Sex Book Gifts

Jamye Waxman and Emily Morse deliver exactly what they promise on the cover, over 200 sexy things to try with a partner tonight. The book is a mix of titillation and instruction, sexy illustrations that can be fun and arousing just to flip through matched with sweet sex tips delivered, as Annie Sprinkle has written, with "a whole lot of love". Jamye Waxman may be among the least cynical sex educators out there, and you can feel it in these pages which offer gentle but enthusiastic support for everyone to spice things up, try a little harder, and have the hot sex we all deserve.

I'm having a hard time figuring out who to buy Susie Bright's stunning memoir for, since most of my friends already have it. But the writing is so good, the story so intense (funny, sad, a bit scary in places, and very sexy in others), and the history so important, that I'm giving it to a few history buffs and my mother, who lived through the same time period, only doing very different things. It's a story about sexual activism form the front lines, and a must for anyone who is interested in ideas about sexual freedom, sex positivity, and the near past and future of sex writing in America.

Chris Beam's outstanding young adult novel about J, a trans kid growing up and figuring life out in New York is one of the best YA novels of the year and for me the most complicated and heart felt portrayal of what adults end up calling their gender journey (but for kids it just feels like a big, dangerous mess). This is the book I'm giving to the teens in my life, and to the parents of near teens. You can find out more about the book on the publisher's website.

A highly readable collection of both regular people, aged 50 to 80, and sexuality professionals sharing lived experience and tips on "later-life sexuality". Joan Price, a former high school teacher and now a fitness professional, writer, and public speaker, has been working for many years, first with Better Than I Ever Expected and now with Naked at Our Age, to increase both the quantity and quality of public discussions about sex and aging. Practical and supportive, this is a gift that needs to be given thoughtfully (not everyone is going to take it as a positive) but many will find something positive here.

An excellent collection of two-spirit literature, fiction and non-fiction, prose and poetry, that chips away at boundaries, genre, and order, leaving the reader to enjoy page after page of powerful writing and great storytelling. There are so many people this book would be good for. Anyone who likes good writing, anyone interested in thinking about sexuality and gender beyond static identities and binaries, anyone interested in visions of the world that read as both magical and grounded in the minutiae of life. It's funny and sexy and painful and hard to put down.

A very different kind of collection, Take Me There is an anthology of "trans and genderqueer erotica" writings by and about individuals (and couplings of all kinds) whose experience of gender and embodiment span the gender spectrum. Stories range in explicitness and in the showing and the taking, offer dozens of new ways to think about and talk about desires and bodies.

69 short stories about people getting it on in a hurry, Gotta Have It's theme is "sudden sex" and, as always, editor Rachel Kramer Bussel delivers the goods, with each story being 1,200 words or less. Vacation sex, library sex, census taking, and co-working, there's also a nice range of kinds and explicitness, making this a great gift pick for the erotica lover or time management guru on your holiday list.

This year brought a revision and update to the classic grassroots text of women's sexual health, including a new chapter on relationships and a greater focus on sexual pleasure and "enthusiastic consent". It's the fourth edition I've owned and an encyclopedic book that should be in every household.

You knew it was coming. Editor Dian Hanson is working her way down the body, The Big Book of Breasts, The Big Penis Book, The Big Book of Legs, and now an "in-depth exploration of the female pudendum." I say this every year, but it continues to be true: no one produces sex books like Taschen. They are exhaustive and exacting, funny and sexy, and a conversation starter like no other. Through photographs and interviews, Hanson explores the changing representation of female genitalia from 1900 to today. Obviously this is not a gift for everyone, but the right person will squeal with delight when they unwrap this one.

A classic returns! When it was first published in 1993 Femalia was the first and only collection of full color photographs of vulvas that was intended for educational and philosophical use, rather than porn. Since that time a few brave publishers (mostly on their own) have produced similar series, and Femalia has been out of print for several years. Finally, thanks to the renegades at Last Gasp Books, Femalia returns. 32 full color photographs of vulvas that show the diversity and beauty of human bodies without airbrushing or commentary.