March '26 Reading Recap
Spoiler-Free Reviews
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March Book Club Pick
Hell of a Book by Jason Mott
“Whenever I told them I thought the whole point of publishing was simply to ‘publish good books,’ both Sharon and my editor laughed.”
I’ll keep this brief, I did not like this book. How the story is told is confusing, with a boring, unreliable narrator. It’s tonally inconsistent, jumping from funny scenes to serious, harrowing ones quickly. There’s little to not build up for any of the climactic moments in the book and it just feels flat. The narrative wasn’t particularly engaging enough for me to enjoy. If I wasn’t the host of my book club, I probably wouldn’t have finished it.
Once I started reading and knew where it was going to go, there were no surprises for me. I’ve read and seen better stories that tackle this story of race.
Substack Read
Honor Among Rogues by L.D. Whitney
Six short stories fill this book with quick, exciting action that is sure to be an enjoyable palate cleanser to whatever literary fiction (or non-fiction) one might be reading. From ancient cities hidden in the desert, to air pirates patrolling the skies in the Amazon, every single one of these stories felt like they belonged in those pulp magazines of old. Whitney wastes no time in cutting right to the action with each story, providing exposition on our characters through the action unfolding.
The writing itself is accessible and filled with fun adjectives that give the setting and action life. With so much discussion on Substack about how to write dialogue, most proclaiming you only write ‘said’ afterwards, the writing wants you to feel the intensity of the story. The characters feel animated, the action has weight, and the setting is detailed enough that it isn’t difficult to imagine.
Overall this is a fun time, worthy for any genre fiction fan to checkout!
Personal Reads
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R.R. Martin
“Are there no true knights among you?“
Right when I think I’m done with Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire series, a new show slowly pulls me back in and this was no different. Much like Fire & Blood, I picked up A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms in the hopes of falling back in love with this world like I was 17 years old again and it did just that.
If you’ve read any book by Martin, you know that he is very detailed in his description of the scenery and this is no different. In these 3 novellas, we get a great sense of scope and characterization that still feels incredibly epic. This huge world that most people are familiar with having huge stakes, needed a smaller scale story. Our 2 main leads, Dunk and Egg, are incredibly likable and you’ll want to read all their adventures because 3 just isn’t enough. The first one is a great primer on the world, characters and setting. The second, is the most low stakes story but still makes you think more deeply on themes of honor. And the third one is largest is scope, with the most fun 3rd act in the entire book
Dunk matures through these stories, but fundamentally stays the same, which is a lovable, honorable, and a little dumb knight errant. It’s the kind of story men should read in todays climate. Dunks a character where people change because of him, much like Captain America and Superman. It’s hard not to romanticize being a knight errant after reading these tales.
Non-fiction Reads
Seduced by Story by Peter Brooks
“What we are now are not only creatures of language but cretaures of our imaginative constructs as well. The novel effectively serves those constructs.”
My first non-fiction book of the year is one I’m certain I’ll be rereading every once in a while. In 5 essays, Peter Brooks breaks down the nature of storytelling and narratives intricately and scholarly. So scholarly that it loses me at times; brooks admits that this book is almost a continuation of his early book Creating the Plot, and learning that, I get the sense that I’m missing the full scope of his essays. Some of his points definitely went over my head, but I do believe I got the gist of most of this book.
I enjoy how he weaves each essay together. He starts with talking about the machinations of a story - what we gain or lose by following a story, focusing on what the story illicit. He then goes into detail about the ‘teller’ (or narrator) of the story and how they know the story they are telling. With the following essay about the relationship between the teller and the reader/listener. Going into different forms of storytelling, including oral. He goes into more detail about the allure of fictional characters and the effect they have on us and end it talking about the storytelling within the law and courtrooms. The final essay does feel the most tact on, even though it fits thematically, it feels do disconnected to his previous points.
Again, this is one book where I believe to really get the full experience, I’ll have to reread it. As it goes with most essays I read.
Comics
Invincible Vol. 13 by Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley
As I said about the previous volumes last month, this is just a cool story. The comic has been leading into this story arc since the beginning and it does not disappoint. Ryan Ottley’s art is the real star of the comic. Don’t know what else to say, writing review for a comic book is actually more challenging for me for some reason.
Currently Reading
The Iliad by Homer
Dune by Frank Herbert
Amulet by Roberto Bolaño
What did YOU read in March? Have you read any of the books I read? Let’s talk about it!
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The ‘Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ show has me feeling the same way. Just picked up the book, will have to check it out soon! Great review!