These titles were published prior to December 2003, but they're relevant to the holiday and are worth dusting off and displaying.
Ben Stein shows readers, in a droll, matter-of-fact manner, how to get where you want to go "by simply not
going where you do not
want to go" in How to Ruin Your Love Life
, a reverse road map containing relationship rules like "Act Moody and Sulky When Your Lover Gets Home—but Don't Tell Him Why You're Sulking." (Hay House, $12.95 128p ISBN 1-4019-0240-5
)
"[A]ll things—even merkins, codpieces and felching—are worthy of study," writes Mark Morton in The Lover's Tongue: A Merry Romp Through the Language of Love and Sex
. The small, tight print doesn't allow for easy browsing, but this book offers plenty of facts for anyone serious about learning the history of words like "bum," "beauty" and "bullocks." (Insomniac Press, $16.95 paper 240p ISBN 1-894663-51-9
)
"Needless to say, a lot of this novelty book is about sex," wrote PW
of The Goomba's Book of Love
by Steven R. Schirripa (aka Bobby "Bacala" Baccilieri on The Sopranos
) and co-writer Charles Fleming. It's also a given that this book will appeal to the good goomba in many men. (Clarkson Potter, $23 208p ISBN 1-4000-5089-8
)
It's been 30 years since sexologist Nancy Friday published My Se
cret Garden
($7.99 384p ISBN 0-671-01987-2
), her outspoken exploration of female sexuality and fantasies, and to celebrate the book's anniversary, Pocket has reprinted it, along with two of Friday's other titillating bedside companions, Women on Top
($7.99 576p -64845-2
) and Forbidden Flowers
($7.99 336p -74102-0
).
Sociologist Larry E. Davis probes the sociological nuances of relationships in Black and Single: Meeting and Choosing a Partner Who's Right for You
, an analytical look at the "Black romantic market." (Agate Publishing [Consortium, dist.], $13.95 paper 260p ISBN 0-9724562-2-8)
.
Sex Ed
MARS AND SEX: The Secrets of Sexual Astrology
Trish MacGregor
. Citadel
, $14.95 paper (384p) ISBN 0-8065-2529-0
Lucid and comprehensive, the latest from Edgar Award–winner MacGregor (Out of Sight
, which she wrote as T.J. MacGregor) addresses the traits and predilections people may bring to bed with them and explores how they might work with rather than against them. After explaining "Apollo and Friends: The Sun and Planets" and "Mars, Risings, Houses" in a manner that even novices should be able to follow, MacGregor focuses on the sun signs and how the differing positions of Mars affect each. MacGregor is direct in her writing and picks her descriptive nouns and adjectives with care. (Jan.)
