cozy september page*turns...
welcome to the cozy (pretend) month of september where i hope every new book comes with a side of a nap to usher in the long-awaited cooler, crisper fall! :)
below, find all of september’s weekly reading book review videos, complete with links to each title mentioned… each title shall take you to the books’ bookshop.org page where you can learn more, and if you decide to purchase, you’ll be supporting your local indie bookstore! what fun!
with a TBR of endless dreams,
xo,
*hallie :)
✨📖 weekly reading book review september 2026: episode one!! 📖✨
📚 here’s what i read this week:
🩵 THE MAGIC LIBRARY OF WATERFALL WAY by julie abe
☺️ yep! that was all i finished! 🥰
📘 also loving/currently reading:
👻 HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A GHOST? by daniel kwan & julia pott; illustrated by sean lewis (atheneum bfyr /
🩷 IDEAL LIFE by evelyn skye
📺 watched:
💙 some COMMUNITY (“that’s like blaming owls for how bad i am at metaphors.” 😂 2014)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1439629/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
🪐 PROJECT HAIL MARY (2026)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12042730/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
🎬 hope to read:
💛 more of EAST OF EDEN by john steinbeck
💙 TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA by wm shakespeare
🤍 GLASS SWORD by victoria aveyard
(my TEMPEST pre*order is in the mail!!!! comes out tomorrow!!!!)
❤️ QUETZAL’S LABYRINTH by karla arenas valenti
🥳 & from my SEPTEMBER joyful to*do:
💙 re*watch ALADDIN !! 🥰💜🐅 (1992)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103639/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
what stories are you loving right now?!?
📚🫶🏽🎭🎧🎤🩰📝🎥
next week is my regional scbwi conference and i gotta get that portfolio readyyyyyy!!! 😆🎨✏️
and it’s not too late to get this month’s september happy vinyl sticker mail in the crayon box! (comes with that to*do list insert, too!!)
❤️xo,
*hallie 🤓
✨📖 weekly reading book review september 2026: episode two!! 📖✨
💃🏽 this week i read:
🩷 IDEAL LIFE by evelyn skye
🩵 IT HAPPENED ONE MURDER by liz lawson
💜 TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA by wm shakespeare
💛 MIDDLE SCHOOL: THE WORST YEARS OF MY LIFE by james patterson & chris tebbetts
(yes, i’m packing this to scbwi this week so you can sign it please, chris!! )
🧡 SHE AND HER CAT by makoto shinkai and naruki nagakawa, translated by ginny tapley takemori
📚 currently reading:
💚 SUMMER’S NEVER OVER by darby bozeman
🥳 watched:
💙 ALADDIN (1992)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103639/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
💛 PROJECT RUNWAY season 22 finale (2026)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0437741/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
🎬 reading next (probably):
🖤 GIDEON THE NINTH by tamsyn muir
(in the name of book club…🫣 )
🧡 TWO NOBLE KINSMEN by wm shakespeare
💖 MEET ME ON MISTLETOE LANE by cassie miller
(coming octoberrrrr 6!!!! 😆🥳🎄❄️😘)
💚 MATCHA ON MONDAY by michiko aoyama
what stories are you loving right now?!?
📚🥰💃🏽📖🎬🎨🎧📝
please check out my FREE crayon box post for all of this week’s scbwi conference excitement!!
🥰🖍️🎨📓🤗 watch it here: https://www.patreon.com/halthegal/posts/one-week-until-169166884?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link
💜xo,
your formidable tortoise truffle,
*hallie 🤓
✨📖 weekly reading book review september 2026: episode three!! 📖✨
📚 this week i read:
❄️ MEET ME ON MISTLETOE LANE by cassie miller
swoooooony yearnnnnyyyyy YA ROM*com out october 6!! 🥳💖
📚 currently reading:
☠️ GIDEON THE NINTH by tamsyn muir
((i might understand 8% of what’s happening?! 😬🫣)
🧡 EAST OF EDEN by john steinbeck
(second half for next week’s book club!!!)
🎬 got to see:
🎭 HERE THERE ARE BLUEBERRIES at the warehouse theatre
https://warehousetheatre.com/shows/blueberries
🎭 RUMORS at centre stage
https://centrestage.org/events/rumors/
📺 THE MADALORIAN AND GROGU on disney+
(loooooving what went wrong’s SPECIAL FEATURES reviews!!! http://www.patreon.com/rss/whatwentwrongpodcast?auth=_PlebBEEVdQsSxdr_O5GVa6pK3PM8Dws&show=875147 )
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30825738/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
📚 miiiiight hope to squeeze in this week:
🧡 MATCHA ON MONDAY by michiko aoyama
💚 BUMP IN THE NIGHT: COUNT DOWN TO HALLOWEEN from clarion books
🩵 WE NEED YOUR ART by amie mcnee
(check out her 🎧 interview with creative inspired alive!! https://www.creativeinspiredalive.com/p/amie-mcnee )
n’kay! time for portfolio revisions & additions & a library run!
what stories are you loving right now?!
😄📖🎬📺🎧🎨🎭🩰📝
here for the artsy book people roadtrips,
💖xo,
*hallie 🤓
✨📖 weekly reading book review september 2026: episode four!! 📖✨
📚 this week i finished:
💚 BRITTLE MAGIC by kate o’shaughnessy
(out 10/20!!)
📚 nearly done with:
🧡 EAST OF EDEN by john steinbeck
📚 currently reading:
🖤 SCHOOL OF THIEVES by peter burns
📚 went and saw:
🎬 THE MUSICAL (2026)
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
(give it best score, best actor, best comedy, & best original screenplay, plzzzzzz!!!)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt37775809/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
🎭 RUMORS by neil simon at centre stage
🎭 JAMES & THE GIANT PEACH at the south carolina children’s theatre
(the musical by pasek & paul; inspired by the roald dahl book, of course!!)
https://scchildrenstheatre.org/shows/roald-dahls-james-and-the-giant-peach/
📚 watched/watching at home:
🖤 THE ADDAMS FAMILY (1991)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101272/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
💛 ACROSS THE SPIDERVERSE (2023)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9362722/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
📚 in my hope*to*read pile:
💚 CAUGHT ON CAMERA by melissa johnston miles
(coming april 2027!!)
🤍 TWO NOBLE KINSMEN by wm shakespeare
🩵 BEFORE YOU WERE ANNE by emiko jean
💙 SPUTNIK SWEETHEART by haruki murakami
💛 LET IT GLOW by marissa meyer & joanne levy
what stories are you loving right now?!
🥰📖✨🎬🎨🩰🎤🎧📝📺📽️
off to the studio,
xo,
*hallie 🤓
✨📚i’m not sure where all of september went, but i got to spend at least SOME of it with my nose stuck in a book (or few!) 📚✨
here are the books that’ll stick with me from the month of reading:
💛 MIDDLE SCHOOL: THE WORST YEARS OF MY LIFE
by (james patterson and) chris tebbetts
mostly because i got to meet chris at this year’s scbwi carolinas conference for a banger of a keynote & a “theatre camp for writers” workshop (the best!!) — but also because he signed it for me with a super cool note and because inside are funny kid-like drawings and because everyone remembers the trauma of middle school but also because it had So Much emotion and heart to it along with the funnies. it’s how i cope, too.
🧡 BRITTLE MAGIC
by kate o’shaughnessy
you know i looooooooove a middle grade. especially a middle grade with a wee bit o’ speculative fiction. this one has just the right amount of magic and family bonds and trauma and friendship dramas to keep you turning the pages as you laugh and cry along with the characters.
out october 20 from knopf / random house kids!
🩵 MEET ME ON MISTLETOE LANE
by cassie miller
i luuuurrrvvveee a swoony, yearny rom*com. and i luuuuuuurrrrveeee bffs-to-kissing pals (mostly because it never happened to me in my first 30+ years of existence. bahahahhaa.)
cassie’s latest (all-audience-friendly) ya rom*com is filled with a boistrous italian family and allll sorts of yummy foods... plus a love triangle (with two GOOD guys), a town bulldog named sandy, and did i mention the yearning and aLL the CHRISTMaS cheer??
out NEXT TUESDAY 10/7, so go ahead and pre*order yo’self a copy (or few to share, too)!!
🤎 EAST OF EDEN
by john steinbeck
there are sooooo many “classics” in the world, but golly, am i glad my book club chose this one! it’s a multi-generational early-america drama that’s just... wild. and page-turny. and i was SUPER nervous about how it would END, but totally satisfied.
do i have any intent or desire to watch the new netflix show? NO. but boy-oh-boy was it a good read i didn’t want to end even after 600 pages.
👉🏽 did you find any new favourite books this month??
excited to see what tomes thrill me in the spooky*cute month ahead!!
💖xo,
*hallie 🤓
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