Reading Time: 6 minutes

Weekend Watch & Read

Welcome to Weekend Watch & Read, your Friday guide to what everyone is talking about before the weekend begins.

Every Friday I’ll round up the Top 10 Netflix shows in the United States and the Top 10 in Brazil, giving you a glimpse into what audiences on both sides of the equator are binge-watching. Sometimes the lists will overlap; often they won’t, and that’s part of the fun. It’s a fascinating look at how culture, language, and storytelling shape what captures our attention.

For readers who would rather turn pages than stream episodes, I’ll also feature The New York Times Best Seller lists for both Fiction and Nonfiction. Whether you’re looking for your next thriller, biography, historical account, or thought-provoking read, you’ll find plenty of inspiration for your weekend reading list.

Finally, I’ll share one book from my own bookshelf. It won’t necessarily be a bestseller or the latest release. Sometimes it will be a forgotten classic, a hidden gem, a work of history, or simply a book that made me stop, think, or see the world a little differently. Along with it, you’ll get my honest review and whether I think it’s worth adding to your own reading list.

So pour yourself a cup of coffee, settle into your favorite chair, and see what the rest of the world is watching, what readers are buying, and what one retired American living in Brazil thinks deserves a little more attention. Your weekend entertainment starts here.

Netflix Top 10 United States

Rank	TV Show
1	Death of the Pastor’s Wife: Season 1
2	Beauty in Black: Season 3
3	Instadocs: The Decoy Plane
4	Leanne: Season 2
5	Danny Go!: Season 2
6	The Gentlemen: Season 2
7	Outer Banks: Season 5
8	Earle Meets World: Season 1
9	Talamasca: The Secret Order: Season 1
10	Ms. Rachel: Season 1

Netflix Top 10 In Brazil

Rank	TV Show
1	The Early Spring: Season 1
2	My Name Is Farah: Season 2
3	Death of the Pastor’s Wife: Season 1
4	Mom Knows Best?: Season 1
5	Beauty in Black: Season 3
6	My Name Is Farah: Season 1
7	The Mentalist: Season 1
8	Outer Banks: Season 5
9	Blood Sacrifice: Season 1
10	Lottie Dottie Chicken: 2ª temporada

New York Times Best Sellers

Current as of September 8, 2026
Latest published list: September 6, 2026
Sales period: week ending August 22, 2026

NY Times Top 10 Hard Cover Fiction

1. The Poison Daughter — Sheila Masterson
2. The Calamity Club — Kathryn Stockett
3. Yesteryear — Caro Claire Burke
4. Delusional — James Patterson and James O. Born
5. Whistler — Ann Patchett
6. The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook — Matt Dinniman
7. God’s Country — William Kent Krueger
8. The Correspondent — Virginia Evans
9. The Gate of the Feral Gods — Matt Dinniman
10. Dungeon Crawler Carl — Matt Dinniman

NY Times Top 10 Paperback Fiction

1. Theo of Golden — Allen Levi
2. Brain Damage — Freida McFadden
3. Dungeon Crawler Carl — Matt Dinniman
4. Project Hail Mary — Andy Weir
5. The Wedding People — Alison Espach
6. Carl’s Doomsday Scenario — Matt Dinniman
7. Verity — Colleen Hoover
8. A Court of Thorns and Roses — Sarah J. Maas
9. Adversary to the Villain — Hannah Nicole Maehrer
10. Red Rising — Pierce Brown

NY Times Top 10 Hard Cover Non-Fiction

1. Regime Change — Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan
2. This Is Me — Hayden Panettiere
3. The Nerd Reich — Gil Durán
4. The Day After — Brian Tyler Cohen
5. Strangers — Belle Burden
6. No Prophets — Jared Huffman
7. Biological War — Annie Jacobsen
8. London Falling — Patrick Radden Keefe
9. Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About — Isabel Klee
10. The Anxious Generation — Jonathan Haidt

Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous

1. Pardon My Book — Big Cat, PFT Commenter et al.
2. The Let Them Theory — Mel Robbins
3. Atomic Habits — James Clear
4. From Italy With Amore — Jessi and Alessio Pasini
5. Brain Defenders — David Perlmutter
6. What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking: Make It Fast — Caroline Chambers
7. Unreasonable Hospitality — Will Guidara
8. Small-Batch Breads — Rebecca Eisenberg
9. The Digital Delusion — Jared Cooney Horvath
10. The Courage to Be Disliked — Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga

Book Review:American Lion Review — Andrew Jackson, Populism, and the Rise of Presidential Power

Book Review: American Lion — Andrew Jackson and the Birth of the Modern Presidency

Jon Meacham

Rating:  ★★★★★ (5/5)

Andrew Jackson was not a typical president; he was a political storm. In American Lion, Jon Meacham delivers a gripping portrait of a man who rose from poverty to reshape the presidency into a far more personal, populist, and powerful institution.

Jackson was adored by ordinary Americans, feared by elites, and notorious for his battles against banks, political rivals, Native Americans, and even traditional constitutional limits. What makes Meacham’s biography so compelling is its refusal to simplify Jackson into either hero or villain. Instead, the book presents him as a deeply contradictory figure who expanded democracy for some Americans while brutally denying justice and freedom to others.

Meacham guides readers through Jackson’s turbulent life with nuance and balance, revealing a leader defined equally by extraordinary courage and profound moral flaws.

From Poverty to Power

Jackson’s story begins in hardship. Born in 1767 in the Carolina backcountry, he grew up poor and was orphaned during the American Revolutionary War. Those early losses shaped nearly every aspect of his personality — his fierce independence, distrust of elites, emotional intensity, and unwavering loyalty to family and friends.

Before entering national politics, Jackson worked as a lawyer, a judge, and a land speculator

But it was the War of 1812, particularly the Battle of New Orleans, that transformed him into a national hero. Jackson’s unlikely victory turned him into a symbol of toughness, patriotism, and self-made success. In many ways, he became the first truly outsider president in American history.

The People’s President

Jackson’s election in 1828 marked a turning point in American democracy. For perhaps the first time, a president rose to power through a broad coalition of ordinary voters who believed Jackson represented them against entrenched political elites.

His inauguration became legendary. Crowds flooded the White House, climbing on furniture, breaking dishes, and overwhelming the building. Supporters viewed the chaos as symbolic: democracy itself had entered the people’s house.

Jackson believed the president represented the direct will of the people, not merely the will of Congress or political institutions. That belief fundamentally changed the presidency and expanded the role of executive leadership in American politics.

Expanding Presidential Power

Before Jackson, presidents rarely used the veto except for constitutional objections. Jackson transformed it into a political weapon, vetoing legislation he believed threatened ordinary Americans or violated his political vision.

This shift was revolutionary.

Jackson redefined the presidency as an office with its own independent democratic legitimacy. He pushed executive authority further than any president before him, permanently altering the balance of power within the federal government.

His leadership style was intensely personal: very loyal, ruthless to opponents, aggressive and confrontational.

Whether admired or condemned, Jackson undeniably transformed the presidency into a far more dominant national force.

The Bank War: Jackson vs. the Elite

One of the defining battles of Jackson’s presidency was his war against the Second Bank of the United States. Jackson viewed the Bank as corrupt, undemocratic, and controlled by wealthy elites at the expense of ordinary citizens.

His response was dramatic:

• He vetoed the Bank’s recharter in 1832
• removed federal deposits into state “pet banks.”
• publicly attacked Bank president Nicholas Biddle

Jackson’s victory over the Bank:

• expanded executive authority
• energized populist supporters
• enraged political opponents
• contributed to economic instability

Meacham makes clear that this conflict was about far more than banking. It reflected Jackson’s broader belief that government should serve ordinary citizens rather than entrenched financial power.

Eliminating the National Debt

One of Jackson’s proudest accomplishments came in 1835, when the United States briefly eliminated its national debt entirely the only time in American history this has happened.

Through aggressive spending cuts, opposition to internal improvement projects, and booming land sales, Jackson achieved a debt-free federal government.

To Jackson, this represented financial independence from elite financial institutions and foreign influence. Though the achievement was temporary, it remains one of the most remarkable fiscal moments in American history.

Indian Removal and the Trail of Tears

The darkest chapter of Jackson’s presidency was undoubtedly Indian Removal.

Jackson strongly supported the Indian Removal Act, which forced Native nations from their ancestral lands in the Southeast. The resulting Trail of Tears led to immense suffering, with thousands dying from disease, starvation, and exposure.

Meacham does not attempt to excuse these actions. Instead, he presents them as central to Jackson’s worldview — a belief in white expansion, aggressive nationalism, and the refusal to recognize Native Americans as sovereign equals.

This remains the deepest stain on Jackson’s legacy and one of the most morally devastating chapters in American history.

Love, Loyalty, and Personal Tragedy

Jackson’s private life was every bit as dramatic as his political career. He deeply loved his wife, Rachel Jackson, and that devotion shaped much of his emotional life.

Their marriage began in controversy when Rachel believed she was divorced before marrying Jackson, only to later discover the divorce had not been finalized. Political enemies weaponized the scandal during the vicious 1828 campaign, publicly attacking Rachel’s character.

She died shortly before Jackson’s inauguration, and Jackson remained convinced that the cruelty of the campaign contributed to her death.

That grief hardened him further. Jackson became fiercely protective of those he loved and merciless toward anyone he believed had betrayed or humiliated them.

Legacy: Democracy and Its Contradictions

Meacham’s American Lion presents Jackson as a president who fundamentally reshaped American politics:

• He expanded presidential power
• empowered ordinary white voters
• transformed the relationship between citizens and government
• destroyed the Second National Bank
• eliminated the national debt

But he also:

• entrenched slavery
• displaced Native Americans
• expanded executive authority in dangerous ways
• intensified divisions over race and democracy

Jackson’s legacy remains deeply paradoxical. He expanded democracy while simultaneously limiting it. He empowered ordinary citizens while inflicting devastating harm on entire populations.

That contradiction is what makes him both historically important and endlessly controversial.

Final Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)

American Lion is a masterful biography of one of the most consequential and divisive presidents in American history. Meacham captures Jackson’s ambition, political instincts, charisma, courage, and moral failings with remarkable balance and readability.

Rather than asking readers to admire Jackson, Meacham asks them to understand him — how he rose, how he governed, and how his vision of executive power permanently changed the American presidency.

This is an essential read for anyone interested in American history, political leadership, populism, or the complicated realities of power.

I used ChatGPT for the critical response because I could not know what was said when the book came out.

Critical Reception When Released

Upon release, American Lion received widespread critical acclaim and went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography.

Critics praised:

• Meacham’s highly readable narrative style
• The balanced treatment of Jackson’s strengths and moral failures
• The vivid portrayal of early American politics
• The exploration of populism and executive power
• The emotional depth of Jackson’s personal life

Many reviewers considered the biography one of the strongest modern studies of Jackson, particularly for its ability to explain why he inspired such passionate loyalty and equally intense opposition.

Reading Time: 6 minutes