Today’s post covers the second half of the books I read in March 2026. I shared what I read in the first half of the month here. I shared my five star reads here. I do have more 5 star reads to share here. Plus, it’s time for the Share Your Shelf Link Up! I hope you will join Joanne and I to share what you read this month. The Amazon links to the books I’ve read are affiliate links and if you use them and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission. If you’ve read any of these books or are interested in them, I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
Title: The Hired Man
Author: Sandra Dallas
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, 3/31/26
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
The Hired Man by Sandra Dallas takes place during the Dust Bowl, which is a time period I find very interesting. When a man saves a child lost in a storm, Martha Helen’s family agrees to hire him, no matter what the other people in town think of that decision. When Martha Helen’s friend is murdered, a trial begins.
“1937. It’s been seven years since the dust storms started in Colorado. Folks can barely remember a time when the clouds were filled with rain instead of dirt, and when the fields were green instead of brown. High school student Martha Helen Kessler and her family are luckier than most; they still eke out a living from the land. Even so, evidence of the Dust Bowl’s grim impact on families, especially on the women who bear the brunt of their husbands’ frustration and their children’s hunger, is everywhere. When Martha Helen’s compassionate mother insists they take in Otis Hobbs, a handsome drifter who saves a local boy from a vicious storm, she quickly discovers a darker side to their rural community. Suspicion, jealousy, and prejudice grip their neighbors – and emotions reach a frenzy after Martha Helen’s best friend, Frankie, disappears and is then found murdered. Ultimately, Martha Helen is forced to make sense of her conflicting feelings and loyalties in order to help find retribution and to reconcile the difference between the law and justice.”
I found this book read like a YA book, but it is considered more of a coming of age story. It has a mystery element as to who murdered Frankie. I enjoyed getting to know Martha Helen and her family.
Title: Laws of Love and Logic
Author: Debra Curtis
Genre: Literary
Publisher: Ballantine Books, 2/17/26
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
From the cover and title of Laws of Love and Logic by Debra Curtis, I was expecting a cozy type of read. Instead, I got a literary book that has been compared to Broken Country, and I can agree with that comparison. This is about Lily, whose high school relationship with “the boy” ended after a tragic mistake. This boy is never named in the book, but he is always on Lily’s mind. Meanwhile, she marries Marshall, an ornithologist.
“In the serene town of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, Lily Webb is deeply in love with a charismatic boy, a college-bound quarterback whose spectacular athletic talents are matched only by his fierce devotion. But their dreams of a life together are cut short when his passionate protectiveness leads to an irrevocable choice—one that tears them apart and leads Lily down a path of heartbreak from which she may never recover. Lily already knows the sting of loss, beginning with the death of her mother, a tragedy that left deep scars on both her and her gifted younger sister, Jane. Jane seeks escape in the abstract world of mathematics and quantum mechanics—when she can keep the demons that fuel her addictions at bay. As the years pass, Lily buries her twin griefs deep in her heart, finding solace and a new beginning with Marshall Middleton, a renowned ornithologist whose love is as steadfast as the migration patterns he studies. Yet the shadows of her past linger. When the boy who was once everything to Lily reappears in her life, she struggles with questions around that terrible night in high school. Can she reconcile the wild wonderment of her first love with the comfort and safety of her second?”
This book had some difficult content including early onset Alzheimer’s, the death of a parent, drug use, infidelity, and infertility. While it was literary fiction, it was not difficult to read or too wordy. It did contain a lot of symbolism, and a narrator who knew what multiple characters were thinking. If you loved Broken Country, you will probably love this one as well.
Title: The Bones Beneath My Skin
Author: TJ Klune
Genre: Fantasy / Sci Fi
Publisher: Tor Books, 2/4/25
Source: Swap
Why I Read It: On my shelf
My Rating: 4 Stars
I swapped books with someone for the newest TJ Klune book and he sent me this one as well, so I decided to read it. I don’t read fantasy books in general, unless they are like this one – fantasy elements taking place in the real world. This is about Nate, who loses everything and heads to his family’s cabin, only to find Alex there with a strange little girl called Artemis Darth Vader. Alex and the girl are on the run, and Nate gets drawn into their world.
“In the spring of 1995, Nate Cartwright has lost everything: his parents are dead, his only brother wants nothing to do with him, and he’s been fired from his job as a journalist in Washington, DC. With nothing left to lose, he returns to his family’s summer cabin outside the small mountain town of Roseland, Oregon, to try and find some sense of direction. The cabin should be empty. It’s not. Inside is a man named Alex. And with him is an extraordinary ten-year-old girl who calls herself Artemis Darth Vader. Artemis, who isn’t exactly as she appears. Soon it becomes clear that Nate must make a choice: let himself drown in the memories of his past, or fight for a future he never thought possible. Because the girl is special. And forces are descending upon them who want nothing more than to control her.”
While we don’t know the truth behind Artemis, I felt that the drawing that appears above each chapter kind of gave it away. This was a strange story with elements of Klune’s other books and his quirky writing style. Nate, Alex, and Art form a sweet little found family and I enjoyed reading about them.
Title: Chernobyl, Life, and Other Disasters
Author: Yevgenia Nayberg
Genre: Middle Grade Graphic Memoir
Publisher: Neal Porter Books, 4/14/26
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
I accidentally read Chernobyl, Life, and Other Disasters by Yevgenia Nayberg before it’s publication date! Since it’s a middle grade book, it’s quite short and I finished it quickly. It is about Genya, the author, who grew up in Ukraine in the 1980s, under Soviet rule and at the time of the Chernobyl explosion. She cares about regular things like growing her hair and getting into a special school for art.
“Genya—the nickname of the book’s author and story’s protagonist, Yevgenia—knows from age five that she wants to be an artist. When she turns eleven, she’ll apply to the same prestigious art school that her mother attended. But making the cut won’t be easy, especially with the school’s open-secret rule that no more than 1% of the student body can be Jewish. The years before Genya’s eleventh birthday bring plenty to distract her. Nothing in Soviet Ukraine is quite as it seems; adults mock the government, but only in private; and her classmates are terrified of American bomb strikes. And that’s all before April 26, 1986, when Genya’s police officer neighbor gets called to an emergency in a town she’s never heard of: Chernobyl.”
This doesn’t read like a typical graphic novel – it is more like a very detailed picture book. It did not feel like a children’s book though! I liked that Genya’s Jewish background was included, as the art school only allowed 1% of their students to be Jewish. It was interesting to learn about what life was like at that time through Genya’s experiences.
Title: Rosaline Palmer Takes The Cake
Author: Alexis Hall
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Forever, 5/18/21
Source: Publisher – Print, Audio Publisher – Audio
Why I Read It: Backlist
My Rating: 3.5 Stars, Rounded up to 4 Stars
Rosaline Palmer Takes The Cake by Alexis Hall was the last book I received in 2021 that I still had to read. I wanted to listen to it and the library had a long waiting list, but then I remembered I had the audio from the publisher. This was about Rosaline, who is on a baking competition show. She is a bisexual single mother who gets involved with a love triangle with two other show contestants – Alain and Harry.
“Rosaline Palmer has always lived by those rules—well, except for when she dropped out of college to raise her daughter, Amelie. Now, with a paycheck as useful as greaseproof paper and a house crumbling faster than biscuits in tea, she’s teetering on the edge of financial disaster. But where there’s a whisk there’s a way … and Rosaline has just landed a spot on the nation’s most beloved baking show. Winning the prize money would give her daughter the life she deserves—and Rosaline is determined to stick to the instructions. However, more than collapsing trifles stand between Rosaline and sweet, sweet victory. Suave, well-educated, and parent-approved Alain Pope knows all the right moves to sweep her off her feet, but it’s shy electrician Harry Dobson who makes Rosaline question her long-held beliefs—about herself, her family, and her desires. Rosaline fears falling for Harry is a guaranteed recipe for disaster. Yet as the competition—and the ovens—heat up, Rosaline starts to realize the most delicious bakes come from the heart.”
This is one of those books where the protagonist is obviously with the wrong guy from the beginning and it’s hard to consider it a rom com when she is barely with the right one! Parts of this were funny, but it seemed too long and it took on a lot of subjects, biphobia being a big one.
Title: More Than Enough
Author: Anna Quindlen
Genre: Contemporary
Publisher: Random House, 2/24/26
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
More Than Enough by Anna Quindlen was a beautiful story about Polly, a woman in her 40s dealing with infertility and having a DNA test bring up questions about her family. This was the second book I read this month with a surprise dementia plot line. Polly has always been her father’s girl, and she was very against her mother, with whom she has a difficult relationship, putting him in memory care. An English teacher at a girls’ private school, Polly is part of a book club where they purchase the book of choice each month, but have promised to never read them.
“High school English teacher Polly Goodman can talk about everything and anything with the women in her book club, which is why they’ve become her closest friends and, along with her veterinarian husband, the bedrock of her life. Her students, her fraught relationship with her mother, her struggles with IVF—Polly’s book club friends have heard about it all. But when they give Polly an ancestry test kit as a joke, the results match her with a stranger. It is clear to Polly that this match is a mistake, but still she cannot help but comb through her family history for answers. Then, when it seems that the book club circle of four will become three, Polly learns how friendships can change your life in the most profound ways.”
I loved everyone in this book and how they all cared for each other in their own ways. This is a character driven story about Polly, and while I don’t claim to love books like this, I did love this one. There are some difficult topics in this one, but I loved how they all were handled.
Title: Slow Burn
Author: Bethany Rutter
Genre: YA Rom Com
Publisher: Candlewick Press, 3/3/26
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
Slow Burn by Bethany Rutter is a body positive YA rom com about Ruby, a self-confident fat girl. She decides to show those who don’t believe in her that she can run a 5K and she begins training with her neighbor and new crush Ollie.
“Sixteen-year-old Ruby has worked hard to be happy in her body, even when other people—including her brother and her PE teacher—insist there’s something wrong with her for being fat. All Ruby cares about is hanging out at the skate park this summer with friends. But her brother’s bullying words get under her skin, and in order to prove to him (and her impressionable little sister) that fat girls can do anything, Ruby finds herself signed up for the annual 5K Dawson Dash. There’s just one problem: She can’t run. The cute new boy next door can, however, and when Ollie offers to help her train, Ruby takes him up on it, even if it means he’ll see her at her sweatiest and most vulnerable. Young athletes of all stripes, especially those marginalized in sports due to body differences, will find a hero in good-humored Ruby. With its all-audience appeal, her joyful story delivers upbeat romance and affirmation that our bodies are just right, just the way they are.”
I loved the focus on the fact that anybody and any body can be strong. While Ruby’s brother wasn’t very supportive, her friends were great, especially Ollie and Liv. The mean gym teacher was just so typical. Any teen should be able to gain inspiration from Ruby.
Title: Sir Edmund of the Wild West: Mystery in the Grand Canyon
Author: Dusti Bowling, illustrated by Beth Hughes
Genre: Middle Grade Contemporary / Mystery
Publisher: Holiday House, 3/17/26
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
This cute story is the first in a Middle Grade series for the younger aged bunch, featuring Edmund, a service dog who thinks he’s British due to his former owner’s background. He is adopted by Willy, who takes him to the Grand Canyon to solve the mystery of a missing person from many years ago. Dogs can see and communicate with ghosts, so Edmund is perfect for solving the mystery, if only he could also communicate with Willy!
“Edmund, a goldendoodle and seizure-alert dog of esteemed lineage (at least according to him) is destined for life in a palace. Buckingham Palace, to be precise. He is an expert at all things British—from tasty kidney pies to the cozy mysteries of Jessica Fletcher—and thus he believes he is meant to be a Royal Guard, serving the King of England. But when Edmund’s beloved owner dies, he gets adopted by a veteran called Wild West Willy, an aspiring ghosthunter. Willy aims to travel to the Grand Canyon, where he’ll uncover the truth behind the disappearance of a couple who went missing in 1928. Little does Willy know that Edmund can actually see ghosts! Should Edmund help out and solve the mystery, even though it isn’t quite as grand as serving in the Royal Guard? Maybe his destiny is closer to home than he realized. . . .”
I thought this was cute and funny and I enjoyed the dog friends that Edmund made. I liked that Edmund was a service dog and his high self-esteem! I also liked that real Grand Canyon legends were incorporated into the story.
Title: Where The Sky Lives
Author: Margaret Dilloway
Genre: Middle Grade Contemporary
Publisher: HarperCollins, 3/8/22
Source: Publisher – Print, Library – Audio
Why I Read It: Backlist
My Rating: 4 Stars
From my 26 in ’26 list, I listened to Where The Sky Lives by Margaret Dilloway. This book takes place in Zion National Park, where Tuesday lives with her mom Dana. They are dealing with the loss of Tuesday’s uncle Ezra. Tuesday is interested in conservation of the park and saving it from a nearby development that will threaten it’s dark sky.
“When life doesn’t make sense, twelve-year-old amateur astronomer Tuesday Beals has always looked to the stars above Zion National Park, where she lives. Her beloved late uncle Ezra taught her astronomy, but now their special stargazing sites are all she has left of him, along with his ashes and a poem that may be a riddle. Then a new housing development next door threatens to ruin the night skies and her favorite astronomy spots. Desperate to focus on something besides the growing uncle-sized chasm between her and her mother, the park archeologist, Tuesday takes up photography with her best friend, Carter, after they find an abandoned camera. With this new way of seeing the universe, she tries to solve her uncle’s riddle to save the land. But one day, a photo reveals clues about an endangered animal—one that could halt construction. Will the discovery be enough to save the park and keep the rest of her world from falling apart?”
I appreciated Tuesday’s determination to save the park’s skies and to figure out where her uncle wanted his ashes spread. Her relationship with her mom was interesting as she called her by her first name and I don’t think that was explained. I enjoyed the various friends that Tuesday made around the park who helped her with her various quests.
Title: The Free Verse Society
Author: Delali Adjoa
Genre: YA Rom Com
Publisher: Peachtree Teen, 3/24/26
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
I thought The Free Verse Society was going to be a book in verse, but it was mostly a traditional book with poetry included. It is about Jae, who has just moved in with her uncle in FL, and Derek, who lives with his mom after the passing of his dad. The two meet through the poetry club and have a somewhat enemies to friendship relationship that involves a lot of angst due to their own pasts.
“No one in Delray knows Jae Aƒenyo’s story—that she’s a teen mom who placed her baby for adoption—and she intends to keep it that way. After moving in with her uncle, Jae is looking for a fresh start. But an accidental run-in with the school’s delinquent, Derek Patel, is not exactly what she had in mind. She soon finds a haven in the poetry club—at least, until Derek joins. Derek Patel is desperately clinging to his old life—where his dad was alive, his mom was healthy, and they lived in an oceanfront estate instead of a run-down pink bungalow. He’ll do anything to hide his problems from his friends, including breaking into his old house to keep up the charade that he still lives there. But the house now belongs to the school’s lit teacher, who offers him the chance to join the poetry club as a penance. As the newest members of the club, Jae and Derek are tasked with planning the end-of-semester poetry reading. While Derek is hell-bent on keeping his broken family a secret, Jae is desperate to prove to her uncle that she’s more than a walking statistic—which means guarding her heart against Derek, who her uncle thinks is no good.”
This was a quick read with a good deal of drama. I enjoyed the included poetry and the various members of the poetry club. This book included giving up a baby, bullying, class, and drugs.
This post includes ten of the books I read this month. Eight were print books and two were audio. Five of these were adult books, two were YA, and three were Middle Grade. Genres included romance, non fiction, contemporary fiction, thriller, graphic novel, and memoir.
If you wrote about books this month, you can link up with us here:
Have you read any of these books or do you want to? What have you been reading lately?
