Meida Round Up: Lots of Singing

Here are some brief thoughts on things I've been reading and watching lately.

Melody Journey— I’m still enjoying this singing reality show but not as much as some of the other Chinese reality shows I’ve watched. I like that it's chill and people seem to be having a good time. However since there’s a slightly different set of people every week and they don’t form teams that last beyond the end of the episode, there’s less of a sense of people learning to work together or developing a rapport.

The Women Who Ruled China: Buddhism, Multiculturalism, and Governance in the Sixth Century by Stephanie Balkwill — This book about Empress Dowager Ling of the Wei dynasty is really fascinating! The author is very incisive about how traditional historiography fails to tell women's stories, and there’s also a lot about the gender roles available to elite women of the time. The book is open access and availablehere

Love Me, Love My Voice eps 11-33 — This continued to be very soothing and charming!

Navigational Entanglements by Aliette de Bodard — This novella feels very wuxia inspired, even though it's set in space. There are clans and moral dilemmas and such. I thought the romance had a strong beginning and good ending but not enough middle to support the feelings of the ending. But overall this was a fun read!

The Imperial Coroner— My group watch recently finished this! It was a pretty cute drama about a young woman in Tang times who wants to be an imperial coroner. I liked the ending but I wish there was a little bit more of what happens after they resolve the main plot.