Drawn to Sex: The Basics

Couple Moen and Nolan of the Oh Joy Sex Toy website lend their sexpertise to this witty and informative volume of advice for those curious about sex 101. The authors consider myriad questions (What is sex in contemporary, broad definition—and when is the right time to start having it? What is and is not consent?) and offer the requisite chapters on STI testing, the sexual response cycle, condoms and other prophylactics, and the pros and cons of various types of birth control including the pill, the implant, and IUDs. Playfully illustrated guides to how to masturbate, both with a penis and a vulva; how to give blow jobs and cunnilingus; and how to prepare for anal sex are approachable and useful. The tone throughout is friendly, cheerful, and encouraging. The sexually active adults in the peppy, colorful drawings are queer and straight, trans and cisgender, able and disabled, racially diverse, and come in every body shape and size. The text is inclusive of monogamy, polyamory and asexuality. Pleasure is the goal, and the tools to achieve it, the authors write, are communication; self-knowledge; and safe, joyful experimentation. This is a sex-positive gulp of fresh air. (Nov.)