Books Added to My Shelves in March 2026

This is my monthly roundup of books that I added to my shelves in March 2026. Some of the books came directly from authors or publishers; others were purchased or given to me as gifts. You’ll find books from all kinds of genres, including adult and children’s books. I’ll even share a few updates from our family’s life over the last month.

Family and Life Update

As I have mentioned, I spent the month of March in Florida with my mom. It was a dream vacation full of relaxation, reading, beach days, ice cream, amazing food, and sun. I loved it and hope to take a similar trip next year. My mom and I stayed in Cape Coral and visited the areas of Punta Gorda, Fort Myers, Sanibel, Captiva, and St. James City. If you need any recommendations, let me know!

We tried several different ice cream shops in the area and loved them all. Ice cream is a daily requirement in Mom’s life! 🙂 My mom turned 87 while we were in Florida. Isn’t she amazing?!?!

Reagan came to visit during her Spring Break, and we had an epic dolphin sunset cruise on her last night with us. Can you tell in this photo that we are related?

I arrived home just in time to celebrate our 27th wedding anniversary with Pat. He lovingly cared for my plants, managed the household, and took on my church responsibilities while I was gone. I so appreciate the ability to take this trip with my mom, and he even joined us for a few days at the beginning of the month.

I finished 7 books in March, including fiction, historical fiction, a romance, and a wildly popular science fiction. This month’s book stack includes some upcoming titles, lots of non-fiction, and some children’s and middle-grade titles. My current reads include HANDLE WITH CARE for review, LITTLE PIECES OF HOPE for my 2026 challenge, reading the books I received as gifts, and I’m listening to THE HOUSE OF EVE for book club.

If you have missed any of my recent book reviews, you can see them all by clicking HERE.  Or you can stay up to date with my monthly Quick Lit Roundup.

Clicking the photos of each book will take you to a link to purchase. If you choose to purchase through any of the links, I may receive a small commission without you having to pay a cent more for your purchase.

ADULT FICTION AND NONFICTION

LIAR’S DICE
Thousand Voices
By: Juliet Faithfull
Published: April 28, 2026
Publisher: Random House
Historical Fiction/Coming-of-Age
Format: eBook for Review

This is part of the Thousand Voices series of books by various authors. This series includes JUNE BABY, which I also have for review. Set in Brazil in the 1970s, this is part historical fiction, part coming-of-age. In 1976, our family had a foreign exchange student from Brazil. I was just 4 at the time, but adored Monica. I’m looking forward to this one.

Everyone knows, but no one talks.

Identical twins Dolores and Mita grow up in lockstep in rural Brazil, speaking their own secret language, dancing together, inseparable even when they sleep. But at age seven, they discover that Mita has a degenerative condition—and Dolores does not. On the cusp of adolescence, Mita’s illness becomes debilitating, and without telling Dolores, their parents send Mita across the Atlantic Ocean to a hospital in their father’s native London.

The rest of the family moves to Rio and begins to live a bourgeouis lifestyle, but Dolores is miserable there. She misses her small-town and most especially her twin, who her parents seem to have forgot ever existed. And she has no way to contact Mita—particularly since, at twelve years old, Dolores still cannot read or write. She is desperate to speak to her again—and desperately alone and unhappy at her posh new school. But everything begins to change when she meets a brave, headstrong girl from the favelas who shows Dolores a new side of Rio, and how to survive it. 

Tensions are on the rise with the dictatorial government cracking down on protesters and dissenters. Both at home and in the country at large, there are cover-ups at play—and Dolores pushes to find the truth about right and wrong, her lost sister and her place in life. In a setting where repression and silencing were part of everyday life, Liar’s Dice is about the secrets we hold, both personal and political, and the consequences of keeping them. Atmospheric and intimate, Juliet Faithfull’s coming of age novel captures the intensity of forming your own identity, and the courage and love required to forge a different life.

HIDDEN CREATURES
Luscious Leeches, Bashful Botflies, and the Wondrous, History-Shaping World of Parasites
By: Dino Martins
Published: July 7, 2026
Publisher: Knopf
Non-Fiction
Format: eBook for Review

I find the various creatures God has created to be so fascinating…even the parasites, because they do have a purpose in our fragile ecosystem.

There is the tapeworm, which can grow 120 feet in length within the gut of a whale; the tsetse fly, a notorious vector of disease that can pierce the skin even of crocodiles with its needle-like mouth; and the most universal symbol of parasitic behavior: the leech. Long villainized as, well, parasitic, these creatures are actually a vital part of every ecosystem—and Dr. Dino Martins, an award-winning entomologist and biologist from Kenya, has made it his life’s mission to demystify these beguiling beings.

Hidden Creatures is a journey around the world ten times over—from Martins’ home in the wilds of East Africa, to the rainforests of the Amazon, to cities and backyards across the globe—and along the way, we encounter the brilliant and eccentric experts who join Martins on his adventures to investigate not only parasites but their hosts, from hyraxes and hippos to, of course, humans. Immersive, driven by an utterly infectious curiosity, and sure to transform every reader’s understanding of these organisms, Hidden Creatures has the magnetic force of a David Attenborough documentary and introduces a monumental, charismatic new voice in science writing.

CLEO DANG WOULD RATHER BE DEAD
By: Mai Nguyen
Published: April 14, 2026
Publisher: Atria Books
Fiction
Format: Paperback for Review

I’ve always been attracted to stories of grief, as it was the focus of my senior thesis in college. I can’t wait to read this one.

All Cleo Dang has ever wanted was to be a mother. The day she discovers she’s pregnant is the happiest of her life, especially when she learns that her best friend, Paloma, is also expecting. It’s a wonderful surprise and together, they enjoy their pregnancies. But when they both go to the hospital in labor, something goes very, very wrong. Paloma comes home with a baby. Cleo does not.

Now a grieving Cleo must navigate life after losing her baby. She alienates herself from the world, especially her best friend who is living the life she so desperately wanted. Forced to quit her demanding job as an actuary, Cleo manages to find a job at a funeral home where she meets a revolving door of bereaved locals and discovers the power of confronting grief.

FAMILY TREASURES: LOST & FOUND
By: Karen A Frenkel
Published: March 10, 2026
Publisher: Post Hill Press
Memoir
Format: Paperback for Review

A daughter goes on a quest to find out what happened to her parents during WWII and how they escaped.

How do you shatter the silence that muffles family stories when those who knew what happened are gone?

In Family Treasures Lost and Found, journalist and daughter of Holocaust survivors, Karen A. Frenkel, investigates her parents’ unspoken WWII stories. Readers accompany Frenkel on her quest and discovery of how her resourceful parents survived on the run from the Nazis. Her research leads to shocking revelations of one parent’s trans-Atlantic escape to Mexico and New York, and how the other eluded capture throughout Eastern and Central Europe with false papers. Having scoured online and real-world archives and visited the relevant cities, Frenkel honors her parents, her sole surviving grandparent, and her lost relatives, who cease to be mere names and who she came to respect and love. The tale Frenkel weaves is both personal and universal, as we begin to feel that her family could be ours.

Frenkel also shares her refugee great-grandparents’ rare and huge collection of stunning oil and pastel portraits, photos, and documents, which were discovered in 1968 in garbage bags. Most Holocaust families lost everything, but these cherished artifacts reveal the Jewish assimilated culture in Kraków and Berlin that the Nazis obliterated. Readers also join Frenkel on her visit to Vienna, Kraków, Tarnów, and Lviv, Ukraine, where the action took place.

Such astonishing tales of survival, resistance, luck, and loss have the power to captivate readers of all generations and backgrounds and inspire them to explore their own family histories.

MY MOM’S STORY
Yes, I Want to Hear it All
A Stories to Last Workbook
By: Linda Parker Hamilton
Published: November 24, 2025
Non-Fiction/Journal
Format: Hardcover for Review

A perfect gift for your mom or grandma this Mother’s Day!

My Mom’s Story (Yes, I Want to Hear It All) is a heartfelt guided journal designed to help moms capture the memories, moments, and lessons that shaped their lives.

Through thoughtful prompts and a warm, conversational tone, this workbook makes it easy—even fun—for moms to write about childhood adventures, first jobs, love stories, family milestones, and the wisdom gained along the way.

Each page invites reflection and storytelling, with plenty of room for writing, doodles, or attaching photographs. The result is more than a journal—it’s a personal time capsule and a gift for future generations.

Beautifully written and intentionally structured, My Mom’s Story feels like sitting down with a curious grandchild who simply wants to know more. It helps turn memories into a legacy and transforms quiet moments into stories that last.

At the end of the book, readers are invited to take the next step with Stories to Last—a professional service that turns completed journals into custom hardcover memoirs, designed and printed to be passed down for decades.

AIR PLANTS
The Curious World of Tillandsias
By: Zenaida Sengo
Photography by: Caitlin Atkinson
Published: September 30, 2014
Publisher: Timber Press
Non-Fiction
Format: Paperback Purchase

I have an obsession with airplants. I saw this book in one of the gift shops during my time in Florida and had to have it. I want to learn more about caring for them and giving them the best home/light/water I can.

Air Plants shows how simple and rewarding it is to grow, craft, and design with these modern, easy-to grow houseplants. Stunning photographs showcase creative ideas for using tillandsias mounted on walls and suspended from the ceiling. You’ll learn how to use the plants in living hair accessories and jewelry and in unique containers, like dishware, leather bowls, and baskets. Six step-by-step projects include a wood mount, a wall hook, lasso-and-hook wiring, a ceramic-frame garden, and three unique terrariums.

GIFT FROM THE SEA
By: Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Published: 1955
Publisher: Pantheon Books
Non-Fiction/Biography
Format: Hardcover Purchase

This 70th Anniversary edition of the book was a purchase on my Florida trip. I kept seeing and hearing about this book, so I decided I needed to read it. In fact, it is mentioned in one of the books I’m currently reading, HANDLE WITH CARE. I love that kind of bookish serendipity.

In this inimitable, beloved classic—graceful, lucid and lyrical—Anne Morrow Lindbergh shares her meditations on youth and age; love and marriage; peace, solitude and contentment as she set them down during a brief vacation by the sea. Drawing inspiration from the shells on the shore, Lindbergh’s musings on the shape of a woman’s life bring new understanding to both men and women at any stage of life. A mother of five, an acclaimed writer and a pioneering aviator, Lindbergh casts an unsentimental eye on the trappings of modernity that threaten to overwhelm us: the time-saving gadgets that complicate rather than simplify, the multiple commitments that take us from our families. And by recording her thoughts during a brief escape from everyday demands, she helps readers find a space for contemplation and creativity within their own lives.

With great wisdom and insight Lindbergh describes the shifting shapes of relationships and marriage, presenting a vision of life as it is lived in an enduring and evolving partnership. A groundbreaking, best-selling work when it was originally published in 1955, Gift from the Sea continues to be discovered by new generations of readers. With a new introduction by Lindbergh’s daughter Reeve, this fiftieth-anniversary edition will give those who are revisiting the book and those who are coming upon it for the first time fresh insight into the life of this remarkable woman.

The sea and the beach are elements that have been woven throughout Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s life. She spent her childhood summers with her family on a Maine island. After her marriage to Charles Lindbergh in 1929, she accompanied him on his survey flights around the North Atlantic to launch the first transoceanic airlines. The Lindberghs eventually established a permanent home on the Connecticut coast, where they lived quietly, wrote books and raised their family.

After the children left home for lives of their own, the Lindberghs traveled extensively to Africa and the Pacific for environmental research.

BAKING ACROSS AMERICA
A Vintage Recipe Road Trip
By: B. Dylan Hollis
Published: May 20, 2025
Publisher: DK
Non-Fiction/Cookbook
Format: Hardcover Purchase

The second book by Hollis, after his popular BAKING YESTERYEAR, is full of all of our favorite desserts that remind us of home.

From the deserts of the Southwest to the Green Mountains of Vermont, the USA is as sweet as it gets. In this tour de food, B. Dylan Hollis takes you on a delicious road trip to taste everything from the coffee-crazed creations of the Pacific Northwest to the larger-than-life sheet cakes of Texas. 

You’ll be hitting the pavement in vintage style as Dylan leads you on a journey through the culture capitals of America to bring you the very best bakes the country has to offer. His retro recipes span the decades from the 1850s to the 1990s and feature famous (and infamous!) desserts from every state.

With his signature wry humor, Dylan explores the US and uncovers the history of nostalgic local favorites, including Whoopie Pies on the rocky Maine coast, Beignets in jazzy New Orleans, and Date Shakes blended up in a mid-century mansion in Palm Springs.

Baking Across America is the highly anticpated second book from the author of Baking Yesteryear and delivers 100 wild, wacky, and wonderful recipes from every vibrant corner of the good ol’ US of A.

SURVIVOR: FORGED BY FIRE
By: Jeff Probst
Published: February 24, 2026
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Non-Fiction
Format: Hardcover Purchase

You already know I’m a huge Survivor fan, so when I heard Jeff Probst was putting a book out, I preordered it immediately. I will say, it is mostly photographs of scenes from the show with a few pages of words, so a bit disappointed in that, but I’ll still enjoy it.

What’s it like to be on Survivor?

It’s a question millions of people have wondered since Survivor debuted on CBS in the summer of 2000 and forever changed television. What’s it like to face off in the grueling physical challenges? To endure the unforgiving elements of dense jungles and remote islands? To form alliances with and conspire against fellow players? To anxiously sit at tribal council and hear host Jeff Probst render the verdict on whether your torch will remain lit or be extinguished?

Survivor: Forged by Fire answers these questions and more, replicating what it feels like to play the game. Using stunning visual storytelling, the book organizes images around each phase of the competition: from “The Arrival” to “The Return” and every thrilling, harrowing, and inspiring moment in between. Curated by Survivor’s longtime director of photography Scott Duncan, the breathtaking pictorials depict the show’s most famous players and most memorable moments in an entirely fresh and even more candid way. Accompanying these striking visuals are moving reflections from Probst, who, for the first time, shares pages of diaries he kept during filming.

This gorgeously designed work of art is an absolute must for any fan of Survivor. It’s also a powerful testament to the unlimited potential that resides within every human being—an ode to the importance of determination, perseverance, and belief in one’s self. As Probst writes, “Survivor isn’t just a game. It’s a journey. One that calls to the adventurer inside us all.”

CHILDREN’S FICTION AND NONFICTION

ONE WHOLE HIPPOPOTAMUS
A Book about Parts and Patterns
By: Carter Higgins
Published: May 26, 2026
Publisher: Chronicle Kids
Fiction
Format: Board Book for Review

I am a huge fan of Carter Higgins and her books.

From the creative mind behind the strikingly designed and highly lauded Circle Under Berry and Some of These Are Snails comes this deceptively simple concept book that explores colors, shapes, patterns, and fractions. Its imaginative language, rich with rhythm and playfulness, begs to be read aloud, while its thought-provoking design tickles the brain and shows young readers that even the most familiar things can be seen in infinitely new ways. As with the best classic children’s books, you’ll read it once, then again and again, and see something new every time.

REACH IN!
Hervé Tullet
Published: May 12, 2026
Publisher: Chronicle Kids
Fiction
Format: Interactive Board Book for Review

Hervé Tullet’s books are favorites among toddlers, and this one has numerous interactive features.

Reach right in . . . for an amazing, hands-on adventure! Turn pages filled with flaps, folds, holes, and more to discover color, fun, and magic that could only come from the brush and brain of the brilliant artist, performer, and author Hervé Tullet.

A perfect extension of the beloved Press Here and Mix It Up!, Reach In! brings fun to a third dimension as, once again, Hervé proves anything is possible if you just put your mind―and a little imagination―to it!

TINY T.REX TRIES SOCCER
By: Jonathan Stutzman
Illustrated by: Jay Fleck
Published: May 19, 2026
Publisher: Chronicle Kids
Fiction
Format: Hardcover Picture Book for Review

The 10th book in the Tiny T. Rex series is perfect for kids just starting out playing soccer! I’ve shared other books by Jonathan Stutzman, HERE, and Jay Fleck, HERE.

Tiny’s biggest fans will love the removable sheet of colorful stickers featuring Tiny, Pointy, and friends included right inside the book!

Tiny T. Rex is ready to try lots of new things. First up is his favorite sport―soccer! He has his shin protectors, socks, cleats, special headband, and jersey (even though it’s a little too big). He is ready! But it turns out that soccer is very tricky. With the help of his teammates and lots of practice, Tiny learns to juggle, dribble, pass, shoot, and . . . score!

MYSTERIOUS THINGS
Invisible Things Book 4
By: Andy J. Pizza & Sophie Miller
Published: July 14, 2026
Publisher: Chronicle Kids
Non-Fiction
Format: Hardcover Picture Book for Review

The newest addition to the Invisible Things series focuses on all kinds of things that spark curiosity.

The universe is full of Mysterious Things—lost things, forgotten things, things we don’t know, and even things we don’t know we don’t know! In fact, you might say the world contains more questions than answers! Questions do dreams mean?What is at the bottom of the ocean?Where is that lost puzzle piece?If you’re ready to begin unravelling these mysteries and more, grab your detective’s hat or slip into your lab coat and come along on an exciting journey to embrace the unknown.

THE SECRETS OF THE JELLIES
Amazing Jellyfish and Their Surprising Talents
By: Karen Jameson
Illustrated by: Marie Hermansson
Published: April 21, 2026
Publisher: Chronicle Kids
Non-Fiction
Format: Hardcover Picture Book for Review

Jellyfish are such fascinating ocean creatures. I’m anxious to read and learn about them from the fabulous Karen Jameson, whose books I love. See some of them, HERE.

Soak up a sea of secrets and fun facts about jellyfish in this information-rich picture book! A spectacular world of weird and wonderful jellyfish awaits in The Secrets of the Jellies. Engaging rhyming text will amaze young readers with awe-inspiring information about these beguiling sea creatures. Filled with facts and energetic undersea artwork, this aquarium-exhibit-in-a-book helps us learn all about jelly anatomy, behavior, habitats, and ecosystems as we get to know the moon jelly, lion’s mane jellyfish, fried-egg jellyfish, flame jellyfish, and so many more. Dive in and be dazzled!STAND-OUT READ ALOUD: Rhyming text paired with eye-popping jelly facts makes this a delightful read-aloud for a wide range of young readers.

THE TRUE UGLY DUCKLING
How Hans Christian Andersen Became a Swan
By: Sandra Nickel
Illustrated by: Calvin Nicholls
Published: March 3, 2026
Publisher: Levine Quarido
Non-Fiction/Biography
Format: Hardcover Picture Book for Review

Sandra Nickel takes great care to share the story of Ans Christian Andersen. I’ve shared other books by Nickel, HERE.

He brought to life stories and characters that millions have A one-legged tin soldier who yearned for love. A poor little match girl. A mermaid who gave up her voice for a prince. But who was Hans Christian Andersen? He was a “strange child.” An ugly duckling. Even his mother said so. He didn’t seem to think like, or look like, anyone around him. But while his tender heart was bruised by ridicule, it responded by driving an unstoppable urge to create, to entertain. If he couldn’t act he would dance, if he couldn’t dance he would sing, and if he couldn’t sing … well, maybe he had stories to tell. With each rejection and defeat, Hans would soothe himself by making art with scissors and whatever was handy. A bit of cloth, a piece of paper. Until one day…

Structured like a fairy tale, this is the story of how Hans Christian Andersen took all the parts of his life—whether painful or transcendent—and used them to create books that have touched children the world over.

This is the first picture book biography of Andersen to be told through a lens that takes into account what scholars now know of his neurodiversity. Anderson, for instance, often told stories while keeping his hands busy by making paper-cut art. In this spirit, the remarkable illustrations by Calvin Nicholls are all created as paper-cut soft sculptures.

A fresh, and uniquely beautiful look at one of the world’s greatest storytellers.

JAVIER AND THE CONE OF UNCERTAINTY
The Kids Under the Stairs
By: K.A. Holt
Published: May 12, 2026
Publisher: Chronicle Kids
Middle-Grade Fiction
Format: Hardcover Chapter Book for Review

The 4th book in the Kids Under the Stairs series focuses on Javier, who finds himself on a collision course with a hurricane that shares his name. This novel-in-verse is a popular series with middle-grade readers.

Javier—or Javi—is the quiet, funny one in his friend group and an all-around easygoing guy who’s also an artist. But as his ever-present sketchbook reveals, he has a lot going on beneath that calm exterior. Adding even more to his swirling thoughts is the giant hurricane bearing down on his small Florida town—a giant hurricane that shares his name and is forecast to make landfall close to his thirteenth birthday!
 
As the hurricane gets closer, school is closed, and Javi and his mom have to hunker down at home. Everything starts to feel even more stormy when the power goes out and Javi’s teacher, Ms. J, brings her cat over so they can all wait out the storm together. Then, to make matters worse, it seems like his grandfather might be closer to the eye of the storm than he or his mom initially thought. This is not how he wanted to spend his birthday week! As the days stretch on and more and more of Javi’s comfortable norms are upended, he’ll have to face big changes and the big emotions that come with them.
 
Funny, wise, and moving, this riveting novel-in-verse celebrates friendship, family, and “divergent” thinking while also showing how you can find strength—and yourself—during the most uncertain of times.

Which books are you adding to your reading list?

Click HERE to see all the posts featuring new books on my shelves.

So many books, so little time!