Month in Review: March 2026

 

Aaaand it's April! How are we holding up so far this year? I hope you're all doing well and hanging in there, finding some joy in your daily life, and reading incredible books. This year has been crazy hectic and turbulent for me for so many reasons and it sounds like a lot of people I know have been having some wild years as well, so I hope if your year has been crazy that it's in a good (or at least neutral!) way. And uh, what was up with those heat waves here in SoCal? I did not want 90 degree weather in March, haha. 

In personal news.. I started a new job in March! Up until now, I've been doing a lot of contract/part-time work so my hours were always pretty random or more "work whenever to get the work done," so I'm now on regular full time business hours (but still fully remote, so I'm extremely grateful for that!) and I'm just getting used to that. It is nice not having to juggle a million different things (though I am still doing some contract work on the side right now so it's a little hectic still, haha). But I'm enjoying the work so far, my coworkers have been lovely, and it's a weight off my shoulders to finally have some consistent, reliable work for now.
But, admittedly, I have been struggling a tiny bit with all the work plus some community college courses (I'm taking five--yes, five--classes.... all of which I signed up for before I got the new job, and let's just say I wouldn't have done all of them if I'd known, lol, but we're trying our best here since we're past the refund drop date) and still trying to make time for reading and blogging... but I am nothing if not stubborn and determined (to my detriment, perhaps), so we're going to keep trying to keep up, haha. Hopefully in a couple months things will calm down again--fingers crossed, at least. :)

In reading news,  I read more than I expected! I finally decided to start catching back up on the Wayward Children series, so you'll see that reflected below with books #8-10, and I also managed a re-read of The Magicians by Lev Grossman because I've just been so curious to see how I feel about it now, since I first read it over a decade ago (I can't be that old!) and I want to finally finish the trilogy, and I think many of my opinions are the same, but maybe some are different. I don't think I read any five star books in March, but April is already looking promising, so I'm not going to hold too much weight to that, haha. I also managed to get more reviews up, and I'm hoping to maintain that momentum in April. :) Now I just need to catch up on everyone else's blogs!

How was your March and what books have you been reading? How's the new year been? Any reading-related goals?  Let me know how your month was below and what you've been reading!

   

# books read: 13
(I feel like this is really more like 11 since I just had a little bit left to finish, but the total count is 13, so for accurate tracking, I'm leaving it there.)

Crawlspace by Adam Christopher
Source: Publisher | Format: Physical ARC
Thoughts: This was overall a quite disappointing read. My review is already up, so be sure to take a look if you want to know more of my thoughts.

No Man's Land by Richard K. Morgan
Source: Publisher | Format: Physical ARC
Thoughts: This was an interesting one and I generally had fun with it. Reminds me a bit of the 'urban fantasy male protagonist' style a la Dresden Files or The Fetch Phillips Archives (though I much prefer the latter).

Lucien by J.R. Thornton
Source: Publisher | Format: Physical ARC
Thoughts: This was a very solid 'dark' academia book (I put dark in single quotes because I'm not really sure I'd consider it that, but it seems to be the catchall these days) that didn't 'wow' me, but also wasn't a bad book at all. My review for this one is also up!

Lost in the Moment and Found (Wayward Children #8) by Seanan McGuire
Source: Library | Format: Ebook
Thoughts: I've been meaning to catch up on this series since, well, since whenever this book came out! I'm glad to finally be all caught up, but I definitely find this series incredibly hit or miss for me these days. This one was very interesting, and I liked exploring the shop and story with Antsy.

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Mislaid in Parts Half-Known (Wayward Children #9) by Seanan McGuire
Source: Library | Format: Ebook
Thoughts: This one was a bit hit or miss for me in parts, I found the pacing a bit off. 

Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear (Wayward Children #10) by Seanan McGuire
Source: Library | Format: Audiobook
Thoughts: I wanted to like this one more than I did. The story was interesting, but I just wasn't connecting with it for some reason.

The Geomagician by Jennifer Mandula
Source: NetGalley | Format: eARC
Thoughts: My review for this one is also already up. I enjoyed some aspects of it, but it wasn't quite what I was expecting/hoping for and had some things I didn't love. Still, I think many will enjoy this one.

The Magicians (The Magicians #1) by Lev Grossman (re-read)
Source: Owned | Format: Hardcover
Thoughts: Oh boy was this an interesting re-read! I remembered that I didn't love Quentin, but couldn't remember why... until we got far enough into the book that I was like "ah, yes, there we are. Quentin does still suck." Still, I actually think this book is brilliant in its own right. It feels so purposefully frustrating and odd and familiar yet unfamiliar and I find that so compelling. I still completely understand why it's so divisive and why I probably never made it past the second book when I first read them, but it also feels so... important, to me? Like it feels like an important part of fantasy culture and history and development in weird ways that I won't get into here, but perhaps I'm just reading too much into it. Regardless, we are on to the next one!

The Feather Wars: And the Great Crusade to Save America's Birds by James H. McCommons
Source: NetGalley | Format: eARC
Thoughts: This was a fascinating nonfiction read about the history of bird populations in America and I definitely recommend it! My review for this is already up, too. 

An Arcane Study of Stars by Sydney J. Shields
Source: Publisher | Format: Physical ARC
Thoughts: Oh man, this book was... something. My review will be up this month to line up with its release. It was so promising yet also so... odd. It started off mostly strong, but then took some turns. I have a lot of thoughts!

Rise of the Evening Star (Fablehaven #2) by Brandon Mull
Source: Owned | Format: Hardcover
Thoughts: Finally got to continue this series and I'm still just so unsure of it sometimes, haha. Half of me absolutely loves it and I'm captivated by how dark it seems, but then half of me feels like some things are just not quite right. But regardless, I love the imagination in this series and will likely continue because I can't say no to a fascinating world and premise. 

The Trident and the Pearl by Sarah K.L. Wilson
Source: Publisher | Format: Physical ARC
Thoughts: This is another one of those that started off well, but then I think I just got a bit bored? 

Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett
Source: NetGalley | Format: eARC
Thoughts: To my immense disappointment, I just did not connect with this book very much. I really wanted to love it, but something just wasn't working for me. Don't you hate it when you want to love a book and don't? (And especially when everyone else seems to have had such a fun time with it!)

To-Be-Finished:

None that I can remember!

 

The Optimists by Brian Platzer

Seasons of Glass and Iron: Stories by Amal El-Mohtar

Lucien by J.R. Thornton

Crawlspace by Adam Christopher

The Feather Wars: And the Great Crusade to Save America's Birds by James H. McCommons

The Geomagician by Jennifer Mandula

 Posts:

Anticipated March 2026 Releases

Month in Review: February 2026

Anticipated April 2026 Releases

Blog Memes:

Can't-Wait Wednesday:
3/4: The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer, The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances by Glenn Dixon, & Stealing America by Linford D. Fisher

3/11: If We Cannot Go at the Speed of Light by Kim Cho-yeop, Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker, & Those Who Are About to Die by Harry Sidebottom

3/18: Morsel by Carter Keane, The Subtle Art of Folding Space by John Chu, & An Arcane Study of Stars by Sydney J. Shields

3/25: Molka by Monika Kim, Wolvers by Taylor Brown, & We Call Them Witches by India-Rose Bower

Mini-Review: No Man's Land by Richard K. Morgan

 

No Man's Land by Richard K. Morgan
Del Rey

Publication Date: March 24th, 2026
Hardcover. 478 pages.

About No Man's Land:

"The Great War was supposed to be the war to end all wars-and maybe it would have been, had an even greater, otherworldly foe not arisen to extinguish the conflict. Overnight, as guns blazed away in France and Flanders, village after village in the quiet British countryside were swallowed by the Forest. And within the Forest lurk the Huldu ‒ an ancient fae race, monstrous in their inhumanity, who have decided that mankind's ascendency over the world can endure no longer.

Enter Duncan Silver. Scarred by the war, fueled by a rage deeper than the trenches in which he once fought, Duncan is determined to show the Huldu that the world is not theirs for the taking. Armed with a cut-down trench gun filled with iron shot and a deadly iron knife, Duncan will stop at nothing to return the children the Huldu have stolen from the arms of their families. No matter how many Huldu he may have to slaughter along the way.

But when he is hired by a mother to return her four-year-old daughter, Miriam ‒ taken by the Huldu six months past and replaced with a Changeling ‒ all hell breaks loose. Miriam is a pawn in a much bigger game for dominance than Duncan ever expected, and several long-buried secrets from his past are about to be violently resurrected."

In No Man's Land, we follow Duncan Silver as he gets pulled into a case that quickly becomes more complicated--and more dangerous--than it initially seems (isn't that always the case?), which forces him to navigate both the human and Fae parts of this gritty setting. I had a fun time with No Man's Land, though I did have a few mixed feelings here and there. It reminded me a lot of that gritty, urban fantasy style story, and while I don't think it's going to be for everyone, I think it will absolutely find its audience and do well there. 

What I liked: Duncan Silver really is an interesting protagonist. He's not always likable, but he's not exactly horribly unlikable either, which made him easy enough to follow and become invested in throughout this story. He's very much a morally grey figure, and I appreciated how Morgan crafted these qualities in him. The worldbuilding was also a strong point in this one, and I find it to be immersive, bleak, gritty, and satisfying detailed, all of which left me feeling content. I think Morgan does a good job of crafting this tale in a way that keeps the reader engaged and curious about what's to come, as it's never entirely clear, and I also liked how not everything felt fully explained or neatly define, which added to the atmosphere. 

What I didn't like: The pacing was a bit uneven. At times, things moved very quickly and I found it easy to keep flipping the pages, but other sections felt considerably slower and dragged a bit in certain areas. That inconsistency made it a little harder to stay fully engaged throughout, but didn't take away too much from the story overall for me. I also wanted to note that I've seen a lot of reviews that are unhappy with the amount of sex and the ways women are described in this one, and I think if that's something that might bother you, then definitely take that into consideration. I found that although some were a bit excessive and I was not a fan of how Morgan described various sexual acts and the like, I did think they fit Duncan's character well and the overall vibe of the story, so it didn't necessarily feel out of place... but definitely not for everyone.  There were many moments in this book that really worked for me and others that I struggled with a bit more, but overall I enjoyed the world and following Duncan through everything he was dealing with.

*I received a copy of No Man's Land courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This has no effect on my rating or enjoyment.*

Buy the book: Bookshop.org | Amazon

Can't-Wait Wednesday: The Franchise by Thomas Elrod, Treat Them as Buffalo by Blair Palmer Yoxall, & One Leg On Earth by 'Pemi Aguda

    

 Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released

The Franchise by Thomas Elrod
Publication: May 12th, 2026
Tor Books
Hardcover. 368 pages.
Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:
"Game of Thrones meets The Truman Show in this epic tale of a Hollywood-owned fantasy world where nothing is quite as it seems to the people who live and die at the studio’s whim.

A land filled with magic and dragons and wizards and warriors.

Thousands of people live and work within its borders, fearful of their enemies and loyal to their king.

The classic fantasy world of The Malicarn has been brought to life on the big screen in a series of phenomenally successful blockbuster movies, almost entirely populated by characters in total belief that their sham fantasy lives are real.

A fan-favorite actor finds himself doubting the studio's work, but this franchise has an almost unstoppable momentum, and bringing freedom to a population that already believes itself to be free won’t be as easy as he thinks.

All the world’s a stage.
Meet the players."

Treat Them as Buffalo by Blair Palmer Yoxall

Publication: May 5th, 2026

Algonquin Books

Paperback. 288 pages.

Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:

"An electric debut that delivers a classic Western from an Indigenous perspective—as teenage boys being to disappear from one great plains Métis community, a young man attempts to uncover the evil force lurking out of sight

In 1880, Nikosis “Niko” Erikson spends his days playing buffalo hunter, even though it’s been many years since a member of his tribe has actually seen one of the once-ubiquitous animals. But when his beloved Cousin goes missing, things start to fall apart. With law enforcement failing—indeed refusing—to investigate the disappearance, the community members take matters into their own hands, rallying around the leadership of a sawn-off shotgun-slinging rancher named Kate McCannon.

The resultant women-led coalition of freedom fighters strikes back against the Mounted Police as they investigate the boys’ disappearance and take their futures into their own hands. But violence continues to haunt Niko, and boys continue to disappear. As he leaves his boyhood behind and draws closer to finding Cousin, Niko’s investigation points to a harrowing revelation about his own heritage, which heels closer to violence that any boy would wish to know.

Written with the pace and punch of The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu and the inventiveness of The Only Good Indians, Treat Them as Buffalo delivers a gripping portrait of a young man coming of age before his time. Debut author Blair Palmer Yoxall bursts on the scene with the verve, cleverness, and heart of a much more seasoned writer."

One Leg On Earth by 'Pemi Aguda
Publication: May 5th, 2026
W.W. Norton & Company
Hardcover. 240 pages.
Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:
"From the author of the National Book Award finalist Ghostroots, a debut novel that thrills with its eerie mix of folklore and history.

The lonely daughter of a distant mother, Yosoye arrives in Lagos ready to change her life. Weeks after she begins an internship at a fancy architectural firm, she discovers she is pregnant. Yosoye is joyful—a new life brings the hope of connection and companionship.

But an inexplicable force is haunting the pregnant women of Lagos. As construction speeds ahead on the firm’s glossy new development on land reclaimed from the ocean, stories of the uncanny deaths in the city’s open waters reach a fever pitch. Yosoye finds herself stalked by a presence she can neither ignore nor appease—without risking her unborn baby and her precarious hopes for the future.

In One Leg on Earth, ‘Pemi Aguda turns the question of who belongs in a city into an arresting exploration of what it means to be a mother in an unforgiving world, and a haunting vision of the dark side of progress."

Review: The Geomagician by Jennifer Mandula

The Geomagician by Jennifer Mandula
Del Rey

Publication Date: March 31st, 2026
Hardcover. 464 pages.

About The Geomagician:

"When a Victorian fossil hunter discovers a baby pterodactyl, she vows to protect him with the help of a fellow scholar—her former fiancé—in this enchanting and transporting historical fantasy.

Mary Anning wants to be a geomagician—a paleontologist who uses fossils to wield magic—but since the Geomagical Society of London refuses to admit women, she’s stuck selling her discoveries to tourists instead. When an ancient egg hatches in her hands, revealing a loveable baby pterodactyl Mary names Ajax, she knows this is the kind of scientific find that could make her career—if she’s strategic.

Mary contacts the Society about her discovery, and they demand to take possession of Ajax. Their emissary is none other than Henry Stanton, a distinguished (and infuriatingly handsome) scholar... and the man who once broke Mary's heart.

Henry claims he believes in the brilliant Mary, and that he only wants to help her obtain the respect she deserves. She knows she can't trust her fellow scholars, who want to discredit her and claim Ajax for their own—but can she even trust Henry, who seems intent on winning Mary back?

Now Mary has a new mystery to solve that's buried deeper than any dinosaur She must uncover the secrets behind the Society and the truth about Henry. As her conscience begins to chafe against her ambition, Mary must decide what lengths she’s willing to go to finally belong—and what her heart really wants."

The Geomagician caught my eye for obviously reasons-- I mean, that cover is captivating, and a baby pterodactyl? I'm in!

I ended up having some pretty mixed feelings about it. I really liked certain aspects, but at the same time it often felt like I'd read something very similar before and that made it feel slightly repetitive and less exciting. It's a very solid story, but not one that necessarily stands out in this genre. Some elements felt a bit tired or overdone, but they were still executed well, which made it an overall generally enjoyable reading experience.

Mary is an incredibly driven and is determined to become a geomagician, and as a reader I appreciated her steadfastness to her goals and ambition. She is very intelligent and confident in her abilities, but she can also be a bit stubborn at times, which I think causes her some professional and interpersonal difficulties. She is someone who appears very caring and quick to fight for what feels right, such as women becoming geomagicians, but she remains somewhat single-minded in fighting for her own future rather than including others in that fight.

Despite her own struggles with poverty and the need to occasionally sell her magic to survive, she is somewhat ignorant of the larger systems at play around her, and that aspect is where things get a bit more interesting. Because of her own experiences struggling with money, she believes she generally understands how things work--and in many ways, she absolutely does--but she also has a large blind spot when it comes to how others around her struggle with similar things. Mary's circumstances, like most people's, are unique, and she has specific support systems in place that many others may not, even if she doesn't like to admit it. I actually think this book does a great job exploring that nuanced topic, and even though it makes Mary a bit frustrating at times, it really feels like something that is a real issue and obstacle that many people have to overcome when learning about other people's situations and struggles.

Mary's relationships were also a bit odd for me and never really made me feel like she had continuous close people around her she could always confide in. Her friendship with Lucy, in particular, was intriguing and frustrating at the same time. They are clearly very close and have been friends for many years, but I found it almost surprising how little Mary seemed to engage with or fully understand Lucy's involvement with some more revolutionary-leaning groups and ideas. She knows Lucy is involved, but she doesn't seem to want to dig deeper than that--and while I understand that, I also just feel like a friend would be more interested. Their arguments also sometimes felt a bit odd and unbalanced, and there would be large fights that were resolved quickly or simple in ways that didn't feel fully explored, and other times where small things seemed to have larger consequences than expected between them. And there were so many moments Mary seemed far too quick to dismiss Lucy when their views didn't align that just left me feeling confused about their friendship. 

The Geomagician does a great job exploring themes of sexism and classism, and that's definitely one of its stronger elements. There's a lot of nuance in how it looks at power, opportunity, who gets access to knowledge, and many more things that I think it did really well. One thing that I didn't expect, though, was how much the story was framed against a backdrop of Christianity and faith throughout. This isn't a Christian story, but moreso it explores how the fossils and magical theories around them confront the Christian faith that was dominant in this story. I really just wasn't expecting this going in, and while it somewhat make sense in the world, it wasn't something that felt very fitting to me, and in fact I found it pulled me out of the story a bit every time it came up. I think based on the synopsis I was anticipating a slightly more overtly magical and speculative setting, so it just caught me off guard. It wasn't that it was bad, per say, just not something that I was prepared for. 

I loved all of the fossils, dinosaurs, and paleontology talk we got--but honestly, I wanted more! I think there was a lot of it in the beginning of the story, which I loved, but as the story progressed it felt like we were moving on a bit from that as the main focus and began to lean more heavily into other areas of the story.

Because of this, I found the first portion of the book to be really strong and I was genuinely hooked early on and excited to see where things would go. However, as the story progressed, it seemed to shift more heavily into political and revolutionary elements that, although very important to the story and its themes, started to feel a bit overwhelming and almost overpowering to me. It wasn't really what I had come into this book expecting or wanting, and I found myself wishing we had stayed more focused on the elements that initially drew me in. 

This is a book that does a lot of things well, especially in its exploration of themes and ideas. There's some really interesting nuance in some of the character work and how they interact with the societal and political struggles portrayed in the story. However, this just isn't a story that really stood out to me, and as previously mentioned, many aspects felt a bit familiar or overdone. I think readers who love this type of story or are newer to the genre will love it, as well as those who enjoy political and social themes, as they will get more out of the story. Unfortunately, I found myself wanting a bit more from this book, especially with the speculative and paleontology-focused elements.

Overall, through the positives and negatives, I think The Geomagician is a really solid read overall, and if you are someone who is intrigued by this synopsis, then I'd encourage you to still give a read because it might just click with you more than it has with me. 

*I received a copy of The Geomagician courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This has no effect on my rating or enjoyment.*

Buy the book: Bookshop.org | Amazon

Anticipated April 2026 Releases

  

April is right around the corner, and of course that means more new books! I'm extremely excited many of these and am currently reading/have read a few on this already (hooray for getting to ARCs on time--sometimes it really happens, haha) and it is shaping up to be a great month. Which April releases are you most excited for!? Let me know! I also have a very strong feeling that I've somehow left out a lot of great April releases from this list, so please do let me know also if I've forgotten any that you are most excited for. 
Happy reading, everyone!

The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer || 21st -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker || 14th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Subtle Art of Folding Space by John Chiu || April  7th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances by Glenn Dixon || April  7th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Wolvers by Taylor Brown || April  7th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Morsel by Carter Keane || April 14th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

An Arcane Study of Stars by Sydney J. Shields || April 28th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Odessa by Gabrielle Sher || April 21st -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

If We Cannot Go at the Speed of Light by Kim Cho-yeop || April 28th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Witch by Marie Ndiaye || 7th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Molka by Monika Kim || April 30th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Photonic Effect by Mike Chen || April 21st -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Labyrinth of Waking Dreams by Michelle Kulwicki || April 21st -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Honey in the Wound by Jiyoung Han || April 7th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Verdant Cage by Jess Lourey || April 7th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Year of the Mer by L.D. Lewis || April  7th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Witch and the Huntress by Luna McNamara || April 21st -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

We Call Them Witches by India-Rose Bower || April 7th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Tricky Business of Faerie Bargains by Reena McCarty || 7th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

We Burned So Bright by TJ Klune || April 28th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Penguin Book of International Short Story by Rabih Alameddine || April 7th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke || April  7th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Those Who Are About To Die: A Day in the Life of a Roman Gladiator by Harry Sidebottom || April 14th -- Bookshop.org

Stealing America: The Untold Story of Indigenous Slavery in American History by Linford D. Fisher || April 28th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix || April  21st -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Hexes of the Deadwood by Agnieszka Szpila || April  7th -- Bookshop.org

Go Gentle by Maria Semple || April  14th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Last Night in Brooklyn by Xochitl Gonzalez || 21st -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Neverending Book by Naoki Matayoshi, Shinsuke Yoshitake || April 21st -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

What are your anticipated April releases?