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)
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Transcript
>> Kris Bryant: Hello, everyone. welcome to Queerly Recommended, the podcast where we recommend queer books, films, TV shows and more. I’m Kris Bryant, a contemporary romance writer for Bold Strokes Books. And this week I’m recommending two things, because this is our podcast and we could do what we want.
>> Tara Scott: That’s true. And I’m Tara Scott. I review sapphic fiction at the Lesbian Review and smartpitches, Trashy books. And this week I am recommending a Halloween romance that came out this year. Nice. Kris, what you got going on?
>> Kris Bryant: I said, you’re not going to believe what I did today.
>> Tara Scott: What did you do?
>> Kris Bryant: I went and saw the Taylor Swift Experience at the theater.
>> Tara Scott: Okay. How was it?
>> Kris Bryant: So it was actually really good. I was completely entertained. I thought it was brilliant. good for her. She’s super smart. She’s a very clever person and I enjoyed it. I went with Deb and her two daughters, who are both swifties. So that makes it so much more fun, like when you’re around a bunch of people and, some people dressed up. So that was kind of fun to see. So, it was, it was just. Overall, it was a good experience and it was the clean version.
>> Tara Scott: Oh, wait, see?
>> Kris Bryant: Okay, so we need to talk about this.
>> Tara Scott: So it was just one of those, like. What do you mean, the clean version? What, what are the. What other version would there be? Yeah, I suppose because it’s going to be a lot of people taking their, like six year old girls or, or boys, whoever.
>> Kris Bryant: But there were kids. M. So here. This is a funny thing that happened, on the Socials on Friday. So Taylor Swift’s album dropped and a lot of people were like, well, this isn’t for kids. I can’t let my kids, you know, clutching their pearls. I can’t let my kids listen to this. And I’m just like, you know, here we go, we’re censoring. I went through this in the 80s with the PMRC. Like Tipper Gore.
>> Tara Scott: Remember?
>> Kris Bryant: She did the whole.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah, I do. You’re a mom.
>> Kris Bryant: And so here we go.
>> Tara Scott: No, no, no, no. So I’m a mom. but I also don’t keep a lot back from my kids.
>> Kris Bryant: How do you feel about music? Because books and television is a lot different than music.
>> Tara Scott: I mean, I suppose, but also, I don’t. I think this is why, like, as parents. Yeah. You need to listen to it.
>> Kris Bryant: Right.
>> Tara Scott: And then make a decision for your family and not expect. How old is she? Isn’t she closer to 40 than she is to 30 at this point?
>> Kris Bryant: She’s 35, I think.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah. so that’s kind of like. I know a lot of kids listen to her. I mean my kids never got into her and they were very proudly anti Swifty when they were kids. Which is so funny because it’s like, can we. I, I don’t, I don’t understand the Taylor Swift hate, to be honest. Like, I, I don’t, I, I don’t get it. I think I just have, I’m completely neutral on her. But my niece is a total Swiftie. And actually the album dropped on my brother’s birthday, so I sent him a note. I was like, that was so nice of her.
>> Kris Bryant: At least this on your birthday, for your birthday.
>> Tara Scott: So yeah, I, I think that’s where like parents just need to listen and make some decisions because like if you’re leaving the radio on when you’re in the car, you’re co signing a whole lot of musical choices. They might not, it might not have swears to still have a lot of sexual content for you.
>> Kris Bryant: I mean like, and, and my thing that we got into a conversation on, on the socials about this and I said, you know, Madonna, Like a Virgin, Salt N Pepa. Like a virgin.
>> Tara Scott: How about Like a Prayer?
>> Kris Bryant: Like a prayer, exactly.
>> Tara Scott: which was my favorite song when I was 10 and I had no idea what it was.
>> Kris Bryant: Right.
>> Tara Scott: So.
>> Kris Bryant: And kids today have smartphones. They’re like 8 years old and they get smartphones for Christmas and birthdays so they can stay in touch with the kids that, you know, after school events or whatever. And I’m like, okay. Really? It’s just a way to pacify them, I think almost when you’re that young.
>> Tara Scott: Like my 10 year old is so mad that they don’t have a phone.
>> Kris Bryant: But it’s like, what do you.
>> Tara Scott: What do you need a phone for? You have an iPad. what do you need a phone?
>> Kris Bryant: You have to know. I mean there’s more policing that needs to happen on just iPhones, iPads. You know, music is not something y’ all should worry about at this point. And Taylor Swift is not making kids music. Like she is not, she’s not making kids music. She’s not a child. And she has a couple songs that are pretty explicit.
>> Kris Bryant: And it’s so funny because when I first listened to the album, it was the clean version. I’m like, well, this doesn’t make sense, but okay, it’s got a nice beat. And then like everything blew up on Tick tock and everything. And I was like, wait, what and so I had to go look at the lyrics and stuff. So this was the clean version because everybody was. A lot of people didn’t know about the words that are in the songs.
>> Kris Bryant: So she released a clean version of this movie, this experience. Not really a movie, it’s an experience. So basically it starts off and she talks about her song that she’s releasing, her first release, I guess. And she made a video of it. And so it’s kind of like talking about and seeing how they do this video. And then also she goes through all the songs, they play every song and they show the lyrics. M. As she’s singing, it shows the lyric. So I’m like, okay, yeah, that’s different. It’s not really that, like, instead of like sue says something about who has the bigger dick, it’s like. Or something like that. Again, it’s a two days in. I don’t know, the whole. All the songs.
>> Kris Bryant: So they change it to a different word. And both, I’m sure on the radio edits and things like that. But also, who listens to the radio anymore? Kids stream, they go to, they go to Spotify, they go to Pandora, they go to Apple Music. I mean, you got to stay on top of that too. It’s not the radio anymore. Like, when we were kids, I.
>> Tara Scott: Stopped listening to the radio in 2005 because that is the year that I moved to Calgary. And the radio scene here is horrible when considering I grew up with Detroit radio, which nice Detroit radio in the 80s 90s, early 2000s was incredible.
>> Kris Bryant: Now the music scene has always been incredible.
>> Tara Scott: And so instead I was like, okay, I need to get an ipod, I need to put music on it and I need to figure out, yeah, how do I play this in my car? Okay. And it was like I got one of those things that like plugged into your lighter and let you do it via like an AM station or something like that. Very much dating myself right now. But I don’t care that. So I was a radio snob young, and now it’s like I just listen to podcasts when I drive.
>> Kris Bryant: See?
>> Kris Bryant: It’s changed. Music has changed. Access to. Everything has changed.
>> Tara Scott: Yes.
>> Kris Bryant: You know, and I’ll get into that more when we talk about my, one of my recommendations. Because access is everything. So.
>> Tara Scott: Yes.
>> Kris Bryant: Anyway, so I went to the Taylor Swift thing. let’s see, what else? Oh, I’m getting ready for Women’s Week. I leave.
>> Tara Scott: Yay.
>> Kris Bryant: This weekend. This coming weekend. So by the time this thing drops, I’ll be in. I’ll be in P Town. Yeah, I’ll be there. No.
>> Tara Scott: Yes.
>> Kris Bryant: Yes. Will I.
>> Tara Scott: No. How the hell does this work?
>> Kris Bryant: Yes. Yes, yes, yes, I will be.
>> Tara Scott: Yes, you will. Calendars. What are they in my brain? Nothing. Sorry.
>> Kris Bryant: Smart.
>> Tara Scott: I was not. Okay.
>> Kris Bryant: It’s all right. It messed me up, but I’m right. so I’m excited about that. You know, I always love. I always love a good P Town trip. And the weather there sounds terrible. So I like to look at the weather, like, two weeks before I go because I don’t know what the hell I’m gonna wear or pack. So we have. When I get there, it’s going to be a high of 59. Saturday. Or. No, I’m sorry, 61.
>> Tara Scott: Sorry.
>> Kris Bryant: I get there m. Sunday, it’s rain. 60% chance, high of 61. Monday, 75% chance of rain, 59. Tuesday, 50% chance of rain, 59. So basically, it’s going to be super cold. And I’ll be wearing sweaters there.
>> Tara Scott: Yep. Sweater weather. Yay.
>> Kris Bryant: Yay. Because you know what? It’s very hard. You have to dress in layers. And I’ve always heard that expression, dress in layers. And I didn’t really know what that meant until I had, like, my. I went to my second P Town. It was terrible. We all dressed, and sweaters and coats, and it would get to, like, 70 in the afternoon. So you, like, If you didn’t have t shirt on underneath, like, you were just like, I’m gonna go back to the place. And they don’t have air. You know, it’s one of those where the cape doesn’t have air conditioning and it’s just hot. It’s either super hot and you can’t turn on the heat. It’s weird. It’s weird. It’s a weird time of year to be there. It’s either there’s no air and the heat coming on. You know, everything smells when you turn on the heat for the first time.
>> Tara Scott: And. Yes.
>> Kris Bryant: Anyway, so, that. And also, it turns out I found out that one does need to have a reservation for dinner anywhere decent on a Saturday night in a large city.
>> Tara Scott: Yes.
>> Kris Bryant: Right. So I took my dad out, thinking I could wing it, because my dad likes to go to four different restaurants.
>> Tara Scott: And are they chain restaurants?
>> Kris Bryant: some of them are, yes. Okay.
>> Tara Scott: Okay.
>> Kris Bryant: So, yeah, it does. So I said, hey, dad, I’m gonna pick you up at 6. We’re gonna go get some food. I’ll take it to dinner. He’s like, great. So my dad really likes this one chicken restaurant. And the highway, the interstate was closed for some, I’m sure terrible wreck. So I had to like go so far around just to get to my dad. and I said, look, we’re not going to be able to go there because you can’t get there. Like something happened, everything’s shut down. We just can’t make it. So let’s try to find something else. So we drove around for an hour, calling restaurants, trying to get in. And so we ended up going to a very deserted IHOP instead for dinner on a Saturday night.
>> Tara Scott: How is that?
>> Kris Bryant: M. My dad was kind of like being a little snobbyish about it.
>> Kris Bryant: But he really liked the food. Oh, that’s good. Then he was fine. And I mean, I was just like, I felt bad for taking my dad’s ihop, but you know, because he’s excited to get out and I was like, all right, let’s do this. And then I take him to ihop.
>> Tara Scott: Like I haven’t been. So I don’t actually know what it’s like.
>> Kris Bryant: It’s like Waffle House. No, that’s not even.
>> Tara Scott: We don’t have that.
>> Kris Bryant: It’s like, I mean, I guess IHOP is exactly. It’s just like breakfast food, more or less.
>> Tara Scott: See, I like a breakfast. I mean, I do too. I don’t really do eggs, but I like all the other stuff.
>> Kris Bryant: Really?
>> Tara Scott: Well, here’s the thing. I like them, but half the time I end up with a stomachache so I don’t bother anymore. Oh yeah, that’s a bummer. I like like a French toast or a waffle or anything like that. And then just get sausage or bacon.
>> Kris Bryant: Or something with it. There you go. I mean that’s not bad. So that’s kind of what we ended up doing. And then we went back to the house and we just sat and talked and we talked about how I get my incredible social awkwardness from my father. So we decided to like bear our souls and tell our worst stories. And it was a lot of fun. We had a good time. I love this story. Like my dad, my dad, he’s so, like I said, socially awkward that I me, I’m just as bad. Maybe not as bad, but I’m close.
>> Tara Scott: I don’t think I would have guessed that.
>> Kris Bryant: I’m cringe. Oh yeah, I’m terrible. I’m. I’m. It’s a whole thing. It’s a whole thing. But he was telling Me this story that there was a big department store downtown when. When he worked downtown, and he was in. It was Macy’s. I’m sure you know Macy’s, right?
>> Tara Scott: Yes, it’s in, Miracle on 34th Street. It’s a department store.
>> Kris Bryant: It’s still around. Barely, but it’s still around. So, he was on his lunch break and he went to Macy’s to get something or look at something or whatever. And he was going down the escalator to leave, and this lady was coming up the escalator, and he thought that she worked in their office. And so my dad grabbed her arm across the escalator, grabbed it and said, gotcha. And it, wasn’t who he knew. Oh, no.
>> Tara Scott: So he just accosted a stranger.
>> Kris Bryant: Exactly. I’m like, dad, I hope he never went back. He’s like, yeah, no, I never did. So he learned that, you know, that’s not really the best thing to do. So.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah, no.
>> Kris Bryant: So we. We did have some funny stories to. To talk about. So, yeah, so that’s pretty much what’s new with me.
What about you? What’s going on with you?
>> Tara Scott: Well, we’re recording this on October 5th and tomorrow, in our province, all the teachers are going on strike.
>> Kris Bryant: So no school.
>> Tara Scott: No school and no strike pay.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh.
>> Tara Scott: It’s interesting. Like, yes, to a certain extent, it’s about raises, but it’s not actually all just about raises for the teachers. It’s also about caps on classroom sizes, because there are no caps here. And so there are some high school classes with up to 40 kids in them. Wow. In rooms that don’t even have 40 chairs. Like, what are we doing?
>> Kris Bryant: That’s terrible.
>> Tara Scott: It’s also about adding more support staff to help with, you know, kids that have all different types of needs. Because I believe they let a, like, thousands of them go. And so the province came back and they did offer raises, but to get to the caps on classroom sizes, they need to hire 5,000 teachers. And the province said, we’ll give you 3,000. And to go from, like. I think it was something like over 20,000. Support staff was let go. Previous on their. Well, they said, we’ll give you 1500.
>> Kris Bryant: In the next three years. Oh, my gosh.
>> Tara Scott: It’s like, fuck off. And where I really. I just. I had to, like, shut down social media and walk away. They created an attack ad, basically about the teachers. And they’re offering all families for each child 12 or under. You get $30 a day during this time to support you and it’s like, okay, so you have how many millions of dollars to do this? And it’s less than what they’re doing in funding for the students. Already they have the lowest funding per student in Canada. They like, what are we doing? And they. It’s the province where they subsidize private schools the most. Why don’t you take that, why don’t you take some of those subsidies back, match what the other provinces are doing and put it into public education. I don’t want to shock you, but this is the. I live in the province where the person who runs it is extremely proud to be aligned with the magas. So.
>> Kris Bryant: No.
>> Tara Scott: Mm. So our kids are gonna be home. But we absolutely support the teachers. They’re doing the right thing. We appreciate they’re really trying to do the best by the kids. And it’s not easy to say, hey, I’m just gonna make no money for a while doing this. Cause it’s the right thing to do. So my youngest does school, from home.
>> Tara Scott: So that’s not gonna change that much. I actually joke sometimes for work. Cause I also work from home. I’m in a. I work at a like a company that’s fully remote. And so I’ll joke about my old. In the coworker, 10 year old co worker in the co working space that is their bedroom versus my office. But it also means that my oldest is going to be home and is going to just be catching up on some stuff because they went last week to last week they went to visit their grandmother in British Columbia. So. Nice. Well, because the, the first two days of the week were off. One of them was a professional development day for teachers and then the other one was truth and reconciliation day, which is, I mean good. Like yes, go learn about how Canadians can do reconciliation with indigenous peoples. But it’s a weird one because they give it off in the schools but the province doesn’t give people the day off. So it’s not like parents can go do that without taking vacation.
>> Kris Bryant: So.
>> Tara Scott: Oh. So anyway, that kid went to visit the grandmother. Now they get. Now they have time to catch up on their schoolwork. So that’s what’s new with me. It’s.
>> Kris Bryant: That’s a lot.
>> Tara Scott: It’s like the summer all over again. in our house.
>> Kris Bryant: Except now they have to actually do schoolwork. Ish.
>> Tara Scott: There’s not going to be any new school work given out. Oh.
>> Kris Bryant: don’t you. Didn’t you like. I always had Teachers that were like, you should always be reviewing every day. Because I remember, like, I was a straight A student teacher’s pet, and I missed a bunch of school. I was out for like a week probably. It was like sick or something. And the first day I come back, there’s a test and I’m like, I’m sorry, you didn’t put that at any of the homework things for me.
>> Kris Bryant: And they’re like, well, we always tell you, you should always be reviewing your work. I’m like, what an ass.
>> Tara Scott: That’s a dick move.
>> Kris Bryant: It’s a total dick move. And I actually got sent. I argued and I got sent out of the classroom and had to stand in the hall. I know.
>> Tara Scott: For being logical.
>> Kris Bryant: Right.
>> Tara Scott: How dare you?
>> Kris Bryant: I know.
>> Tara Scott: All right. What have you been reading or watching?
>> Kris Bryant: So now I play the who’s not queer on Jeopardy.
>> Tara Scott: Game. Ooh. Is anybody.
>> Kris Bryant: It is so super queer that I. I think there are some people who are not. But I think it’s. It’s kind of. There’s a big. There’s an evolution going on on Jeopardy. And I have been here for it since the beginning, so.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah, I love it.
>> Kris Bryant: I love it too.
>> Tara Scott: Love it. isn’t Ken Jennings Mormon too? Or am I wrong? I could be very wrong, and if I am, I’m sorry.
>> Kris Bryant: He’s very progressive, though. At least that’s how he appears and what he says and stuff like that.
>> Tara Scott: I saw that on his blue sky. I was like, okay, Ken Jennings. Like, yeah, go, Mr. Supporting the trans people.
>> Kris Bryant: He’s. I mean, think about it. You have to be. If you’re hosting jeopardy. And over 50% of the contestants are queer. Like, you have to have some sort of, like, flexibility there. I mean, you just do. Or, else he would just quit and be like, mag.
>> Tara Scott: Well, that’s true.
>> Kris Bryant: So I just, I feel. And he just. He’s. He’s so nerdy and fun. He really is. Yeah. And I love it when he, when he can’t help himself. When somebody answers something very wrong or ridiculous, he’s like, no. Yeah. He gets. He, Yeah.
>> Tara Scott: Is it less rude than how Alec Trebek did it?
>> Kris Bryant: It is less rude. It is. It really is.
>> Tara Scott: Because he was kind of mean.
>> Kris Bryant: He. He had his mean moments because he just. He always came across as very professional and so. So it came across as mean. I think Ken’s more. More of the people’s man type. Yeah. Like, chill. Even though he dresses, you know, he wears a suit and tie and stuff like that. But he just seems a Lot more chill.
>> Tara Scott: I like.
>> Kris Bryant: And he’s like, yeah, I remember I was raging at this concert or whatever. I was like, what, Ken? So it’s. Yeah, he’s, he’s a lot more open about himself and so therefore it makes for more enjoyable jeopardy because you get to know him a little bit better. let’s see.
Survivor 49 is in. I mean, it’s several weeks in now, so of course I’m having a great time with that.
>> Kris Bryant: And Daryl, Dixon and Carol are still in Spain. I’m never gonna get my happy ending there.
>> Tara Scott: I, feel like there are worse places to be than Spain, you know.
>> Kris Bryant: But I want them to get home. I want them to get a Judith and get to, you know, like find Rick and Michonne and all that stuff. I, I need that.
>> Tara Scott: Where are they?
>> Kris Bryant: They are somewhere south in, the United States, I think. Somewhere south. I can’t remember now. It’s been so damn long because they have offshoots like the different Walking Deads have now different ones.
>> Tara Scott: Okay. How do you cross the ocean?
>> Kris Bryant: So here’s what they do. It’s called a boat. And they. Yeah.
>> Tara Scott: So row, row, row across the Atlantic Ocean.
>> Kris Bryant: They actually have a, have a. They’re fixing up a, They’ve had some help fixing up a large sailboat. So they’ve been patching one up and learning how to sail.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: So how they got over there was. Daryl was kidnapped and thrown in some huge, long, big, huge freight type cargo boat. Huge. And he got kidnapped and was taken over to France and escaped.
>> Tara Scott: Or did.
>> Kris Bryant: I don’t remember. It’s been years now. And Carol went to go find him and she. And she tricked some guy into flying a little two cedar over the Atlantic Ocean.
>> Tara Scott: I think if I could get past all the gross stuff, this is where I would be like, okay, but how did they get the fuel for the.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, and they show up.
>> Tara Scott: Are we still extracting?
>> Kris Bryant: No, I think.
>> Tara Scott: Are we still making gasoline in this?
>> Kris Bryant: We are still, they are finding gasoline. There was a whole season where they, they learned how to make it again and there was like a big takeover people were trying to take.
>> Tara Scott: Nerds are writing that. yeah, anticipating nerds like me.
>> Kris Bryant: It’s. It’s funny because. Yeah, that’s true. But also like, there are certain things that so many people have like brought up that I think that they’ve made changes within the. Because of social media. They have made changes because one of the big things that was hilarious during the season where they were at the prison was that the grass was always cut. And they’re like, who the hell is cutting the grass? Like, everybody made a big deal about it. And so then all of a sudden, like, several episodes later, like, way at the end of the season, you’ll see Carl out there pushing a lawnmower. Like, this place looked immaculate forever. And we’re just like, who? Who? And somebody. Like, there were memes about it, like, who is mowing the yard or the grass at the prison?
>> Tara Scott: Yeah. Oh, that’s funny. Okay, I like that.
>> Kris Bryant: So that’s pretty much what, I’ve been watching. What about you? What have you been reading or watching? What’s new?
>> Tara Scott: All right.
>> Kris Bryant: It’s finally happened.
>> Tara Scott: Despite it being many weeks, there is a Drag Race happening again.
>> Kris Bryant: Thank God.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah. But it’s been so many weeks that now I’m forgetting. Like, I forgot. I was like, oh, the episode came out on Thursday, and I remembered on Saturday. And I was like, oh, shit, I have a thing I can watch. So it is Drag Race UK Season 7.
>> Kris Bryant: Wow.
>> Tara Scott: Honestly, it’s too soon to tell. There’s only been two episodes. But it’s been fun watching again, and maybe that will. Hopefully it’ll continue pretty well. I have to admit, I’ve been kind of nervous about the fate of Drag Race.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh.
>> Tara Scott: given, you know, the way things are going in your country, and Paramount getting purchased by this. What is it like, the Paramount Skydance, anyway? Like, Larry Ellison’s son being involved and, like, it’s just. I don’t know. I, I, I worry about continued, access to it. But, hey, there’s, like, franchises all over the world that I haven’t watched yet, and I can watch with subtitles and, with a wow. Presents. Plus, subscriptions. Oh. If I have to, that’s what I’ll do. But for now, it’s been fun to watch that again.
Also, I’m sure there are some people who remember me talking in previous episodes about how much I loved the game Hades. Well, Hades 2 is out.
>> Kris Bryant: And I have been playing that like it’s your job.
>> Tara Scott: Like, it is my job. It’s really, really good. And so this, I think there’s a lot of things to it that I like, and it’s very, it’s very familiar. Like, if you’ve played the first one, it, it builds on the experience of the first one so it doesn’t, like, completely do the same thing all over again. It also doesn’t do something completely different. It’s still a roguelike, which means, you know, you die a Lot of times, and you’re supposed to. But each time you die, you acquire new materials, new experiences, whatever that you bring back, and it lets you get stronger. So you go further and further and further each time. The first time in the first game, you played as Zagreus, he’s the son of Hades, and this time you play as his sister. Oh, so this is like, if you were ever into Greek mythology, this is a game for. Oh, my God. I was such a Greek mythology kid when I was little. Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, yeah. That was my.
>> Tara Scott: Again dating myself. But one of my favorite things to do when I was like, 10 or 11 is I would go to. We had a set of encyclopedias in our house, and I would go to the encyclopedias and I would find, like, one. I stumbled one day across one of the. I don’t know if it was the gods or goddesses. Doesn’t matter. but I stumbled on one of them and then I read the story and I was fascinated. And then I, like, picked one of the names in the story, and then I went to their entry, and then I read that story, and then I read and then I picked another. It was like a choose your own adventure almost.
>> Kris Bryant: That M makes sense.
>> Tara Scott: And so, yeah, right. Adhd, dopamine seeking behavior. So, yeah, this is. He plays Milena Way, who is Zagreus’s brother. and she is at the crossroads. She has been raised by the witch Hecate, because her whole family has been captured by her grandfather, Kronos. And so it’s that, like, how do you free Hades and Zagreus and all the people? Like, how do you free the underworld from Kronos? It’s really good. I am not even close to done. I’ve probably put. I’m trying to think. I picked it up on Wednesday. Today’s Sunday. I had Friday off. I’ve put over 20 hours in for sure.
>> Kris Bryant: Wow.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah, it’s really, really good. I definitely. I like it. I don’t know if it makes sense to do, like, a full on, like, official recommendation because, like, it’s not fun to talk about gameplay unless there’s, like, a lot of. Like, if it’s a game with a lot of story, then it’s easier to recommend. I recommend the game. It is just not my official recommendation. And then I read a couple of fanfics.
So I thought I’m gonna talk about all these books. Like, Bold Strokes has so many interesting books for October. Y’, all, like, go check out their October releases. I, thought I was gonna read a bunch of Them. And then what happened last weekend? Yeah, Friday. Last week I had, an edible. And when I have edibles, I can’t. And I don’t have them that often. But, like, I can’t read when I’m high, right? Like, not.
>> Kris Bryant: Not a.
>> Tara Scott: Not a. I cannot read a book that I intend to talk to anybody about.
>> Kris Bryant: Kids. How could you even read? You know?
>> Tara Scott: Well, I wasn’t sleepy enough to actually fall asleep. And so I was like, I’m gonna start this fanfic. And then that was my weekend. I read a couple of fanfics by. For people who follow the Devil Wears Prada fandom. they’re gonna, like, roll their eyes at me, but somehow I haven’t read anything by the Literary Assassin yet. And this is like a known. This is somebody who is known, but I just hadn’t. I don’t know, somehow I hadn’t gotten to them. And so I’ve read two of their. Like, one of them is a. Around a hundred thousand words, and the other one is, oh my goodness, 50,000.
And so I’m actually going to talk about the one that I read second, first, because it’s actually their most popular one on Archive of Our Own. It’s called After Dark. And it’s like one of the top five devilware Prada stories, if you sort by kudos, which is like, a people just giving it a little heart thing. And so with this one. So again, double worse Prada. The idea is that Andy, she quits, but then she does end up staying on because Miranda kind of finds her and she’s like, look, if I’m going to. If I’m going to work for you, this is how it’s going to be. Like, she has some real demands. And Miranda’s like, okay. And they end up having kind of more of an equal footing in how they talk to each other. And then Andy’s boyfriend left. He took all their. He took her furniture, which is like, fuck off, dude. It’s funny in this fandom how much people hate this guy. Which, to be fair. he’s trash. Like, I’m not gonna say he’s not. But, like, they really hate him in the fanfic and he lied about paying the rent. So Andy’s evicted and she needs a place to stay, so. Oh, no. Right, Right. So it’s just. It was really cute. It was a really slow burn romance.
I had a good time with it, but the one that hooked me. And again, I started reading it. I was like, I was pretty high. I’m not gonna lie. It was called More than Just Baggage. I didn’t know really what I was getting into, but I saw the tags and the tag, one of the tags was Domestic fluff. And I’m like, okay, this sounds fine. And so I think I read for like 20 minutes and then passed out. And the next day I was like, what did I start reading? And then like, could not put it down. All last weekend I read this story. Wow, that’s the one. That’s 150,000 words. The premise to this one is that Miranda gets a phone call her ex husband, not the father, because she has twins in the book. In the movie, I guess. So not that ex husband, but another one that she had. He and his wife died in a car crash and they’ve left her three kids that are age 6 and under. And so Andy helps out and then it turns out they’re in love. And also they’re going to. They’re just, they’re just a family. And it’s truly just 150,000 words of domestic fluff. And how is that compelling? I have no idea. It’s something to do with how she wrote it. I just couldn’t. Like there’s. Of the three kids they get like, who are clearly traumatized, right? Their parents have died in a car accident. They have parents and now they don’t have parents. And now they’re with these ladies, like, what the fuck? You know, One of them takes more to her, to the one woman, one of them takes more to the other woman. And one of them takes more to like the twins as this, like, oh, we’re all sisters together. Yeah, so cute. And I got to the end and I was like, you know, if I’m having a really, really, really bad time, this is going to be a good story to go back to. So I put it in my not my favorite fanfic folder. I put it in my favorites folder.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh.
>> Kris Bryant: Wow, that’s m big. That’s big.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah. So I loved it. That was called More Than Just Baggage. Yeah, it’s lovely.
All right, Kris, what is your official recommendation this week?
>> Kris Bryant: Well, as I mentioned at the intro, I have two this week.
>> Kris Bryant: So the first recommendation is a book called In Our Mother’s House by Patricia Polacco. And it was published in 2009. Note, it is a banned book. It’s a banned book. So. Side note, I don’t read children’s books. Okay. It’s just not a thing.
>> Tara Scott: Fair. You are not a child.
>> Kris Bryant: I’m not A child. I don’t have children. And Deb, found it at, one of the bargain bin type places that we have, not too far from the house. And she hands me this book and she’s like, hey, this is a banned book. You should read this. I was like, sure. I got 10 to 15 minutes.
>> Tara Scott: Hm.
>> Kris Bryant: So it’s actually Patricia has. She actually hand draws all the illustrations. She’s responsible for illustrations. And then she goes back, they are wonderful illustrations. They really are. So she draws with pencil and charcoal and then she paints and she uses markers to color, to add color to it. So just for artistry and appreciation, it’s a great book to look at. Just like at the. Just the artwork is just fantastic. I think you’d really enjoy it. So here’s the synopsis. I’m going to read this because this is also important.
>> Kris Bryant: Marmee, Mima and the kids are just like any other family on the block. In their cozy home, they cook dinner together, they laugh together, they dance and play together. But one family doesn’t accept them. Maybe because they think they are different. How can a family have two moms and no dad? But Marmee and Mima’s house is full of love. And they teach their children that different doesn’t mean wrong. No matter how many moms or dads they have, they are everything a family is meant to be. So this story is actually very amazing. I was like, cool lesbians adopting kids and giving them a great home. It’s a great story to tell. And this story is told from the oldest child’s point of view. And it starts off and she’s like, my moms tell me where I came from and what they did and how they got me. And then three years later we had this, this sibling. And three years later we have this sibling. So it’s just, just a sweet book. And they live in a div. In a very diverse neighborhood in, Berkeley, California. And the people. The neighborhood sounds amazing. It’s from people from all over the world. They have block parties and they share their diversities. And the kids don’t see. They don’t see anything. They just see good times, good people, lots of fun, lots of love. But of course there’s always going to be that one neighbor.
>> Kris Bryant: So we have a neighbor, Mrs. Lochner. She’s a homophobe and she surfaces in two very important scenes. And I love that the kids don’t understand her. They’re like, why does she have so much hate? Like they don’t they don’t understand that they are in a queer family. They don’t see that. And just how the story is told is absolutely beautiful. And the thing is, this book doesn’t actually use the word lesbian or queer or anything like that. It’s just strictly, you know, no words that would trigger the haters or anything like that. It’s just the concept of two women who live together and love one another and love this family and raising very successful children is just too much for these Christian nationalists. It just can’t. Can’t happen. So, so I’m. It’s a short book and by the end of it, I was bawling like, it’s so beautiful. I absolutely love the story. It’s very emotional. Very lovely, Very lovely. And Debbie asked for. Doing that, for handing it to me, like, here, read this. I think you’ll like it. So I think, like, if you have children in your life, little ones, whether they’re yours, your grandkids, nieces, nephews, whatever, it’s, a great book to read with them, you know. Plus, you’re. You’re helping a banned book get recognized.
>> Tara Scott: Mm.
>> Kris Bryant: So I love that.
>> Tara Scott: So I love that.
>> Kris Bryant: Well, yeah.
>> Tara Scott: And this is going. This episode is going up just after Banned Books Week.
>> Kris Bryant: Ah.
>> Tara Scott: and so if anybody didn’t know, last week, like last week for everybody listening now, last week for us, recording was Banned Books Week. And so it’s always a good time.
>> Kris Bryant: To go for sure.
>> Tara Scott: Banned book. I mean, we’ve covered, like, I’ve recommended on here, two books that were banned in Alberta schools, and they’re also among the most banned books in the US as well. So. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, Gender Queer by Maya Kobabe. We could always stand to read more banned books.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, for sure.
>> Tara Scott: What are they so scared of? Let’s send some money to those authors.
>> Kris Bryant: That, like actual two women would do a hell of a job. Much better maybe than a lot of heterosexual marriages, relationships, whatever, families. so again, it’s In Our Mothers’ House by Patricia Polacco, who actually seems. I watched a YouTube, she did a speech for, I want to say Library of Congress and stood up in front of children and parents and just kind of had a. This is what I did. This is how I do it. And she’s a storyteller. And it’s just. She seems like she’s just a very amazing person.
>> Tara Scott: That’s awesome.
>> Kris Bryant: That’s recommendation number one.
>> Kris Bryant: Recommendation number two is called Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery, the Untold Story. And it’s on Disney plus and Hulu.
>> Tara Scott: So if you still have a Disney account. Right, but see, I mean.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, exactly. So some people canceled it, some people kept it. They resubscribed. Because then the show came back on. It’s like a whole thing. But you know what? Here’s the funny thing. I tried to cancel, and I couldn’t figure out how to do it because it wasn’t through. It’s not through my iPhone, so I must have it through my cable. So then I went to my cable to try to cancel it, and it kept saying. It kept spooling out, timing out, you can’t cancel. Please call. And I don’t. You know, nobody calls anybody anymore. So I was like, no, I’m gonna wait until this is. So I kept trying, kept trying, and I’m like, I wonder if just so many people are trying to cancel.
>> Tara Scott: So.
>> Kris Bryant: And then all of a sudden, like, it came back. Like, the show came back on. I was like, well, okay. So it. I never. It never went away.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: Okay, so back to this. So I know that I talked about Lilith Fair before, and I’m sure I recommended one of the documentaries about this, but this one hit differently.
>> Tara Scott: Tell me more.
>> Kris Bryant: So I was a baby dyke when Lilith, Fair came out. And I was figuring out that I was queer. And I didn’t know how to find my people like this. This was the only. Socially. I don’t even know how to say it. AOL chat rooms was really the only way you could talk to people. There was no social media. We didn’t have any apps. Nothing existed. Even dating sites, I think, were just, like, websites you had to go to, like, match.com or whatever. And good luck finding Queer One back in the late 90s, like, for sure.
So I found people at Lilith Fair because I knew that a lot of queer people listen to the same music that I listen to. And so I was hoping that I would find people there that I could relate to. And, so for me, it was like a quest. It was like, I was so into music anyway, and all my favorite artists were at this incredible music festival. And I’m like, I need to go. I didn’t care. Like, if I put myself in so much debt, I was going to go. It didn’t matter. So here’s something funny. So, like, going back to the social media thing, and you might have had this, too. We have a magazine. We still have it, in Kansas City. It’s called the Pitch. And it was kind of an alternative magazine. And it had like a lot of interesting things. But if you saw somebody or if you were trying to meet somebody, like there was a section and I want to say it was like near the back, like missed opportunities or something. And you’re like, you would go and everybody would do this. I would be like, I wonder if somebody saw me, noticed me, wanted m to meet me. Like, this is how desperate I was.
>> Kris Bryant: So I would go and I would read them. Like, hey, I saw you at Tootsies, which was like the only lesbian bar we had in Kansas City at the time. I saw you at Tootsies and you were really cute. You were wearing a red sweater and, you know, black boots. And I spilled my drink on you, thought you were really nice. It would be nice to meet you. Did you have things like that? And then you had to write into like the magazine and they have to pass your message. this is so old. I can’t believe this.
>> Tara Scott: I’m sure it existed, but I was in.
>> Kris Bryant: You were a different world then.
>> Tara Scott: I was. Well, exactly. That was not a thing in the Baptist church. This is what I will say.
>> Kris Bryant: I’ve always been a heathen. So, this is how he did things. And I always check. I was like, no, no, I’m not in there. I was never in there. But I always checked anyway.
>> Kris Bryant: Back to Lilith. I knew about the musicians, you know, I sang every word of every song. I mean, Sarah McLachlan, Tracy Chapman, Sheryl Crow, Natalie Merchant, Paula Cole, Jewel, Meredith Brooks, Liz Phair. I mean, the lineup was so amazing. Erykah Badu and so many others. And, you know, I was there having the time of my life. Like, literally I was there for the music ambiance, the people, like as far as the audience, just people watching, trying to get people’s attention type thing. it was the best time. Seriously, the best time. So the documentary with what it did that I didn’t know about and why would I. It focuses on. On women in music and how Lilith Fair changed all of that. Like, I had no idea how terrible men were and probably still are in the music industry. Oh yeah, like from the top executives to the dumbass rude DJs on the radio and shows like Saturday Night Live, even, you know, Jay Leno, all those late night shows, they made fun of Lilith Fair. They made fun of women.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: And I didn’t know. Here’s something. I did not know this. There was a rule and I. And I’m sure it was like an unspoken or it was like an unwritten rule that the Music industry, the radio was never allowed to play two women artists back to back. Right?
>> Tara Scott: Really?
>> Kris Bryant: Yes. And so Sarah McLachlan changed that with Lilith Fair.
>> Tara Scott: Whoa. Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: And so, yeah, I mean so like the whole experience, it was a very safe place for queers. It was a very safe place for women because they also showed like during the LILITH FAIR In 1999, Sheryl Crow had special permission to go to Woodstock because she had already signed up for that. And it was like you see the experience of lilith fair, the 50,000 people at Lilith Fair, you know, love, peace, harmony. And you go to Woodstock, which that is supposed to be love, peace and harmony and instead is like raging white angry men raging. And it was very unsafe for women. Very unsafe. And so, and they said that they’re like, it’s very unsafe, I couldn’t wait to get out of there type thing. And, and Sheryl Crow said she just went straight into Sarah McLaughlin’s arms when she came back and just like, and just cried. It was just terrible. It was a terrible experience.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: The whole thing with Lilith Fair is that it was all about love and hope and shared women empowerment. You know, they lifted each other up, they supported one another. it wasn’t a competition. And it’s funny because you have some of these hard ass musicians who came in just because they’re like. And they made fun of Lilithaire until they actually were there and starting to have a good time. Chrissy Hein, even what’s her name, Gosh, Sandra. She’s not a musician but she’s like an entertainer. Bernhardt Burn.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: So she was even there and she, she felt bad because she was making fun of it. And then she gets there and she’s like this is the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen and experienced in my life. And another thing, they gave a dollar for every ticket sale. They gave a dollar to that city, like the women’s shelter or some sort of some sort of charitable thing. And so I think by the end of like the whole, I don’t know if it was just the three summers or it was each summer, but it was over two and a half million dollars.
>> Tara Scott: That’s amazing.
>> Kris Bryant: And like I don’t know if it was the first year, so it was like the summer they came, the first summer it came out it was 1997. And then I don’t know if 1998 if like there were seven of the little fair performance performers up for Grammys. M so I like M. It really did. It changed music. It changed how women were perceived and how they grew in the music industry.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah, it influenced the culture.
>> Kris Bryant: It really did, big time. And who was it? I think it was Sarah was saying the three of them. So there were three. There were seven up for Grammys. And I don’t. I honestly, I can’t remember if it was the same year or two years, like back to back or something like that, but everybody got. All the men got a full session. Like, they got to sing their song. They got to sing a song that was up for a Grammy, but when it came to the women, they all had to get together on stage at the same time and sing one song. It was terrible. Like, and.
And so, like, you just didn’t see this side. You know, you’re just a young kid. You don’t see that side of the music. Just think, this is the greatest thing ever. I see people just like me. I love this music. I’m going to buy and support the. You don’t see what’s going on. And how much they were hated and how much they were protested. And so many things that you didn’t know. So many things that we’re aware of now. We’re so aware of it, but we didn’t know when we were so much younger. And here’s what I love. They had a video booth set up. And I can’t remember, even if they did, I don’t think I would have done it because I didn’t go with people. I went there to find people.
They recorded. Like, people would go into these video booths and they would just record a message to the. You know, to Sarah, to anybody they wanted to. And so many, people were like, you know, queer people, obviously queer people were like, you’ve saved my life. You don’t understand how much you’ve done this and what you’ve done and how you’ve changed us and helped us and gave us a place. And all these young kids were in there saying, oh, we love you. Thank you so much. I’m having the best time ever.
And it was just. It was so beautiful to see, and it was just. I loved it. And. And so many of these, musicians were crying just thinking about it going back to, you know, they were interviewed like today’s, they interviewed like, Sarah and Liz Pher and Emmylou Harris and Bonnie Raitt, even, like, she was there. And I was actually. She was at one of my shows, my shows that I went to. And they also had a lot of queer musicians, like the Indigo Girls and your people, Tegan and Sara, I was.
>> Tara Scott: Gonna say, who are my people?
>> Kris Bryant: Your people?
>> Tara Scott: Your people.
>> Kris Bryant: You’re like super. The Canadians. The Canadians. And Brandi Carlisle was there. Like, baby, Brandi was there. Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: And it’s just a lot of people who supported. Like nobody felt uncomfortable being around lesbians or queer people at all. It was, it was just this whole. It was just such a great documentary to see and I didn’t realize how important Sarah was to all of this. I didn’t realize. I knew that it was. She put it on, but I didn’t realize just how much of an impact it had.
>> Kris Bryant: So if, you dig women in rock or maybe you went to several of the Love Fair concerts to see it again, it’ll just take you back. It’s very nostalgic, very proud. I feel very proud for. For being a part of it.
>> Kris Bryant: And just seeing everybody, you know, on screen who have aged in the industry and I’m like, oh, look at this. I remember them when they were, you know, 30 years ago and they had this song or whatever and I’m like, wait a minute, that means I’m 30 years older too. So.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah, I didn’t, I obviously I didn’t get to go not getting a baby. Ah, Well, I mean, 1997, I was. That was the summer after grade 11. So. That’s right.
>> Kris Bryant: That’s about right.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah. I had another year of high school after that. But I think I had a CD from it because I think they put out like. I think they put out like a collection of music, I think so.
>> Kris Bryant: I think I had the CD at one point. I’m sure I did. I’m sure I bought a T shirt. I’m sure I bought a CD there.
>> Kris Bryant: And like what was great was they had. After the first year they had, they started having so many people interested, so many female artists interested in it that they had to do like side stages, you know, like stage B, stage A. And it was funny because they had Christina Aguilera singing on one stage, you know, and I’m not a Christina Aguilera fan, but she has a power voice, like big time power voice. And she was so young, she was a little baby and she’s up there singing and it was just amazing. And people would. And that’s how a lot of people got recognized was by Lilith Fair.
>> Tara Scott: That’s amazing.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, like Missy Elliott of all people, like, had never been on stage before and then she went to Lilith Fair. Yeah. Like you learned so much about, about all these different, you know, that was one of the things that they said. You know, the very first thing was people were, were teasing Lilithaire about being too white. They would call white Lilith Fair, you know, like white lily white Lilith Fair or something like that.
>> Tara Scott: Okay.
>> Kris Bryant: So then they asked for more, you know, more color of color. Yeah, for sure. And I was there. One of the shows I went to Tracy Chapman. Like I was introduced to Tracy Chapman then. It was just, I mean, that’s not true. She, she had her first album, came out I think in like 1988 or something. God, I was a baby. But I want to say that that was, that was her first thing. And the Lilith Fair came out, you know, ten years after that or something, or nine years.
>> Kris Bryant: But that was the first time I had seen Tracy Chapman and she was amazing. Absolutely.
>> Tara Scott: That’s cool.
>> Kris Bryant: And I have pictures I’m gonna find. I went downstairs, I was looking for something and I found a bunch of pictures that I had taken at Lillofair. And I’m talking, I had my professional photographer camera there and they actually pulled me out of the audience and told me I couldn’t use my camera. And I said, I got in, so I’m using it. And so I kept using it and I kept. Yeah, but I have like super close up, pictures of like the chicks, they were there, obviously of Sarah. I’ll have to come back through and I’ll have to send you a couple pictures just so you can see.
>> Tara Scott: Please do. That’s amazing.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah. So it was a very good documentary. I loved it. like I said, people who experienced that watch it because you’ll learn so much about it just because it was amazing.
So. All right. Woo. I’m done. I had feelings and so many feelings.
>> Tara Scott: Good. I’m interested. I love music documentaries.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, I do too. You know how much I do. And then it came on, I was like, actually, I think Georgie Beers was talking about it. She texted or she did something on social media and I was like, oh my gosh, there’s a new one. So. Yeah, so I had to watch it and I loved it.
>> Tara Scott: Amazing.
>> Kris Bryant: Those are my two official recommendations. Tara, what about you? What is your official recommendation?
>> Tara Scott: Okay, I only have one, but it’s real cute. It’s called a, ah, Hexcellent Chance to Fall in Love by Ann Rose. This is a traditionally published Sapphic romance and I really enjoyed it.
>> Kris Bryant: nice.
>> Tara Scott: One of the leads is Pepper White. She was a high school theater teacher in a small town until she was tricked into taking on a curse from somebody else. They passed it on and they were like, by get fucked. And so now, you know, it’s five years later. So she’s only around for 70 days a year when the Halloween store. So there’s this Halloween store called the Dead of Night, and it magically appears in the town, and it’s open for 70 days and then it disappears. So when I say she’s only around, I mean she’s literally only on our plane of existence for 70 days a year. and she’s just kind of like, gone for the whole rest of the year. And then nobody remembers her from one year to the next. And so she’ll, like, show up, she’ll build relationships, she’ll get to know people. And then the next year when she’s back, she’s like, oh, she’s so excited. She wants to know what’s up with them. and then realizes, like, oh, these people don’t know who I am. She has to, like, build it all over again. It’s really interesting.
>> Kris Bryant: Groundhog Day.
>> Tara Scott: Yes, kind of. And so after five years, though, she meets somebody who makes her think, like, oh, I don’t. I don’t want to be forgotten. I don’t want to be forgotten by her. And so Christina Loring is now the high school theater teacher. and she is stressed. She does not like Halloween, but, ah, the big, like, the biggest fundraiser of the year for the school is the haunted house. And as the theater teacher, she has to help the kids put on the haunted house. And so of course she goes to the Dead, the Dead of night and is like, I need stuff for a, haunted house. And I don’t know anything about this. But luckily Pepper, who works there, has a lot of great ideas and the chemistry is, like, really, really good. And they’re into each other. But Pepper knows, like, I’m only here until a couple days after Halloween. So it’s this, like, what’s she gonna do? Is she gonna have to trick somebody into taking this curse? And even then she doesn’t know, like, well, what happens if I say I do trick somebody into taking the curse? Will I just get to be here?
>> Kris Bryant: Right? Or over somewhere else?
>> Tara Scott: Yeah. Doesn’t. No.
This is where I’m gonna be honest. I almost didn’t do an official recommendation for this one. Almost did it as something I’ve been reading because this is a really, really hard book to talk about, because I can’t talk about any of the best stuff. It really is best enjoyed without Knowing anything because there’s this, like, really big twist that recontextualizes everything that happened before. So just like with Loser of the Year or Yuri on Ice, which are two things that were previously recommended on this show, it’s like, I want to go back and reread it now that I know.
>> Kris Bryant: yeah.
>> Tara Scott: Fill in blank. I can’t say it. I can’t say it, or I’ll blow it for everybody. So what can I say? I had to recommend this book because it was so hard to put down. And I was like, what’s happening? Something’s happening. Is something happening? Is this a thing? Is this like. I was so caught up in trying. I was like, I think maybe is m. Like, I was talking to Neil about it. We’d go for walks. I’m like, I think maybe. and also, I don’t think there are very many Halloween Sapphic romances.
>> Kris Bryant: I can’t fall. There’s a lot of autumn and fall, but not Halloween specific.
>> Tara Scott: No. And even then, like, I know Andy Marquette did one a long time ago. That’s, like, related to the Headless Horseman or something like that. But it was, like, over a decade ago. And so it’s that time of year. It’s spooky season. And so I had to make sure people knew about it, because that was great. I will say that some sections of the story, like, it goes kind of back and forth between. We get Pepper’s perspective. We get Christina’s perspective, and so we. We get to know them and what’s sort of going on in their lives. Pepper is pretty resigned to being cursed because she’s like, it could be worse. I mean, I get to go check out what’s new in the town. I get to wear costumes all the time. People at the store are pretty great. The fall leaves are nice.
>> Kris Bryant: I don’t know.
>> Tara Scott: Like, it was kind of. She sort of accepted it until she meets Christina, of course. And then it’s like she sort of lights up, and she’s like, how do I. How do I figure this out? How do I work this problem? And Christina kind of like, the. What’s going on with her? She had been an architect, and so there are certain. Like, certain clothes and things like that where it’s like, how did you get that on a teacher salary? And it’s like, no, that was the career before the teacher. Before the teacher. But we see how, like, her family doesn’t really. Her family actually doesn’t really respect her because she doesn’t make a ton of money. Now they respected her more when she made more money as an architect. And she’s like, but I want to do something meaningful. And so that’s kind of like.
It’s a pretty sweet romance. It’s not like, super angsty. All the angst is really around. Can there be a way. Can there be a path forward for them? But also there is. I don’t know if angst is the right word, but, like, her family, they’re kind of assholes. Except for the one sister, which is unfortunate, but also, I think, you know, real. Sometimes your family sucks. It sucks. Exactly. Thank you. That’s exactly it. So like I said before, their chemistry is like, it’s. It’s pretty instant. It’s really good. It worked really well.
Interestingly, though, they definitely have sex, but it’s not. The scenes are not spicy, they’re not particularly graphic. But, that still fit with the book, too. So it wasn’t like, you know, those books where the chemistry is insane and you feel this build up and it’s like, you know, you know that sex scene is going to be like, it’s going to be good. It’s going to be filthy. And then you get there and you’re like, where. Where was that payoff? What happened? No, it actually felt appropriate for this book. So I thought that worked. And the town was. It was really cute. It was really easy to imagine. And that’s all I can say, unfortunately. I know I usually give a lot more details about, like, what I love about a book, and I can’t say any of them. So if you read this book.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah. Reach out to Tara.
>> Tara Scott: Come and find me on the socials. Because I don’t know anybody who’s read it and I want. I need to talk about it.
>> Tara Scott: So it’s called A Hexellent Chance to Fall in Love by Ann Rose. I think thoroughly enjoyed it and I need to go see if she’s written more romance. M. That is all for this episode. Thank you so much for joining us as always. if you haven’t subscribed, please make sure you subscribe in your app. If you have a friend that you think would be interested in what we recommended or talked about today, please share the episode with them. And if you want to support us, we do have a link to our coffee in the show notes.
>> Kris Bryant: Or if you want to connect with us on your favorite social media sites, we have links in the show notes for that as well.