Queerly Recommended

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 children's book with same-sex couple
• Maggie Tokuda-Hall
• Authors Against Book Bans
• Heather has Two Mommies by Lesléa Newman
• Unbanning Books webinar recording

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We come up with new terms like knife queens™, 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, don't 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 Spangler

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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 West's 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_hole

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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 — drum roll — recommendations!

Official Recommendations

From Kris: Consecrated Ground by Virginia Black

This week, Kris recommends Virginia Black's debut novel, Consecrated Ground. It's 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 Japan's 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 Andrews

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This week, Tara sits down with Frederick Smith (he/him), author of Tara's 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 he's 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 Podcast

Follow Frederick Smith

• Website
• Twitter (X)
• Facebook

Support & 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 Kris's 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 "completely naive" on the fertility industry and found the scale of the man's 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 didn't 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 Bluestocking's Guide to Decadence by Jess Everlee
• The Black Bird of Chernobyl by Ann McMan

Support & 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.

Support & follow the show

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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

Support & follow the show

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• Get all our links on Linktr.ee
• Support local animal shelters by joining Kris's Patreon