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lately with lila december 2025 | december days

Hello again, dear friends, and Happy New Year 🎉🎉🎉 Can you believe another year has passed and it’s finally 206?! I mean, we’re over halfway to 2030, which seems…wow. Time really flies when you live in an ADHD fueled time warp I guess 😂

Anyhoo, my December was busy in the best way possible! I got to do a lot of things I love and also to spend lots of time with family and friends! I also managed to read a little bit (although I didn’t finish anything) and consume other fun media, despite my whirlwind of other activities. So, let’s check out what went down this past month!

what i posted

here on hardcover haven

over on life in technicolor

what i’m currently reading

I’m still reading Fallen City by Adrienne Young, which I’m about 65% through. While I’ve mostly been enjoying the book, I’ve gotten to the point where I’m starting to have two issues: 1) the politics and worldbuilding in this politically focused romantasy haven’t really been fleshed out yet…and I’m almost finished with the book, and 2) holy heck the instalove in this one is STRONG!! And, unfortunately, these two issues have gotten so big that they’re kinda causing me to lose momentum in wanting to finish the book. Like, I want to finish it…but mainly to see if at least one of those things is resolved. Which I have a sneaking suspicion that none of the issues I mentioned will, in fact, be resolved by the end. So, you can see my problem, right?

what i plan on reading

I was inspired by Susy to choose my TBR by drawing tarot cards which are paired with a reading prompt based on the prompts Daijah used for her Tarot Readathon. I also used the tarot card generator Daijah recommended and virtually “drew” three cards, which ended up being Six of of Wands, Eight of Wands, and Four of Swords. I came up with the following TBR options to correlate these cards:

Six of Wands: Read a book featuring politics, or with political intrigue.

  • Fallen City by Adrienne Young
  • The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow
  • Red City by Marie Lu

Eight of Wands: Read a fast-paced story.

  • Nine Liars by Maureen Johnson
  • The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
  • The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Four of Swords: Read a book you unapologetically enjoy. Something you know is not a literary masterpiece, but you enjoy anyways.

  • The Princess Knight by Cait Jacobs
  • Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
  • Bride by Ali Hazelwood
what i watched

I finally watched and finished something, after what feels like ages! And I loved it too (although that’s not surprising considering it’s the latest installment of one of my favorite film franchises)!! I watched Wake Up Dead Man, the latest Knives Out mystery on Netflix and it was sooooooo good! The mystery was excellent and thrilling, as per usual, and the characters were super intriguing. I also like the themes of the film, and how the film commented on and critiqued religion without demonizing it. Just an all-around great film and I highly recommend it if you’re a Knives Out fan or a general lover of mystery stories!

‼️Trigger Warnings: Murder, violence, blood and gore, poisoning, suicide, jump scares, implied homophobia, misogyny and sexism, scenes and themes which could be triggering for those with religious trauma

what i listened to
what i bookmared

for readers

for fun

what life was like in december 2025
A picture from the audience of our choir onstage for the Messiah Singalong at The Kennedy Center

December was another busy month, but honestly, I’m not mad about it because I was busy doing things I love! The month started with my Race & Ethnicity final, which I ended up passing with flying colors and securing myself an “A” in the class 🎉 I also performed in my college’s Winter 2025 choral concert, which served as the final exam for the class. Beyond school, though, the month was full of lots of other fun things!

For the second year, I performed onstage at The Kennedy Center as a member of the choir for the Messiah Singalong show. It was so much fun and such an honor to be invited back with other members of my choir! The feeling of performing with such incredible fellow musicians and for such an enthusiastic audience…hard to beat, friends!

I had a very quiet, small Christmas, but (unlike previous years) I actually didn’t mind. I got some nice presents, and we made some delicious dishes for Christmas dinner. Mostly, it was a relaxing day, which was kinda a relief after such a busy year. I also went to a post-Christmas hot chocolate gathering at my friend’s house this year, which was so lovely and fun!

I also managed to get more arts and crafts time in again this month, which is honestly a miracle considering my schedule! I worked on some journaling, particularly on a journal spread to document my Kennedy Center performance, and I think the spread turned out nicely. I also started working on crocheting the Evania cardigan by Ilhios, although I’ve only gotten so far as making the tension gauge swatches at the moment. I’m looking forward to continuing to work on both my journal and the cardigan project in the upcoming months!

My New Year’s Eve was also very quiet. I spent time journaling and reflecting on my 2025. In retrospect, I achieved a lot of major things in 2025. I officially finished my Associates of Science and my Associates of Social Science back in May; I got a total of three “A”s and one “B” in my classes that I took in Spring and Fall of 2025; I worked at a farmers’ market; and I had lots of fun times with my friends. I also leaned into coziness and whimsicality in 2025—and it really paid off in terms of making my year brighter! I learned how to crochet, leveled up my knitting skills, started exchanging snail mail with a pen pal, hosted a crafty get together for my birthday, began the process of making mixtapes to burn onto CDs and send to my friends, started a “sisterhood of the traveling journal” with my friends, and even studied African Diaspora folktales for one of my courses. So, I’d say my year was pretty whimsical, lol!

Speaking of whimsy, that’s one of my resolutions for 2026—to make my life even more whimsical! I definitely want to do more arts and crafts and journaling, and to level up my wardrobe and sense of style.

Anyhow, that’s all that happened for me in December! Here’s hoping January and the rest of 2026 are whimsical and wonderful!

what i hope for in january 2026

January means the start of another semester, which this time around I’m actually ridiculously excited for! The reason I’m so excited is because I’m only taking two courses, both of which are in subjects I’m really, really, really passionate about, those courses being: Choir and Jazz Ensemble! Both of the courses are ones I’ll be singing for, and I honestly can’t wait!! I also begin my private voice lessons early in January as well, so I’m going to have a semester full of music and I’ couldn’t be happier!

In addition to singing/school, I also have some plans with friends to bring some more joy to my month. First up, one of my friends and I are planning on having a general arts and crafts get together in early January, which I can’t wait for! Then, in the middle of the month, one of my best friends and I are going to a crafty event focused on vision boarding. And, a few days after that, I’m getting together with a journaling club in my area. I’m so excited for all of these plans and to spend time with my friends!

spill the beans, friends!

How was your December of 2025? Did you do anything fun or memorable for the holiday season? Did you read anything interesting? What’s on your TBR for January? Is there anything coming up in January that you’re looking forward to?

change the world with me!

Before anything: FREE PALESTINE!!! 🍉 For over half a century now, the Israeli government has been enacting a genocide against the Palestinian people. This is more than something that started on October 7, 2023. It’s not complicated. It’s genocide. And it’s important that we witness, raise our voices, protest, and fight against it in any way possible. Below are a list of resources to help educate yourself on Palestine, as well as to donate to aid the Palestinian people. In addition, I’ve added some Palestinian influencers and journalists you can follow to learn more from and who keep track of what’s going on. Peace to all and keep fighting the good fight!

education & information resources
donation & aid resources
PALESTINIAN JOURNALISTS & INFLUENCERS TO FOLLOW & AMPLIFY
InfoRMATION & resources
inforMATION & resources
information & resources

Learn more the author of this post:

Lila @ Hardcover Haven
Lila is a 30 year old anthropology student and lover of literature who's been book blogging for an eternity. Her hobbies include reading, singing, writing, arts and crafts, and snuggling her two cats, Snoopy and Clementine.

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6 Comments

  1. Happy new year! ✨

    I finished Fallen City in December and I understand your issues with it. I liked what we got from the worldbuilding, but it could have certainly delivered more. In terms of the romance and politics, they were a bit surface level, as if pursuing a vibe rather than reaching any deeper layers. I also wanted more from side characters as I felt like they had potential. I had a lull in the middle, but for me it picked up near the end. I don’t think anything changed in terms of the issues raised, but the plot enticed me more.

    Thank you for sharing my post 🥰 I hope you have a wonderful January!

    Reply

    1. Thank you so much for dropping by, Sophie! Honestly I’m very on the fence about DNF’ing Fallen City, seeing as I’m already about 65% through the entire book and *so close* to the ending…but at the same time, the more I’ve thought about it, the more the issues I mentioned have started to *really* annoy me…But then again, I want to see how things end too, lol! Ugh, the struggles of being a reader, haha!

      Reply

    1. Thank you, Delaney! Wake Up Dead Man actually ended up being my favorite film of 2025! It was a great watch, especially as although I still enjoyed Glass Onion it wasn’t my favorite in the series! I hope we keep getting more Benoit Blanc mysteries—it seems like the director and Daniel Craig just create that character and the mysteries so brilliantly!

      Reply

  3. Aiming for more whimsy sounds amazing! I hope you have a great 2026!

    Also, quick appreciation note for your blog posts wrap up, I always find such good posts to check out in your lists and they’re almost always ones that I haven’t come across yet.

    Reply

    1. Aw, thank you, Sumedha! I’m so glad you find my blog post curation helpful and fun—I always worry that section is overwhelming since I usually include A LOT of posts from around the web (I just can’t seem to get the number down—all of the posts are so interesting that I don’t want to leave any out, haha)! I hope you have a lovely 2026 ❤️

      Reply

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