Reading Roundup March 2026
Loyal readers, you will certainly notice that I did not finish many books this month. I have reasons.
The first reason is that I DNFed (that's "did not finish," in case you are not someone who follows a racing sport) The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk. I gave it almost a hundred pages before I realized it was going to be, in large part, about a 30-year-old wealthy man having an affair with an 18-year-old broke woman while engaged to a twentysomething wealthy woman. Affair plots are the absolute most boring thing in the world to me. I cannot fathom what makes them interesting. I cannot bring myself to care. This is also the reason I DNFed If Only by Vigdis Hjorth some time ago, and I count her book Long Live the Post Horn! among my all-time favorites. Anyway, reading 100 pages of a book while waiting for it to magically become something I was interested in took up a big chunk of March. Link if you do like reading about affairs (Pamuk is a very good writer): https://bookshop.org/a/7065/9780307386243
On the other hand, Evelyn in Transit is a delight from start to finish, especially if you like books about unapologetically weird women. Evelyn does not care to conform to expectations as a kid or an adult; she just wants to quietly do what she wants. But her story is only half the story. The other half belongs to Tsering Lekpa, who lives in Tibet. As it turns out, and this is not much of a spoiler, Evelyn's young son will be identified as the reincarnation of Tsering Lekpa. I like everything about this setup, and I liked everything about this book. It's by David Guterson, who wrote Snow Falling on Cedars decades ago. I only learned that Evelyn in Transit was coming out because Guterson wrote an essay for Lit Hub about how everyone has said, every time he writes another book, "This isn't the same as Snow Falling on Cedars." Um, no. It is not. He is a human who has changed, not a brand that values staying the same. You can read his essay here: https://lithub.com/whats-in-a-literary-brand-david-guterson-on-maintaining-an-authorial-persona-or-not/ And you can buy the book here: https://bookshop.org/a/7065/9781324111054
I read Mona's Eyes by Thomas Schlesser (in English, not French) for a review that will be published later this year, so I'm keeping my opinions on that book for the review. I'll let you know as soon as I have a publication date. It is crazy popular, so if you want in on a hot book: https://bookshop.org/a/7065/9798889661115
Literary confessions are coming in hot this month, and here's another: I skimmed The Big M, which I borrowed from the library. Lydia Yuknavitch pulled together a roster of powerhouse authors to write essays about menopause, and I am Gen X. I was up for reading what Roxane Gay and Cheryl Strayed had to say about the subject, or so I thought. It turned out I was not. One of the authors called hot flashes power surges, and that is when I gave up reading and started skimming to the end. If you are fifty-ish, it might be your jam, though: https://bookshop.org/a/7065/9781538765548
I'm also reading the new English translation of Camus's letters and a rather long book in French, so look for those next month.
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I Threw a Party!
Throwing a party takes up time otherwise devoted to reading, even when you have help from Nicki, who does this kind of stuff all the time. But I did it! Drag performer Tingles Van Pelt read selections from all four volumes of Memoirs of a French Courtesan at Two Rivers Books, and we drank champagne and had chocolate-covered strawberries. I may hire performers to do all of my readings; it makes it way more fun for everyone. Tingles was very good. (Please note how literally radiant Tingles looks in this photo, like light is shining forth from their face, while I look like a normal human. Tingles is professional grade.)
You can of course buy all four books anywhere books are sold, even if you weren't able to make it to the party. I've made a quick website to make that a bit easier: https://mogadormemoirs.com/. And they're available through Two Rivers Books too: https://tworiversweirdsisters.com/.
I have a whole list of articles I wanted to recommend to you all, but this newsletter is already getting out of hand. I had a lot to say for only finishing three books in March, and one of them I can't even share what I thought with you yet. Look for a linky list in your inbox soon.
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