#7 | What I Read in October

What do Agatha Christie, Britney Spears & Anne Shirley all have in common? ME! And probably mental illness.

Nov 01, 2023

Hi, hello! It’s me, Patty.

Another month, another list of books consumed by my eyes and ears.

I said this last month but October is my favorite reading month because I like to read cozy mysteries and classics that remind me of fall. This month was no exception, except I also read three new memoirs and LOVED THEM.

The coming months are all about the holidays, but aside from Little Women and The Christmas Carol (favorite audio version is by Hugh Grant but I like to try and switch it up because many people have narrated it) - there aren’t many holiday classics that I love to re-read. So we’ll see!

Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery

It felt fitting to kick off the month of reading with the lady who said, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” Anne Shirley is a 19th century hero! This particular version was read by fellow Canadian, Rachel McAdams, and it was perfect. She got Anne Shirley just right. Listening to this book felt like stepping back in time. The world was slower, things were very simple, and Anne clearly had unchecked ADHD and is constantly getting disciplined for it. Nothing says it’s the late-1800s in North America like that!

📺 Anne with an E on Netflix was perfect. The story changed a little, but Anne was perfectly cast and Gilbert could GET IT.

The Murder of Richard Akroyd - Agatha Christie

You can’t make it through the spooky season without reading good ol’ Hercule Poirot! This book follows the same format as always… people gather, a (rich) man dies, and everyone in the house is considered a suspect. I was actually surprised about who the killer was in this one. It was pretty clever! Say what you want about Agatha Christie (I don’t think anyone says anything negative about her…), but she can write a damn good mystery novel. (Yeah, Patty, that’s what she’s known for…)

A Home for Every Season - Steffy Degraff

I bought this COFFEE TABLE BOOK with A LOT OF PICTURES about DECORATING FOR EVERY SEASON on my KINDLE which is only BLACK AND WHITE. I follow this girl on IG and TikTok and like her over-the-top seasonal decor and DIY prowess. Did I need to buy the book in black and white when I could see all the pictures and videos on free social media sites? Nope. I’m glad I supported her though.

🎃 Here’s Steffy on IG.

And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie

A certified CHRISTIE CLASSIC! I mentioned this in my last newsletter, but this is my favorite of all of her books. It’s a standalone novel (no Hercule, no Marple) and it has been updated without all the racist stuff. Although, I did see the play when I was a child and it was absolutely called Ten Little Indians then. This takes place on Soldier Island and everyone dies one by one. The killer was surprising (to me)! Again, she really did it! I don’t know why everybody hates her so much! (Nobody hates her.)

📗 Dan Stevens narrated the audiobook and it’s fantastic.

The Jolliest Bunch - Danny Pellegrino

If you read one book in your whole lifetime, make it The Gentleman in Moscow. If you read one book this coming month, make it The Jolliest Bunch by Danny Pellegrino. I am obsessed with him. I pre-ordered this on Audible AND hard copy because I want it to do well. I listen to Danny’s podcast, Everything Iconic, where he recaps Bravo shows and it’s SO FUNNY. He’s constantly taking “detours” and telling personal stories and doing impressions of his mother and screaming out for his fiance to warm up the electric chair for Bravolebrities who said something stupid that week.

That aside, this book is “LOL” funny and also sad. He speaks candidly about having an eating disorder around the holidays and how hard it has been for him to get through holiday gatherings without worrying about the food. He also talks about all the love he has for his family and a friendship he misses the most. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry… oh, what a great guy.

📷 Here’s Danny on IG - he has the best random posts.
🎙️ Here’s Danny’s podcast, Everything Iconic.

**The Woman in Me* - Britney Spears**

I have SO 👏 MANY 👏THOUGHTS 👏. I’ve been talking about it a lot with friends because I’m PISSED! I’m mad at myself for judging her so harshly, I’m mad at Justin Timberlake for being a young man in the early 2000s who didn’t know any better and took advantage of her and the situation for his own fame, and I’m mad at her whole family but especially her dad.

Yes, she had a ghostwriter who obviously made the book more coherent than we have seen in her Instagram posts. However, this story was entirely Britney’s experience. It still captured her essence and playfulness. Her childhood was really sad and she had to play the adult a lot to mitigate her parents’ fighting and her dad’s alcoholism. Then she became the breadwinner at 15 and her dad wasn’t in her life for SO LONG until he realized he could sweep in and take advantage of the situation. And all the Justin stuff was so sad to read because SHE didn’t paint him in a negative light. I honestly believe she was telling the story, particularly the abortion scene with the guitar, as if he was the SWEETEST BOYFRIEND EVER playing her music to help her.

She never had a chance and I feel so awful for her. I hope she gets to be happy and mentally well.

🎤 Here’s her best VMA performance, in my opinion. I’m mostly straight, but this performance had me questioning it.
➕ Also, her Gimme More VMA performance is now hard to watch NOT because of the cringe choreography but because of how much we all judged her body - she still looks amazing and was only MONTHS postpartum - and she had just run into Justin Timberlake backstage and he was “on top of the world” and it got to her head.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - J.K. Rowling & Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling

I don’t have to recap these because you’ve all read them or watched the movies. If you’ve only ever watched the movies though you’re missing out because I forgot how funny the characters are in the books. Ron is so funny! The movies didn’t capture that too well. Also, I will never get over when Ron’s wand broke and Harry didn’t offer to buy him a new one even though it was his fault and the Weasley’s had just done so much for him.

And yeah, disclaimer, J.K. Rowling sucks and is dying on a weird hill. This tweet sounds like Lucius Malfoy telling Arthur Weasley that he “didn’t think he could stoop any lower” when he was with Hermione’s muggle parents. Sometimes it seems like she takes the contrary position JUST FOR THE BACKLASH. Is it weird to anyone else that she is outspoken against trans people claiming a different gender YET she is a famous female author MOONLIGHTING AS A MAN named Robert Galbreith?!?!?!?!?! Por que, J.K.?!?!!

Anyways, I will always love Harry Potter. I needed nostalgic, light reading before bed and this hit the spot.

Also, side note, I think someone needs to re-write the HP books completely from the perspective of Filch. I think it’d be so funny. Like HIS peak in the books (Umbridge) is the WORST time for everyone else in the books.

Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult - Maria Bamford

I closed out my month with one of my favorite comedians, Maria Bamford. Listening to this was wonderful, despite often sad subject matter like her mother’s death and her lifelong mental health struggle. For instance, as a very young child, she had OCD thoughts where she thought she might kill her family. But she’s so funny about it!

A part that sticks out to me is when she goes back home to spend time with her dying mother. According to Maria, her mother “wasn’t totally pumped” that Maria came to stay with her on her “free hospice deathbed” and tells her to go back to L.A. to film a Food Network show and a game show hosted by Meredith Viera.

“I’m sorry, Mom, that I didn’t make a few thousand in cable residuals, but in this instance… you were dead wrong…
… Foooootnote! You are right to question the quality and taste of this joke. But what if making a dead joke is the funniest? What is the funniest anyway? Is it the most unexpected, or is it, in fact, an unconsciously hoped for - yet extremely simple pun - that anyone could think of? Just because it’s lowing hanging fruit, isn’t that the reason it should be picked first? You could get one of those picking sticks with the grabber on the end to get the higher hanging fruit and look more precocious. But I see the bruised apple on the ground and I grab it in my hand for guaranteed eating. I am not clever. My mother is dead, and she was wrong!”

Listen to the audiobook for her own telling of the stories, and for the fun sound effects. There is a Sonic the Hedgehog screech-to-a-halt sound that stands in for a “trigger warning”.

🎤 Also, here is some amazing standup about her mom.
📺 Also, Lady Dynamite on Netflix was so funny.

ADHD QUICK LIST:

🎙️ Smartless - “Jon McEnroe”. I love this podcast because the banter, but their guest line-up is wild so I don’t listen every single week. I do have a soft spot for Jon McEnroe because he has a sense of humor about himself, so I listened. I enjoyed it! However… the best part was during the interview Jason Bateman says “Father Clock” instead of “Father Time” and quickly corrects himself. It was a blink-and-you-miss-it mistake.

Then, at the end of the episode after McEnroe left, they’re talking about something else and Will Arnett cuts in and asks with great seriousness, as if he was about to mention the war in the Middle East, “Hey guys, let me ask you this… I want to know where you guys stand on Father Clock?”

I was walking Billie and I burst out laughing so hard that she got upset and many people stared at me while I tried to collect myself. Then I couldn’t stop laughing because of the situation.

I just fucking love a well-delivered joke and an unexpected callback.

🖋️ I’ve been writing in The Five Minute Journal every morning and I hate it. This shit was $30 for six months of daily journaling. I get more from using a blank fucking Target notebook. At the end of every day it asks, “What did you learn today?” I don’t fucking remember, journal! Probably something like, “Hitler kept his bunker well-stocked with peanut butter” because I watch a lot of World War II documentaries but I’m not writing that down!

⚡ I discovered Auction Ninja and now I’m in a bidding war for a TREASURE TROVE of 1980s Muppet merchandise with someone who lives in my town. I need to find this local person who is as fanatical about the Muppets as I am… meaning fanatical enough that we both want the merch, but not enough to bid more than $1 each time we’re outbid.

🎵 What’s Up by 4 Non Blondes slaps more than ever.