Lately With Lila | February 2019

Ah, February. The month of love and Black folks! What else could be a more iconic duo? Another iconic duo? Me and books! February is the shortest month of the year and we’re just gonna say that’s why I read so few books (two books, to be precise). But! The two book that I did end up reading absolutely hit it out of the park and I’m pretty sure they’ll be two of my favorites of 2019!

B L O G

U P D A T E S

No blog updates for February!

P O S T S

• Hogwarts House Recommendations: Booktube Edition | Ravenclaw
• King of Scars Review + Playlist

B O O K S

R E A D

scroll over cover to reveal my star rating

 

★★★★★

★★★★★

Level One // Flourish and Blott’s // Bestselling Book // King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

I know people have been really split on Bardugo’s latest release, but I fell on the side of really enjoying it. I think part of the reason is that I didn’t go in with any expectations, but who knows. I loved learning more about the main trio we follow—Nikolai, Zoya, and Nina, who have all appeared in previous Grishaverse series and are already much beloved by the fandom. For more in-depth thoughts, check out my review.

Level One // Madam Malkin’s // Bookish World to Revisit //The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty

Guys. I think it’s safe to say that unless something drastic happens, I may have found my favorite book of 2019. I couldn’t write a review because it would just be an incoherent ramble of flailing and fangirling. That’s how good this book was!!! If you read and loved The City of Brass, then this book will not disappoint. And if you haven’t read The City of Brass…well I’d get on that if I were you.

B O U G H T

 

DNF @ 50%

A R C S

 

Thank you to the publishing gods for granting me such awesome ARCs!

T B R

 

DNF @ 50%

★★★★☆

★★★★☆

DNF @ 10%

Level Two // Ravenclaw // Book With Blue On The Cover // Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte

I was super excited for this one and started it at the end of February, but I haven’t been able to really connect with it yet, so we’ll see how it goes from here…

Level Three // History of Magic // Debut // Bloodleaf by Crystal Smith

This book looks super good! Based on the summary it seems like Bloodleaf might play into some tropes while subverting others, so I’m interested to see if that’s true and, if so, how it is done.

Level Three // Defense Against The Dark Arts // Dark Fantasy // Never-Contented Things by Sarah Porter

Never-Contented Things looks deliciously dark. And who doesn’t love a dark fae story?

Level Three // Astronomy // Sci Fi/Dystopian // The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

I tried this book out a while ago but disliked the audiobook narrator. For whatever reason, I don’t mind the narrator anymore and the premise seems interesting, so here we go again!

The Queen’s Resistance by Rebecca Ross

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, The Queen’s Rising, so I’m excited to see where Ross takes the story!

M O V I E S / T V

Yet again, I have failed on the movies/TV front 😥

BUT! I do plan on going to see Captain Marvel and catching up on some shows in Marched so fingers crossed I’ll actually follow through!

M U S I C

L I F E S T Y L E

After last summer, not only did I chop my hair, but I also started wearing head wraps a lot too! I love how versatile and stylish they are and how they can really make an outfit POP! (plus it’s a MAJOR bonus that wearing a head wrap means I don’t really have to do my hair, haha!) I wear several different styles and love using tutorials from The Wrap Life to try out new ones. I’m super excited to get more bright, colorful, and funky patterned scarves as the summer nears!

L I N K S

• Marija at Inside My Library Mind talked about the five star rating system and figured out Jude Duarte’s reading list
• Ilsa of A Whisper of Ink reflected on jealousy in the book community
• Hollie from Hollieblog gave some thought to the conflict of reviewing bad LGBT+ books
• Jo of Book Lovers Blog spilled how blogging has changed her reading habits
• Bookish Chat dished how they structure their reviews
• Krysta at Pages Unbound discussed shortcuts to love in YA
• Fadwa from Word Wonders gave us a look into her bookstagram process
• Jenna of Jenna Bookish provided us with a beginner’s guide to book blogging
• Marie from Drizzle And Hurricane Books delved into how to stay positive while book blogging
• Nandini at Unputdownable Books blessed us with tips to improve book reviews
• Kelly at Another Book in the Wall shed light on the value of teen voices in the book blogging community
• Amy of A Court of Crowns And Quills began a booktube channel

L I F E

my mom and I at The Kennedy Center

Tbh, February was mostly mediocre with a few bright spots. I had some difficult things happen at the beginning of the month and spent most of the month trying to work through them. Luckily the end of the month brought a few positive notes which cheered me up. I spent some quality time with my high school besties and it was so lovely and refreshing to see them again. Sometimes it’s great to spend time with people who are so familiar with you and who know you from the perspective of having seen you grow and change over a long period of time. I also went to see a tap dancing performance at The Kennedy Center with my mom, which was super fun! But other than that, not too much happened. I’m hoping now that February is over and I’ve had some time to work through that rough patch I hit, that March will be much brighter.

T E L L   M E   A L L   A B O U T   I T

• How was your February?
• What did you read in February?
• Are you excited for anything in March?
• What are you looking forward to reading in March?