ladybusiness | Entries tagged with recommendations

I have recently figured out that it helps to manage my RSI to do things in short bursts and then take a break, which means that I've been looking for hands free things to do during short breaks. Videos are good for this, especially ones that aren't too wordy (It helps to not interrupt my focus as much).

I especially like watching Chinese modern dance, especially those influenced by classical Chinese dance. It's just so beautiful! So I thought it would be fun to share a few of my favorite Chinese dance videos here. Some of these are recordings of stage performances, and some of them are created for video with fun special effects.

Beyond the Stream (5:42) — I love the costumes in this, the way they are layered with black and white to involve cranes, and those sleeves are so swooshy!

Dance: A Journey of Music (4:35) —This one is fun, a bit stompy with a lot of percussion. Plus there’s a cool stone bridge and a water buffalo.

文化自信，中国东方演艺集团《只此青绿》演活了千里江山图 (7:55) —I love the way this one evokes the colors of the blue-green painting tradition.

2019 IPAA Festival Sword Dance (14:35) —Sword dancing! This one is a little longer, but I thought it was very cool. I love the way their moments remind me of wuxia!

Blending Chinese Calligraphy with Dance (2:25)—This is a fun one, where the dancer is representing the ink as a scholar writes a poem.

forestofglory

Criticism comes in many forms, because there's many ways to think critically about media. A form of criticism that I really enjoy is the critical essay. These are longform pieces of criticism that are generally focused on a broad range of works and developing our understanding more deeply. Critical essays can help us better understand works in context, both by highlighting how works are in conversation with each other and by looking at works in their larger social context.

In the past I've written before about older critical essays that are important to me, so for this list I've chosen to focus on newer work. For this list I've included a variety of essays that I've learned from in the last few years.

The History and Politics of Wuxia by Jeannette Ng
In the last several years I've gotten very into Wuxia, the genre of swooshy martial heroes. So of course I wanted to understand the genre and the conversation it's having better. But I wasn't finding a lot that really helped me understand the genre, so I was extremely grateful for this essay. Ng starts off with her childhood love of Wuxia but then goes deep into the history of the genre providing a wealth of context. There's so much nuance and complexity here as Ng explains the political context of the genre and discusses some of the ways it's linked to Han Chinese identity.

From Panic to Process: What Taking Criticism Actually Means by Marissa Lingen
This is an essay not so much about media but really about criticism and how it can be valuable to a writer. I appreciate the distinctions it draws between pre- and post-publication criticism. While the essay stresses that arguing with reviews is rarely a good thing, it does discuss how writers can learn from them.

The Male Glance by Lili Loofbourow Reading
This essay left me feeling stunned by how good it is! It's about how we approach "boy stories" vs "girl stories" and how who a story is about or written by affects its reception, or just how seriously it's taken.

Sergeant Bothari and Disability Representation in the Early Vorkosiverse by R.B. Lemberg
When we discuss disability representation in SFF, Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga is often brought up as a positive model, based on its main protagonist Miles Vorkosigan who is disabled. This essay looks at how other characters with disabilities are portrayed in the series, in particular examining how lower-class disabled people are portrayed. While the Vorkosigan books are important to me, I really appreciate how this essay points out some major flaws and asks readers to reconsider their biases.

What are some of your favorite recent critical essays?

forestofglory

Friend of the blog quartzen has started a challenge on Storygraph called Worldbuilder's Book Club with the goal of reading twelve non-fiction books in different categories to inspire worldbuilding.

I thought it would be fun to do a rec list based on the challenge. I have recommended one or two books in each category. Many of these books can fit into multiple categories, but I tried to put them into the ones that make the most sense to me. This list reflects my somewhat eclectic interests, which include Chinese history, urban planning, and ecology.

I'm especially interested in books about food and material culture and books about how people in the past understood the world. I've also tried to choose books that are good for worldbuilding, things that showcase unexpected connections and highlight interesting details.

I like to read books by experts writing about their area of expertise, and so I read a fair number of academic books, a trend that’s reflected in this list. Academic books can skew more expensive, so t's worth checking your local library or looking for used copies.
( Read more... )

helloladies

Join Anna (aka forestofglory) and Jodie as they explore their feels about 'soft' or low-stakes SFF short fiction, and rec a whole bunch of stories for you to enjoy.

( Read more... )

helloladies

Fanwork is awesome and sharing fanwork is even more awesome. Join us as we keymash and squee over our favorite fanwork, from fic (both written and podfic) to art to vids and meta and back again.

Recommendations included:

The 100 — fic (1)
Agent Carter — mixed media fic (1)
Avengers — art (1)
Captain America — art (3)
Captain Marvel — art (1)
Crossover: The Gentlemen Bastards/Saga — mixed media fic (1)
Daredevil — art (1)
The Last Unicorn — art (1)
Mad Max: Fury Road — art (1)
T.S. 1989 — art (1)

( On to the recs! )

helloladies

Fanwork is awesome and sharing fanwork is even more awesome. Join us as we keymash and squee over our favorite fanwork, from fic (both written and podfic) to art to vids and meta and back again.

Recommendations included:

The Avengers — fic (1)
Atlantis — fic (1), gifset (1), vid (1)
Big Hero 6 — cosplay (1)
Captain America — art (1)
Game of Thrones — meta (1)
Mad Max: Fury Road — art (1)
Mass Effect — art (1)
Ms. Marvel/Captain Marvel — art (1)
Once Upon a Time — art (1)

( On to the recs! )

renay

The trouble with books is that they keep coming out and they all sound amazing.

There's not enough hours in the day for me to put them all in my eyes immediately. I'm behind on my 2015 reading already. And yet, the middle of the year—May through September—is the toughest time to be a book lover because publishers are determined to make me suffer. "Look at all these excellent stories!" they say. "You definitely need to read this! And this! And your favorite authors are also releasing something new!"

Because it's summer mainstream sites are releasing new books to check out over the next few months. Of course, if you went by those lists you'd be convinced the only people writing science fiction and fantasy (or other genres; fill in the blank as appropriate) were white dudes. There's been some pushback; Book Riot's got a great list (crying over my TBR list now, thanks Book Riot, for leading me to further doom). But we can continue thinking outside the box, mainstream sites! There are endless avenues for new fiction! Be bold!

I've made my own list of books I'm thrilled to read over the next few months, but I know there are tons more out there. What's everyone else looking forward to getting their hands on?

( Books! )

I'll only make it to 7-10 books (plus the ones I've already read) during this summer because of life and movies and comics. If I can't become a hermit, move to a cabin off the grid with nothing but a pile of books to read and no other responsibilities, fine. I can at least talk incessantly about all the books I'm excited about. Feel free to put some of these in your eyes as they drop and then come tell me if they're awesome. I want to live vicariously through your reading experience! I can only read so fast.

helloladies

Fanwork is awesome and sharing fanwork is even more awesome. Join us as we keymash and squee over our favorite fanwork, from fic (both written and podfic) to art to vids and meta and back again.

Recommendations included:

Agent Carter — art (1)
Avatar: The Last Airbender — art (1)
Captain America — art (3)
DC Trinity — art (1)
Iron Man — art (1)
Ms. Marvel — art (1)
slashreport — podcast (1)
Teen Wolf — art (1)
Terry Pratchett — art (1)

( On to the recs! )

helloladies

Fanwork is awesome and sharing fanwork is even more awesome. Join us as we keymash and squee over our favorite fanwork, from fic (both written and podfic) to art to vids and meta and back again.

Recommendations included:

Brooklyn Nine-Nine — vid (1)
Call the Midwife — vid (1)
The Eagle — vid (1)
How To Get Away with Murder — vid (1)
Snow White and the Huntsmen — vid (1)
Thor — fic (1)

( On to the recs! )

helloladies

As 2015 approaches, we, like many others, are looking ahead with excitement to the amazing stories that will soon be available for us to jam into our brains. As anticipated 2015 book lists begin to debut across the Internet, we wanted to get in on the action, too, and take part in the celebration. But our goals at Lady Business continue to be aimed at creating diverse reading experiences for ourselves, and so for our own anticipated book lists we found 51 titles we're majorly excited about from the widest array of authors possible. Some authors we know, and others we'll just be reading for the first time, but all these books sound amazing, and we can't wait to meet them!

What books are on your 2015 list? We'd love to hear from you about books you're excited to read coming out next year. Feel free to lob literary bombs at our comments since we just ruined any resolution you may have had about not adding any more books to your reading list (sorry we're not sorry) and potentially overloading your computers (this post is stuffed full of awesome).

text: you guys might as well be a pile of leaves because you're about to get blown away

text: you guys might as well be a pile of leaves because you're about to get blown away

( Read more... )

( Other Lists of Anticipation )

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A group of fans, reviewers, and critics who like art and media. Hugo Award Winners². (We really like Hugo Award recommendations.) You can support us on Patreon, read our past work by month or by topic, but please note our comment policy. Learn more »

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Entries tagged with recommendations

Rec List: Chinese Modern Dance Videos

This Made me Think: A Rec list of Critical Essays

Worldbuilders Book Club Rec List

Cosy Up With Our Short Fiction Recs

Fanwork Recs - June 28, 2015

Fanwork Recs - June 11, 2015

Hey, Mainstream Venues! Your SF Summer Reading Guides are Boring. Here's 25 Rad Suggestions.

Fanwork Recs - March 30, 2015

Fanwork Recs - March 2, 2015

#YesAllStories: 2015 Books That Reach for New Horizons

Learn about Lady Business!