Hey all, Sam here.
February was an interesting month. Honestly work was pretty stressful the first couple weeks of the month, and I started to think that I was going to end up getting nothing done because I was just so tired from all of it. To be completely honest, all the stress is driving me deeper into a just barely functional burnout state. But then things eased up just the slightest bit, and I was able to get at least some decent reading in, although I have the barest minimum of updates in my other check-in categories.
I keep hoping things will get better, but between the chaos of the US, the chaos of the world in general, and then the smaller but more locally devastating chaos….and I’m utterly exhausted. Most days I just feel like I’m struggling to even get through the day, let alone to try and indulge in activities that are/were my favorite things, my favorite activities to make life feel so much richer. Now it feels like that energy is depleted to just survive. I have never yearned to return to childhood or even my college days more than I have the past couple of years.
Anyway, let’s go ahead and talk about what I did manage to accomplish in the month of February.
Reading
It wasn’t an amazing reading month, but considering I didn’t finish my first read until halfway through the month, I actually think February was kind of incredible. And for the most part my reads were pretty darn good. So that’s nice. Also, a couple of the books were actually 500+ pages in length, which is usually a fun experience. Thankfully I can say that those books didn’t feel that long at all because I was so hooked on the story and characters that I kept turning the page to keep reading. Anyway, here’s what I read this month.
Poyums Annaw by Len Pennie — 5 stars
Until the Clock Strikes Midnight by Alechia Dow — 4 stars
Tortured Souls by Melissa K Roehrich — 4.5 stars
The Holy Maiden’s Guide to Getting Kidnapped by Katy Nyquist — 3.5 stars
Books & Bewitchment by Isla Jewell — 4.5 stars
Brigid by Kim Curran — 4 stars
The Regency Switch by Helen Gaskell — 2.5 stars
Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint Vol 1 by singNsong, Umi, and Sleepy-C — 4 stars
How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days by Jessie Sylva — 4.5 stars
What I’m really hoping is to start my March off with some really good reading progress. I took a couple PTO days because the past couple months have been rather stressful, and my plan for those days is to relax and read…and maybe write a bit.
My big debate at the moment is if I’m going to read books from my March TBR or if I’m going to do a binge reread of a childhood favorite series. I’m really leaning towards the childhood fave reread, but my March TBR has some books that sound so so good on it….so, I don’t know.
Writing
In March I am hopefully going to make some writing progress. I decided to sign up for the Pathfinder Writing Collective’s March Madness. This year I’m on the Green Team. The goal is to log time spent on your writing projects instead of seeking some kind of word count goal.
Since I haven’t really made any progress on any of my writing goals for the year, I’m hoping that maybe this next month is when I start to turn things around and boost my creative output.
Blogging
My Hopeful Reads for March 2026
Well….blogging basically sucked this time around. Every time I tried to sit down to blog, something came up to pull me away from the computer, and the rest of the time I felt exactly zero motivation. Honestly this year has felt utterly exhausting and I’m really struggling to figure out how to push forward with the things that I used to really enjoy doing. I haven’t really had the energy to do much aside from rest on the couch and binge-watch shows and movies.
It makes me feel bad because I’ve read a number of NetGalley reads already this year, and I’d really like to get reviews up for those. I can practically feel my review percentage dropping with every passing day. I know catching up on my backlog of NetGalley reviews will only get me like a 3-5% increase, but that feels like a nice improvement.
Trips/Conventions
We have Gen Con tickets. That puts us one big step closer to what is typically our biggest trip of the year. Of course this year we also have our five year anniversary trip, so it’s going to be a fun time. Our plan is to basically do a repeat of our honeymoon because that was a fun time, and it has been a while since we’ve booked a cabin vacation in Hocking Hills (one of the biggest downsides to no longer living in Ohio; I miss our cabin getaways).
All right, well that is all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.
Free State of Geek 