September 2026 Reads Nothing really stood out to me, and I didn't read as many books as usual because I DNFd a LOT, sometimes halfway through.
Barb Natividad 🇵🇭🇺🇸
@barbnatividad.bsky.social
I’m always write! | Chicago Buckeye 🌰 | MFA - Poetry | Currently writing micro memoirs and revising my novel. | Mini book reviews. | Find me at: https://barbnatividad.substack.com where I write about my mental health, writing, reading, and random stuff.
Didn’t really care for my first T. Kingfisher (The Twisted Ones), but so glad I gave her another go 💙📚
3⭐️ THIS IS HOW WE END THINGS by R.J. Jacob’s. 2023. Mystery/thriller. Graduate psychology students study the acts of deception. All have secrets. One ends up dead. Who's telling the truth, and who's lying? I felt the twist was unearned. Just okay. 💙📚
100! Devil, by Sierra Simone (Priest #4) 💙📚🌶️🎧📚 The only religious-y romance books for me! I had this paused, and needed Good Eatins for Book 100. I ATE THIS UP. The darkest of the series & goes in a very different direction. And woo, both narrators? *Chef's kiss*. This book is an EXPERIENCE. 5⭐
99 (!!). If You Hate Me, by Helena Hunting 💙📚🌶️🎧📚 🇨🇦 Sports romance in Toronto! I was 11 minutes in & spice started & I had to lol. Fun romance, I liked that the dude had BAGGAGE, tho the drama was a little tiresome, & this could've been shorter. Wish it was funnier like her Shacking Up series. 3.5⭐
My review of JULIA SONG IS UNDATEABLE by Susan Lee is on IG/SG. Julia’s a CEO but her Korean-American family want to matchmaker her. Tae agrees to be her dating coach even tho he’s had a crush on her for years. Each suitor has issues, but Julia’s happiest when she focuses on her career. And Tae. 🌶️📚💙
My review of WE’RE ALL DAMAGED by Matthew Norman is on SG/IG. Andy returns to Omaha from NYC when his grandpa is dying. His ex-wife is there along with his conservative mother, retired dad, perfect brother, & ex-best friend. When a mysterious woman shows up, she might upend everything even more. 📚💙
My review of KING OF ASHES by S.A. Cosby is on SG/IG. Roman goes home after his father’s accident. What he finds is a bitter sister tied to the family crematorium & an addict brother in trouble with a drug gang. Roman takes on each challenge which brings him close to the edge. Gritty & cinematic. 📚💙
My review of BRIDGET & GABE ARE NOT OKAY by Lex Croucher is on SG/IG. This sequel YA book is set in Arthurian times & the characters are dealing with the trauma of winning a battle & losing loved ones. It’s about mental health, love & trauma. I loved it & you should be reading Lex Croucher books! 📚💙
Watched LES DÉSENCHANTÉES. A series that proves that 4 parts are enough if you stay on track. And although it plays with common tropes (little village, disappearance, prodigal sister, dark secrets, etc.), it plays with them in remarkable ways. The final twist is glorious and life-affirming.
Watch Desenchantees Season 1 – Prime Video
Twenty years after Sarah Leroy's disappearance, journalist Fanny returns to uncover the truth and to dig deeper into a group known as "les Désenchantées," girls who knew Sarah all too well.
primevideo.com
New post on Comedy, Tragedy 🎭 Some writing wins! barbnatividad.substack.com/p/writing-se...
Writing - September 2026
Just a short note on how my writing’s going.
barbnatividad.substack.com
Suttree by Cormac McCarthy, narrated by Richard Poe, had gorgeous, atmospheric writing and unforgettable characters—but I kept wondering what the point of it all was. #booksky
Suttree by Cormac McCarthy: Book Review — A Book and A Dog
A review of Cormac McCarthy's Suttree, narrated by Richard Poe — stunning prose, memorable characters, but did it all add up to something?
abookandadog.com
OK. Seven episodes in. LANTERNS is the story of two guys trying, with varying success, to break the generational cycle of abuse/trauma. It's quite remarkable. Actors are just great, and not only the leads. Feels like a mashup of superhero and True Detective shouldn't work, yet here we are.
Rocky N. Bullwinkle@lproulx.bsky.social · last mo.Watching the first episode of LANTERNS. I was floored by the parental abuse depicted in the opening scene. WTAF. Dad shoots the apple on his kid's head for very arguably misbehaving. I get the narrative point about fear, but jfc.
I've tried reading Olive Kitteridge three times, and I just couldn't.
Katheryn97T@katheryn97t.bsky.social · 4d agoBooker longlist 11/13 💙📚 My first Elizabeth Strout. Sorry to say the writing style didn’t really work for me, and I found the discussion of contemporary politics quite trite (3⭐️)
The Janitor by Don Winslow—a quick Audible Original about a lawyer-turned-fixer who makes rich people's messes disappear. Gave me City of Dreams vibes, plus fun baseball nods for this new Dodgers fan. Not my favorite Winslow novella, but solid. #booksky
The Janitor by Don Winslow: Audiobook Review — A Book and A Dog
A review of The Janitor, Don Winslow's new Audible Original novella about a lawyer-turned-fixer, narrated by Titus Welliver. Entertaining, if imperfect.
abookandadog.com
98. Prey for Me, by Allie Oleander 💙📚🌶️🎧📚 This didn't hit like the first book Willing Prey, but was still a lot of fun. Chemistry was fun, the smut be smutting. Climax was a lil underwhelming; I was hoping for more of a plot but whatevs, still enjoyed. & Walker Williams' narration tho 👀 3.75 ⭐
4⭐️ FORGOTTEN ISLAND. 2026. Animated. Dir. by Januel Mercado and Joel Crawford. Starring H.E.R. and Liza Soberano. Friendship and memories! Loved seeing Filipino representation in a full-length animated film! Recommend. m.youtube.com/watch?v=f7mF...
Forgotten Island | Official New Trailer
YouTube video by Universal Pictures
m.youtube.com
4⭐️ GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER by Shari Lapena. 2026. Thriller/mystery. Ted and Jill made his brother’s murder look like an accident so they could inherit his millions. There’s no evidence, but someone texts them, “We know what you did.” And the trouble begins! Very tense! Recommend. 💙📚
This Is Your Mind on Plants—Pollan's look at opium, caffeine, and mescaline and how culture and law decide what's a "drug." Loved that he narrated it himself. The mescaline chapter, and his respect for Indigenous ceremony, stuck with me most. #booksky
This Is Your Mind on Plants by Michael Pollan | Review — A Book and A Dog
I read Michael Pollan’s This Is Your Mind on Plants—opium, caffeine, and mescaline, and how culture and law decide what counts as a drug. A review of the book and audiobook.
abookandadog.com
97. The Magic We Made, by Meg Cabot 💙📚🌶️🎧📚🪐 Enemies to lovers, cults, & magic exists! But none of it flowed well. Felt like I was reading separate stories w/different tones. She was SO UNLIKEABLE & he was WAY too golden retriever ILU-even-though-you're-a-bitch. 2.75⭐ BC I did like the plot kinda?
96. (Mostly) Human Resources, by Grace Viall 💙📚🎧🌶️📚🩸 I wish this was funny. Humor would've pulled the book together. This was the slowest slow burn romance-ish book I've ever read. FMC was *insufferable* from beginning to end. The best part was the jackalopes. It needed more horror. Generous 3⭐
This is How We End Things by R.J. Jacobs 💙📚
Sophia_Nyx 🐰@sophianyx.bsky.social · last wk.Name the current book you're reading.
4⭐️ WE ARE NOT LIKE THEM by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza. 2021. Contemporary. Riley’s, a Black journalist, and her lifelong friend, Jenny’s, who is white, friendship is tested when Jenny’s police officer husband shoots a Black boy. Powerful. Recommend. 💙📚
Repost with an image of your favourite James Bond (wrong answers only)
Rocky N. Bullwinkle@lproulx.bsky.social · last wk.Repost with an image of your favourite James Bond (wrong answers only)
The Delivery by Gregg Hurwitz—a humanoid AI companion who "helps" a struggling family by answering wishes they never intended. Short, sharp, and unsettling. Made me appreciate the ordinary, unautomated parts of life. #booksky
The Delivery (by Gregg Hurwitz) — A Book and A Dog
The Delivery by Gregg Hurwitz review. A couple brings home a humanoid AI named Mr. Man. At first he’s a miracle—then he misunderstands their private frustrations, with violent results. Tight, unsettli...
abookandadog.com