ladybusiness | Recent Entries

Hugo reading season has begun. ( Read more... )

Back in 2023, and in the midst of a terrible life/reading slump, I asked Jenny for some book recommendations. Jenny's reading is wide and vast and I was in the Pit of Despair book-wise. I felt light years away from being able to successfully choose a book I could start, read, and finish.

Jenny recced me Finder by Suzanne Palmer. I had tried to read Finder once before in hardcopy, but couldn't get into because I struggled to get into anything. This time, though, I got the audiobook and was able to rot in bed underneath the covers while listening. +1 for audiobooks.

This time, the book stuck. Then I got the second book, Driving the Deep, and it stuck. With it, I managed to listen while doing care tasks and art projects. Then I reached the third book in the series, The Scavenger Door, and I was fully prepared to follow both Fergus and Palmer into a 13 book series. I also started thinking about maybe going for a walk? In sunlight? Wild. ( Read more... )

forestofglory

Over the last decade or so I've seen the term “cozy” applied to a subset of SFF more and more. I've even used it myself as the theme of a couple of short SFF rec lists. But I also see confusion as to what "cozy SFF" means, and a certain amount of scorn for the concept. I think the concept of cozy SFF has a lot to offer, even if I’m not thrilled with the current direction the subgenre is going.

First let's define what cozy SFF is. Now I'm not a fan of drawing hard and fast genre lines, instead I like to think about genre as conversation. Cozy SFF has been around long enough that we can talk about some key themes in the conversation. Cozy SFF generally has small stakes, focusing on small moments, not the fate of the world. These lower stakes generally go along with much less onscreen violence in these stories. Another key aspect of cozy SFF is that it focuses on community-building. And finally, cozy SFF honors the importance of domestic labor and other undervalued jobs.

Of course some books meet some of these criteria but not others, but are worth discussing as part of the cozy conversation. This isn’t meant to draw hard lines around cozy SFF, but rather to outline the key themes that I want to talk more about.

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renay

I had higher hopes for January reading, but unfortunately I ended up sick and fuzzy-brained enough that reading wasn't high on my list of activities. Then once I felt a little better, there was offline drama which was exhausting enough that it sucked all my energy for new fiction away (please save me from Emotionally Immature Men). I did end the month with an incredible 100000/10 read with the one nonfiction book I picked up, so I decided to cut myself a break, remind myself reading is for fun, and chill out. I was more or less successful! ( Read more... )

helloladies

Sidetracks is a collaborative project featuring various essays, videos, reviews, or other Internet content that we want to share with each other. All past and current links for the Sidetracks project can be found in our Sidetracks tag. You can also support Sidetracks and our other work on Patreon.

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renay

I've been thinking about awards, their value, and what they add, both to the literary landscape and the experience of reading. When I was new to SFF, I used awards to guide my reading and as a discovery engine. As I became more embedded in fandom, instead they became a type of historical record. I didn't engage with awards from a "tell me who the winner is!" position. Instead, I wanted to know the winner, the short list, the long list (if available), and also the history of what the award honorees. It's the historian in me. We can learn a lot—but not everything—from what's come before. ( Read more... )

helloladies

Sidetracks is a collaborative project featuring various essays, videos, reviews, or other Internet content that we want to share with each other. All past and current links for the Sidetracks project can be found in our Sidetracks tag. You can also support Sidetracks and our other work on Patreon.

( Read more... )

helloladies

Adventures Elsewhere collects our reviews, guest posts, articles, and other content we've spread across the Internet recently! See what we've been up in our other projects. :D

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helloladies

Each month, we look back over the media we loved in the previous month, from books to film to video games and more.

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renay

One of my bookish mutuals on IG,

bookishbethanyerin, did a recap of how much money she saved via her library in 2023. I loved this idea and wanted to do it for myself. I was busy in 2023 but I read more than I have in years thanks to digital access. I wasn't alone in using digital access, either! At my library, digital checkouts surpassed physical checkouts, maybe for the first time?

Building this list was a little complicated because figuring out the cost of digital audiobooks without sales or promotions is a trial and I compiled all the data before

wychwood clued me into Libro.fm (thanks to them! My wallet is crying!). I used B&N instead because I try my best to never buy anything book-related from Amazon. The prices are higher, but I'm generally paying higher prices when I buy physical material because I shop mostly from indie bookstores (both my local bookstore and my comic shop are small businesses). Things may repeat because I reread a few items in different formats. ( Read more... )

Lady Business

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Sidetracks - February 15, 2024

Adventures Elsewhere — January 2024

Our Favourite Media of January 2024

Let’s Get Literate! Love Your Library

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