Barb Natividad 🇵🇭🇺🇸
@barbnatividad.bsky.social
I’m always write! | Buckeye 🌰 | MFA - Poetry | Currently revising my Fil-Am contemporary fiction novel. | Mini book reviews. | Find me at: https://barbnatividad.substack.com where I write about mental health, writing, reading. | @barbflashes.bsky.social
December 13, 2025 at 1:26 PM
4⭐️ THE WOMAN UPSTAIRS by Claire Messud. 2013. Literary. Nora becomes entangled with her 3rd-grade student and his parents to the point of obsession. The friendship ends after a perceived betrayal by the wife/mom. The ending dragged but then packed a punch that left me reeling. Slow but good! 💙📚
December 12, 2025 at 8:00 PM
4⭐️ THE WOMAN UPSTAIRS by Claire Messud. 2013. Literary. Nora becomes entangled with her 3rd-grade student and his parents to the point of obsession. The friendship ends after a perceived betrayal by the wife/mom. The ending dragged but then packed a punch that left me reeling. Slow but good! 💙📚
4⭐️ HIS BLOODY PROJECT by Graeme Macrae Burnet. 2015. Literary/historical. A 17yo boy brutally murders 3 villagers in Scotland in 1869. Told through police and autopsy reports, psych evals, the trial transcript, and the boy’s own memoir. Had to keep reminding myself this was fiction. Dark. 💙📚
December 10, 2025 at 8:31 PM
4⭐️ HIS BLOODY PROJECT by Graeme Macrae Burnet. 2015. Literary/historical. A 17yo boy brutally murders 3 villagers in Scotland in 1869. Told through police and autopsy reports, psych evals, the trial transcript, and the boy’s own memoir. Had to keep reminding myself this was fiction. Dark. 💙📚
4⭐️ THE COMPOUND by Aisling Rawle. 2025. Contemporary. 20-something Lily competes in a reality show with 19 other contestants. Last one remaining in the compound wins. Lots of drama! Fascinating how far people will go to win. 💙📚
December 8, 2025 at 10:57 PM
4⭐️ THE COMPOUND by Aisling Rawle. 2025. Contemporary. 20-something Lily competes in a reality show with 19 other contestants. Last one remaining in the compound wins. Lots of drama! Fascinating how far people will go to win. 💙📚
4⭐️ HOW TO STAND UP TO A DICTATOR: THE FIGHT FOR OUR FUTURE by Maria Ressa. 2022. Memoir. Nobel Peace Prize winner Ressa chronicles her career in journalism and how she fights the Philippine government attempting to silence her because she has exposed their disinformation network. Inspiring. 💙📚
December 8, 2025 at 12:14 AM
4⭐️ HOW TO STAND UP TO A DICTATOR: THE FIGHT FOR OUR FUTURE by Maria Ressa. 2022. Memoir. Nobel Peace Prize winner Ressa chronicles her career in journalism and how she fights the Philippine government attempting to silence her because she has exposed their disinformation network. Inspiring. 💙📚
Super fan! GO BUCKS! ❤️🩶🌰
December 7, 2025 at 2:27 AM
Super fan! GO BUCKS! ❤️🩶🌰
5⭐️ PRETTY GIRLS by Karin Slaughter. 2015. Thriller. Claire and Lydia haven’t spoken in 20 years, shortly after their older teenaged sister vanished, which tore up the family. A new girl is missing. Is there a connection? The sisters team up to find answers. Dark, disturbing, intense! Excellent. 💙📚
December 7, 2025 at 12:05 AM
5⭐️ PRETTY GIRLS by Karin Slaughter. 2015. Thriller. Claire and Lydia haven’t spoken in 20 years, shortly after their older teenaged sister vanished, which tore up the family. A new girl is missing. Is there a connection? The sisters team up to find answers. Dark, disturbing, intense! Excellent. 💙📚
Happy #Caturday! Fortunately they can’t reach the parol (Filipino Christmas lantern) from their perch!
#catsky #catsofbluesky
#catsky #catsofbluesky
December 6, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Happy #Caturday! Fortunately they can’t reach the parol (Filipino Christmas lantern) from their perch!
#catsky #catsofbluesky
#catsky #catsofbluesky
5⭐️ BUCKEYE by Patrick Ryan. 2025. Literary/historical. A small-town saga of two families with a secret between them that both brings them together and keeps them apart. Takes place post-WW2 through the early 80s. So good! And not just because I’m a Buckeye! 💙📚
December 5, 2025 at 2:18 PM
5⭐️ BUCKEYE by Patrick Ryan. 2025. Literary/historical. A small-town saga of two families with a secret between them that both brings them together and keeps them apart. Takes place post-WW2 through the early 80s. So good! And not just because I’m a Buckeye! 💙📚
Got this from @rainbowofcrazy.bsky.social and will answer one a day! 💙📚
December 3, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Got this from @rainbowofcrazy.bsky.social and will answer one a day! 💙📚
4⭐️ SO FAR GONE by Jess Walter. 2025. Contemporary. Rhys has been living off the grid for 7 years after leaving his old life as a failed father and husband. Now his adult daughter is missing and he goes on an adventure to find her. This was funny. 💙📚
December 2, 2025 at 2:02 PM
4⭐️ SO FAR GONE by Jess Walter. 2025. Contemporary. Rhys has been living off the grid for 7 years after leaving his old life as a failed father and husband. Now his adult daughter is missing and he goes on an adventure to find her. This was funny. 💙📚
I can finally open my advent calendar.
December 2, 2025 at 12:26 AM
I can finally open my advent calendar.
November 2025 Reads and Ratings
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December 1, 2025 at 12:27 PM
November 2025 Reads and Ratings
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3⭐️ MURDER BY THE BOOK by Amie Schaumberg. 2025. Mystery. A college student’s body is found and positioned like Ophelia from HAMLET. An English professor accidentally sees the crime scene photos and believes she can solve the murder. The twist/ending seemed unearned. Just okay. 💙📚
November 30, 2025 at 1:05 PM
3⭐️ MURDER BY THE BOOK by Amie Schaumberg. 2025. Mystery. A college student’s body is found and positioned like Ophelia from HAMLET. An English professor accidentally sees the crime scene photos and believes she can solve the murder. The twist/ending seemed unearned. Just okay. 💙📚
November 29, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Word of the day: zigzag
November 28, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Word of the day: zigzag
"You'll be visited by three spirits."
The three spirits:
The three spirits:
November 26, 2025 at 1:32 PM
"You'll be visited by three spirits."
The three spirits:
The three spirits:
4⭐️ BUTCHER by Joyce Carol Oates. 2024. Literary horror/historical fiction. The fictional 19th-century autobiography of a physician who chronicles his mutilation of female asylum patients under the guise of surgery in order to cure “madness.” Based on true events. Very good but disturbing. 💙📚
November 25, 2025 at 1:01 PM
4⭐️ BUTCHER by Joyce Carol Oates. 2024. Literary horror/historical fiction. The fictional 19th-century autobiography of a physician who chronicles his mutilation of female asylum patients under the guise of surgery in order to cure “madness.” Based on true events. Very good but disturbing. 💙📚
5⭐️ WE LOVE YOU BUNNY (Bunny #2) by Mona Awad. Literary horror. The events before and after those of BUNNY. Kidnappings! Murders! Revenge! Definitely read BUNNY first, which is actually more weird. Absolutely brilliant! Takes place in a graduate writing program. For fans of dark academia. 💙📚
November 23, 2025 at 1:09 PM
5⭐️ WE LOVE YOU BUNNY (Bunny #2) by Mona Awad. Literary horror. The events before and after those of BUNNY. Kidnappings! Murders! Revenge! Definitely read BUNNY first, which is actually more weird. Absolutely brilliant! Takes place in a graduate writing program. For fans of dark academia. 💙📚
November 22, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Name a non-English film.
Hard Boiled
Hong Kong (Chinese)
Hard Boiled
Hong Kong (Chinese)
November 21, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Name a non-English film.
Hard Boiled
Hong Kong (Chinese)
Hard Boiled
Hong Kong (Chinese)
5⭐️ THE CORRESPONDENT by Virginia Evans. 2025. Contemporary. An epistolary novel in which 73yo Sybil keeps correspondence with family, friends, and even strangers through letters or email over a span of 9 years. Poignant. 💙📚
November 20, 2025 at 1:41 PM
5⭐️ THE CORRESPONDENT by Virginia Evans. 2025. Contemporary. An epistolary novel in which 73yo Sybil keeps correspondence with family, friends, and even strangers through letters or email over a span of 9 years. Poignant. 💙📚
4⭐️ SHOW DON’T TELL by Curtis Sittenfeld. 2025. Short stories. What I love about this collection is that most of the protagonists are, like me, in their 50s. The stories touch upon friendships, relationships, dating, marriage, and divorce in midlife. 💙📚
November 17, 2025 at 2:10 PM
4⭐️ SHOW DON’T TELL by Curtis Sittenfeld. 2025. Short stories. What I love about this collection is that most of the protagonists are, like me, in their 50s. The stories touch upon friendships, relationships, dating, marriage, and divorce in midlife. 💙📚
I made a fall wreath, then locked myself out putting it up. 😅
November 16, 2025 at 12:37 PM
I made a fall wreath, then locked myself out putting it up. 😅
November 15, 2025 at 1:39 PM