MARCH 2026: Best and Worst Books of the Month

Hi everyone. Today, I’ll be talking about the best and worst books I read in March. This month, however, I’m doing things a little different. Given that I don’t have a specific book that I disliked this month, I am ranking the books I did like from worst to best. Disclaimer: I will not include the memoir I read in this list. I will, however, add the 3 books I DNF’d this month. The first is the one I didn’t like the most:

10. Somebody Is Walking on Your Grave: My Cemetery Journeys by Mariana Enriquez (DNF)

I wanted to love this book but this was definitely not what I was expecting. Part memoir, part travelogue, and part history of the cemeteries she visits, this book ended up being a bad combination of all three and it was an overall disappointment. When I visited Paris in 2015, I was fortunate enough to tour the cities’ most famous cemeteries and the catacombs; I’ve always been intrigued by the history behind all the people buried in cemeteries such as those in Paris, so when I found out that a Mexican author had written a book about her journeys traveling to some of the most famous cemeteries in Europe, I bought it without a second thought. But no. From the minute I picked it up, I knew I wasn’t going to like it. The author is more concerned about herself than anything else in this book, and frankly I was not a fan of her.

9. Lessons of Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (DNF)

This book is hugely popular, and my question is, why? Frankly, I have yet to read a book with an autistic main character that I liked. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against books that put intelligent women at the forefront and that seek to raise awareness for autism and ADHD; however, Elizabeth Zott quickly devolves into a Mary Sue and the more I got into the book, the more I didn’t like her. Also, I did not like having the dog as a POV character. Yes, this has been done before but I don’t think it was done well here.

8. Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi (DNF)

I picked this book up thinking I would love it, but I DNF’d it. The story is that of a woman sentenced to die for having killed a pimp on a street in Cairo. As she waits for her death, Firdaus tells the story of her life from a village childhood to city prostitute. I didn’t finish this book because I didn’t like the author’s writing style. Her voice is too prominent in the narrative and I could never immerse myself fully in Firdaus’s story. Sorry, but no.

7.Querido Diego, te abraza Quiela (Dear Diego) by Elena Poniatowska

Querido Diego, te abraza Quiela (Dear Diego) by Elena Poniatowska is a short novel (less than 100 pages) written as a series of letters from Russian painter Angelina (Quiela) Beloff to her (then) partner Diego Rivera. At the beginning of the novel, Diego has returned to Mexico after living in Paris for 10 years. His wife of 10 years, the Russian painter Angelina Beloff, stayed behind. And in Querido Diego, te abraza Quiela (Dear Diego), Elena Poniatowska recreates Beloff’s voice as she writes to Rivera detailing her struggles, memories, and longings while living in an impoverished post-war Paris. Read my full review for this short novel here.

6. Esta noche moriré (Tonight, I will die) by Fernando Marías

This short novel recounts how a deceased criminal plans his revenge against the policeman who caught him and threw him in prison. Sixteen years later, the dead man’s vengeance finally reaches its culmination. Today, this short novel is considered one of the strangest and most fascinating works of contemporary Spanish literature. Read my full review here.

5. Homeseeking by Karissa Chen

This historical romance novel is about how two childhood sweethearts are torn apart by war. The story addresses the issue of how some decisions in our life drastically change it, and how those changes affect us and those around us. Also, how we are left adrift in a place where we do not belong and are longing to go back home. That home, however, is not a place but a person we yearn to go back to. I liked this novel, but I didn’t love it.  

4. The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne

This was a re-read for me and I liked it just as much as I did the first time I read it. It is, however, not one of my favorite series. I’m not saying, though, that this book isn’t good; it is. One of the best things about this author is character development, and I became heavily invested in a relationship between two characters from one of his previous series. However, one of them dies at the end and since then I try not to invest myself too much in any other book I pick up from this author. I purposely keep myself emotionally detached from any of his characters because I know that some of them might not survive. Death is part of books such as this one, where war is brewing again in a world still recovering from a centuries-old previous confrontation between the gods, I know that war and death come hand in hand. However, I did not expect the ending this couple had in the other series that I am now wary to invest too much in this author’s characters again.

3. The Art of War by Sun Tzu

This book is also a re-read for me, and it is a book that makes you think. It is a book that gives you suggestions to deal with conflict in every aspect of your life, despite its focus on belligerent confrontations between nations. And one that I think you try should pick up several times in your life.

2. The Monk by Matthew Lewis

I highly recommend this novel if you love Gothic literature. Most Gothic novels I’ve read are set in the bleakness and cold winter of the English countryside; however, this one is set in Spain. The Catholic faith in this country is more prominent than in it is in Britain as well as the societal status of its protagonists. This is a nice change, and worth pointing out in order to see how this genre developed in different parts of Europe. I didn’t see this book in any of the must-read novels of Gothic literature that I’ve looked up, and I think it deserves a place in those lists.

1. All is Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

This was my favorite read of the month. It was also the most difficult and harrowing. However, it is very much worth the read.

That is everything for March. My next post will be my wrap-up for April.