lately with lila march 2021

Hello, my dear friends! How are y’all doing? I hope you are all well, safe, and happy, and if you aren’t, then I hope brighter days head your way soon!

Well...It would appear it's been another month, y'all. Tbh, it wasn’t my best month, but hey, at least I read more and got to watching some fun things. Let’s not dilly-dally and just dive in to take a look at what went down…

• Grandiosely Mediocre | Down Comes The Night by Allison Saft

• Heavy Vinyl Vol. 1: Riot on the Radio by Carly Usdin and Nina Vakueva (★★★) This was definitely a cute, light graphic novel! I enjoyed the art style and the intersectional girl power/support your local girl gane element. Unfortunately, the plot felt a tad too light for me and the ending felt like it came out of nowhere. That being said, I enjoyed this graphic novel for what it was and I'd definitely pick up volume two!
• Down Comes The Night by Allison Saft (★★.5) This was sadly a MAJOR disappointment. I had such high hopes for this book, but while I loved the main character, Wren, everything else from the plot and pacing to the secondary characters to the world-building just fell incredibly flat. For more of my thoughts on this book, check out my review.
• Spell on Wheels, Vol. 2: Just to Get to You by Kate Leth & Co. (★★★) This was definitely a cute second installment of the Spell on Wheels series and was full of friendship, fun, and witchy girl power!

Prompt: Read a story about a villainous, misunderstood or morally grey character.

Choice: These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

• I actually already started this one in March, but it fit perfeectly with this prompt so I ran with it. So far I'm loving it and I can't wait to see how it ends!

Prompt: King Arthur // Read a book featuring royalty.

Choice: Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo

• I'm so excited to read this book (which I was already hyped for) and to get to watch the new Netflix adaptation of the grishaverse, Shadow and Bone, in the same month! It's gonna be so much fun!!

Prompt: Sir Lancelot (Arthur’s greatest companion) // Read a book from a favourite author.

Choice: A Sky Beyond The Storm by Sabaa Tahir

• I'm surprised that I've held out this long on reading the finale to one of my all-time favorite series, but the truth is, I just don't want it to end! But, that being said, I think the time may be nearing for me to finally read this book.

Prompt: Sir Gawain (Known as the Green Knight) // Read a book with the colour green on the cover or in the title.

Choice: A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown

• I've heard so many amazing things about this book AND it happens to have a gorgeous, green cover, so it seemed like the perfect pick.

Prompt: Sir Percival (the original hero in the quest for the Grail) // Read a book with a shiny cover.

Choice: Starsight by Brandon Sanderson

• I made it half way through this book and was really enjoying it before I put it down for god only knows what reason. Hopefully I'll get back into it this month and ifnally finish it.

Prompt: Sir Bors (Arthur’s successor) // Read a sequel.

Choice: Lightbringer by Claire Legrand

• This the finale to another one of my all-time favorite series and I read about a quarter of it in January of this year but ended up putting it down because it was giving me anxiety. I think I'm in a better mindspace to tackle this one now, so I'm hoping I can pick it up again soon.

Prompt: Sir Lamorak (one of the best knights but overlooked in the chivalric romance genre) // Read a book you think is under-hyped.

Choice: A Dark and Hollow Star by Ashley Shuttleworth

• This book involves modern fae and callbacks to Greek mythology and queer teens and that looks like a recipe for an AMAZING book...and yet I don't think I've heard anyone talking about this book (at least not yet)? It's weird.

Prompt: Sir Kay (Arthur’s foster brother) // Read a book with a significant sibling relationship.

Choice: The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

• This book is about three sisters who are witches who join the sufragette movement and if that doesn't sound like a book I'd love than I don't know what is!

Prompt: Sir Gareth (the youngest knight) // Read a recent addition to your TBR.

Choice: Lore by Alexandra Bracken

• I added Lore to my TBR in January and have enjoyed what I've read of it so far, so hopefully I can continue reading and having a fun time!

Prompt: Sir Bedivere (returns Excalibur to Nimue) // Read a book with something pointy on the cover.

Choice: Sisters of Sword and Song by Rebecca Ross

• I loved Ross's The Queen's Rising duology and I enjoyed the beginning of this book, plus it has a sword on the cover, so maybe I'll get to read it!

Prompt: Sir Galahad (“the most perfect of all knights”) // Read a book with a title that starts with a “G”.

Choice: Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust

• This book looks like it'll be an absolutely fantastic read! I don't know much about it, but I know it involves a queer girl as a main character who's skin is poisonous and apparently it's an own voices book based on Persian mythology!

Prompt: Sir Tristan (falls in love with Isolde) // Read a book with a romance that should be legendary.

Choice: House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

• Are we surprised this is still on my TBR after I've been saying I'd finish it every month? No? Okay, let's move on...

Prompt: Sir Gaheris (“the least well spoken of all his peers”) // Listen to an audiobook or read part of a story aloud.

I typically only listen to audiobooks, so any of the aabove audiobooks will count towards this challenge :)

Prompt: Camelot — Read a book set in a place you’ve never visited.

Choice: The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. Schwab

• Part of this book occurs in Fance which I've (tragically) never visited (only in my dreams!).

I wanted this movie to be this awesome, intersectional, empowering movie, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. I found the variety of feminism in this film to be incredibly basic and "white feminism"-like. As booktuber Chloe of Books With Chloe pointed out in one of her vlogs, the film pushed a middle class, able bodied, presumably straight, White girl to the forefront, whilst having her friends who were all girls of color do all the actual work and then gave the White girl all the credit. I also hated how they showcased clips of a disabled girl, whilst never giving her a real speaking role or even acting like her issues fell under the umbrella of feminism too, and then acted like they deserved an Oscar just for giving her a few measly seconds on screen. It felt very "diversity bingo showcase"-y and it was gross. So, yeah. I'm sad to say this film fell really flat with me.

On to a much brighter topic, in my opinion: WandaVision! I finally got Disney+ in March and I pretty much immediately began watching this show and fell in love with it! I'm s l o w l y making my way through the series, so as to savor it, but I'm loving every moment of it, from the vintage aesthetic to the heavy themes to the Twilight Zone-y atmosphere! I can't wait to see what happens next!

• "Talia" by King Princess Oh my god, this song is just full of the perfect amount of yearning! Plus the vocals are A++! Agh, I love it, I just love it!!
• "Fight For You" by H.E.R. H.E.R. is an absolutely outstanding soul singer and she just kills it with this funky 1960s/1970s-ish sounding song!
• "marjorie" by Taylor Swift I love this song for very personal reasons and it's definitely one that'll stick with me forever.
• "telepatía" by Kali Uchis I'll be honest, I didn't initially like this song, but it grew on me. Plus, I gotta support a hometown act!

• Krysta taught us how to approach reading a classic
• Lucinda talked about how audiobooks can help you through lockdown
• Kate shared her love story with books
• The Orangutan Librarian showed off books with positive vibes to get you out of a funk
• For Women's History Month, Bertie recommended ten amazing sapphic fantasies
• Rae showed off twenty diverse graphic novels
• Jawahir gabbed about what they'd read at famous sites and book recommendations based on Netflix shows
• Caitlyn gushed about literary heroines who inspire her
• Robin told us all about her favorite female characters
• Veronika told us all about her favorite fanfiction tropes that appear in published books
• Belle recommended books based on IU songs
• Simone shared several nooks with ensemble casts
• Bookish Girl Magic encoouraged us to stand up for the AAPI community and support AAPI authors
• Speaking of which, Clemi shouted out books by Asian authors
• Sumedha shared how to annotate books when reading for fun
• Heather also recommended books that remind her of songs
• The Library Ladies explored the genre of literary fantasy
• Cosette recommended books for theater fans, as well as books based on your favorite musicals
• Caro showed off book recommendations for Women's History Month
• Jessica talked diversity and representation in YA books
• Tree reviewed the entire Bridgerton series
• Louise announced Mythothon Round Four
• Marie reflected ona year of being on bookstagram
• Cait looked into the booktok community
• Emma told us everything you need to know about donating books to the library (and what to do with them instead)
• Abby shared resources to stop Asian hate plus 2021 releases by Asian authors
• Sam talked up books with trans protagonists
• Alexandra gave book recommendations for bookish vagabonds
• Books With Wings elaborated on their thoughts on teens in YA

• 24hryabookblog gave tips and resources for crafting book reviews
• Zaneta asked, "should bloggers charge for reviews?"
• Sofi created the definative book blogger list
• Estelle shared how she plans her blog posts for a week
• Katie talked over blogger burnout

• Hannah shared some webtoons you'll love
• Nicole tipped us off to her favorite Skillshare classes for writers
• Kat recommended movies and shows to watch after finishing WandaVision
• Neelam discussed Islam and feminism in honor of Women's History Month
• Speaking of honoring Women's History Month, Lauren celebrated female creators

To be honest, March was a bit of a bust. I just had a run of really bad luck and went through some tough things that I'm not quite ready to talk about just yet. But I made it through, so I suppose that's something to celebrate. Plus, during the last week of the month, we got some warm weather and the cherry blossoms started blooming, which was really nice. Anyhoo, I think I'd like to use this recent bad luck as a a springboard to launch me into some much needed self care, though, so that's one way I plan on making the best of a less-than-optimal month.

Well, as you may have guessed, sprintime has arrived in the Washington, D.C. area and, as mentioned above, I plan on taking advantage of the nice, sunny weather to engage in some self care. I'm (finally!) getting my vaccine in the first week of the month—alhamdulillah!—and hopefully once that is done I can get out of the house more after this seemingly neverending quarantine! I plan on taking more walks, getting more on top of planning and organizing my schoolwork, taking some spa days, and starting some creative projects like painting and art journaling and collaging and embroidery. So let's keep our fingers crossed that I follow through on those plans and have a better April!