lately with lila june 2026 | a joyful june & july

Hello again, friends, I hope you all are well, and if you aren’t then I hope brighter days head your way soon! How was your June and July, friends? Mine ended up being really nice! I got a lot of tasks that I’d been putting off done and also managed to have some fun too, so I think that’s always a win! Unfortunately, though, I didn’t manage to read anything or watch much during the past two months. It wasn’t that I didn’t have the time, more that I just wasn’t in the mood. That said, I do still have plenty of stuff to yap about, so let’s hop right into the wrap up!

what i posted

here on hardcover haven

over on life in technicolor

• I put together my 2026 Summer Entertainment Guide and gabbed about all of the entertainment media I’m excited about this summer

what i’m currently reading

Sadly, dear friends, I didn’t read anything this past June and July 😭 Honestly, I’m in a pretty major reading slump, and I really can’t figure out why. In, like, the last seven-ish years, the period of the year that runs from January to May has been a period where I’ve typically read little to nothing, but usually by June I’m (finally) ready to pick up a book and get going. Apparently not this year, though. Guess there’s always an exception to the rule 😭😭😭

what i plan on reading

books out of the blue summer camp bingo readathon

I know I just did a bunch of moaning and groaning about not being able to find the will to read lately, but I’m pretty stubborn, so y’all know I’m still gonna try! My plan of attack is to use the Summer Camp Bingo readathon to attempt to kick-start my reading. This readathon is hosted by Destiny and is for members of their Books Out of the Blue Discord server. I’m definitely not going to attempt to complete the entire board, but I figured I’d pick out a section to complete. I ended up choosing the “BINGO” section that’s the diagonal line from the top right corner to the bottom left corner. So the following is what my “possibility pile” is currently looking like for these prompts…

Romantic Subplot

• Everything Comes Back to You by Jackie Khalilieh This book is actually one of my most anticipated releases of 2026, since I fell in love with Khalilieh’s 2025 release, You Started It. Khalilieh has said that this book is a little different than her previous releases, both of which sat solidly in the “YA contemporary romance” genre. Apparently, Everything Comes Back to You is much more of a coming-of-age contemporary novel that also happens to have a strong romance subplot.

Magical MC

• Heir of Prophecy by Analeigh Sbrana I received an audiobook ALC (advance listener’s copy) of this title through Libro.fm at the beginning of August, and I’m so glad that I did, since I was already looking forward to reading it. This book has so many of my personal bookish “green flags,” from prophecies to fae to dark academia settings to underworld princes! I’m really interested in how Sbrana will try to pull all of those elements together, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this book will end up being a total hit for me!

FREE SPOT

• Mothsblood by Lynn D. Jung This is another case where I received an ALC of this title through Libro.fm at the start of August, and I’m so excited to get to it! If you don’t know, Lynn D. Jung has a YouTube channel where she vlogs her life as an author, and I’ve been a viewer of hers for about a year and a half now. It’s been amazing to see Mothsblood go from early development stages to publication, and I cannot wait to finally read it!! Besides, it’s a fantasy dark academia centered around alchemy—so I feel like I’m bound to love it anyway!

Graphic Novel or Manga

• Heartstopper: Volume Five by Alice Oseman Usually when I’m in a reading slump, reading graphic novels really helps get me back on track—and what better graphic novel to pick up now that the penultimate Heartstopper graphic novel bind-up? The final volume (Heartstopper: Volume 6) recently released, so I need to catch up and find out what happens! This series is always so sweet and gentle and is such a heartwarming read!

Road Trip or Journey

• Our Perfect Storm by Carley Fortune I don’t tend to enjoy books involving journeys (or, analogously, fantasy books involving quests), so this book was the closest I could find. It involves a woman and her friend going on her honeymoon trip after her fiancé ditches her, so it kind of involves a “journey” in the form of a honeymoon trip? We shall see, I suppose.

what i watched

After having watched and absolutely LOVED Amazon’s new adaptation of the Off Campus novels, I decided to check out Amazon’s other new contemporary romance adaptation, Every Year After, which is based on Carley Fortune’s popular Barry’s Bay book series. So far I’ve only watched episodes 1 and 2, and I’ve enjoyed the series well enough, but it’s not, like, my new obsession…yet! I think my biggest qualms at the moment are that the writing for this streaming series seems pretty expository and is also slightly cheesy and that the actress playing our FMC as an adult seems a little stiff. But there’s definitely still time for those issues to resolve, so I’m not giving up just yet! Anyhoo, I’ve yet to read any of Fortune’s novels, but I know they’re all very summery—so Every Year After should be a perfect watch for the current season.

Rating:

In addition, I watched Ransom Canyon Season 2 Episode 1 after the second season dropped in July, and already I’m sensing that this season is going to bring so much drama for everyone! Season two opens following a time-jump of several months, showing the longer-term effects of the Season 1 finale events on all of the characters. I actually didn’t mind this choice, as I feel like the writers, director, and actors were able to use it to show off how each character had changed over time, as well as how they’d stayed the same in certain aspects too. The opening episode mainly focused on the main characters of Quinn, Staten, Yancey, Ellie, Lucas, and Lauren, and only introduced two new side characters (Sydney—who’s Yancey’s previous con partner/wife—and Quinn’s boyfriend, who she met in NYC) while also focusing slightly more on two other previously established side characters (Lucas’s older brother Kit and Staten’s father/the former state senator who took over the ranch). Despite the tight character focus, it seems like the writers were thoughtful about who else they’re adding into the mix, at least in terms of who’s the most likely to stir up drama. Anyhoo, I really enjoyed this first episode and how it set up this season and I’m excited to see what happens next!

Rating:

I also watched Amazon Prime’s new Legally Blonde prequel Elle, Episode 1. To be honest, I’ve got kinda mixed feelings about this series in general. Legally Blonde and the sequel are two of my all-time favorite films, but a prequel feels kinda unnecessary, especially after the previous disasters that were the spinoff sequels. At the same time, I don’t mind the idea of getting to know more about Elle’s history and character, especially because she’s such an icon. So, all of this is to say that I went into watching the first episode of Elle pretty skeptical. And it was…mostly alright? I think that the actress playing Elle does a fabulous job emulating Reese Witherspoon’s rendition of the character, especially in regard to her vocal performance. But the plot? At the moment, the plot is kinda falling flat, imo. Now, granted, I’ve only watched one episode so far, so there’s still lots of time for the series to pick up and improve. I’m going to watch more, but I’m still pretty skeptical.

Rating:

what i listened to

june 2026 playlist

july 2026 playlist

what i bookmarked

for readers

• Keira recommended 13 books for Pride Month
• Lou shared a few books told from unusual perspectives
• Briana wondered, “how many books read per year makes you ‘a reader’?” as well as “was there a recent past where everyone read and loved classics?“
• 24hryabookblog revealed the cover for Vanessa Montalban’s 2027 release The Beautiful Heir alongside an exclusive interview with the author
• Sumedha highlighted 10 books on her TBR for 2026 monsoon season
• Ellyn documented letting a spinner wheel choose how much she read for a week
• Eva talked about what she loves about strange reads, including recommendations for weird books
• Becky showed off 50 fantasy books releasing from July through December 2026
• Rebecca discussed why she typically DNFs books
• Chana highlighted fiction books that capture the essence of work
• Aria listed 10 books by Afghan authors or set in Afghanistan
• Kat asked are readers like her son being forgotten
• Holly talked up personal essay collections
• Tracey responded to a Telegraph article which claimed that romantasy is just “fairy porn”
• Lay made a return to her book blog
• 746Books shouted out 9 books about space and memory for fans of the film Backrooms
• Sophie posted her spring 2026 diary
• Dina read and gave thoughts on the 2026 Hugo Award nominees for “Best Novella”
• Allison discussed the controversy concerning the upcoming Haunting Adeline film adaptation
• The ladies at Paper Procrastinators wrote dualling discussion posts, with Malka explaining why she’s giving up on reading e-books and Chana explaining why she’ll never give up on reading e-books
• Tracey thought over the question “can you read for fun and still think critically?“

for fun

• Elsie shouted out clothing brands supporting LGBT+ charities
• The blogger at Chasing Chapters & New Horizons contemplated how journaling shaped them growing up
• Caro ranked Switch games she played in 2025
• Rebecca mulled over the quiet grief of losing girlhood

what i loved in june & july (nonbookish)

My first miscellaneous favorite from June and July is this little leather journal that I purchased from The Detour Diaries. I chose to get the A6 trifold gold studded cover in the color “olive” with a rosy petal pink band, a gold dangle heart side charm, a gold horse side charm, and a circular gold locket front cover charm—and it came together to be sooooo incredibly gorgeous! I’ve been using it since it arrived and I carry it with me everywhere! The cover came with two A6 size inserts, one of which I’m using as a general “lists & reminders” type of notebook and one of which I’m using as a collage/art/scrapbooking style journal. The size is perfect for me, because it’s not too big to go in my purse and be carried around daily, but also not so small that it becomes impractical to actually journal in and use for writing and collaging and scrapbooking in general. I highly recommend checking out The Detour Diaries if you’re in the market for a leather journal, as their options are very high quality and are also priced very reasonably (for reference: the A6 studded journal cover comes in multiple colors and textures and with the bands, charms, and two notebook inserts included all for just $85 and free shipping if you’re in the US)!

The next recent purchase that I’m so happy with is the Liene Pearl N200 Pro portable photo printer. Y’all, I’ve been on the hunt for a high-quality mini photo printer for ages now and it seems that with this purchase, I’ve finally found the Holy Grail!! I previously had a Canon Ivy 2 mini photo printer, but it was the bane of my journaling sessions because it printed photos with a gray caste over the photos and washed-out lighter colors in photos—two issues which are apparently endemic to all inkless zinc printers. So I decided to look at other mini photo printer options—but basically, because almost all of them are inkless, they all print with dark castes covering the photos and wash out lighter colors. But then I recently heard a journaling influencer say that Liene’s new mini photo printer doesn’t have those issues because it uses actual ink, in addition to saying that the photos come out incredibly true-to-life and vivid in color without the user needing to edit the photos beforehand. So I just knew I had to give it a chance, and, lemme tell ya: friends, the color and quality of the photos that Liene’s mini printer prints is, indeed, absolutely outstanding!!! The photos really do print with vivid, true-to-life colors and incredible detail, and they’re printed on this glossy sticker paper that’s actually pretty thin for photo paper. It’s like magic!!! I highly recommend this product if you’re looking for a great photo printer!

The final “products” that I’m shouting out for June and July is artists’ snail mail club subscriptions! I’m a member of two—one from @strawbearydump and one from The Foray Shop (the Memories Mail Club version)—and I adore both! Both give you so many goodies in each letter, all for a great price ($10 per month for US members of StrawBearyDump Club and $12 per month for members of Memories Mail Club). And all of the goodies are super cute as well!! I love this “trend” of artists starting snail mail clubs—it’s a whimsical way to feel like you’re getting a little present from a friend in the mail each month!

what life was like in june 2026

June was a success when it comes to both fun things I did and big accomplishments I achieved! First and foremost: at long last, I finally submitted my application to transfer from my community college to The Big University 🎉🎉🎉 I had been stalling on doing this for a while, largely because I had a lot of anxious emotions tied up in doing so. I’m very nervous to transfer, but I think now I’m more nervous-excited than nervous-scared, and I’m trying to remember that.

Aside from that big accomplishment, I also attended some super fun events in June as well!

@hardcoverhaven

music magic 🎵💗🎶💗 I had the best time having a jam session with some new friends! It’s rare for me in this area to find other musicians around my age, so this experience and the people I met through it has been a treasure ❤️ with @shayla manee and @sarahlounamusic #Vlog #music #musician #Lifestyle #foryoupage

♬ original sound – Pardee Acres 🦆🌷✨

At the beginning of the month, I went to a spontaneous small jam session with four other local female musicians around my age who are also part of an arts and crafts club that I’m a member of. And, friends, I had the best time!!! It was really nice to connect with other musicians, especially since they were around my age! It happened that we all create in various different genres of music, so it was lovely to hear our sound come together. I really liked these ladies just as people too! We started a group chat to share local music opportunities and events, and I’m hoping we can maybe get together for another jam session soon!

I also had another cafe journaling session with my friend, which was really lovely yet again! We went to a new local bookstore/cafe called Daydrift Books & Cafe in the Crystal City neighborhood of the DMV, and it was an amazing spot! It has a wall of bookshelves and a wall of windows where string lights and books are hung, along with plenty of seating, including a comfy couch, decent sized individual tables, a large community table for coworking, and bar seating against the wall of windows. Plus—they have a tiny stationery section next to the wall of bookshelves! And the coffee was delicious too (for reference, I got a pistachio latte, which was definitely on the sweet and milky side, but that’s how I personally like my coffee anyway, lol)! If you ever find yourself on the northern Virginia side of the DMV, I highly recommend this wonderful cafe! Anyhoo, location aside, I had a great time journaling with my friend there! I always find that I work better (on any type of project) with company, so I made plenty of progress on my journal spreads and had so much fun yapping away while doing so!

I also managed to find an Arabic language tutor in late June, which was so fortunate for me, as this upcoming Fall semester I likely will be taking an Arabic placement exam. My tutor actually happens to be a retired anthropologist, which is awesome considering that anthropology is my major in university, and is also the career field I’d eventually like to work in. He has a PhD in anthropology and specialized in studying and working with several Shami (Levantine) and Gulf Arab cultural groups, especially in Jordan—very cool, imo! We started my lessons in the last week of June, and I’ve got a good feeling that we’ll make great progress over the summer!

what life was like in july 2026

July was a relatively quiet month that still managed to bring big changes for me (in a positive way)! The big news of the month is that I was accepted into The Big University 🎉🎉🎉 I’m so happy and excited about this, albeit a bit nervous for this change! I’m mainly trying to focus on all the interesting anthropology courses I can take now to keep myself hyped. Tbh, I’ve been experiencing a lot of anxiety lately, so I’m trying not to let that impact this big life change. Nevertheless, I’m sure everything will be all good in the end!

I also continued my private Arabic lessons in July, which has been a nice way to give my summer a bit of structure, in addition to improving my second language skills. I’m not sure if I mentioned this before, but my previous Arabic education was incredibly patchy. I was basically in immersion with an awful teacher through high school, then I had one and a half years of one-on-one independent study in college, then a year and a half in a more traditional college classroom setting after that before about ten years of not taking any classes or lessons at all. Despite this, I managed to keep up on my basics of the “big three” Arabic dialects (Fus’ha, Masri, and Shami) because I live in a neighborhood with a large Arab population and listen to a lot of Arabic music. Anyhoo, all of this is to say that my current teacher has his work cut out for him! That said, I feel like I’m already progressing well and I’m looking forward to learning and improving even more going forward!

In terms of fun events and activities in July, I mainly spent the month journaling and working on arts and crafts projects, but at the end of the month, I did manage to have a fun, chill night out with one of my best friends, which was really lovely!

what i hope for in august 2026

August looks like it’s shaping up to be a busy month, full of lots of events and activities! I’ve got two cafe journaling meetups planned with two different friends, and I can’t wait for those! I also might meet up for another informal jam session with the same group of female musicians who I met up with in June, which is another event I’m super hyped for!! And, of course, my first semester at The Big University begins at the end of the month, so I’m going to be preparing for that too!

spill the beans, friends!

How was your June and July of 2026? Did you read anything memorable or do anything fun? What’s on your August TBR? Is there anything you’re looking forward to happening this August?

change the world with me!