In this world where we have everything humanity has ever known at our fingertips, it can be easy to get lost in the sea of knowledge. Conflicting advice is everywhere, especially when it comes to sexual education! So what are we to do if we want the best information from a reliable source? How do we know that the information online is accurate? Sex is complicated for everyone, and some more than others. If you need help with a problem in your sex life, you want to increase your erotic intelligence, or have burning questions about sexual desire, here are 6 of the best sex therapy books that can help you:
1) Come as You Are by Emily Nagoski, Ph.D. (In-store only)
Imagine discovering a magical lamp in the desert. You rub it, and a genie emerges, offering you a choice: You can have infinite money, but your sex life would never improve beyond where it is. Would you take the genie up on his offer? If not, why? Is your sex life not perfect?
Well, you're not alone. But no need to despair! Your sex life might not be the best, but you can get there. You can discover how to give and receive immense pleasure between the sheets. All it takes is understanding sexuality and the myths that make your sex life more difficult.
Who would we recommend this book to?
The 22-year-old newly married man that wants to know how to satisfy his wife, the 37-year-old mother who thinks that her sex life is hopeless because she has kids and anyone that wants to understand the science of sexuality so they can have more frequent and better sex.
Do you remember your sex ed class? How inadequate, awful, and awkward was it? Most of us don't learn a thing in these classes. Whatever we figure out about our body and how it connects with another, we'll have to know in private and the hard way. As a result, many of us suffer from a less-than-great sex life.
Since school leaves us wanting, we fall for myths about great sex. For example, you don't have to have sex every time you and your partner are in bed. Foregoing sex sometimes is a key to higher pleasure when you do make love.
We can improve our bedroom skills and significantly boost our love life. It begins with learning about female sexual anatomy and how to use that knowledge. You'll discover this in Dr. Ian Kerner's bestselling book She Comes First: The Thinking Man's Guide to Pleasuring a Woman.
Who would we recommend this book to?
The 37-year-old man who wants to improve his wife's experience in the bedroom, the 23-year-old woman who thinks she knows everything about having great sex, and anyone that would like to become a better lover.
3) Fuck Like a Goddess by Alexandra Roxo (In-store only)
What if your deepest fears and wounds were the KEY to living a turned-on and passionate life, sharing your gifts with the world, and having mind-blowing orgasms along the way? And what if you could embrace all of you―your messy, wild, raw, sensual self―exactly as you are right now AND still feel good?
"We need an uprising of bold, wild women who have reclaimed their bodies and stand in their sacred sexuality for them," Alexandra Roxo writes. "As women, we need to liberate our voices, step into total security within ourselves, and fully own our raw, sensual power, finally letting go of the shame, guilt, denial, and repression put upon us."
The methods in this book will inspire you, challenge you, bring up your resistance, and unleash your gifts. It won't always be easy, but if you do the work, you'll discover what it feels like to fuck like a goddess.
Who would we recommend this book to?
The 20-year-old woman struggling with insecurities, anyone who feels as though they have to over-perform during sex as they show in porn videos, and the woman in or post-menopause who is undergoing stress due to body changes and wants a confidence boost.
4) Get Your Mojo Back by Clio Wood (In-store only)
Focusing on the physical, mental, and practical aspects that can affect your sexual experience and relationship, each chapter contains:
- a personal experience to relate to
- tips on specific issues and their manifestations, including unfulfilling sex and numbness, painful postpartum sex, and finding time for intimacy in motherhood
- information from experts, including women's health physios, obstetrics doctors, gynecologists, and perinatal mental health psychologists.
Informative yet often hilarious, this maternal health campaigner and journalist Clio Wood guide will appeal to new and existing mothers seeking to improve their sex lives and well-being after birth. It will also attract fans of feminist women's health books, including Period Power.
Who would we recommend this book to?
The young mother who doesn't understand the body changes she's going through, anyone who feels like they're not as desirable as they once were, the partner who's trying to understand their lover's new sex drive and confidence, the friend who wants to boost a new parent's self-image.
5) Pussy: A Reclamation by Regena Thomashauer (In-store only)
In Regena Thomashauer's New York Times bestseller Pussy: A Reclamation, she reveals what no one taught you about the source of your feminine power and how to use it. Like any expletive used effectively, the title of this book is meant to be a wake-up call. It is a reclamation in a world that desperately requires the feminine. Readers learn the secret ingredient every woman is missing; how to crack the confidence code; why sex appeal is an inside job; what's ahead on the next frontier of feminism—and how they can help make it happen; and much more.
By turns earthy and erudite, passionately argued and laugh-out-loud funny, Pussy delivers the tools and practices a woman requires to do and be whatever she wants in this life. It's a call for her to tune in, turn on, and not drop out—but live more richly, thoroughly, and lusciously than she ever thought she could.
Who would we recommend this book to?
The feminist who wants to feel empowered in her body, the AFAB trans person trying to understand their pre-op body, anyone trying to tap into their sex drive, the woman looking to start loving herself and could use some guidance and anyone who could use a confidence boost.
Slow Pleasure is a practical and philosophical exploration of pleasure, teaching you how to claim, prioritize and integrate pleasure into your daily life. In this beautiful book, pleasure coach and educator Euphemia Russell (they/them) guides you through the fundamentals of embodiment, savoring, practicing pleasure, and understanding your desires so that you can feel the whole pleasure spectrum. The book contains reflection questions and pleasure practices that bring you back into your body and help you slow down, listen to yourself, and consciously prioritize your pleasure.
Slow Pleasure teaches us that pleasure goes beyond sex and should be cultivated and celebrated every moment.
Who would we recommend this book to?
The AFAB person who could use some self-love guidance, the woman who's had her expectations of sex and masturbation influenced negatively by others, the partner looking to understand how to pleasure their lover, anyone who doesn't find the same enjoyment in foreplay or sex as they think they should, and anyone who could use a brush up on pleasure techniques.
