March 2026 Reading

I didn’t finish as many books this March. Because I’m ahead of pace on my goal of reading 30 books in 2026, so I started Robert A. Caro’s biography of Robert Moses, The Power Broker. That’s a behemoth which the publisher counts at 1344 pages long. It’ll be here in April.

Hellacious California! by Gary Noy

There were some stories of chicanery and debauchery, but not nearly as many as I was hoping for. This was an academic book on categories of “vice” dressed up with some stories.

A Stroke of Dumb Luck by Shiloh Walker

This was a teaser short story for the author’s paranormal Colbana Files series (published under the J.C. Daniels pseudonym) that appeared on Tor.com with a free ebook download back in the day. It wasn’t interesting. A … well, I already forgot whatever paranormal ability the protagonist has … goes into a lair of … vampires maybe? I forgot this too … to rescue a missing girl, gets into more trouble than they bargained for, and is rescued by a powerful but suspicious paranormal baddie.

The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni

I’ve read a fair number of business management books. This might be the best one overall that I’ve read. i have only a few quibbles on finer points. I particularly like that the process is very actionable and has clear directions, artifacts and milestones. Obviously the real test though is “does this work?” I’ll find out, as the reason I read the book is my new employer claims to be framing its workings on this book. My previous place of employment could have been one of the many bad examples from the book with expected results. However, that doesn’t mean that the guidance itself works.

Those Beyond the Wall by Micaiah Johnson

I really enjoyed the first book of the series (The Space Between Worlds) that I immediate put the next book on hold. And this started off even better! Set a number of years after the first book, the inhabitants of a parallel universe have figured out how to travel to the prime universe, and are attempting to kill primes so they can transit over… for what purpose I never really understood. But it was a great, complicated story about Emperor Nik Nik’s runner Mr. Scales dealing with all the ramifications of the incursion. There’s all the themes of the first book, plus added commentary on the haves, have nots, and the police. It’s a great book, but the plot elements get a little too complicated and twisty toward the end. Worth reading but a bit of a down from the first book, which you really should read before this one. I suppose it’s possible to read this without first reading The Space Between Worlds, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

The Courtship of the Queen by Bruce McAllister

The final completed read of the month before I started The Power Broker. The Courtship of the Queen was another short story posted to Tor.com with a free download. A boy grows up playing with sea shells that he imagines are armies of an underwater monarch. I did not understand whether this was meant to be just his imagination or instead that he’d tapped into some hidden realm. Not my thing.

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And that’s it. I plugged away at The Power Broker every day for the last two weeks of March but just couldn’t read fast enough.