This week we chat to Simon Haines from Rings of Power (how long does it take to become an Elf?) and The Running Man (Did you Meet Arnie?)And Christmas books recommendations from "News From Nowhere" in Liverpool, plus news and views from our highly talented team.Christmas Book List1. A Short History of Queer Parenting, by Kirsty LoehrQueer families have always existed. Even Sappho, the OG lesbian, had a daughter named Cleis, in honour of vaginas everywhere! For centuries, the women of ‘The Golden Orchid Society’ in Qing-dynasty China were getting married and raising daughters together – platonically, obviously... And Vita Sackville-West  and Harold Nicolson’s fabulously bisexual open marriage proved women really can have it all – a husband, two kids, a writing career and Virginia Woolf.  Maybe you’re exploring your options.  Maybe you don’t want kids but you have questions.  Either way, Kirsty Loehr provides another rollicking guide to the ups and downs of queer parenthood through the ages.£8.99, paperback2. Thank You for Calling the Lesbian Line, by Elizabeth LovattWith warmth and humour, Elizabeth Lovatt reimagines the women who both called and volunteered for the Lesbian Line in the 1990s while also tracing her own journey from accidentally coming out to  disastrous dates to finding her chosen family. With callers and agents alike dealing with first crushes and  breakups, sex and marriage, loneliness and illness (or simply the need to know the name of a gay bar on a  night out), this is a celebration of the ordinary lives of queer women.  Thank You for Calling the Lesbian Line is a timely and vital exploration of how lesbian identity continues  to remake and redefine itself in the 21st century and where it might lead us in the future.£20.00, hardback3. Nova Scotia House, by Charlie PorterSHORTLISTED FOR THE GOLDSMITHS PRIZE 2025SHORTLISTED FOR FOYLES BOOK OF THE YEARWhen they met, nearly thirty years ago, Johnny was 19, Jerry was 45. They fell in love and made a life on  their own terms in Jerry’s flat: 1, Nova Scotia House. Johnny is still there today – but Jerry is gone, and so is the world they knew.  As Johnny’s mind travels between then and now, he begins to remember stories of Jerry’s youth: of  experiments in living; of radical philosophies; of the many possibilities of love, sex and friendship before  the AIDS crisis devastated the queer community. Slowly, he realizes what he must do next—and attempts to restore ways of being that could be lost forever.  Nova Scotia House takes us to the heart of a relationship, a community and an era. It is both a love story and a lament; bearing witness to the enduring pain of the AIDS pandemic and  honouring the joys and creativity of queer life.£18.99, hardback4. Love in Exile, by Shon FayeShon Faye grew up quietly obsessed with the feeling that love was not for her.  Not just romantic love: the secret fear of her own unworthiness penetrated every aspect and corner of her  life. Faye’s experience of the world as a trans woman, who grew up visibly queer, exacerbated her fears.  But, as she confronted her damaging ideas about love and lovelessness, she came to realize that this sense  of exclusion is symptomatic of a much larger problem in our culture. In this highly politicized terrain, boundaries are purposefully drawn to keep some in and to keep others  out. Those who exist outside them are ignored, denigrated, exiled. In Love in Exile, Shon Faye shows love is much greater than the narrow ideals we have been taught to crave so desperately that we are willing to  bend and break ourselves to fit them. Wise, funny, unsparing, and suffused with a radical clarity, this is a book of and for our times: for seeing  and knowing love, in whatever form it takes, is the