By Emily Munro in Blog — 31 Mar 2026

Reading Report: March 2026

Take a field trip on a cheese bus, set your wonky horse free, and some extremely specific life advice.

When is the last time you went exploring? Did something that scared you a little bit? Got outside and just sat for a while? March for me is about taking things as they come: changes in the weather, last minute plans, surprise joys. Happy reading. ~EM

Year of Joy

First off, two! of my fellow Starlings writers have stories in this amazing anthology of queer found families that came out yesterday. Happy book birthday friends!

Home Constellations

Home Constellations gathers stories of love, kinship, and belonging across the cosmos. From the multi-species polycule caught up in an interplanetary political conspiracy to the escaped hypercat and retired assassin-droid who find a baby on their doorstep, these tales explore the many ways we build and choose our families.

Get it here

Second Wind - SemiRamblomatic - Giving Up Is Underrated [NSFW language] - Do you need to hear this today?

I would like to give you a piece of advice, viewer. Advice that I know most of you will say needsn't to be said. Something you're all perfectly aware of. And yet, I still think it needs to be repeated regularly because every time we do, there'll be at least one person listening who badly needs to hear it. Are you ready? If you're not having fun, you can stop.

On Broadway - Every Brilliant Thing - I saw Daniel Radcliffe in this 90 minute play a few weeks ago now and it's still resonating with me. I think it was the way the play incorporated the audience, turning what could be a monologue into a bonding experience with total strangers. More thoughts to think in that direction, but the play was easily the most joyful thing I've seen in a long time.
Extremely specific life advice - You can convert Farenheit to Celsius with stops on the 6 train in NYC. (This is the kind of thing you almost can't put in a book because people will think you made it up).

Screenshot of an X post by Ellen DaSilva @ellenjdasilva. Extremely specific life advice: you can convert Farenheit to Celsius with the stops on the 6 train. 33st=0, 42st=5, 51st=10, 59st=15. Works to 96th St! posted 9:33am Mar 16, 2026 496.6K views. 82 replies, 633 reposts, 9k likes. — I'm not linking to the original because it was posed on "x".

The Good List - I'm not the only person searching for a little joy in the world. The NY Times just started a newsletter.

On Aesthetics

ForScale - Ode to a Lamp: 100 Aphorisms on Pantella - I said it last month, and it's the same again this month. All my best life advice is coming from this decor blog.

48.You can’t have anyone give you taste; you must find it yourself. 49.TASTE IS ACCUMULATION. Not of things, though. Of references, yes.

Gradient.horse - Draw your own wonky horse and then set it free...

On Living Like a Monk

Cropped image of a medieval manuscript illustration showing a monk gambling. The monk's body is mostly obscured by a frame from the right, so we see only his head and hands. He is wearing dark glasses that pinch to his nose with a hinge in the center and has tonsured hair.. He has rolled a 6, 5, 4 on three square dice on the table in front of him. The background is a brilliant lapis lazuli blue with ochre dots and is broken by the trunk of a tree with some shading. — The drip. The glasses. The incredibly good roll. via Weird Medieval Guys below.

Weird Medieval Guys - Gambling monk, also browse 25 amazing medieval manuscripts (for your weird medieval enjoyment).
When the Going Gets Weird - Man who lives like a monk dines like a king
When the Going Gets Weird - Dostovevsky's Gambling Adiction leads to Crime and Punishment (also a case of read your contracts!)

On the Benefits of Field Trips

What do you remember about your school years? If you're like most people, one of the memories you'll mention first is a field trip. Turns out there's a reason for that, field trips are expecially good for cementing memories. In The Artist's Way, one of Julia Cameron's recomendations is to take yourself on "Artist Dates." These are little solo field trips to inspire you and refill your tank.

Education Daily - Cheese Busses will Save Our Schools
Unconstrained Skills - How informal learning can help improve reading and math achievement

Shortreads

Transfer Orbit - March Short Stories List

Books Read and Reading

Dungeon Crawler Carl books 1-5 - Matt Dinniman - This series has eaten my brain. Also, the new covers on these are a masterclass in design. They stand out on bookshelves, but still manage to tell a story. Beautifuly weird.
Nobody’s Baby - Olivia Waite - Another Dorothy Gentleman mystery, gentle and sweet. A delight and I'm already looking forward to the next one.
Lavender House - Lev AC Rosen - An excellent locked-room mystery set in the queer society of 1950's San Francisco. Devoured in a single sitting on the plane home.
The Library of Amorlin [In Progress] - Kalyn Josephson - Lush, creative, with immensly motivated characters so far.
Crafting Story Movement [IP] - Kathryn Craft - Craft's advice is based in her work as both a writer and a dancer. An interesting perspective and one that's shaking a lot of things loose with my revision.

Accountability

6 Chapters revised of Lich - And re-revised. And then first chapter reconsidered completely based on Crafting Story Movement (see above).
Monuments - still on sub to Haven Spec and Utopia Science Fiction
Putti - still on sub to PodCastle

⬅️Reading Report February 2026 ➡️Reading Report April 2026