What I Read ♥ February & March 2026
Sorry about not posting a ‘What I Read’ in February. February was a crazy month for me, and if you’re up to date on my blog posts, then you know that my beloved dog, Lucy, passed away at the end of February as well. I didn’t manage to get a whole lot of reading done within the month, so because of that, I decided to merge my February and March reads into one big blog post instead. Also, because we’re now a quarter into the year (how?!), I’ll be updating you all on my reading goals for the year and how I’m doing with those.
Make sure to follow me on Goodreads to be updated on what I’m reading and on StoryGraph if you’re curious about my book statistics.
My Star Rating Scale
★★★★★/5 – Loved it! I would reread and recommend this book to others.
★★★★/5 – Kept me entertained. There were a few things that bothered me. I would reread.
★★★/5 – Didn’t love or hate and would recommend to others.
★★/5 – Did not enjoy it and probably skimmed through most of it to get to the end.
★/5 – I hated it and regret wasting my time!
DNF – Did not finish.
N/A – Not Available. Meant for memoirs or books I prefer not to rate.
DISCLAIMER: Links included in this post might be affiliate links. If you make a purchase with the links I provide, I may receive a small commission at no additional charge to you.
Reviewing my 2026 Reading Goals
#1. Read 50 books ~ From January to March, I have read 11 books! This surprised me because somehow I managed to read a significant amount despite everything that’s happened in my personal life, so I’m proud of this.
#2. Read more physical books ~ I’ve only completed two physical books. However, I’m currently reading two more physical books, so I think I’m doing pretty well with this goal.
#3. Reread my favorite books ~ This is interesting because when I was looking over my goals, I thought, what are my favorite books? I need to look back and make a list of my favorite books because I can only think of 1-2 books that I would consider an all-time favorite and that I would want to revisit.
#4. Read the historical American Girl books ~ So far, I’ve only read one American Girl book, Meet Addy: An American Girl. I thought I was going to start by reading one American Girl’s book collection at a time, so I wouldn’t get confused. However, I’m tempted to read all of the historical American Girl Meet series first, and then move on to the next series, which I believe is the Learns a Lesson series. I’ll report back in the next quarter if this ends up working.
#5. Share my book journal ~ I haven’t touched my book journal, so I need to work on this goal!
#6. Attend the Decatur Book Festival (again!) ~ I won’t accomplish this goal until the end of the year.
The Housemaid’s Secret by Freida McFadden ★★★/5
It’s hard to find an employer who doesn’t ask too many questions about my past. So I thank my lucky stars that the Garricks miraculously give me a job, cleaning their stunning penthouse with views across the city and preparing fancy meals in their shiny kitchen. I can work here for a while, stay quiet until I get what I want. It’s almost perfect. But I still haven’t met Mrs Garrick, or seen inside the guest bedroom. I’m sure I hear her crying. I notice spots of blood around the neck of her white nightgowns when I’m doing laundry. And one day I can’t help but knock on the door. When it gently swings open, what I see inside changes everything….
That’s when I make a promise. After all, I’ve done this before. I can protect Mrs. Garrick while keeping my own secrets locked up safe. Douglas Garrick has done wrong. He is going to pay. It’s simply a question of how far I’m willing to go….
After reading the first book in The Housemaid series, I was so excited to read the follow-up. Thankfully, I was able to get a copy of the second book via Libby. However, I wasn’t that impressed with this one. I felt like there were more unrealistic scenarios in this story than in the first. There was still a big twist like in the first book, but so much in the plot seemed farfetched and like there was no way this could actually happen. The Housemaid‘s Secret was still an enjoyable but just not as muh as the first book, in my opinion.
You can purchase The Housemaid’s Secret here
Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah ★★★/5
These stories explore urgent instances of racism and cultural unrest, and the ways we fight for humanity in an unforgiving world. In “The Finkelstein Five,” Adjei-Brenyah reckons with the brutal prejudice of our justice system. In “Zimmer Land,” we see a far-too-easy-to-believe imagining of racism as sport. And “Friday Black” and “How to Sell a Jacket as Told by IceKing” show the horrors of consumerism and the toll it takes on us all.
Friday Black is collection of short stories centered about race, consumerism, class and other important subjects set in a dystopian America landscape. Like, with most short story collections, some stick with you more than others. Personally, Friday Black (which the book is named after) was my favorite.
You can purchase Friday Black here
Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino ★★★★/5
At the moment when Voyager 1 is launched into space carrying its famous golden record, a baby of unusual perception is born to a single mother in Philadelphia. Adina Giorno is tiny and jaundiced, but she reaches for warmth and light. As a child, she recognizes that she is different: She possesses knowledge of a faraway planet. The arrival of a fax machine enables her to contact her extraterrestrial relatives, beings who have sent her to report on the oddities of Earthlings.
For years, as she moves through the world and makes a life for herself among humans, she dispatches transmissions on the terrors and surprising joys of their existence. Then, at a precarious moment, a beloved friend urges Adina to share her messages with the world. Is there a chance she is not alone?
Beautyland is an coming-of-age novel about a girl who thinks she’s an alien. It reminded me a lot of We Could Be Rats. I was slightly disappointed that there wasn’t more information about the alien/UFO as the book progressed, however, once the main protagonist started to mature and become an adult, I started to enjoy the ride that this novel took me on.
You can purchase Beautyland here
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata ★★★★/5
Natsuki isn’t like the other girls. She has a wand and a transformation mirror. She might be a witch, or an alien from another planet. Together with her cousin Yuu, Natsuki spends her summers in the wild mountains of Nagano, dreaming of other worlds. When a terrible sequence of events threatens to part the two children forever, they make a promise: survive, no matter what.
Now Natsuki is grown. She lives a quiet life with her asexual husband, surviving as best she can by pretending to be normal. But the demands of Natsuki’s family are increasing, her friends wonder why she’s still not pregnant, and dark shadows from Natsuki’s childhood are pursuing her. Fleeing the suburbs for the mountains of her childhood, Natsuki prepares herself with a reunion with Yuu. Will he still remember their promise? And will he help her keep it?
After finishing Sayaka Murata’s first novel in January, I felt like rereading another one of her books, and I just so happened to have a copy of Earthlings. I’m surprised how much I still remembered from this book, though it is quite a memorable book based on the striking events that happen in this novel! However, there were a few things that I forgot that I was surprised by. But, that ending… it’s still one of the most shocking endings i’ve read in an any book!
You can purchase Earthlings here
The Dallergut Dream-Making District by Miye Lee DNF/5
It’s been a year since Penny first walked through the doors of the Dallergut Dream Department Store, and surviving a year at the store means one thing… She is now an official employee of the dream industry! She can finally take the express commuter train to the Company District, where all the dream-production companies are located, and discover how all raw dream materials and testing equipment are produced.
But the Company District is not quite what she expected. Instead it hides a secret underbelly of the magical industry that Penny thought she was a part of. Penny discovers the Civil Complaint Center, full of people filing complaints about their dreams. She also learns about the regular customers who have stopped coming to the store. As she gets to the bottom of each complaint, she begins to expand her horizons, moving beyond the role of dreamseller to understanding what lies in the hearts of their lost regulars.
The Dallergut Dream-Making District or Return to the DallerGut Dream Department Store, I’m pretty sure both are the same book and the follow-up to the DallerGut Dream Department Store. This was one of the books from my Pisces TBR, but I decided to DNF it.
You can purchase The Dallergut Dream-Making District here
Nightbitch: A Novel by Rachel Yoder ★★/5
At the moment when Voyager 1 is launched into space carrying its famous golden record, a baby of unusual perception is born to a single mother in Philadelphia. Adina Giorno is tiny and jaundiced, but she reaches for warmth and light. As a child, she recognizes that she is different: She possesses knowledge of a faraway planet. The arrival of a fax machine enables her to contact her extraterrestrial relatives, beings who have sent her to report on the oddities of Earthlings.
This is about a woman who is unsatisfied with being a stay-at-home-mom and starts to thinks she’s turning into a dog. I understand what this novel was and the message the author intended, but I couldn’t help but think this was just a novel about a privileged white woman complaining. She’s married and seems to have a supportive husband with a well-paying job that allows his wife to stay at home to take care of their young child. The community welcomes her, but she thinks she’s too good because she’s cool and artsy. She misses her career and the life she had before becoming a mother, which I believe is what most mothers mourn. Eventually, the isolation gets too much for her, and she starts to fantasize about being a wild dog.
I don’t know, there was just something about this novel that left a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe it was the lack of diversity? Or the fact that other types of families, like queer or single mothers, weren’t even depicted in Nighbitch. I would’ve appreciated it if the author mentioned more than just the stereotypical privileged career-driven white women with the same name.
You can purchase Nightbitch here
Have you read any of these books? What did you recently read?
