Books Read in March 2026

 

March was a very good reading month for me. I enjoyed every book I read. There was enough variety to make me happy. A nonfiction graphic novel, an epistolary novel, science fantasy, a book of short stories in the historical fiction genre, a vintage mystery and two contemporary mysteries.

Here are the books I read:

Graphic novel / Nonfiction

Do Admit! (2025) by Mimi Pond (Writer and Artist)

My husband and I both read this graphic nonfiction book in March. It was perfect book for me. I am very interested in reading about the Mitford sisters. Mimi Pond writes about her own obsession with the Mitfords in this book. The full title is Do Admit!: The Mitford Sisters and Me. The art is gorgeous and the information is presented well. The only problem with this book is that it is so full of information that I am sure I missed a lot the first time I read it. I will definitely have to read it again.

Epistolary Fiction

The Correspondent (2025) by Virginia Evans

This is an epistolary novel, made up of the correspondence in letters and emails, etc. of an older retired woman. I have always enjoyed this type of novel, and this one was especially good. The main character is Sybil Van Antwerp and she spends most of her time writing letters to people. Some of her friends and relatives respond and some of the famous people, often authors, respond. Others just email her and she does not like that kind of correspondence very much. She is cranky at times and very outspoken about her views and feelings. 

I loved that Sybil included what she was reading in almost every letter she wrote, and also asked the recipient what they were reading. Occasionally Sybil would give her opinion or thoughts on the books. Over time, the reader discovers more about Sybil and events in her life. Family relationships are a big part of the story, and I always like reading about families. The end of the book was extremely moving, and I was very emotional at times.

Science Fantasy

A Wrinkle in Time (1962) by Madeleine L'Engle

This is a classic young adult science fantasy novel about three children who have an adventure in space and time. The main characters are Margaret Murry (called Meg), her younger brother Charles Wallace Murry, and their friend, Calvin. Calvin is two years older than Meg, and Charles Wallace is much younger than either of them, but they make a great team working together. A Wrinkle in Time is the first book in the Time Quintet. I did not know this until after I had read the book and reviewed it, but each book in the Time Quintet is very different and has a different focus. See my review.

Crime Fiction

Contemplation of a Crime (2025) by Susan Juby

Juby is a Canadian author, and the setting is a small island off Vancouver Island. This is the third book in a mystery series about a butler with a Buddhist / contemplative background. Helen Thorpe works for a very rich couple and she ends up having to rescue her boss after he and his son are kidnapped. All of the characters are eccentric. This is the third in a series and I liked the first two also. I like the way that the main character handles unexpected and stressful events. My favorite part of the book is the mindfulness theme. Helen is a very appealing character, who is (almost) never ruffled by anything.

A Brush with Death (1950) by Sheila Pim

Between 1945 and 1952, Sheila Pim, an Irish crime novelist and horticulturist, published four mysteries set in Ireland and with a focus on gardening. A Brush with Death was the third of those mystery novels, published in 1950. The story involves two families. Paul and Hester Fennelly and their daughter Barbara live in Dublin. Hester's brother, Fergus Gandon, is a well-known artist who lives in an isolated rural area with his wife, Nell, and their three young children. They live in the Dower House of Castle Kiskour, and act as caretakers for Lord Kiskour when he is away, which is much of the time. See my review.

Sidney Chambers and the Perils of the Night (2013) by James Runcie

The Grantchester Mysteries is a series of short story collections by James Runcie. The short stories are all connected and follow the criminal investigations of Sidney Chambers, a vicar in Grantchester. This is the second book in the series.  I enjoyed the first book, and this one was even better. See my review.

First Do No Harm (2026) by S.J. Rozan

This is the 16th book in the Lydia Chin / Bill Smith series. They are private investigators. Bill Smith lives in Manhattan; Lydia Chin is an American-born Chinese who lives in New York’s Chinatown with her mother. They are not officially partners but they often work together. The unique element in this series is that the narrator of the books alternates. Usually books centered on Bill's cases are grittier; Lydia's cases are more fun. In this book, Lydia's brother, a doctor who is in charge of the ER department, has asked her to suggest a lawyer for a man who works in the hospital morgue, who has been accused of the murder of a nurse. The lawyer then calls in Lydia and Bill to investigate when the morgue assistant is arrested. This is an eye-opening view of hospital politics and corruption. S.J. Rozan is one of my favorite authors and I have read all of the books in this series. I loved this book.

For the past month and a half we have been working on cleaning up and redoing the two garden beds we have at the front of our condominium. We still are working on potting a lot of new plants, mostly geraniums and succulents. We have been to the nearby plant nursery multiple times to get plants, bark, and potting soil. The photos at the top and bottom of the post were taken by my husband at the nursery. Click on the images for the best viewing quality.

A Wrinkle in Time: Madeleine L'Engle

This is the story of Margaret Murry (called Meg) and her younger brother Charles Wallace Murry, and their friend, Calvin. Calvin just shows up one day, out of the blue. Calvin is two years older than Meg, and Charles Wallace is much younger than either of them, but the three children become friends almost immediately.

As the story opens, Meg is very unhappy because she is having trouble in school; she is acting out in classes and is mad at everyone. The real problem is that her father has been missing for over a year, and no one will tell her why, not even her mother. Meg's mother doesn't know where her husband is, and she is trying to hold the family together. Charles Wallace is too young to go to school, and people think that he is mentally slow, and he lets them think that so they will leave him alone.   

My thoughts:

The author just jumps into the story and lets the characters tell the story without excessive exposition. That worked well for me. Meg is the point of view character but she does not narrate the story. I loved all three of the main characters, once I got to know them. They had flaws; we all have flaws, even as adults. But they learned from their experiences.

I did not know what to expect from this book. Before I read it, I assumed that it was a fantasy and a time travel book. After reading it, I think it is science fantasy and I did not get any sense of time travel in it. There were a few times when I had difficulty suspending disbelief. Regardless, none of that impacted my enjoyment of the story. Once I got into the book, I was focused most on the characters and character development.

This book is very short, under 200 pages. By the time I was 40 or 50 pages in, I was totally caught up in the story and did not want to stop reading. That, and the fact that I cared about the characters, even when I did not exactly understand what was going on, were my favorite parts.

This is the first book in the Time Quintet; I have a very nice edition of the second book, so I will be reading it sometime.

My Books from the 2024 Book Sale

Every year we look forward to the Planned Parenthood Book Sale. This was the 50th year of the sale and the dates were September 12 – 22, 2024. Unfortunately we missed most of the sale because my husband and I both had Covid when the sale began. However, I did get there for a couple of the last days of the sale, and still bought a humongous number of books. On the last day of the sale, almost all of the books are half price.

So, three months after the event, I am listing six of the books that I purchased at the sale. 

A Bird in the House (1970) by Margaret Laurence

(Fiction, Short stories) This is the fourth book in the Manawaka Sequence, five books set in the fictional town of Manawaka, Manitoba, in Canada. I have read the first book in the series, The Stone Angel. A Bird in the House is the fourth book, consisting of eight interconnected short stories, each narrated by Vanessa MacLeod, starting when she is age ten up until she is twenty. I felt lucky to find any book in the series, and I was happy to find out that this one was made up of short stories.

The Accidental Tourist (1985) by Anne Tyler

(Fiction) I bought this one because I want to read more by Anne Tyler. I purchased quite a few of her books at the 2023 book sale but they were later books, published after 2000. This is one of her earlier books.

The description from the back of my copy:

Macon Leary is a travel writer who hates both travel and anything out of the ordinary. He is grounded by loneliness and an unwillingness to compromise his creature comforts when he meets Muriel, a deliciously peculiar dog-obedience trainer who up-ends Macon’s insular world and thrusts him headlong into a remarkable engagement with life.

Lent (2019) by Jo Walton

(Historical Fantasy / Time Loop novel) I have read several books by this author and I like her writing. I wasn't sure about this story, but when I found a copy at the book sale, it seemed a good idea to give it a try. I don't really know how to describe it briefly. It is set in the late 1400s in the city of Florence and the main character is the Dominican monk Girolamo Savonarola.

A Wind in the Door (1973) by Madeleine L'Engle

(Fantasy / Science Fiction / Time Travel) It was probably silly of me to buy the 2nd and 3rd books in the Time Quintet by L'Engle when I had not read the 1st book, A Wrinkle in Time. But the covers were so nice I could not resist. And the size of the text is much superior to the mass market paperback I have of the 1st book.

A Death in Summer (2011) by Benjamin Black 

(Historical Mystery) I have enjoyed the last few mysteries I read by Benjamin Black / John Banville, so I am glad I picked up a few more at the book sale this year. I read Elegy for April, the 3rd book in the Quirke series, earlier this month, and I look forward to reading the 4th book, A Death in Summer in 2025. Quirke is a pathologist in Dublin, Ireland in the 1950s.

The Charm School (1988) by Nelson DeMille

(Espionage novel) I have been wanting to try a novel by Nelson DeMille for a while, but I had been aiming at a shorter one to begin with. This one is 750 pages in trade paper format. It sounds like it will be a very good Cold War thriller.

Bookshelf Traveling for Insane Times — from my Son's shelves

Judith at Reader in the Wilderness has started a new meme: Bookshelf Traveling For Insane Times. The idea is to look through a bookshelf or a bookcase or stacks of books and share some thoughts on the books. You can find more details here and here at Judith's blog.

When I started writing this post it was my son's birthday, so I decided to share some books I have borrowed from my son to read.

First is Westside by W. M. Akers:

This one came out in 2019 and my son read it before publication.

The Kirkus review says of Westside: "Akers’ debut novel is an addictively readable fusion of mystery, dark fantasy, alternate history, and existential horror." It is set in an alternate 1920s Manhattan.

Description on the back of the book:

Blending the vivid atmosphere of Caleb Carr with the imaginative power of Neil Gaiman, Westside is a mystery steeped in the supernatural and shot through with gunfights, rotgut whiskey, and sizzling Dixieland jazz. Full of dazzling color, delightful twists, and truly thrilling action...

Sounds interesting. I should be reading it in April.

And then...
The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams

In March 2019, I read Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by the same author.  The story starts out seeming like an ordinary detective story with strange characters, but also has ghosts and time travel. It was weird and confusing, and I loved it. I did not even try to review it.

The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, first published in 1988, is the 2nd book in the Dirk Gently series, and I assume it will similar and just as much fun.

One book review at 1001 Book Reviews said that both books need to be read twice to understand them, and I am sure I will be doing that.

Also ...
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

This is what I know about this book:  It is a young adult novel first published in 1962 and deals with time travel. It is the first book in the Time Quintet.

Kelli Stanley, author of the Miranda Corbie series set in San Francisco in the 1940s, says:

A Wrinkle in Time is essentially science fiction. But it uses questions about science to delve into metaphysics, spirituality, and the human condition.

I think that is all I need to know going into it, and I am looking forward to reading it.