lately with lila march 2026 | a month of luck in life

Hello again, dear friends! I hope you are well, and if you are not then I hope brighter days head your way soon! I’m happy to say that March was a super busy and fun month for me! I did a lot of activities and attended lots of fun events. So, it may be unsurprising that I did not manage to finish any books or watch much either. That said, I still have some good things to recount, so let’s get on to the wrap up!

• I recapped what went down for me in February 2026
• I also shared my juicy thoughts on problematic authors
• Finally, I had so much fun giving my thoughts on religion in fantasy novels (featuring some recommendations!)

I received an ALC of the audiobook for Aicha by Soraya Bouazzouai a few days before release, so I’m still working to catch up and finish it. That said, so far it’s an interesting story! I’m wondering how the author will resolve the tension between Aicha becoming a magical goddess and the fact that “magic” is seen as sinful in her religion and society.

I also received an audiobook ALC of The Impossible Garden of Clara Thorne by Summer N. England, which releases April 7, 2026, and I’ve also started reading it as well. I’m still at the very beginning, but it seems like it’ll be a fun, light, cozy read (which should be a good palate cleanser after Aicha, tbh).

At the tail end of March, I ended up finishing up the rest of Cunk on Earth, which I started a good while back and have been meaning to complete. And I’m happy to report that the final episodes where just as hilarious as the first few episodes were! I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m very hard to please when it comes to comedies—but this smart mockumentary managed to make me literally laugh out loud frequently! I’d say that even if you (like me) generally don’t get along with comedies, definitely give this series a chance.

Rating:

for readers

• Sumedha discussed popular book genres that are seen as “easy reason”
• Aelyn tested if Goodreads’ book recommendations are any good
• Luzanne talked about books that changed her perspective
• Jillian shined a light on the women writers who shaped her love of reading
• Hailey shared her take on the AI allegations concerning Shy Girl by Mia Ballard, as someone who rated the book five stars (Video)
• Minnie gave us her no-nonsense guide to actually enjoying classic literature
• Briana noted eight changes in book blogging over the past few years that she’s noticed and also talked about booktok and the literacy crisis
• Abby shed light on ten books she feels she should talk more about
• Gem shared her experience learning how to bind books
• Ren gave her perspective on if audiobooks count as “real reading” as a deaf reader (Video)
• Tree and Bree highlighted books for spring
• Delaney showed off a few books to read for the Trans Rights Readathon
• Literary Gluttony recommended books that feel like storm season
• Abi invited us to spend a week with her as she attempted to tackle a 700+ page fantasy book
• Ana pondered over the question “are booktok and booktube readers lying?” (Video)
• Elltn explained how she read 419 books in 365 days
• Krysta noticed that everyone’s dying in Middle Grade fiction again
• Chiara recommended twenty powerful books to celebrate International Women’s Day

for fun

• Kat Blaque her opinion on if the manosphere is the result of the male loneliness epidemic
• Alina discussed Substack and “performative intellectualism” (Video)
• Sophie gabbed about revising her novel
• Evin analyzed her Spotify playlists
• Sumedha blogged a week in her life
• Gabby explained why Amy March was right in Greta Gerwig’s 2019 Little Women adaptation
• Sophie posted her Winter 2016 diary
• Allison created the Problematic Authors book tag
• Rebecca talked why influencer culture is facing backlash

March was packed with fun events, and I had a great time! After the disaster that was my February, I threw myself into spending time with old and new friends and into arts and crafts with gusto—and it paid off! First up, I went to Analog Night at the National Portrait Gallery, which was a bring-your-own-craft event held at the museum. At the event there were different stations and sections for different crafts (including sections for DIY tote bags, hand embroidery, journaling, and fiber arts, to name a few) so that people could sit and yap with other people who were doing the same type of craft. I brought my journal and a ton of journaling supplies and sat in the journaling section. I ended up making a new friend, which was really lovely, and I also had a great time gabbing with them while I worked on my journal spread.

Next, I went to another bring-your-own-craft event hosted by a local craft club. This time I brought a small crochet project—a beanie—to work on. I ended up working with another member on collaging a card for one of the members who couldn’t make it to the event because her dog was sick. I met so many awesome friends there and had a great time! It was held at a library in DC, so after the event ended, I spent some time at the library winding down, which was also nice.

Then, my friend Rowan and I went to an event hosted by a different local craft club. The event was held in a beer garden in DC and at the event we made charm bracelets and/or charm keychains. Again, it was a great time! Rowan and I made a new friend and we all had so, so, soooooo much fun gabbing and making our charm keychains. At the end of the event, I was able to bring home some extra charms and jump rings (to connect the charms) to finish up my keychain.

Finally, at the very end of the month, I met up with an online friend to go see the cherry blossoms in DC. We had never met irl before, so it was nice to see her in person at last. We met up on the National Mall, then walked over to the Wharf to grab coffee and some lunch, then we walked to the section of cherry blossoms between the Washington Monument and the tidal basin. By the time we got to the cherry blossoms, it was sunset, which was such a beautiful moment to see the trees, so of course we took a zillion pictures with them, lol! It was such a lovely time and was a beautiful way to end the month.

At the moment, this April is honestly looking a little empty when compared to March. That said, I will likely be attending a “Craft & Yap” event on the National Mall, which is hosted by one of the local craft clubs I’m part of. Since we’ll be outside (and since the Mall tends to get really windy, even in springtime, since it’s an open area that’s relatively close to the river), I’ll probably bring some of my knitting and crochet projects, since I definitely don’t want my journaling supplies to blow away. I probably will also attend one or two other arts and crafts events as well, but I’m currently waiting for more info about those events.

I also have RSVP’ed to an “unthemed book club” event hosted by the National Portrait Gallery. Basically, everyone brings whatever book they’re reading, and we read together in silence for a while, then discuss or share about whatever book we brought to the event with each other. I’ve actually heard about this event on social media from a few local influencers, and apparently it’s a very fun, chill time, so I’m excited!

Other than those things, I don’t have much planned at all for the month—but you know what that means: the month is still full of possibility for wonderful things to happen! After all, it is springtime here once again and the birds are singing and the sun is shining and the days are longer and the flowers are blooming, so what could go wrong? *knock on wood*

How was your March 2026? Did you do anything fun? Did you read anything memorable? What’s on your TBR for April 2026? Is there anything you’re looking forward to coming up in April?

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.