summer haze | lately with lila june 2024

Hello again, dear friends. I hope all is well for you, and if not, I hope brighter days head your way soon! Well, friends, we’ve reached the end of June and it is officially halfway through 2024—can you believe it!?! Time really does fly and sometimes it feels like I’m being dragged behind it through the streets of the universe 😂 Time woes aside, the month of June was pretty good to me. I even managed to finish a book (I know. Finally)! So let’s jump in and see what went down and what I’ve got planned for July!

what i posted

Click the header images to open the post in question.

I recapped what went down in May of 2024

Looking for some summertime entertainment recommendations? I got you covered!

Celebrate Pride with me, one of your local demisexuals, in The Pride Flag Book Tag!

what i read

🐦‍⬛When Among Crows by Veronica Roth (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐) Roth’s debut novel, Divergent, holds a special place in my heart, but I haven’t been too intrested in her other works outside of that initial series. Despite this, my interest in Roth’s latest work, When Among Crows, was piqued when one of my favorite booktubers—Cari of cari can read—showed up on my feed giving this novella a glowing review. And, having read this novella now, lemme tell ya, folks: When Among Crows ABSOLUTELY deserves such praise!! I don’t want to say too much about this novella other than it’s an urban fantasy dealing with Polish folklore, seeing as it’s more fun to go in semi-blind in this case (especially because the synopsis actually spoils a major plot twist). What I will say is it’s absolutely a must-read, despite its short length, so definitely pick it up!

challenge progress

The Carterhough School of Folklore and the Fantastic Summer Reading Challenge

You can find the info about this reading challenge on The Carterhough School’s website here.

Completed: 1/15 Prompts

✅Read A Novella: When Among Crows by Veronica Roth

what i’m currently reading

🐉Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier I’m about 80% through this outstanding, Polynesian inspired YA fantasy and I’m still enjoying it so much! As I’ve mentioned before, Dragonfruit is a very laid back fantasy, but somehow that’s exactly what I’ve been needing?? Anyhoo, I’m loving taking my time with this one, and I can’t wait to see how it wraps up.

♠️ Foul Days by Genoveva Dimova This book is one of my most anticipated of the year, so I had to start reading it immediately when my audiobook preorder came in! It’s a fantasy based on Bulgarian folklore, and features a witch and monsters from Slavic folklore. Having come off of reading a novella involving Slavic folklore creatures, I’m so ready for more!

what i plan on reading

the tarot readathon

🔮I’m excited to be joining in on The Tarot Readathon (info in the above video and in this Google doc) this July! I’m joining Team Wands, seeing as my star sign (Sagittarius) is a fire sign, so my “bonus ability” is that any prompt I draw can be overridden by reading a romance book or a book with a romance subplot and my “bonus challenge” is that at least once during the readathon I have to spend a minimum of thirty minutes working on a passion project that I’ve been procrastinating. I decided to draw only three cards to minimize that difficulty for myself, and my draws and resultant TBR are as follows:

• The Lovers: Any book featuring romance // The God and the Gumiho by Sohie Kim
  • I’ve heard this Korean myth insipred urban fantasy is like a K-drama in book form, which sounds like so much fun! Luckily for me, I’ve also heard that The God and the Gumiho features a romance too, so I’m choosing it for this prompt!
• Queen of Wands: A book with a strong female protagonist // What The River Knows by Isabel Ibanez
  • I’m actually already partially through this book, so I know for certain that it stars a “strong female character.”
• Wheel of Fortune: A book representing your favorite season // Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier
  • Spring and summer are tied for my favorite season, so I decided to go with summer, since that’s what I’m currently feeling. Fortunately, Dragonfruit has a very summer-y feel, as its setting is inspired by the Pacific Islands!

what i listened to

what i bookmarked

Hunter talked the myth of “good” versus “bad” literature and how taste reinforces power (Video)

Nicole shouted out trans speculative fiction writers to follow

Peat had a really interesting discussion on mimesis and fantasy

Amanda of Bookish Brews interviewed author Nicholas Perez about the origins, inspirations, and future of the sword and sorcery genre

Liv featured ten manga that center queer stories

Krysta answered the question, “can authors or marketers ask that reviewers withhold or delay negative reviews?” and also wondered when is an author “milking” their world?

Pauliina lead us on a tour of books that got her through getting her PhD

Line paired books with destinations she visited during her solo trip to Germany

Liv went over why readers keep books

Anne took us through modern-day lesbian writers who can help you find yourself

Caitlyn reviewed books recommended to her by her library’s personalized book recommendation service

Athena shared ten ways to read affordably

For Swim Press, Trina Read created a reading list for Penelope Featherington

Riddhi gabbed about books she’s read and disliked that she might enjoy more nowadays

Elle spotlighted some queer nonfiction books

Tasya reflected on bookish trends she’s lived through as a book blogger, recommended seven novellas to help hit your summer reading goals, and spilled the beans about ten authors whose releases she needs to catch up on

Gina tippped us off to how to master your reading list

Heather updated her post on disabled and neurodivergent books and comics releasing in 2024

Aelyn asked the question, “should libraries be silent?“

Maria talked about the pros and cons of joining the bookish community/bookstagram

In a similar vein, Anna talked over what she’s learned in her first year of book blogging

Kristin recommended romance novels involving fake dating

Fran wrote a review of and rebuttal to The Darcy Myth

Dini explained how author controversies impact her reading

Nicole talked over getting anxiety while reading

Jessica Mary answered questions people have about YA literature

Tash vlogged her experience letting Siri pick how many pages she read for a week (Video)

Aimee rated “romantic” things love interests do in books

Tessa Hastjarjanto wrote a guest post for Tiny Elf Arcanist about why she prefers queer fantasy

Michael shared about watching Inside Out 2 after doing IFS/parts work for four years

Jack read books for his MBTI type (which, fun fact, happens to also be my MBTI type!) and also ponders which modern books might someday become classics (Video)

Alex highlighted five queer graphic novels they’d love to read

Elli took part in the LGBTQ+ historical icons book tag

Delaney gave us tips on how and where to find queer books to read

what i did in june 2024

June was a pretty relaxing month. I completed another level of mental health treatment, which is an accomplishment I’m pretty proud of! Beyond that, though, I let myself rest a bit after the months of hard work on my mental health that I’ve been doing.

what i’m hoping for in july 2024

At the beginning of July I’m hoping to attend the Smithsonian Folklife Festival with friends in celebration of my mental health success! The theme this year is “Indigenous Voices of the Americas,” which I’m really excited to explore. In addition, I’m hoping to grab a friend or two or more and attend a Profs & Pints lecture on folklore based around the season of summer.

spill the beans, friends!

• How was your June?
• Is there anything you’re looking forward to this July?
• Did you read anything particularly memorable this past June?

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