lately with lila november 2024 | autumn sunset

Hello again, dear friends! I hope you all are well, and if not then I hope brighter days head your way soon!

What a month it’s been! First off: I meant to blog much more this past month, but unfortunately my laptop broke and for now I can temporarily only access WordPress via my phone, which doesn’t have enough storage to support several features 😭 I borrow my mom’s laptop when her schedule allows, but that isn’t much. But I still did my best, despite getting behind schedule! That said, I plan on taking my laptop in to get repaired this week, so hopefully it’ll be good as new(ish…it’s an old laptop, lol) soon enough!

Anyhoo, I’m happy to say that sans my laptop I was able to get some entertainment time in when I might have otherwise spent that time scrolling! Even with all the events that took place in November, I managed to find time for myself, so that’s great!! Let’s check out what went down…

what i posted

what i read

I finally finished A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft and I’m happy to say that I really enjoyed it! I saw recently that this is in the running in the 2024 Goodreads Awards’ “Romantasy” category and if the future of romantasy is books like this, then I can totally get onboard with that! I think the things that make A Dark and Drowning Tide work for me are 1) the true slow burn of the angst-filled romance, 2) the fact that this book leans equally into its fantasy elements, including its world building, and 3) the fact that the story doesn’t neglect its non-romantic themes. In other words, there’s a FAR bigger story and world beyond the romance and Saft takes her time exploring ALL of it. I must say, I’m quite impressed with this as Saft’s Adult debut, and if this is what we can expect from her in the future then I’m looking forward to reading whatever else she has in store. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

🍄 Autumnathon Prompts:

✅ Dark Academia

✅ Mystery

what i plan on reading

orilium: lightfall mini readathon

It’s the time of the year where G from the booktube channel Book Roast holds her Lightfall mini readathon Orilium event, so of course I’m planning on taking part! If you want to participate too, you can find all the info in her announcement video here.

Now, G is allowing us to visit as many stores and complete as many prompts as we want, so my stretch goal is to hit three, but I’d be happy to just get one.

First up, I’m visiting Old Tales Bookstore, which requires reading a book I need/want to read by the end of the year. For this prompt I’ve chosen Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse, which I recently started and have been enjoying and would love to finish by the end of 2024.

Next, I’ll be dropping by Smith and Friends and Sons Arcane Goods and Such and reading a book with winter elements on the cover. To complete this prompt I’m hoping to read The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter, which has a Christmas tree on the cover and hooked me with its pitch of being a romance crossed with Knives Out but at Christmas and set in the UK.

My final destination is The Owl Cat Craft Cafe, where I’ll be reading a cozy book. I’ve chosen to (fingers crossed) finish A Dark and Secret Magic by Wallis Kinney here, which I began in late October and I know for sure is very cozy!

reindeer readathon

When I saw Kristin’s announcement of the Reindeer Readathon over on her blog Kristin Kraves Books, I knew that this year I wanted to participate! I’ve seen this readathon take place for a few years now, and it always looks so fun! Besides, I’d like to see if I can squeeze in a few more reads before the end of the year. If you’re interested, you can find the info in the Kristin’s announcement, which I previously linked.

[photo set]

For Dasher, we’re supposed to read a book recommended by social media and I’ve chosen Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang. I’ve seen this book recommended by fantasy book lovers across social media platforms, so it seems a perfect fit. It helps that I’ve yet to see a review that isn’t singing the praises of this book, so I’ve got high hopes.

Dancer’s prompt is to match a book to our favorite genre of music. Now, this is a bit difficult to me, because as a musician myself it’s hard for me to choose a favorite genre of music. I mean, I basically love every genre except for metal. So, instead, I just chose the genre of music I’ve recently listened to, which happened to be scores and soundtracks. For me, most scores and soundtracks remind me of fantasy, so I’ll be choosing a fantasy novel, specifically, Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse.

Next up is Prancer, whose prompt requires us to read a book with a named event (e.g. Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Yule, etc.) in the synopsis. I’ve chosen The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter, which has a synopsis that mentions Christmas. As I mentioned above, this novel is supposedly a romcom meets Knives Out set at Christmas and in the UK—which sound ridiculously amusing, if you ask me!

Vixen is next and for her, we read a book that we didn’t purchase (so, one that was gifted, is a library loan, is an ARC or ALC, or is from a subscription library service like Everand or Spotify Audiobooks). This is easy for me, as I always have an absolutely impossible number of audiobooks checked out from my libraries via Libby. I decided to go with What The River Knows by Isabel Ibanez, since I currently have it checked out and am in the middle of it right now.

Now. I had to modify Comet’s prompt a little since I pretty much exclusively listen to audiobooks. Originally, the prompt was to pick a book whose last page ended in the last digit of the day of your birthday. Obviously, that doesn’t work for me, so I’m modifying the prompt to be an audiobook whose run time ends in the last digit of the day of my birthday. My birthday is November 28th, so I looked for a run time that was at least 8 hours, 18 hours, 28 hours, etc. I landed on Lucy Undying by Kiersten White, which has a run time of about 18 hours.

I’m bringing out the big guns for Cupid’s prompt, which is to read a book by an author who’s written a book we’ve rated five stars. Why is that? Because I am once again adding A Sky Beyond The Storm by Sabaa Tahir to my TBR. I know. Why have I not read this yet?!?!!! I think I’m just scared for one of my favorite series to end, but it’s eventually gotta happen. So, here I go again!

Donner’s prompt was to read a book whose title contained one of four words we found in the word search the hosts put out. One of the words I found was “death,” so I’ll be reading Death at Morning House by Maureen Johnson. I love Johnson’s Truly Devious mystery series, so I’m hoping I’ll enjoy this new standalone mystery from her.

For Blitzen we had to randomly choose between three books whose titles began with the same letter. I was choosing between Foul Days by Genoveva Dimova, Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland, and Faebound by Saara El-Arifi. I assigned each book a number one through three, then had a random number generator choose one of the numbers one through three. The book that wound up being chosen was Foul Days by Genoveva Dimova, which is an Adult fantasy with elements of Bulgarian folklore.

Finally, there’s good ol’ Rudolph, whose prompt is to read a debut book. I’m aiming to read For She Is Wrath by Emily Varga, which is one of my most anticipated releases of this year. It’s a Pakistani-inspired fantasy retelling of one of my favorite stories: The Count of Monte Cristo. I honestly can’t wait to sink my teeth into this one, so here’s hoping I actually get to it!

As for the bonus prompts, because I have a disability that prevents me from using the “read a book in e-book format” prompt, I’ll be using another bonus prompt twice over. That prompt will be “read a book in audiobook format,” since I already will be reading all of the books for this readathon in audiobook format. That”ll give me a total of +40 bonus points. I’ll also be adding +20 points to the Prancer prompt, as it’s a book I wouldn’t usually read. So, that brings me to a total of +60 bonus points.

what i watched

I finished the final three and a half episodes of Agatha All Along and oh my god I loved it sooooo much!!! As with WandaVision, this series also ended up eventually eeking some tears out of me and my cold, dead heart. It was also the perfect watch for the fall season. I loved the kooky atmosphere and the lovable characters and the plotlines which were so full of heart, humor, and a hint of mystery. I will say, I would love to see more seasons if Marvel has it in them, especially as the ending left the door cracked open. Regardless, I feel certain this isn’t the last we’ve seen of several characters, and I’m eager to see what the future has in store for them! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I also rewatched Kiki’s Delivery Service with my mom, which was quite special as it’s my favorite Ghibli movie and my mom had never seen it before! It’s my favorite because Kiki always reminds me of my younger self, and I feel like the lessons she learns about recovering from burnout and failure are lessons which I’m still learning and processing. I’m happy to say my mom felt the movie was very cute too! Both she and I loved the quiet scenery and the gentle story. I’m really glad I got to share a story that means so much to me with her. If you’ve yet to watch Kiki’s Delivery Service, I highly recommend you correct that ASAP!!! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

what i listened to

what i bookmarked

Author Kassidy VanGundy discussed how reading is political (Video)

Emma listed 25 books for Native American Heritage Month

DramaRambles challenged herself by reading books The Storygraph categorized as “mysterious”

Sophie shared her October 2024 reading diary, gabbed about the best Adult fantasies she’s read so far, and also added two posts to her “wailing writer” series: the first about finishing the first draft of her fantasy novel and the second reflecting on the pros and cons of her planning process

Helen played six degrees of separation starting from Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

Kat told us about 5 books she would make her future boyfriend read

Rachel recommended books to pair with Gilmore Girls characters (Video)

For her birthday, Clo told us which book characters she’d invite to her tea party in addition to continuing her astrology recommendations series by recommending books for Scorpio placements

Nicole wrote about how we have always loved fantasy and also explored what dragons in fiction say about us as humans

Haley Renee highlighted books for a variety of different moods

Morgan documented a reading diary for reading books based on some of her favorite Taylor Swift songs

Sophie investigated the question “are books the next fast fashion?“

The reader at Bookishcore suggested some bookish gift ideas for the holiday season

Sofia recommended books you’ll want to discuss with a book club as well as Christmas romances you need to read this holiday season

Jasmine Doan guest posted on Bookish Brews about the revolutionary role of oral storytelling in academia

Starr talked about banned science fiction books

Elaine spotlighted nine cozy books to read for a comforting escape

A Cup of Tea with That Book, Please shed light on books that exemplify the importance of reading

Michael shared five times the adaptation was better than the book

Caro ranked all the Switch games she’s played in 2024

Michelle gave us a book recommendation list based on Jin’s Happy

Melinda recommended romance novels that feature various hobbies

Chiara shared the best books for a snowy day

what i did in november 2024

November was a surprisingly chill month, which was a nice change of pace. There were a few fun things, but I honestly spent most of the month relaxing.

At the start of the month my partner and I attended a chocolate and coffee expo, which was really nice. We had lots of delicious samples and I even brought home a few treats for later! I had my first ever taste of gluten free pound cake and gluten free sweet and sour sauce as a result and I loved both!

Then, my mom made the most delicious hot and sour soup, which was an occasion in and of itself! For reference, my mom lived in San Francisco for twenty years and used to love the great, authentic hot and sour soup she’d get in Chinatown. Since she moved away, she hasn’t been able to find any hot and sour soup that could rival it, so she finally decided to just make it herself and I can confirm it was delicious!!

Finally, there was my thirtieth birthday and Thanksgiving, which fell on the same day this year. We had some great food and I got several great presents, which was all really lovely.

what i plan for in december 2024

My best friend and I are actually making plans to celebrate my birthday early in December, since that’s when we’re both free. We’re heavily considering doing something artsy together, like pottery painting, or having a bookish day together, but we’ll have to see how it all pans out. Whatever we end up doing, I’m sure it’ll be fun!

In terms of my other plans, I usually dislike winter (ugh, the seasonal depression!) but this year I’ve decided that if the weather can’t bring me joy, I’ll just have to bring joy to myself. How am I doing this, you ask? Well, to start off, my friend and I have decided to have a cozy knitting and crocheting day, where we will exchange skills. I’ve also decided to invest in journaling with a cozy ambience (read: candles and a cozy ambient soundscape playing) regularly, watching some good ol’ fantasy TV series, and reading some chonky fantasy books. I might even see about going ice skating a couple of times, as it’s definitely my favorite winter activity! Hopefully it’s all enough to stave off most of the winter blues. I’ll have to report back about how it’s going by the end of December!

spill the beans, friends!

How was your November 2024, friends? Did you do anything fun and/or read anything memorable? Are you looking forward to anything this December?