Sunday Summary – 29th March 2026

Posted on March 29, 2026 by fantasyst95

In today’s Sunday Summary update, I’ve got several books I’ve progressed with to update you on – including two finishes! With just a couple of days left to read towards the Goodreads 2026 Winter Challenge, I’m doing my best to read as much as I can before the end of the month.

Sadly, I don’t think I’m going to complete this challenge. Other reading obligations I’ve started this week have had to take priority. I’m not mad though. When I shared my 11 book TBR for March, I knew it was going to be a tall order. All things considered, I’ve made a bloody good attempt at it!

Other than reading, what else have I been up to? Well, it’s been a pretty quiet one, all things considered. No social plans this week, but that was intentional. I haven’t had a weekend to myself in weeks! Some work overtime did eat into my Friday night, but I’m now fully rested and recovered.

On the blog, I shared a Top Ten Tuesday Spring TBR post earlier this week. I love these seasonal instalments, as I get to look ahead at some upcoming reads and set my intentions to pick these up. Later this week I’d planned both a post on books I turn to in a book slump, as well as a mini-review of Rose Red. However, I had to prioritise actually finishing Rose Red so I could pot my review on social media. That did go ahead as scheduled, so I’ll catch up on the blog content later.

On YouTube, I’ve experimented with shorts this week. Nothing notable this week, although I do get more views with shorts so I definitely need to make sure I post more go these, as well as long form content.

Books Read

An Arcane Inheritance

In last week’s Sunday Summary post, I confided that I had around 4 hours left of An Arcane Inheritance before completion. As I suspected in this post, being so close to the end made it an easy excuse to pick up this audiobook more to get to the end. From commutes to and from work to short listens before turning in for the night, finishing An Arcane Inheritance was pretty effortless. The storyline really ramped up and I was eager to find out what was going on, once and for all.

I had no idea what to expect from the ending of this book. However, the revelations at the end were engaging and I really wanted Ellory to succeed. An Arcane Inheritance was a fun foray back into dark academia and it is really cleverly written. For a book with a minority main character and an angle of challenging white privilege, it is done in a way that it is clear, but not overbearing across the whole narrative.

An easy 4* rating from me and I’m excited to see more from Kamilah Cole. She has a new release later this year that’s caught my attention, so watch this space…

The Astral Library

After completing An Arcane Inheritance earlier this week (Friday morning), I started The Astral Library. A highly anticipated 2026 release, I’ve enjoyed getting into this book so far. The premise of the book is living within the pages of other well-known titles out there. Already, in the first 40% or so I’ve listened to, we’ve met the likes of Jane Eyre and Sherlock Holmes. Reminiscent in its set up of Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library, The Astral Library begins with a woman’s life falling apart and the library coming to her rescue. However, from there it deviates…

There’s an interesting mystery underpinning the events that see protagonist Alix hopping through the margins of well-known titles and meeting individuals like her seeking refuge between the pages of their favourite novels. It’s an interesting concept and I enjoy how the set up has Alix exploring others worlds as opposed to trying to find her own (the “conventional” journey for library visitors). Personally I can’t wait to discover more about the cause of events.

As of this Sunday Summary, I’m again in a position where I have just a few hours left of audio. Can I finish this pretty quickly? I’m confident I will!

Rose Red

Conventional reading progress started slow this week. Combined with some overtime on Friday night, it made my last-minute rush to finish Rose Red by Sarah Biggerstaff a little more pressured than I would have liked… 😅

However, I did it. And, to be fair, Rose Red was easy to read. The book also had a bit of a mystery and built-up to quite the climax. Actually sitting down and reading the book was a piece of cake. This week’s issue was finding the time to do it. Nevertheless, my review went out on time yesterday after some hours of reading to make up for lost time. I posted my short review of Rose Red on Instagram and YouTube.

Shamelessly I’m going to plug my my accounts here so you can follow these if you want to see more mini-reviews and shorter-form bookish content.

This fairytale retelling was fun and suits fans of romance, witchcraft, strong sister bonds and problematic relationships with other family members. If this sounds like your cup of tea then you DEFINITELY need to follow and go see more on this book!

Storm of Mercia

Finally, I made a start on another title for which I have a blog tour review obligation. This one is due Thursday 2nd April. So, I have a few days to read this book. It’s a good job I thrive on a deadline isn’t it?! 😅

Already today, I’ve read a third of this book in practically one sitting. I love diving into these historical fiction books by M.J. Porter. Icel is one of my favourite characters in the genre and time setting, and I read a few books that overlap here. He’s a great all-rounder, if a bit prone to getting himself into troublesome situations. He has a heart of gold though, so we can forgive his propensity to dive-in head-first to defend the weak.

Already I’m a good way into the introduction of this book. I’m looking forward to reading on and getting more immersed back into events in Mercia and the wider Eagle of Mercia Chronicles as a whole 😊 More on this one next week. Stay tuned!

Books Discovered

Whereas the rest of this Sunday Summary is full of bookish updates, there’s no news to report here. So, this week, I’m two books down thanks to my completions and nothing new added 🎉🎊

Coming Up…

Blog

On the blog next week, I’ve got both my monthly wrap-up for March 2026 and my April TBR planned. They’re the usual posts at this time of the month, so hopefully no surprises here!

On Thursday I’m lined up to feature my review of Storm of Mercia by M.J. Porter. If you have followed along with my reviews of the series so far, I hope you are as excited for my review of this latest instalment – book 9 no less! If you;’re unfamiliar, hop back to the very beginning and my review of Son of Mercia for a taste of what to expect.

As well as those, I’m going to try my best to get this week’s planned post about go-to books for reading slumps out as well. On the one hand, it’s quarter-end at work so I could be busy and I know for sure I’m working bank holiday Friday. Hopefully no more than that. At the same time, it is a long weekend so I’m sure I can squeeze it all in somewhere…

Of course, I’m here every week, same time, with my Sunday Summary update. Take a look at next week’s post to see where I finally weigh in at with bookish progress towards the Goodreads 2026 Winer Challenge and my March TBR. Not only that, but hopefully I’ll have

YouTube

With the end of March fast approaching, I’ll record my monthly wrap-up to post on YouTube mid-week. It’s not really something I can do very well ahead of time.

What I have been able to record ahead of time is my April TBR. With a placeholder left in for my carryovers from March, the rest of my reading list has been determined by a TBR Jar. It’s been a good while since I used this method to mix up my reading, and I got some very different books some out as a result.

As well as these, I have a few shorts recorded, which I’ll intersperse throughout the week.

Summary

With two completions and a last-push towards reading as many books as I can towards the Goodreads 2026 Winter Challenge and my March TBR, it’s been a productive week overall!

Thanks for reading today’s Sunday Summary update. What have you read this weekend?

Sunday Summary – 29th March 2026