Writers Read: September 2025

Tuesday, September 2, 2025

Kathleen Barber

Kathleen Barber is the author of Truth Be Told (2017, originally published as Are You Sleeping), which was adapted into a series on AppleTV+ by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine media company, and Follow Me (2020). A graduate of the University of Illinois and Northwestern University School of Law, she now lives in Washington, DC, with her husband and children.

Barber's new novel is Both Things Are True.

Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Barber's reply:

One of the upsides of being an author is getting to read new books before they're released! I just finished reading an early copy of Lyn Liao Butler's The Deadly Book Club, which is about the murder of a high-profile bookstagrammer and the other bookstagrammers-slash-frenemies who are all suspects. It's dishy and a lot of fun!

I also just started an early copy of Michelle Maryk's debut, The Found Object Society, which is delightfully creepy and hooked me from the very first page.

I read across genres, although my favorite genres are suspense and romantic comedy — probably not a huge surprise, as those are the genres I write! The Deadly Book Club and The Found Object Society are on the suspense end of the spectrum, and on the romance side, I just finished Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan. I love her books, and this one (about a screenwriter who starts a romance with the celebrity cast in her movie) was just so fun.

It also set me off on a normal people-celebrity romance book kick: I'm in the middle of Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman (about a journalist reconnecting with a celebrity she interviewed years ago) and have Square Waves by Alexandra Romanoff (a companion novel to Big Fan, which is about political strategist who starts a romance with a former boy band member) high on my TBR.