What I read in September 2026
I wanted to try audio books again this month, and I ended up finishing two of them. And I read the two Hench series books by Natalie Zina Walschots because my local bookclub wanted to discuss them as an extra meetup. The main book was The Unraveling by Benjamin Rosenbaum.
Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience by Brené Brown, Audio 8h29m: This book was recommended in the Bullet Journal community and I was curious about it. It is like a guide to identifying and naming emotions. The author groups emotions into different categories and explores all the nuances we can experience as human beings. The audio was narrated by the author in a very conversational tone. I would say it’s a light, casual read about emotions.
The Unraveling by Benjamin Rosenbaum, 320p: Interesting speculative sci-fi in a world where people can have multiple bodies sharing the same mind. But more interestingly, it’s a society very unlike ours where gender and sexual organs are completely dissociated. People are assigned at birth by the Midwives with either of these two genders: Vails or Staids (which having nothing to do with biological sexual organs). It’s a weird book, with rich world-building, set in a complex society with mass surveillance and social media gig economy. Also, it’s about parenting. And a clear criticism of the binary gender status quo. Lots going on here.
Hench (Hench #1) by Natalie Zina Walschots, 385p: This is the same premise as the graphic novel (and TV series) “The Boys”, exploring the darker side of superhero culture, focusing on the consequences of superhero actions and their impact on ordinary people. The main character (Anna) starts calculating the collateral damage caused by superheroes and starts a revenge journey with a supervillain. There is office politics and satire. There is also body horror at the end, which threw me off a bit.
Villain (Hench #2) by Natalie Zina Walschots, 436p: In this second book it becomes even more clear how morally grey all the villains and superheroes truly are. Nobody is to be trusted, and we also have an unreliable narrator (Anna aka The Auditor). It deepens the toxic relationship between Leviathan and The Auditor, but since everything exists in shades of grey, it is not entirely clear who the victim is here (they are all villains in the end?). It was actually a challenging book for me, because the author challenged me by refusing to offer a clean line between good and evil, forcing me to sit with the uncomfortable reality of Anna’s descent into worse and worse choices. I thought the pacing was a bit off and the book could have been shorter if a lot of the office team-management shenanigans were reduced. The best character was Decoherence, and I loved all the quantum physics related names.
Lean in: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg, Audio 6h: A conversation about women in the workplace filled with personal anecdotes from the author herself. She lays out all the issues with standard office environments, including biases and sometimes even a lack of proper women’s restrooms. She provides advice on how women can take more leadership positions, overcome the imposter syndrome and basically “sitting at the table”. She also emphasizes the importance of domestic equality, where both partners share the work of raising children and manage the home. It has an optimistic view of the future and a great message, but I found the author has some blind spots because she speaks from a unique position as a high level Silicon Valley Executive.
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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.