Quick Lit: March 2026

Welcome to Quick Lit: March 2026 Edition, where I share books I chose for my own reading enjoyment in a mini-review format. These are not books I received for review, but books I’ve wanted to read or that have caught my attention. Most of them have been talked about ad nauseam or have been on my to-read list for a long time, so they don’t really need a full review. But I’d still like to give them some space here on the blog, so instead, I’m offering mini-reviews of the books that won’t get full-page space here on the blog.

I’ll be sharing with Modern Mrs. Darcy and her monthly Quick Lit post. Be sure to head over to see others share their Quick Lit posts in her comments.

This post contains affiliate links. Click here to read more about that.

---

Did you know I also regularly review children’s books? Check them out HERE.

I’m currently reading THE BELGIAN GIRLS for review, IF THE CREEK DON’T RISE for book club, LITTLE PIECES OF HOPE as my daily non-fiction read, and I’m listening to PROJECT HAIL MARY.

I recently reviewed THE FIRST TIME I SAW HIM, the sequel to THE LAST THING HE TOLD ME and WOMEN OF A PROMISCUOUS NATURE.

I’ve recently been watching and loving The Pitt on HBO Max. I just started Season 2, and I’m going to be so sad when I am all caught up. I can’t wait to watch Season 2 of The Last Thing He Told Me on Apple+. I’m saving it until I return home from Florida at the end of the month. We have also been to several movies lately, including Eternity, Wicked: For Good, Song Sung Blue, Solo Mio with Kevin James, and we watched Wake Up Dead Man, the 3rd in the Knives Out series on Netflix. All were excellent. Pat and I have also started watching Modern Family. In 2009, when it started, we were deep in parenting 3 kids ages 4-9. We didn’t watch much TV then, except kids’ shows. So far, we are enjoying it, and since the shows are so short without commercials, it isn’t a huge evening commitment to watch an episode or two.

While in Florida, Mom and I have been watching the Our Oceans series on Netflix. Of course, I am watching American Idol and Survivor every week. We are also loving the new game show, Scrabble on the CW. After Survivor is a new show, America’s Culinary Cup, which I have been loving as well. I can’t wait to check out the movie version of Project Hail Mary when I return home!

Follow me on Goodreads, HERE.

I’ve been in Florida with my mom since the end of February and have been plowing through books. It’s been such a relaxing time away, and nice not to have any schedule; we can just do whatever we want. If we want to go to the beach at 2:00, we do! So fun! This month’s Quick Lit includes a romance/historical fiction, a Christian/Medical non-fiction, and two wildly popular books from 2025.

THE THINGS WE LEAVE UNFINISHED
By: Rebecca Yarros
Published: February 23, 2021
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Historical Fiction/Romance
Format: Paperback

Rebecca Yarros is most known for her FOURTH WING series, but she also has several romance novels, such as this one. This dual-timeline story spans from 1940 through WWII and then to the present day. Georgia’s grandmother, Scarlett, was a best-selling romance author, and her final novel needs to be finished. So, Noah, a competing romance author, has been chosen to finish it. Scarlett’s final story is a personal one, chronicling her relationship with her first love, Jameson, while they were both serving during the war. Their story is told through letters left behind.

“There’s a warning, a sound your heart makes the first time it realizes it’s no longer safe with the person you trusted.”

If you like steamy (open-door) romance novels and/or historical fiction, you’ll enjoy this story. The 1940s story is revealed as part of the novel written by Noah, and the chapters begin with letters written between Jameson and Scarlett. I loved the romance and story between Scarlett and Jameson and the twists I didn’t see coming. Since Jameson was a pilot and Scarlett worked the air traffic boards, I also learned another piece of the war that I hadn’t before. Georgia and Noah’s story begins in a bookstore in the town where Scarlett lived. Georgia has returned to live in Scarlett’s home and start over after a very public divorce from her celebrity husband.

Scarlett’s and Jameson’s epic love story and Georgia and Noah’s relationship are both compelling and romantic, with lots of character development, so that as the reader, you quickly become invested in their stories.

THE MIRACLES AMONG US
How God’s Grace Plays a Role in Healing
By: Dr. Marc Siegel
Published: November 18, 2025
Publisher: Harper Influence
Non-Fiction
Format: Hardcover

This was my First Book of 2026 and a gift from Pat for Christmas. This collection of real miracles is shared by Dr. Marc Siegel, a long-time physician and investigative journalist. He begins with the story of his dad, still living at 102 (as of November), even after being on a ventilator at the age of 98. He shares the medical situations that brought the 16 people featured in the book to near death and how doctors can’t even understand why they are alive today. He doesn’t just share stories of Christians, either, but of people of various faiths.

We may not know why these 16 people were saved, but the common theme among them is a strong faith in God, a belief that no matter what happens, they were at peace, and each had a strong relationship with God through regular prayer. But many also had the exact doctor they needed at the right time. Doctors who were willing to do whatever is necessary to save their patients, like climbing a ladder to put a catheter in the jugular vein of a 16-year-old girl with a brain injury and multiple organ failure. Each of these patients was willing to put their whole focus into getting better, while also having a strong relationship with God, which is why they believe they are still alive today.

“The lesson here is that direct prayer to God works and trumps prophecy. Human beings can bypass the prophecy through prayer.” ~ Rav Feuer

A few of the patients or family members of the patients were famous. I wasn’t aware of some of their health struggles and was surprised to learn of their deep faith as well.

A collection of healing prayers is included in the middle of the book from various faith leaders, including the Archbishop of New York, the Chief Rabbi of Israel, the General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God, and more. I finished the book feeling a desire to be more consistent and deliberate with my prayer time and reminding myself that prayer does work.

“God gives us our bodies. Physicians are the hands of God. But you have to hope, you have to choose to believe. When you don’t believe, you cut off the chance of this. Your faith activates God’s power.” ~Joel Osteen

WILD DARK SHORE
By: Charlotte McConaghy
Narrated by: Cooper Mortlock, Katherine Littrell, Saskia Maarleveld, and Steve West
Published: March 4, 2025
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Mystery
Format: Audiobook through Libby

“We have, all of us humans, decided what to save, and that is ourselves.” Rowan

A father and his 3 kids are living on a very remote island that is quickly disappearing due to rising sea levels. They live as caretakers of the lighthouse and the seed vault, housing millions of seeds, among seals and penguins; in fact, the daughter actually sleeps with them. As they are preparing to leave the island in just a couple of months, a woman washes ashore during one of their most ferocious storms. She is barely alive, and the family slowly brings her back to life from her injuries and hypothermia. What they can’t figure out is why she is here.

“She isn’t frightened of the dead. It is only the living who have the power to harm.” Fen

McConaghy has a talent for putting the reader into the setting of the novel. I felt the cold waves crashing into me and could imagine the desolate space they lived in. There are a few mysteries that are slowly revealed in this story and eventually converge in a surprising way. I was invested all the way through, even though I found some of the climate science to be extreme and unbelievable. The climate change piece seemed to take over the story from the characters.

“Maybe we will drown or burn or starve one day, but until then, we get to choose if we will add to that destruction or if we will care for each other.” Dominic

Even though I really didn’t like any of the characters except for the youngest son, Orly, I was still sad over the way the novel finished. The ending was intense, and then it wasn’t. It felt a bit too quickly wrapped up when I actually, surprisingly, wanted more closure.

“But here is the nature of life, that we must love things with our whole selves, knowing they will die.” Rowan

I had a bit of bookish serendipity while reading this book. It is based on the Svalbard Seed Vault off the coast of Norway. At the same time, I was reading a children’s book I received for review about the actual Svalbard Global Seed Vault called JUST IN CASE. It was interesting to be reading about this real place in two completely different formats and stories.

I’d definitely recommend the audiobook. Multiple narrators share the story, and they were all excellent. Katherine Littrell was one of the narrators of COME ON IN. Saskia Maarleveld has narrated several novels I’ve loved. Steve West was one of the narrators of LOVELY WAR.

THE NAMES
By: Florence Knapp
Narrated by: Dervla Kirwan
Published: May 6, 2025
Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books
Format: Audiobook

I purchased this as an audiobook last year, but was on the fence about listening as I’d heard mixed reviews. When my cousin told me she was reading it, I was also looking for a new audiobook to start, so I decided to read it at the same time. Even though the narration was well done, I would recommend reading a physical copy due to the format of the story and the number of characters. It was a bit hard to keep straight, and thankfully, my cousin made notes that helped.

Cora imagines three different names for their son, her second child with her husband Gordon. Gordon is an awful man, violently abusive and controlling of Cora. They also have an older daughter, Maia. The story begins with Cora having just recently given birth to their son in 1987. The book is sectioned with each of the three names that Cora imagines naming their son, and moves through their lives in batches of years, 1994, 2001, 2008, 2015, and 2022, with each of the three names given to their son.

“She suspects that to be a good parent, she must pack away the mothering part of herself into a box and gently close the lid on it. She had not realized that this would be required of her. Had not seen it coming. And yet she will do so willingly. Would you lay down your life for your child? The world silently asks.”

I found this story completely fascinating, and by the end of 1987, I was invested. I usually have difficulty reading about domestic violence, but I think it helped that I knew about it before I started, and I also deeply cared about Cora, Maia, and the baby. But note the descriptions of the abuse are graphic and violent.

“Because sometimes big men feel small inside.”

Can a name change the direction of your life? Or, maybe more accurately, can one decision change the course of your life? This book was thought-provoking, compelling, and the ending left me wanting more. I hope there is more from Florence Knapp soon.

THE SNOWBIRDS
By: Christina Clancy
Narrated by: Graham Halsted and Karissa Vacker
Published: February 4, 2025
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Fiction
Format: Audiobook through Libby

I added this to my holds list last year, and it came up while I was in Florida. Even though the couple in the story goes to Palm Springs, California, I found I could relate to their reasons for leaving cold Wisconsin winters behind. Kim and Grant decide it is the perfect time to try being a snowbird. The small private college Grant taught at closed its doors. He is struggling to find a new purpose. Kim’s ex-husband is willing to loan them his condo for the winter, so they could hardly say no.

After a New Year’s Day hike, Grant doesn’t return. Is he lost, or is this one of his wanderings that he has done over the years of their relationship…returning after a few days, feeling sheepish and yet refreshed. When he doesn’t return, search parties are sent out, Kim is questioned about their relationship, and she starts to wonder, was everything okay?

This book is heavy on the details and less so on the actual plot. The chapters alternate between Kim and Grant’s arrival in Palm Springs and the days after Grant goes missing. When Grant is missing, there is a lot of looking back on their overall relationship, why they never married, even though they had twins together, and the times when Grant just up and left for days, what led them to leave Madison for Palm Springs, and why Grant may not be missing after all.

I related to the characters’ imbalance after their girls left home. That feeling of what is my purpose, where do I belong now, and how do I spend my time. Kim believed Palm Springs was the answer, and the longer they stayed, the less she wanted to return to Madison, but is that what Grant wanted? Then he goes hiking and doesn’t return.

The narration was great, the story kept me mostly interested, and the ending felt right.

What good things have you been reading? I’ve also read books that I reviewed for publishers. Check them out HERE.

You can see all my other Quick Lit posts by clicking HERE.

---

This post contains affiliate links. If you choose to purchase through the links above, I may receive a small commission without you paying a cent more.