lately with lila july 2024 | friendship fun

Hello again, dear friends, I hope all is well for you, and if not, I hope brighter days head your way soon! I’m sorry for the lateness of this wrap up, there were some behind-the-scenes issues I had to clear up. But I’m back now!

Anyhoozle! My August was surprisingly amazing! I had a bunch of fun outtings with friends, and I managed to finish two whole books on top of that! I know—crazy for yours truly, right?! So let’s dive right in and check out what went down this past month

what i posted

I recapped June of 2024.

My mid-year entertainment check-in is overflowing with recommendtions!

Find out my fantasy origin story in the “Get to Know The Fantasy Reader” tag.

what i read

🐉Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier (⭐⭐⭐⭐) I loved this book, but had some very minor issues with it towards the end, so the CAWPILE system spit out a 4 star rating for it and I think that’s spot on. Dragonfruit is a Polynesian-inspired YA fantasy involving sea dragons, and it somehow manages to pair adventure and a relaxing vibe in a surprisingly effective way! I wouldn’t quite call it “cozy fantasy” cause the stakes of the story are actually quite high, but the entire atmospheric vibe of the book is quite laid back, which was nice. My only issue with the book was a deus ex machina instance and some info dumping towards the end. But other than that? *chef’s kiss*

💖Lore Olympus Vol. 1 by Rachel Smythe (⭐⭐⭐+0.5) I…wasn’t the biggest fan of this? I know Lore Olympus is MASSIVELY popular, but it just didn’t strike a chord with me. The art was beautiful, and the story was decent, but what really niggled at my mind were the characters and the romance set up between Hades and Persephone. I think that Smythe’s development of the characters relied too much on modern stereotypes rather than crafting truly unique motivations and inner worlds for the characters. That said, this is volume one of five or six so she still has PLENTY of time to course correct on that. The other big thing that bugged me was the way Hades and Persephone’s relationship is being set up kinda gives major alarm bells for romanticized emotional abuse, which is a personal trigger for me so this complaint is a bit more of a personal one. All in all, this graphic novel was fun, but it wasn’t anything I’d call special. I’ll probably continue the series to see where Smythe takes it, but it’s not at the top of my TBR.

reading challenges progress

the tarot readathon

Completed: 2/3 Prompts

✅The Lovers ⇢ Any Book Featuring Romance: Lore Olympus Vol. 1 by Rachel Smythe

❌Queen of Wands ⇢ A Book Featuring A Strong Female Protagonist

✅Wheel of Fortune ⇢ A Book Representing Your Favorite Season: Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier

the carterhough school for folklore and the fantastic’s summer reading challenge

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

Completed: 3/15 Prompts

✅Read A Novella: When Among Crows by Veronica Roth

✅Read A Creature Feature: Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier

✅Read A Graphic Novel: Lore Olympus Vol. 1 by Rachel Smythe

what i’m currently reading & what i plan on reading

I’m kinda between books currently, so I’m still unsure which I’d like to ultimately commit to. I’d ideally like to finish up The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson, continue What The River Knows by Isabel Ibanez, and start Death at Morning House by Maureen Johnson, but I hesitate to make any promises so we’ll see…

what i listened to

what i bookmarked

Peat wrote a thoughtful post on fantasy, its racist origins, and transformation

Amanda interviewed writer Rukman Ragas on writing outside of the imperial core

Fanna explored how an era’s literature relfects its cultural fears

Clo continued her astrology book recommendation series by recommending books for Cancer placements

Charlotte created a literacy list of modern gothic fiction novels

Michelle talked over how to read dark romance

Alia paired books to read with Disney movies and also paired books with Sanrio characters

Olivia broached the question of how your partner feels about your reading

Emma interviewed Sarah Beth Durst, author of the new cozy fantasy The Spellshop

Maria highlighted ten beach reads

Kari shared twenty facts about popular YA books

Madeline spotlighted YA books for Disability Pride Month

Anna announced that her Ph.D thesis will be about bookstagram, booktok, and booktube

Peat reflected on the archetype of “the damsel not in distress” in fantasy

Nicole assured us that we’re all “reading right”

Melinda listed readalikes for Bridgerton

Morgan logged a week of swapping screen time for reading

Willow used talking about her life lately to also recommend some cozy books that embody “slow living”

Aimee interviewed her friend’s nine year old son to get his thoughts on the Percy Jackson books

Sophie recounted her experience taking part in the Summerween readathon

Bookborn wondered whether authors need to be TikTok stars now

Briana discussed how much it costs to run a book blog

Caro recommended the perfect thriller, romance, and adventure reads for summer

Sylvester wrote a guest post for The Lit Bitch all about how reading books can improve your academic writing skills

Sophie confessed her worst reader traits

Kenn talked about the fandoms they used to be a member of

Abi shared her experience doing a 24 hour readathon

Michelle walked us through the five senses experience of reading a romance novel

Nefeli confessed the books she hasn’t read but whose adaptations she’s watched

Jenica did an audit of what types of tropes appear in her five star reads

Alicia listed seven upcoming cozy fantasies that she’s looking forward to

Aria discussed underconsumption core for book girlies

Charlie wrote on Swim Press about the authors he’d invite to a literary dinner

Laure talked over why you should write opinionated book reviews

Nicole shared heartwarming post on why she’s still blogging

The gals at Pages Unbound put together a list of books that’ll remind you of The Chronicles of Narnia

Erin praised libraries in talking about her obsession with them

Kat reread some books she loved in middle school

And on She Reads listed books to read for Disability Pride Month

The Smut Report discussed the subgenre of speculative romance

Gayathri explained how book blogging is different from other blogging niches

Reactor Magazine had several interesting articles up: “What Happens After The World Gets Saved?,” “The Rise of Cozy Fantasy,” and “Backlist Bonanza: 5 Underrated Near-Futures.”

what i did this past july 2024

Right away, I knew this past July was gonna be a good month cause I had plenty of plans with friends, which I knew would feed my extrovert soul!

First up, my friends from my Physics I course and I went to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival! This year’s theme was “Indigenous Voices of the Americas,” and it was so much fun to experience with friends. We saw some singers and drummers perform, ate Indigenous American food, and also watched some Indigenous Lating American skateboarders. Afterwards, we grabbed dinner at a local restaurant, which was delicious, and then we blasted the music and sang songs on the way home.

I also had a big get together with a different group of friends in mid July as well. We all went out to Korean BBQ and it was so nice to see them and catch up with everyone! It was my first time ever having Korean BBQ and I can confirm that it was, indeed, delicious!

One of my best friend’s birthdays is also in July, and I wanted to do something special with her to celebrate. We ended up heading to this store in D.C. where you can make jewelry and we made charm necklaces there—which was so much fun and such a cute activity! I had a great time with her, and it was totally worth it to brighten her day as well!

what i plan for in august 2024

My friends from Physics I and I are supposed to go to Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in D.C. sometime in August, which I’m really looking forward to! Kenilworth is a national park that speciaizes in aquatic flora, and apparently it’s very beautiful and peaceful, so I can’t wait to explore it with my friends! We’re also considering going to a different local botanical garden, which has extensive outdoor gardens and is absolutely GORGOEUS, so if we go to either or both I’m hyped!

In addition to that adventure, my choir class (the only course I’m taking this fall) starts in late August, which is another thing I’m eagerly anticipating! I missed my last choir concert due to an unrelated panic attack, but I’m so excited to get back in the game and singing again after the summer break!

Other than these two things, though, I basically just have a TON of “life administrative tasks” I need to get done this August. So much so that thinking about the tasks in question is a bit overwhelming, unfortunately. Nevertheless, I will persist—I am determined!!

spill the beans, friends!

• How was your July?
• Did you read anything interesting?
• What are you looking forward to in August?