lately with lila may 2026 | a restful month

Hello again, dear friends, how are we doing? I hope all is well for you, and if it’s not then I hope brighter days head your way soon! I’m so sorry for the unannounced hiatus! I ended up feeling kinda creatively depleted when it came to writing and needed a rest to refill my cup of creativity. Now that I’ve had said rest, I’m hoping that I can get back on my bullshit and be writing and posting more in no time! I’ll probably start slow, so there might only be one or two posts this June, but I’m sure I’ll be back to posting regularly soon. So keep an eye out on Tuesdays and Saturdays for my stuff!

Anyhoo, blog admin updates aside, I’ve been decent. I had a pretty quiet and calm month in May, which I definitely needed. However, the amount of rest I needed meant that I didn’t end up finishing any books *sobs*. I did manage to watch two streaming series in entirety, though, so I got my dose of entertainment from those. I also did continue reading and start reading a few books, even though I didn’t finish any, and I’m hoping to make good progress in them (if not just totally finish them) during this upcoming June. Let’s keep our fingers crossed 🤞🏻

Anyhoo, enough of my yapping! Let’s get on to checking out what went down for me in May 2026…

This May, I’m going to challenge myself to complete the Tarot Readathon created by Daijah of the booktube channel Daijah’s Book World. My astrological sun sign is Sagittarius, so I’m on Team Wands. I did a three-card spread and drew the Five of Wands, King of Cups, and Four of Swords.

Five of Wands: Read a book featuring rivalry, conflict, or competition

• I recently started reading Dark Skies by Danielle L. Jensen after having read and loved the first book in the series (Dark Shores) over half a decade ago!! If you’re asking why I waited so long to continue this series if I loved book one, all I can say is prepare to keep asking that question because I have not a fucking clue why.

King of Cups: Read a book with a character going through emotional turmoil

• I also read a tiny bit of Seek The Traitor’s Son by Veronica Roth in May, and, lemme tell ya, the main characters are experiencing emotional turmoil right from the jump 😂 Seek The Traitor’s Son is a political science fantasy with a hint of romance, so I have no doubt that said emotional turmoil will continue to be present throughout the rest of the novel.

Four of Swords: Read a book you hope will recharge or rejuvenate you

• When I really get into a rut of a reading slump, I ten to turn to graphic novels and comics to help ease me back into reading. One of my go-tos is the Heartstopper graphic novel bind-ups, so to help pad out my reading this time around, I’ve added Heartstopper: Volume Five by Alice Oseman to my TBR. I love this series and I can’t believe how close we are to the final bind-up of the series (which releases this year), so I need to get a move on catching up!

In May I watched the entirety of Off Campus, which is Amazon Prime’s streaming series adaptation of Elle Kennedy’s popular sports romance book series, and OH MY GOD I’M SOOOOOO OBSESSED WITH THIS SERIES NOW!!! I started watching on a whim, as I’ve never read the source material and I’m not really big into sports romances—and I’m so glad that I did! Off Campus ended up being incredibly sexy and full of drama and majorly addictive! I know that the book series follows different couples in each book, so I assume the streaming series will do the same. This season follows music major Hannah Wells and hockey captain Garrett Graham as they fake date in order to help Hannah catch the eye of her crush in exchange for Hannah tutoring Garrett. Of course, romantic shenanigans ensue as the pair begins to realize that their feelings for each other may be deeper than they originally thought. So, if you’re looking for a sexy summertime watch, then I cannot recommend this series enough!!

Rating:

I also finished up watching Apple TV’s adaptation of Martha Wells’ Murderbot. I maintain my complaint that the set looked like a giant soundstage all the way through. I also felt like the acting got a little stiff at certain points, and I’m not sure if that was a choice on the part of the actors or on the part of the director. I will say that I think Alexander Skarsgard did a really good job portraying the titular Murderbot, though! Anyhoo, at the end of it all I did enjoy the series, despite my qualms. This first season definitely left off on a massive cliffhanger, although I suppose if Apple TV announces a second season, that kinda implies the resolution to said cliffhanger.

Rating:

for readers

• Ellyn tipped us off as to how to read more books more often
• Emma interviewed June Hur on her newest book, Behind Five Willows
• Ely recapped reading Twilight for the first time in over fifteen years
• Caro talked about new-to-her authors she discovered in 2025
• Tracey explained why she stepped back from bookstagram
• Eleanor shared eleven ways to celebrate the UK’s National Year of Reading
• Serena and Kate gave some summer reading recommendations
• Maxx shared five ways to develop your reading taste and also gave us some springtime book recommendations
• Minnie discussed why literary snobbery is ruining reading culture
• Firewhiskey Reader ranked books they read during January to April of 2026
• Michael reflected on blogging for ten years (Congrats to him on the blogiversary!)
• Kristen created a guide to paranormal cozy mystery
• Shenwei wrapped up Taiwanese American Heritage Month 2026 by recommending more books by Taiwanese authors to look out for
• Peat shouted out his top forty fantasy books and sereies
• Journey gabbed about when the stakes are too high in fiction writing
• Sara thought over fairytale language in Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
• Krysta and Briana celebrated fifteen years at Pages Unbound (Happy blogiversary to them as well!)
• Clo talked about DNF’ing books
• In celebration of the new Amazon Prime adaptation, Kat put together a guide to the Off Campus universe
• Madeline listed books to read in 2026 for AAPI Heritage Month
• Veronica invited us to choose a boba drink and get a recommendation for a book by an Asian author
• Krysta schooled us on what we can actually do to support our local libraries
• Stephanie recommended twelve excellent mystery books you won’t want to put down
• Roughest Drafts critiqued the poetry of Atticus (Video)

for fun

• Nicole wrote about the lost experience of shared TV moments

May was a relatively quiet month, which I’m not gonna complain about because, honestly, I needed the rest! I did manage to get together with friends twice, which was really lovely. I also managed to work on my arts and crafts projects, specifically, my new crochet sweater project and my creative journal. I’m really happy with the progress I’ve been making with both projects, and I’m glad that the quiet month allowed me space to work on them.

At the beginning of the month, I met up with a new friend who I met through a local arts and crafts club. We went to the most adorable cafe in DC and had a cafe journaling session, which was so nice! The cafe was two floors in a blue rowhouse-style building and they served mainly boba tea drinks—delicious! Funnily enough, it turns out my new friend and I actually went to the same high school and were only one or two years apart, so that was a funny coincidence which was nice to find out! We had so much fun that we’ve decided to do it again, so I think it’s safe to say our cafe journaling meetup was a success!

Towards the end of the month, my friend Rowan and I went to a local arts and crafts club meetup, which was also really fun! Only one other person showed up, which was fine by us, it just allowed all of us to yap and craft more without anyone feeling left out. I worked on my creative journal and continued to make progress on my “2026 Quarter 1 Warp Up” spreads which I’m so behind on creating! I had so much fun yapping away while working and I can’t wait for the next craft club event!

I’m happy to say that I already have quite a few plans for this upcoming June! I start physical therapy in June, and I also need to get a move on my university transfer process. And! On top of that—yay!!!—I have a lot of fun activities and get togethers with friends coming up!

First of all, a bunch of other local musicians and I who are members of one of the DMV’s local arts and crafts clubs have decided to get together in June to have a jam session! I’m super hyped for this event! The demographic of my choir class skews way older than me, so it’ll be nice to jam with some musicians around my age. I’m hopeful that if our first jam session goes well, maybe we’ll make it a regular thing!

I’m also getting together with the same friend who I went cafe journaling with in May for another cafe journaling session in June, and I can’t wait! I’m excited to see which cafe we end up going to and to catch up again with my new friend—and, of course, to work on more of my journal! I feel like I’m always most productive when I have one or more other people I’m around (which tracks since I’m a girly with ADHD, lol!), so I feel like I do well when it comes to journaling with friends!

In addition, my friend Rowan and I are meeting up with a new friend of ours who we met at a local arts and crafts club event. We’re going to go pottery painting and catch up, which I expect will be a great time! I haven’t painted pottery in years, and even though I’m not the greatest at drawing and painting, I’m looking forward to leaning into my creativity to hopefully make something cute and unique!

Of course, I’m also hoping some other events and get togethers might pop up through the month too! Other than the above, though, there’s nothing that’s solidified, but that’s fine by me, as it means there’s just more room for adventure!

How was your May of 2026? Did you do anything fun or read anything memorable? What’s on your TBR for this June? Is there anything you’re looking forward to in the coming month?

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.