Lately With Lila | July & August 2019

Hey, friends! I know I’m running real late on posting this, but life’s been a whirlwind of craziness lately! Like, whew, chile, what a ride! But luckily it’s all been the good kind of craziness! Unfortunately that has meant a little less time for reading and blogging. Nevertheless, I did manage to do some reading and blogging, even if it wasn’t a lot. Let’s take a look…

B L O G

U P D A T E S

New design, who dis?

P O S T S

• Lately With Lila | June 2019
• Kingsbane by Claire Legrand review + aesthetics
• Truly, Devious by Maureen Johnson mini review + aesthetic

B O O K S

R E A D

Level 6 // House // Based on Your House // Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson // ★★★★★

I don’t often read mysteries/thrillers, so when I say that the Truly, Devious series is a new all-time favorite of mine, that’s pretty high praise! I loved everything about this book—the hilariously endearing characters, the gripping dual mystery plot-lines, the quirky setting, all of it! I don’t want to go on and on as I raved about Truly, Devious in my mini review, but suffice to say this was a great opener to an awesome trilogy!

Level 6 // Extendable Ears // Audiobook // The Beckoning Shadow by Katharyn Blair // ★☆☆☆☆ (DNF at 25%)

I was so looking forward to The Beckoning Shadow, but sadly it fell flat for me. The book felt like a cheesy The Darkest Minds wannabe with hints of Divergent. It just didn’t work for me at all and I finally DNFed it at about 25%.

The Vanishing Stair by Maureen Johnson // ★★★★★

Of course, after falling in love with Truly, Devious I just had to zoom on to the sequel, The Vanishing Stair. And, folks, lemme tell ya: I was not disappointed! The Vanishing Stair more mystery and more mayhem, delivered with a generous pinch of sass and silliness! The only bad thing about this book was that it left me dying for more but I have to wait until next year to get the third and final book…

B O U G H T

A R C S

Thank you to the publishing gods for these awesome ARCs!

T B R

M O V I E S   &   T V

C O C O

Early on in July I saw Coco and I loved it! It was so sweet and heartwarming and, I’ll even admit it…I might’ve teared up a bit at the end—but just a bit! The combination of the tender story and the stellar animation made for an all around wonderful experience!

K I K I ‘ S   D E L I V E R Y   S E R V I C E

There was a Studio Ghibli festival taking place at theaters in my area and my friends Laila and Ben roped me into going to see Kiki’s Delivery Service with them. I had actually only seen the movie once before, when I was very young, and I didn’t remember whether or not I liked it. Regardless, I actually really enjoyed the movie this time, despite the fact that I don’t typically enjoy anime. I found the story very charming and endearing, as well as incredibly relatable and encouraging. I might’ve even teared up at a few points (sheesh, what is it with me and movies making me teary this past month?!). Overall, I had a great time, and, who knows, maybe I might be more easily persuaded to watch another Studio Ghibli film in the future!

M U S I C

L I L A   L I S T E N S   T O

J U L Y   2 0 1 9

Listen

S E L E C T E D   S N I P P E T S

“Ego” by Bibi Bourelly // The lyrics of this song are a little shallow for my taste, but Bourelly’s soulful vocals carry promise. I think she definitely could turn into a memorable, if not great, singer for sure!

“Champion” by Bishop Briggs // Briggs is one of my favorite artists, so do you really think this song would escape my list?

“Euphoria” by BTS // Am I officially on the BTS fandom bandwagon? Erm…well…no. But I will give you that I enjoyed the upbeat, positive sound of this song, so that’s something, right?

“Burn The House Down” by AJR // What a fun little bop to dance to! I love the bouncing beat of this song, the shouted chorus, and even the silly trumpets!

L I L A   L I S T E N S   T O

A U G U S T   2 0 1 9

Listen

S E L E C T E D   S N I P P E T S

“FEELS LIKE HOME” by Bea Miller and Jessie Reyez // Both Reyez and Miller are two of my all-time faves so I nearly lost it when they dropped a collab. And with good reason too cause turns out this song is as awesome as I imagined!

“Rooting For You” by Alessia Cara // Looking for the smooth sounds of a 1990s summer tribute? Alessia Cara’s got you covered with this fun ditty!

“Paagal” by Badshah // When I heard that this song has more YouTube views than BTS songs but little to no media coverage or radio airtime I was intrigued. I’m still pretty puzzled as to why that is (*cough* colorism and racism *cough*) given that this song is a grade A banger!

“Slide Away” by Miley Cyrus // I’ve never been a massive fan of Cyrus, but surprisingly I actually really like the sweet, summery sounds of “Slide Away”! Definitely give it a chance!

L I N K S   I ‘ V E   L O V E D

• Xandra at Starry Sky Books dished on how to survive school and blogging
• Camilla from The Literary Salon discussed why female characters can’t win under sexism
• Kate of Reading Through Infinity shared some thoughts she has during readathons
• Michelle from A Geek Girl’s Guide recommended video games to play based on your zodiac sign
• Emily at A Little Book Affair talked about the parts of college that no one talks about
• 24hryabookblog looked into how the book internet is influencing our reading
• Allie at Hexen Librarian gave us info on how to start a podcast
• Krysta from Pages Unbound wondered if the minimalist trend can help libraries thrive
• Vicky of What Vicky Read showed us how she organizes her reading journal
• Kelly from Another Book in the Wall spilled small things she loves about books
• Olivia at Purely Olivia gushed about five things no one tells you about blogging
• Xandra of Starry Sky Books gave us tips on how to juggle school and book blogging
• Brianna at Pages Unbound Reviews discussed why we need more nurturing fathers in books
• Angel from Avid Reader talked about the importance of trigger warnings
• Lily at Sprinkles of Dreams shared 2019 debut authors to watch
• Trang at Bookidote mulled over why hype is overrated and unpopular opinions aren’t that unpopular
• Kelly of Another Book in the Wall spilled the beans on six Goodreads  features you might not know about
• Cam from Camillea Reads noted five ways she’s changed as a reader because of blogging
• Krysta from Pages Unbound Reviews wondered if you read backlist titles
• Camilla at Reader in the Attic illuminated how reading diversely has changed her and its importance
• Marie of Drizzle And Hurricane Books shared how to give your book blog posts that extra spark

L I F E

These past two months seemed to go by so fast and yet also so slow? It basically was one big time warp. But that being said, weird time warp as it may have been, it was also a pretty good month for me.

July started off with a bang because a good childhood friend of mine got married! I’m so happy for her and I had such a fun time at her wedding! I’ve never been to a real wedding before and it was so sweet to see her and her new husband come together to form a new family. They really are such a beautiful couple and you can tell they love each other beyond the wedding high and that they are a strong couple. *sobs happy tears of love and joy*

I also went to a rooftop happy hour at The Kennedy Center in D.C. with a ton of my friends in July. We had so much fun drinking and talking and watching the sun set over the river.

Finally, in late July I celebrated one of my childhood bestie’s birthday by going out dancing with her and our other childhood best friends. I had so much fun dancing the night away with them like the dancing queens we truly are!

August brought end of summer parties and the beginning of this year’s fall semester at my college. I got together a bunch of times to party the night away with a ton of friends and I had so much fun with them! Then in late August I began school again. This semester I’m taking Calculus I and Intro to the Short Story and I’m looking forward to both!

I think that’s it? Yeah, that’s it!

So you can see lots  has been going on in my life. It’s been so so so crazy but I’ve been really happy. I’m hoping that once things calm down I’ll be able to read and blog a little bit more. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

T E L L   M E   A L L   A B O U T   I T

• How was your July and August?
• Anything you’re looking forward to in September?
• Any of you starting school again too?
• Read any good books in these past two months?
• What’s on your September TBR?