Queerly Recommended

Queerly Recommended

Book reviewer, Tara Scott, and award-winning author, Kris Bryant, discuss queer books, movies, TV shows, graphic novels and narrow down selections for listeners. Grab a glass of wine, dram of whisky, or cup of coffee and join them as they suggest to you, the listener, and to each other, something wonderfully queer and inspiring to check out.

  1. JAN 20

    Introducing Henry Rollins (QR 125)

    We talked about this! New year. NEW. Different. Better. Not (waves hands at the world) all of this. Oh well, at least there's puppies, blurbs, and recommendations on tap. Pull up a chair, fellow sapphic fiction readers. We've got what you've been looking for. Official Recommendations From Kris: Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid  Kris's official recommendation this week is a historical novel set in the distant past of the 1980s, when dinosaurs and other creatures still walked the earth. Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid is the story of a female astronaut coming to understand herself as she prepares to go to space. Kris says that this book helped fill in the emotional gaps that last year's recommendation of Sally, the documentary about astronaut Sally Ride, didn't provide.  From Tara: Greta Gets the Girl by Melissa Marr Tara's official recommendation this week is Greta Gets the Girl by Melissa Marr. Similar to Kris's recommendation, this book reaches back to a previous recommendation by the same author, Toni and Addie Go Viral. This book has that sweet, sweet one-night-to-forever trope that Tara craves. The book comes with a trigger warning because one of the leads is a sexual assault survivor, although no assault happens on the page. (Note: Tara forgot about the trigger warning when discussing this aspect of the book and how it's not mentioned in the blurb.) Works/People Discussed 11.22.63 (Hulu) The Traitors (Peacock) Canada's Drag Race (Crave) RuPaul's Drag Race (World of Wonder) The Good Place (NBC) 10 Dance (2025) Baldur's Gate 3 (Larian Studios) The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid Sally (2025) Toni and Addie Go Viral by Melissa Marr Support & Follow the Show Buy us a Ko-fi Facebook Instagram Threads  Bluesky TikTok YouTube  Get all our links on Linktr.ee

    47 min
  2. 2025-11-25

    Crime against Doritos (QR 121)

    'Tis the season! We have our first holiday recommendation of the year, folks! Kris and Tara react to the Devil Wears Prada 2 trailer, discuss family Dungeons and Dragons time, and talk about co-workers who wear four jerseys to work (yes, at the same time). It's a short and sweet but stacked episode. Enjoy! Editor's Note: This episode has a couple of recommendations that revolve around heavy topics like people going through cancer treatment, loss and addiction. If that's not where you're at, feel free to skip this one. Take care of yourself. Official Recommendations From Kris: Melissa Etheridge: I'm Not Broken Kris's official recommendation this week is Melissa Etheridge: I'm Not Broken. This two-part docuseries came out in 2024 and follows Etheridge as she shares the stories of addiction and loss with the women incarcerated in the Topeka Correctional Facility.  From Tara: The Milkyway Hotel by Jude Silberfeld-Grimaud and Marguerite Grimaud Tara's official recommendation this week is The Milkyway Hotel by Jude Silberfeld-Grimaud and Marguerite Grimaud. In the midst of her life falling apart in Paris, Celeste inherits her great-aunt's Milkyway Hotel in the French Alps. And wouldn't you know it, there's a sexy chocolatier there waiting to keep her company. Tara describes this as a slooooow burn, but when it gets there, it absolutely gets there. Works/People Discussed Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026) Caleb Hearon Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski  Scandal (ABC) The Long Walk (2025) The Long Walk by Stephen King (as Richard Bachman) RuPaul's Drag Race UK, season 7 (BBC Three, BBC One) Lucky Girls by GinStan Come See Me in the Good Light (2025) Support & Follow the Show Buy us a Ko-fi Facebook Instagram Threads  Bluesky TikTok YouTube  Get all our links on Linktr.ee

    45 min
  3. 2025-10-28

    That time of year, featuring Becks Quirk (QR 119)

    It's our annual check-in with Becks Quirk, while Kris is recovering from Women's Week in P-town! Becks and Tara talk about what's changed in the last year, where they're at, what keeps them motivated, as well as Becks's reflections after Banned Books Week.  Official Recommendations From Becks: Every Step She Takes by Alison Cochrun In keeping with the annual nature of her visits, Becks's official recommendation this week is another Alison Cochrun audiobook, Every Step She Takes. A bout of turbulence provokes Sadie into coming out and sharing her deepest secrets with her seat companion, Mal, only to learn they're both joining the same tour of Camino de Santiago in Portugal. Becks is a sucker for physical journeys that exhaust the body and mind, leading to revelations and change.  From Tara: Ladies in Hating by Alexandra Vasti Tara's official recommendation this week is Ladies in Hating by Alexandra Vasti. Lady Georgiana Cleeve is the author of many popular novels, which helps her support herself and her mother. When Lady Darling's books are equally popular and have details that are eerily similar to Georgiana's own books, Georgiana knows she has to unmask Lady Darling. She's in for the shock of her life when Lady Darling ends up being none other than Georgiana's teenage crush. Tara loved the emotional journeys in this one and how it plays with conventions from gothic novels. Works/People Discussed Banned Books Week Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel (recommended in QR 064) Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe (recommended in QR 057) Flamer by Mike Curato They Came from Below by L Dreamer After All: A Sapphic Romance (Latitude & Longing Book 3) by Bryce Oakley Olive Oil and White Bread by Georgia Beers The Shape of You by Georgia Beers RuPaul's Drag Race UK (BBC Three, BBC One) Hades 2 (Supergiant Games) Iceberg by Gun Brooke Course of Action by Gun Brooke Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit Meditations in an Emergency - Essays by Rebecca Solnit The Fortune Hunter's Guide to Love by Emma-Claire Sunday Heather Rose Jones Support & follow the show Buy us a Ko-fi Facebook Instagram Threads  Bluesky TikTok YouTube  Get all our links on Linktr.ee

    1h 32m
  4. 2025-10-14

    Sweater weather (QR 118)

    Tara talks school strikes while Kris explains the clean versions of the Taylor Swift phenomena. Bring it on, people. It's sweater weather! Official Recommendations  From Kris: Our Mothers' House by Patricia Polacco and Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery (2025) Kris's official recommendation this week is… wait. Kris has TWO official recommendations this week? (checks notes) Well, okay!  Kris's FIRST official recommendation is the children's picture book Our Mothers' House, written and illustrated by Patricia Polacco. It's a beautiful book about two women raising children together and their encounter with the one prejudiced family on their block. It's also a banned book, which makes it even more important to shout out. For Kris's SECOND official recommendation, we have the 2025 documentary, Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery, which tracks the late 90s women's music festival. Kris has a lot of personal connections to this festival, and the documentary was both informative in aspects of the music industry that she couldn't have understood at the time and nostalgic for all those formative memories.  From Tara: A Hexcellent Chance to Fall in Love by Ann Rose Tara's official recommendation this week is the recently released sapphic Halloween romance, A Hexcellent Chance to Fall in Love by Ann Rose. Every year, for 70 days, the Halloween shop Pepper runs, The Dead of Night, appears in town and she gets to meet and engage with everyone who comes in. After that time? She disappears, and so does everyone's memory of her. But everything changes after Pepper comes across a woman she can't stand the thought of forgetting her. Tara thoroughly enjoyed this one and the big twist at the story's centre. Works/People Discussed Jeopardy! (NBC) Survivor (CBS) Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon (AMC) RuPaul's Drag Race UK (BBC Three, BBC One) Hades 2 (Supergiant Games) Patricia Polacco appears at the 2012 Library of Congress National Book Festival Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel (recommended in QR 064) Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe (recommended in QR 057) Support & follow the show Buy us a Ko-fi Facebook Instagram Threads  Bluesky TikTok YouTube  Get all our links on Linktr.ee

    59 min

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

Book reviewer, Tara Scott, and award-winning author, Kris Bryant, discuss queer books, movies, TV shows, graphic novels and narrow down selections for listeners. Grab a glass of wine, dram of whisky, or cup of coffee and join them as they suggest to you, the listener, and to each other, something wonderfully queer and inspiring to check out.

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