Looking for your next great show or your next good book? Welcome to Weekend Watch & Read, your weekly look at what’s capturing America’s attention. I’m bringing together Netflix’s weekly Top 10 TV shows and the New York Times Best Sellers lists to help you decide what to watch, what to read, and what everyone is talking about. No guesswork, no endless scrolling, just the latest rankings to help you plan your weekend.
Netflix
I watched TYSON, the documentary series on Netflix, and found it pretty interesting and well worth the time. It covers Mike Tyson’s rise and fall, as well as his early life and the circumstances that shaped him. It’s quite a story, and in many ways, a sad one. Released on October 13, 2026, the series consists of four episodes.
Netflix: Top 10 TV shows
United States
Week of October 12–18, 2026 · Official Netflix weekly ranking
| Rank | TV show |
|---|---|
| 1 | Below: Limited Series |
| 2 | Love Is Blind: Season 11, Boston |
| 3 | Instadocs: AI Gone Wild |
| 4 | East of Eden: Limited Series |
| 5 | The Diplomat: Season 4 |
| 6 | TYSON: Limited Series |
| 7 | Is It Cake? Halloween: Season 2 |
| 8 | Raw: 2026, October 12 |
| 9 | Michael Che: Shot in Minnesota |
| 10 | Haunted Hotel: Season 2 |
Brazil
Week of October 12–18, 2026 · Official Netflix weekly ranking
| Rank | TV show |
|---|---|
| 1 | Below: Limited Series |
| 2 | Take Charge of My Heart: Limited Series |
| 3 | Doctor X: Mafia in White: Limited Series |
| 4 | The Trap: Limited Series |
| 5 | Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Season 1 |
| 6 | Spike: Season 1 |
| 7 | East of Eden: Limited Series |
| 8 | My Name Is Farah: Season 2 |
| 9 | Habeas Corpus: Season 1 |
| 10 | My Name Is Farah: Season 1 |
NY Times
I’m currently reading Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck, first published in 1962. I’ll write a full review when I finish, but my early impression is mixed. Some parts are fascinating, while others drag a bit. So far, I’m not finding it on the same level as Of Mice and Men or The Grapes of Wrath.
Steinbeck set out to rediscover America on a road trip with his poodle, Charley. It’s an interesting journey, but I’m still deciding how I feel about the book as a whole.
Hardcover Fiction
NYT edition: October 11, 2026 · Sales through September 26, 2026
| Rank | Book | Author |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hollywood, Ending | John Green |
| 2 | Sometimes I Scare Myself | Jeneva Rose |
| 3 | Hollow Bones | Jodi Picoult |
| 4 | The Calamity Club | Kathryn Stockett |
| 5 | Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel | Lucy Foley |
| 6 | Double Tap | Don Bentley |
| 7 | The Munich Affair | James Patterson and David Ellis |
| 8 | Yesteryear | Caro Claire Burke |
| 9 | Whistler | Ann Patchett |
| 10 | The Pirate Queen | Ariel Lawhon |
Hardcover Nonfiction
NYT edition: October 11, 2026 · Sales through September 26, 2026
| Rank | Book | Author |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Swan Song | Charles Spencer |
| 2 | Roll the Calls | Ari Emanuel |
| 3 | Actually, Nevermind | Taylor Tomlinson |
| 4 | An Unexpected Life | Gloria Steinem |
| 5 | The Perilous Fight | Colin Kaepernick with Nick Chiles |
| 6 | Go and Do Likewise | Andy Beshear |
| 7 | Pay Attention | David Pakman |
| 8 | Regime Change | Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan |
| 9 | Confronting America | Bill O’Reilly and Josh Hammer |
| 10 | The Nerd Reich | Gil Durán |
Book Review
World Without End – Medieval Saga of Plague and Power
By Ken Follett
**Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)
World Without End is the third novel I’ve completed in Ken Follett’s Kingsbridge series, and once again, Follett delivers a massive historical epic more than 1,000 pages that somehow still manages to move quickly.
This installment felt somewhat different from the first two books in how it began. The Pillars of the Earth and The Evening and the Morning launched into their central conflicts more quickly, while World Without End spends more time building its characters and relationships early on. The main characters begin as children, and Follett carefully develops their personalities, ambitions, and connections before the larger conflicts fully emerge.
At first, the slower opening caught me off guard, but by the middle of the novel, it became clear why Follett structured it this way. The broader cast of characters and the longer time span give the story a much larger sense of scale, especially now that the Kingsbridge timeline spans more than 400 years, from the prequel to the end of this novel.
Watching Kingsbridge Come Alive
One of the most rewarding aspects of reading the Kingsbridge series in order is how vividly the town itself comes to life in your imagination.
By this point, Kingsbridge feels almost real.
You can visualize: The size of the cathedral, streets and bridges, the monastery, and the population changes
The setting becomes more than background scenery; it becomes part of the story itself.
That sense of continuity is one of Follett’s greatest strengths. Across centuries of fictional history, Kingsbridge evolves organically while still maintaining a recognizable identity.
Mystery, Intrigue, and Unpredictability
Follett once again proves exceptionally skilled at crafting storylines and character arcs that evolve in unexpected ways.
Several times I thought I had figured out where the novel was heading, only for the story to introduce another twist or complication that completely changed my expectations.
One of the book’s strongest hooks is the central mystery introduced near the beginning. Surprisingly, Follett leaves it largely unresolved for most of the novel, only returning to it near the very end, and even then, the outcome unfolds differently than expected.
That long-form storytelling keeps the novel engaging despite its enormous size.
Familiar Themes That Still Work
Like the earlier Kingsbridge novels, World Without End revisits many familiar themes: corruption, politics, class division, and ambition.
This time, however, the corruption feels more localized within the town itself rather than centered primarily in higher church authority.
The Prior in this novel is especially infuriating, manipulative, cruel, and self-serving, and he is written so effectively that you genuinely despise him as the story unfolds.
Follett understands exactly how to create antagonists who embody institutional corruption without turning them into cartoon villains.
War, France, and Expanding the World
The historical backdrop also shifts.
Unlike the Viking threats in The Evening and the Morning, this novel takes place during England’s wars with France, giving the story a broader European scope.
Some storylines admittedly stretch plausibility at times, particularly the journey involving two young nuns traveling into France during wartime to locate the king, but the book remains entertaining enough that those moments rarely hurt the overall experience.
Follett prioritizes storytelling and momentum over strict historical realism, and honestly, that is part of what makes these novels so enjoyable.
These are historical novels meant to immerse and entertain first, not academic reconstructions of medieval life.
The Cathedral Remains the Heart of the Story
As with every Kingsbridge novel, the cathedral remains central to the narrative.
Each book approaches it differently:
- The Evening and the Morning establishes the location and origins
- The Pillars of the Earth centers on building the cathedral itself
- World Without End takes place centuries later, when the cathedral is fully established but aging and in need of repair
The town’s bridge also undergoes major changes in this novel, which made me curious how those developments might connect to later books in the series.
Love, Class, and the Familiar Follett Formula
Follett once again returns to one of his favorite narrative structures: poor, wealthy, and social barriers
The pattern is familiar by now, but it still works because the emotional investment in the characters feels genuine.
Even when you suspect where the relationship is heading, the journey remains entertaining enough that predictability becomes less important than the characters themselves.
The Plague and Its Modern Echoes
One especially fascinating aspect of the novel is its portrayal of the Black Death.
Reading these sections now feels especially striking because many elements mirror modern experiences: quarantine, fear, social tension, and misinformation.
Follett does an excellent job showing how pandemics reshape societies economically, politically, and psychologically, not just medically.
Despite the devastation, the novel ultimately carries the same underlying optimism found throughout the Kingsbridge series: societies survive, rebuild, and adapt even after immense tragedy.
Final Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)
World Without End is another outstanding entry in the Kingsbridge series and one of the most immersive historical novels I’ve read.
Despite its enormous length, the book remains consistently engaging because Follett balances good characters, intrigue, mystery, war, and corruption.
The slower beginning ultimately pays off because it allows the characters and town to feel more fully developed over the course of the novel.
If you enjoy large-scale historical fiction that combines entertainment with vivid historical atmosphere, this series continues to deliver at an incredibly high level.
Highly recommended.
I used ChatGPT for the critical reception since I could not know what was being said about the book when it was released.
Critical Reception When Released
Upon release, World Without End became an international bestseller and received strong reviews from both critics and readers.
Reviewers praised:
- Follett’s immersive medieval world-building
- the ambitious scope of the narrative
- The handling of the Black Death and social upheaval
- the readability despite the novel’s size
- the strong emotional investment in the characters
Many fans considered it a worthy successor to The Pillars of the Earth, particularly because it expanded the world of Kingsbridge while still maintaining the themes and storytelling style that made the original so popular from the prequel through the novel’s end.
What are you watching or reading this week? Have you discovered a show or book you would recommend?
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