this time around was heavily influenced by my reading over the last year, especially The Clockmakers Daughter, and The Haunting of Hill House. What these three titles share is a palpable sense of place. DuMaurier hooks you from the first with, what I personally believe to be, the most evocative opening of all time, "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderly again..." and so she continues until your mind is heady with the memories of what was, or is it what could have been? Manderly its self was the star for me this time, the romance and deception all secondary to the house which sees and presides over it all until it finally goes down in flames.

Be on the lookout for my November books soon.  They were few, as I was traveling for much of the month, but they were good. - xo Sydney

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