Episodes
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We're bringing more holiday recommendations to you in this slightly shorter episode of Queerly Recommended. We also get an after-action report on Orange Kitty following an injury and discover some unsettling facts about cat eyelids.
From meddling Grandmas to Secret Santas, weâre your one-stop for queer media and opinions this holiday season.
Official Recommendations
From Kris: Merry Weihnachten by E. J. Noyes
Kris has known since GCLS that sheâd only have time for one Christmas book this year, so she's been excited since July to read Merry Weihnachten by E. J. Noyes. It's a sapphic romance between an American woman and her new neighbor from Germany, as they decide to merge traditions over the holidays. Kris adored this book, and especially the main character, Evie. Itâs spicier than most Christmas books, but who doesnât like to be surprised with a little spice during the holiday season?
From Tara: A Break in Communications by Lily Seabrooke
This week, Tara recommends A Break in Communications by Lily Seabrooke. It's a rivals-to-lovers romance between coworkers, where Anna hates Lucy and has no idea that Lucy is hopelessly in love with her. This book is chock-full of tropey goodnessâ it's a workplace romance, it has a fake romance, it takes place over the holidays. Itâs got everything!
Works/People Discussed
Special Ops: Lioness (Paramount+) Star Wars: Skeleton Crew (Disney+) RuPaulâs Drag Race UK (BBC Three, BBC One) Drag Race Down Under (WOW Presents Plus) Canada's Drag Race (Crave) Cozy Grove (Nintendo, Playstation, Xbox, Android, iOS, Steam) Music Box: Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary (2024) Deck the Palms by Kat JacksonSupport & follow the show
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Tara and Kris discuss the important matters of the moment: Christmas trees! Are you a white light or coloured light kind of house? Listen to find out Kris's stance and then stay to catch up on horrible HR managers, Orange Kitty and Black Kitty updates, as well as all the delicious food that Tara "bricked" herself with on a recent work trip to Toronto. And, as always, they have recommendations
Official Recommendations
From Kris: Bad Sisters (Apple TV+)
This week, Kris recommends Bad Sisters, an Irish black comedy series. It revolves around a group of sisters and what happens when one sisterâs controlling husband suddenly dies, putting them at the center of a life insurance investigation. Kris loved everything about this series, and if thatâs not enough for you, it has Fiona Shaw. What more can you ask for?
From Tara: Donât Marry Me at Christmas by Clare Lydon
This weekâs recommendation is the latest Christmas romance from British romcom queen, Clare Lydon. Tara was a little sad not to see a Lydon Christmas romance last year, but the wait was worth it. Donât Marry Me at Christmas is a frenemies-to-lovers (we love this description) situation that will give you all the good feelings and leave you hungry for cupcakes. Dig in!
Works/People Discussed
The Great British Baking Show (BBC) Survivor (CBS) Disclaimer (Apple TV+) Cross (Amazon Prime Video) RuPaulâs Drag Race UK (BBC Three, BBC One) Drag Race Down Under (WOW Presents Plus) Sort Of (CBC) A Christmas Chance by A.L. Brooks This Christmas by Georgia Beers The Christmas Catch by Clare LydonSupport & follow the show
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Episodes manquant?
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Last episode, we said we love you and to take care of yourself. That's more true than ever.
This week, Tara and Kris trade stories about the week of the US election, its aftermath, and more importantly, what comes next. They settle on being pirates.
Weâre still here, folks, and weâre going to be here until the wheels fall off this thing. Kris doesnât have a recommendation this week, but Tara has come through with not one but two Christmas romances.
Official Recommendations
From Tara: A New Leash on Love and Frosted by the Girl Next Door by Jaime Clevenger and Aurora Rey
This week, Tara is recommending two Christmas romances that take place in a small Colorado town and run in parallel with each other.
A New Leash on Love by Jaime Clevenger and Aurora Rey (Bella Books) is about an interior designer who's back in the hometown she hates, only to fall for Shawn. Shawn is as sweet as the cupcakes her sister bakes for the family business and can't help falling for Kit right back.
Frosted by the Girl Next Door by Aurora Rey and Jaime Clevenger (Bold Strokes Books) features Shawn's sister Tara falling for Kit's friend Casey. Casey's new to town and opens a sex shop next door to their cupcake store. Is the shop a town scandal or the best thing that's happened to it in a long time? Read it to find out!
Works/People Discussed
Rebecca Solnit's post Rachel Maddow clip Jen Psaki on Tiktok On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder Lambda Legal National Center for Lesbian Rights Lee (2023) The Great British Baking Show (BBC) The Great Canadian Baking Show (CBC) Baroness Von Sketch Show (CBC) Disclaimer (Apple TV+) RuPaulâs Drag Race UK, season 6 (BBC Three, BBC One) Drag Race Down Under, season 4 (WOW Presents Plus) Will & Harper (2024) Martha (2024) Agatha All Along (Disney+) Hope in the Dark by Rebecca SolnitSupport & follow the show
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It's a big week. We love you and hope you're taking care of yourself, whatever that may look like.
Kris gives an update on her visit to P-Town for Women's Week and her plans for Friendsgiving. Tara talks ice queens and participating in The Lesbian Review's event.
As always, we have a bunch of recommendations. We hope they give the distraction you need from the world outside.
Official Recommendations
From Kris: Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
This week, Kris caves to peer pressure in the best possible way to watch the film Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Itâs the story of a young painter who masquerades as a walking companion to capture a reluctant subject in her last days of freedom before marriage. The ending isnât happy, but it is, according to Kris, "satisfying," because this movie has a different take on love.
From Tara: Most Wonderful by Georgia Clark
This week, Tara recommends the holiday romance, Most Wonderful by Georgia Clark. It follows a trio of siblings as they find love (and themselves) when they head home for the holidays. One is a showrunner who has fallen for their star. Another is a complete disaster trying to⊠not disaster. And the third has recently discovered their lifelong friend is super hot. Tara loved it. Great vibes all around.
Works/People Discussed
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon (AMC) The Great British Baking Show (BBC) Love is Blind, season 7 (Netflix) Heartstopper, season 3 (Netflix) RuPaul's Drag Race Global All Stars (Paramount+) RuPaul's Drag Race UK, season 6 (WOW Presents Plus) Culinary Class Wars (Netflix) Synchronicity by J.J. HaleSupport & follow the show
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Kris is out this week because it was recorded when she was heading off for Womenâs Week. But fret not! Tara is joined by none other than Becks, reader and listener extraordinaire, and Director of Outreach for GCLS. They talk books, cozy games, politics, and so much more.
Official Recommendations
From Becks: positivity!
Instead of a film, TV show, or book, Becks recommends⊠positivity! We're living in difficult times, so it's important to reach out and let the people who make your life better know that you appreciate them.
Maybe that means sending an author a nice email. Maybe itâs posting a review for something that moves you to tears. Whatever it is, Becks suggests you act on the positive impulse you get from what moves you.
From Tara: Reverence by Milena McKay
This week, Tara recommends Reverence by Milena McKay. Set in the world of 1980s ballet, Reverence is a beautifully written sapphic romance with an ice queen and some quality angst (but not too much).
For Tara, itâs so much more than that, though. Reverence is an important book for us all to be reading right now, given what's happening in the world. Whatâs past isnât always prologue, but we need to know what came before to deal with whatâs in front of us. Read this and get back to Tara. Sheâs desperate to talk about it.
Works/People Discussed
Starship Q Star Podcast Lake, developed by Gamious Stardew Valley, developed by Eric Barone Spiritfarer, developed by Thunder Lotus Games Cozy Grove, developed by Spry Fox Here We Go Again by Alison Cochrun read by Natalie Naudus and Jeremy Carlisle Parker The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall RuPaul's Drag Race Global All Stars (Paramount+) RuPaul's Drag Race UK, season 6 (WOW Presents Plus) Binge Queens (WOW Presents Plus) Culinary Class Wars (Netflix) Physical: 100 (Netflix) Dave the Diver, developed by MINTROCKET and Nexon Make My Wish Come True by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick Make Her Wish Come True by A.L. Brooks The Goodmans by Clare Ashton The Delicate Things We Make by Milena McKay The Music and the Mirror by Lola Keeley Loser of the Year by Carrie ByrdSupport & follow the show
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Welcome everyone, to a big update about Krisâs neighborhood! We have Orange Kitty, weird neighbors, maybe new neighbors, and everything in between. Come on in and be entertained.
Official Recommendations
From Kris: Will & Harper (Netflix)
This week, Kris recommends the new documentary Will & Harper. Itâs about Will Ferrell and his best friend Harper, one of the writers he met and came up with at Saturday Night Live. Harper transitioned later in life, and she and Will go on a trip across America to reconnect, learn and experience a very different world. It has tough parts and joyous parts, and it made Kris cry three times.
From Tara: The Dukeâs Sister and I by Emma-Claire Sunday
This week, Tara recommends (checks notes) a Harlequin Historical Romance?!? The Dukeâs Sister and I by Emma-Claire Sunday is a story about a woman trying to get married to a duke and falling for his raucous sister. Tara found this book and the hidden history it presents joyous and uplifting. Maybe history didnât happen quite like this (we'll never know), but this book is a celebration of the fact that we have always been here.
Works/People Discussed
TLR event: Frozen Attitudes Melted Hearts: Ice Queen Weekend RuPaul's Drag Race Global All Stars (Paramount+) RuPaul's Drag Race UK (WOW Presents Plus) Tea with the Dames (2018) Iâll Get Back to You by Becca Grischow Tribute by L.M. RoseSupport & follow the show
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Project 2025's introduction makes it clear that the very existence of LGBTQ people is under threat, and that includes cutting off access to fiction that represents us. Because most queer fiction is published in the US, that means access could be dramatically restricted for everyone worldwide. And even if Project 2025 isn't rolled out, state-level challenges are unlikely to slow down anytime soon.
Laura Green from the Sapphic Book Review podcast joins Kris and Tara for this important bonus episode to talk about the very real and current threats against the books we love, and share tangible steps that anyone can take, whether you live in the US or not.
Works/People/Organizations Cited
Banned penguin childrenâs book with same-sex couple Maggie Tokuda-Hall Authors Against Book Bans Heather has Two Mommies by LeslĂ©a Newman Unbanning Books webinar recordingFollow Sapphic Book Review
Podcast feed Instagram Twitter Threads BluskySupport & follow the show
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We come up with new terms like knife queensâą, heart punchers, and the dangers of sneak reading. All of that is followed by recommendations, as always.
Official Recommendations
From Kris: In Bloom by Kat Jackson
This week, Kris recommends In Bloom by Kat Jackson. It centers around two damaged people, burned by love, who discover that they may not have actually experienced love until now.
This is a difficult book, with lots of hard emotions. Kris praises the writing, including Jackson's way with words and characterization, as well as the book's sense of humor. Run, donât walk, and get ready to feel something.
From Tara: View from the Top by Rachel Lacey
This week, Tara recommends View from the Top by Rachel Lacey. Tara has read five books by this author, and this smalltown romance is her favorite. She describes it as a "one-night stand to enemies (ish?) to friends to lovers" and it immediately went to her to-reread list.
Works/People Discussed
Frozen Attitudes Melted Hearts Panel (The Lesbian Review) Sense8 (Netflix) Prison Break (Fox) Fear the Walking Dead (AMC) Wynonna Earp: Vengeance (2024) RuPaul's Drag Race Global All Stars (Paramount+) Race Chaser Podcast Just One Good Reason by Harrytoad (Devil Wears Prada fanfic) Strange Attractors by Ana K. Wrenn Informed Consent by Rachel SpanglerSupport & follow the show
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Kris talks about her new book Perfect and her first-ever experience working with a sensitivity reader. Tara shares about vacationing without children, finding a signed copy of one of her favourite books, and the joys of a newly painted house. After a month apart, they have a lot to catch up on!
Official Recommendations
From Kris: Sense8 (Netflix)
This week, Kris recommends the 2015 Netflix series, Sense8. Eight strangers across the globe suffer a traumatic vision that also seemingly connects them to each other. They begin to experience what the others experience and are able to communicate across great distances through their senses. Kris adored the concept and was unable to stop watching.
From Tara: Second Verse by Natasha West
This week, Tara recommends Natasha Westâs Second Verse, a tropetastic sapphic romance that Tara found delightful. It's a friends-to-enemies-to-lovers romance told in two timelines, with two women who had once experienced an intense connection at the end of high school and parted on disastrous terms, reuniting 20 years later when their children become best friends.
Works/People Discussed
Perfect by Kris Bryant A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland Alone (History Channel) Alone Australia (SBS) Twisters (2024) Three Body Problem (Netflix) Cherish by Kris Bryant The Complete Carlisle Series by Roslyn Sinclair In the Dead of Night by Lost_my_soul_in_a_black_holeSupport & follow the show
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Kris provides an update on the situation with the feral cats in her neighborhood, including her ongoing campaign to love them (despite their attempts to gently murder her while she sleeps). Tara and Kris take a quick detour to write a book together before diving into the Olympics and then â drum roll â recommendations!
Official Recommendations
From Kris: Consecrated Ground by Virginia Black
This week, Kris recommends Virginia Black's debut novel, Consecrated Ground. Itâs an urban fantasy with a romance, set in a world with witches and vampires, and it just hits. While Kris praises all aspects of this book, the pacing and juggling of the many storylines stood out the most for her.
From Tara: The Boyfriend (Netflix)
And this week, Tara recommends Japanâs first gay dating show, The Boyfriend (Netflix). Nine young men live together in a house in a small seaside town, dividing their time between working at a coffee truck and... finding true love? Tara loved how gentle the show was in comparison to a lot of Western dating shows, and how it showcased male vulnerability.
Read the article that Tara references.
Works/People Discussed
Good Girls Guide to Murder (Netflix) House of the Dragon (HBO) RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, season nine (Paramount+) Hot Summer by Elle Everhart, narrated by Marisa Calin Stars Collide by Rachel Lacey Informed Consent by Rachel Spangler Kate Daniels series by Ilona AndrewsSupport & follow the show
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This week, Tara sits down with Frederick Smith (he/him), author of Taraâs official recommendation from Episode 86, One and Done. Fred talks about his early writing aspirations, the books that inspired him in his youth, his experiences as an author writing about Black gay men, and who heâs reading right now.
Works/People Discussed
Invisible Life by E. Lynn Harris Just as I Am by E. Lynn Harris Denise Hamilton A Little Kissing Between Friends by Chencia C. Higgins The 7-10 Split by Karmen Lee Second Night Stand by Fay Stetz-Waters and Karelia Stetz-Waters Kennedy Ryan Beverly Jenkins Bad Queers Podcast Minority Report PodcastFollow Frederick Smith
Website Twitter (X) FacebookSupport & follow the show
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Kris and Tara are back from the annual GCLS conference. They're energized, motivated, and⊠suffering from Covid, in Krisâs case. They talk all about their experiences at the best sleepaway camp for sapphic fiction fans before getting deep into those recommendations.
Official Recommendations
From Kris: The Man with 1000 Kids (Netflix)
This week, Kris recommends The Man with 1000 Kids, a limited documentary series that tells the real-life story of a Dutch scammer, accused of traveling the world and deceiving mothers into having his babies on a mass scale. Kris came into this series âcompletely naiveâ on the fertility industry and found the scale of the manâs crimes and the laws around it horrible, but in a way that also made it a compelling watch.
From Tara: Loser of the Year by Carrie Byrd
This week, Tara recommends Carrie Byrd's debut novel Loser of the Year. Mattie is a Jewish lesbian working at a Catholic school with a morality clause in its contract, which she didnât notice when she took the job. Shouldn't be a problem except for the soccer coach, Jillian, who starts as an enemy and over time becomes (you guessed it) a lover. Tara loved this one and thinks you will too.
Works/People Discussed
The Perfect Match (Netflix) Sapphic World Book Club Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024) Dimension 20 (Dropout TV) Hot Summer by Elle Everhart, narrated by Marisa Calin A Bluestockingâs Guide to Decadence by Jess Everlee The Black Bird of Chernobyl by Ann McManSupport & follow the show
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Tara and Kris chat with Ann McMan about her latest novel, The Black Bird of Chernobyl, how elements were inspired by previous GCLS conferences, and eco-friendly burial options (we promise, it makes sense when you listen).
Recorded at the 20th annual Golden Crown Literary Society conference in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Visit Ann McMan's website
Trusting Tomorrow by PJ Trebelhorn
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Tara and Kris chat with A.L. Brooks about her latest novel, Make Her Wish Come True and her experience at the conference.
Recorded at the 20th annual Golden Crown Literary Society conference in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Visit A.L. Brooks' website
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Tara and Kris chat with Kristen Zimmer about her latest novel, Forbidden Girl, and her experience at the conference.
Recorded at the 20th annual Golden Crown Literary Society conference in St. Paul, Minnesota.
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Tara and Kris chat with Carrie Byrd about her debut novel, Loser of the Year, and her experience at the conference.
Recorded at the 20th annual Golden Crown Literary Society conference in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Visit Carrie Byrd's website
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Tara and Kris chat with Nan Campbell about her novella New York is Losing Hope, which is part of the recent Hot Hires collection, her experience at this year's GCLS conference, and her advice for future conference goers.
Recorded at the 20th annual Golden Crown Literary Society conference in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Visit Nan Campbell's website
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Tara and Kris chat with Alaina Erdell about her novella Two Women, Two Weddings, which is part of the recent Hot Hires collection, as well as her experience at GCLS 2024.
Recorded at the 20th annual Golden Crown Literary Society conference in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Visit Alaina Erdell's website
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Tara and Kris chat with Erica Lee about her forthcoming novel, A Very Miller-Cooper Life.
Recorded at the 20th annual Golden Crown Literary Society conference in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Visit Erica Lee's website
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Tara and Kris chat with Morgan Lee Miller about her latest novel, 2024 Romantic Blend Goldie winner The Memories of Marlie Rose, as well as what she loves about attending GCLS conferences.
Recorded at the 20th annual Golden Crown Literary Society conference in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Visit Morgan Lee Miller's website
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