Queerly Recommended

Kris is off on assignment this week. What assignment? We have no idea. She just left a note on our windshield that read "Off to do cool shit." Fret not! When the cat's away, the mice will play. And these mice… are Canadian.

Podcast and personal favourite Amanda returns to the show! If you don't know Amanda, you can check out her other appearances on the pod here and here.

Settle in for talks about various Pride celebrations, anime, water restrictions, and how Tara is confronted by her love of age-gap romances when a character is her exact age. And, we get a poetry reading for the first time in QR history!

Official Recommendations

From Amanda: A Fate Worse Than Death by Nisha Patel

This week, Amanda recommends A Fate Worse Than Death by Nisha Patel. It's a poetry collection that investigates the vulnerabilities and life experiences of navigating a medical system mired in capitalism. Amanda reads a poem at the end of the episode if you want a sense of what to expect.

From Tara: A Little Kissing Between Friends by Chencia C. Higgins

This week, Tara recommends A Little Kissing Between Friends by Chencia C. Higgins. This sapphic romance has a messy friends-to-lovers pairing between a music producer and her best friend, the premiere dancer at a local strip club. Tara praised this book for its fat rep, its kissin', and how it dives into the sloppy muck of what to do when you sleep with your best friend.

Works/People Discussed

• Yuri on Ice (MAPPA)
• Truth and Reconciliation Final Report
• University of Alberta Free Online Indigenous Canada course
• 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act by Bob Joseph
• The Untamed (Tencent Video)
• Winter Begonia (iQiyi)
• Farewell my Concubine (1993)
• S.C.I. Mystery (Youku)
• I'm Afraid of Men by Vivek Shraya
• Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R. F. Kuang
• Dead Boy Detectives (Netflix)
• What We Do in the Shadows (FX)
• What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
• Just Kiss Her by Clare Lydon
• Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall (Writer), Lisa Sterle (Illustrator)
• The Worst Ronin by Maggie Tokuda-Hall (Writer), Faith Schaffer (Illustrator)

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(tap, tap) Is this thing on? (tap) I think it's on.

Hey everyone. It's just me, Tara, this week. Kris couldn't join me as usual, so instead of replaying one of our old episodes, we came up with an idea for something smaller. Here are my top five podcasts and an official recommendation.

Official Recommendation

From Tara: Blood Remains by Cathy Pegau

This week, I'm recommending the historical, sapphic, urban fantasy romance Blood Remains by Cathy Pegau. The worldbuilding is robust, inviting us into the syndicated crime scene of 1930s Seattle. It also has found family, which I'm a huge sucker for.

Works/People Discussed

• Maintenance Phase (Suggested episodes: Snake Oil, The Body Mass Index, Diet Book Deep Dive: Angela Lansbury's "Positive Moves")
• Your Fat Friend
• If Books Could Kill (Suggested episodes: Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus, The 5 Love Languages, The 4-Hour Work Week)
• A More Civilized Age
• Better Offline
• History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps

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Sometimes you drive out into the dark, beyond the city lights, and wonder whether your loved one's intentions are nefarious. Other times you see the northern lights!

This week, a very relieved Kris shares stories of lights in the sky, the benefits of not being murdered, and what it's like to swim with penguins. And Tara's here too, more laid back after emerging from a gaming fugue state, with another banger recommendation.

Official Recommendations

From Kris: Mary & George (Sky/Starz)

This week, Kris recommends the British historical drama Mary & George, which tells the story of a man, his mother, and the King of England they're intent on seducing. Kris particularly liked this one because of the lengths the characters go to get what they want.

From Tara: I Was A Teenage Exocolonist (PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, Steam)

This week, Tara recommends I Was A Teenage Exocolonist by Northway Games. In this deckbuilding life sim game, you play a settler going through a wormhole to a brand-new world. The story is looped, with the player returning to their arrival point over and over, trying to set right what went wrong in previous loops. It's queer AF and was the subject of much delight in Tara's home.

Works/People Discussed

• Queer Liberation Library
• Christine Williams
• Jeopardy! (NBC)
• Survivor (CBS)
• Catfish (MTV)
• Dead Boy Detectives (Netflix)
• Here for the Wrong Reasons by Annabel Paulsen & Lydia Wang
• Lavash at First Sight by Taleen Voskuni

Support & follow the show

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Grab your popcorn, chocolate, or other favourite movie snack, and sit down with Kris for her recommended double feature. Don't worry! You still have time before the first movie starts.

Kris and Tara discuss two constants in life, Covid and the NFL, before getting into what they've been reading and watching lately. Then it's lights out and no cellphones. We have a strict policy.

Official Recommendations

From Kris: Blue Jean (2022) & Love Lies Bleeding (2024)

This week, Kris recommends two films set in the late 1980s. The first is Blue Jean (2022), a drama about a closeted gym teacher in Britain who has to handle a student threatening to expose her sexuality to the community. The second is the thriller Love Lies Bleeding (2024), about a gym manager who falls in love with a bodybuilder and gets mixed up with her mob father.

From Tara: The Summer Love Strategy by Ray Stoeve

This week, Tara dips her toe into the YA romance pool to recommend the lovely and warm The Summer Love Strategy by Ray Stoeve. Two best friends are ready to start dating, so they plan a summer's worth of activities to find their first loves. Of course, no one is more surprised than them when it turns out love might be closer than they originally thought. Tara recommends this book to anyone, especially the tweens and teens in your life, because it has no sex, some kissing, and all good vibes.

Works/People Discussed

• Crashing (Channel 4)
• RuPaul's Drag Race, season 16 (MTV)
• Physical 100 Season Two: Underground (Netflix)
• About that Kiss by Harper Bliss (check out the episode where Tara recommended it)
• Cabin Fever by Tagan Shepard

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It's tax season at Queerly Recommended and Kris and Tara are comparing notes (and stamps!). Kris also talks about her upcoming trip to Earp Division Expo and Tara shares about a recent trip to Vancouver.

Official Recommendations

From Kris: Maestro (2023)

This week, Kris recommends Maestro (2023), the Bradley Cooper-directed feature film about American composer Leonard Bernstein and his wife Felicia Montealegre. Kris was especially taken by how completely Bradley Cooper disappeared into the role and the emotions of the storytelling.

From Tara: Dulhaniyaa by Talia Bhatt

This week, Tara recommends the sapphic romance Dulhaniyaa by Talia Bhatt. It's about how Esha, an American-raised Indian woman, is pressured into learning a special dance for her wedding to a man she's never met and falls for her dance instructor, Billu, instead.

Tara adored this book, describing it as an amazing translation of a Bollywood film into a book. You should definitely check out a few Bollywood romance films before reading this one to truly understand the achievement that was made with this book.

Works/People Discussed

• One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston
• 9-1-1 (Fox)
• The Resident (Fox)
• Fallout (Amazon Prime Video)
• RuPaul's Drag Race, season 16 (MTV)
• Blown Away (Makeful/Netflix)
• Colstead & Andie by Olivia Janae
• A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland (find out if the ending is happy by opening the spoiler tag on this page)

Support & follow the show

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This was recorded later on a Tuesday night, so some meds have worn off, some are kicking in, and Kris and Tara get lost in a field of rabbit holes… and recommendations! They answer your questions about cartoon covers in lesfic and the comfort reads they return to repeatedly.

Even better? Their recommendations are all brand new lesfic releases. The stars have aligned and you, dear listener, will benefit.

Official Recommendations

From Kris: Aubrey McFadden is Never Getting Married by Georgia Beers This week, Kris recommends Georgia Beers's new romance, Aubrey McFadden is Never Getting Married, which she describes as a "warm hug of a book." It's structured around the five weddings that Aubrey McFadden has to attend in the presence of the woman who convinced Aubrey's fiance to break off their engagement when she was in her twenties. It's a friends-to-enemies-to-lovers story that's full of love, weddings, and pretty low angst.

From Tara: Houseswap 101 by Jaime Clevenger This week, Tara recommends Houseswap 101 by Jaime Clevenger. Tara loved this book because it gave her the "housebutch" she she never knew she needed. She appreciated the depiction of the early days of someone discovering their bisexuality and it has a cute dog that you definitely wouldn't want to pick up. This is a strong recommendation and it even made it into her Kindle favourites list for easy future rereading.

Works/People Discussed

• While You Were Sleeping (1995)
• Elf (2003)
• Too Close to Touch by Georgia Beers
• Ali Vali
• Curious Wine by Katherine V. Forrest
• The Philadelphia Story (1940)
• Pride and Prejudice (1995 Mini-Series BBC1)
• Course of Action by Gun Brooke
• Truth and Measure by Roslyn Sinclair
• Above All Things by Roslyn Sinclair
• The Red Files by Lee Winter
• The Headmistress by Milena McKay
• The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live (AMC)
• The Resident (Fox)
• RuPaul's Drag Race (MTV), season 16
• RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs. the World, season 2 (BBC Three)
• Physical: 100, season 2 (Netflix)
• Leather, Lace and Locs by Anne Shade
• Bloodline by Jenn Alexander

Support & follow the show

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Tara did a thing! She went to the Sapphic World Book Club's event featuring Lee Winter and is here to spread the good word.

Kris and Tara talk about Facebook reels for a bit. Now that Tara has finished Love is Blind, she and Kris have their own reunion show to discuss the fallout. Spoilers around 14:50 - 30:42.

Official Recommendations

From Kris: Nyad (2023)

This week Kris recommends the 2023 biographical film Nyad. Starring Jodie Foster and Annette Benning, Nyad follows Diana Nyad's multiple attempts to swim the straits of Florida in the 2010s. Sports movies get us where we live and when they have excellent performances? They get recommended.

From Tara: London Ever After by Clare Lydon

This week Tara recommends London Ever After by Clare Lydon, the 9th and final book in her London Romance series. Tara appreciated the laughs and the journey of seeing someone become a drag king in this one, describing it as a "lovely, happy" book.

Works/People Discussed

• Vengeance Planning for Amateurs by Lee Winter
• Sapphic World Book Club
• The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live (AMC)
• Apples Never Fall (Peacock)
• Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty
• The Resident (Fox)
• RuPaul's Drag Race, season 16 (MTV)
• RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs. the World, season 2 (BBC Three)
• Love is Blind, season Six (Netflix)
• Firebugs by Nino Bulling
• Cover Story by Rachel Lacey

Support & follow the show

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Are all cats ice queens? Are all ice queens cats? What if they're British? Kris's Alexa wants to weigh in on this very important conversation, too.

We answer a listener question about debut authors that swept us off our feet, making this a recommendation-heavy episode. After this edifying topic, Kris and Tara belly up to a long conversation about the latest season of the trash can that is the latest season of Love is Blind. Official Recommendations From Kris: Nurses (Global/NBC) This week, Kris recommends the Canadian medical drama Nurses (Global/NBC), which follows a group of nurses in a busy downtown Toronto hospital. There's a lot of death and dying in the show, so watch out for that if you're squeamish. Otherwise, Kris describes it as a much less angsty Grey's Anatomy. From Tara: Tempting Olivia by Clare Ashton Tara recommends the contemporary sapphic romance Tempting Olivia by Clare Ashton. An icy, perfectionist lawyer with a secret celebrity crush ends up representing that celebrity during her divorce and, well, you can kind of figure out the rest from there.

Tara praises the reality of how the relationship is handled, including how the power dynamics of their professional/client relationship are handled. Tara adored this book so much so that it's now her favourite Clare Ashton book, toppling the reigning champ, Poppy Jenkins. Run, don't walk. Works/People Discussed

• Vengeance Planning for Amateurs by Lee Winter
• The Delicate Things We Make by Milena McKay
• Compass Rose by Anna Burke
• Stick McLaughlin: The Prohibition Years by C.F. Frizzell
• Changing Majors by Ana Hartnett
• The Red Files by Lee Winter
• Jericho by Ann McMan
• The Music and the Mirror by Lola Keeley
• Avatar: The Last Airbender (Netflix)
• Survivor, Season 46 (CBS)
• The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live (AMC)
• Love is Blind, Season 6 (Netflix)
• RuPaul's Drag Race, Season 16 (MTV)
• RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs. the World, Season 3 (BBC Three)
• Taylor Tomlinson: Have it All (Netflix)
• Lean in to Love by Catherine Lane

Support & follow the show

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CONTENT WARNING: We're excited that Kris's team won the Super Bowl for the second year in a row. Tragically, as some of you may have heard, the celebratory parade was interrupted by a mass shooting. Kris talks about her experience and feelings about the event. There are no graphic or scary details, but if you want to avoid it, the section is 01:28 - 07:36. Stay safe, everyone. Tara's reading slumpbuster keeps on chugging with more book recommendations. Kris goes to space (and the library) to get some work done. Reality television, in books and otherwise, is discussed at length. Official Recommendations From Kris: ISS (2023) This week, Kris recommends the science fiction thriller ISS. Kira Foster is the latest addition to the International Space Station. When nuclear war breaks out on Earth and the key to survival lies in the research aboard the ISS, America and Russia order their respective astronauts to take the station at any cost. From Tara: Vengeance Planning for Amateurs by Lee Winter This week, Tara recommends Vengeance Planning for Amateurs by Lee Winter, which the author described on Facebook as her first "romcom on purpose."

Muffin maker Olivia Roberts is tired of being taken advantage of by a series of bad exes and has decided on revenge. The problem is she needs help. When she puts out an ad looking for a henchperson, she gets it in the form of the mysterious Margaret Blackwood, and then we're off to the races. Tara adored this book and thinks you will too. Works/People Discussed

• Love is Blind, Season 6 (Netflix)
• True Detective: Night Country (HBO)
• RuPaul's Drag Race, Season 16 (MTV)
• RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs. the World, season 2 (BBC Three)
• Baldur's Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
• Forever by Kris Bryant

Support & follow the show

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We've got a packed house this week at ol' QR HQ. Kris has some big projects out on them lonely roads. Tara's reading slump seems to have been busted (fingers crossed). We talk card conventions and we answer your questions. Pull up a chair and hang out for a while. Official Recommendations From Kris: Theater Camp (2023) This week, Kris recommends Theater Camp. It's a delightful and heartfelt mockumentary-style comedy about a summer theater camp in New York where the kids are wonderful and the adults are all hot messes. From Tara: How You Get the Girl by Anita Kelly This week, Tara recommends How You Get the Girl by Anita Kelly, a cozy and queer sports romance. Which sport? Tara doesn't know. Basketball, maybe? It features characters from Kelly's other books but stands alone just fine. Tara adored this book. Works/People Discussed

• All Things Beautiful by Alaina Erdell
• The Grammys
• The Color Purple (2023)
• True Detective: Night Country (HBO)
• RuPaul's Drag Race, Season Sixteen (MTV)
• Not in the Plan by Dana Hawkins
• Keep This Off the Record by Arden Joy
• Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
• Thorn by Anna Burke
• The Bear (FX on Hulu)
• Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly
• Something Wild & Wonderful by Anita Kelly

Support & follow the show

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