Books on sex and aging come in waves. Right now we’re riding a big one, with several new titles just released, and more on the way. Quantity doesn’t always equal quality though and truth be told, most of these books offer very similar information, but with different attitudes and different packaging. Below are some of the highlights of the recent, and not so recent, crop of books that cover sex and aging. [i]Images courtesy of Pricegrabber unless noted[/i]
Better Than I Expected (Straight Talk About Sex After Sixty)
Cover image: Seal Press
Part sexual motivation, part sex and aging information, and part memoir/love story, Joan Price offers her own experiences, plus the experiences of many women who are struggling, living, loving, and being sexual over 60. Nicely inclusive of sexual orientation and relationship experiences.
Dr. Ruth's Sex After 50: Revving Up Your Romance, Passion & Excitement!
Cover image: Quill Driver Books
A more traditional but encouraging and supportive offering, this title covers information on changing bodies, changing emotions, ways to value and keep your sexual relationship going, as well as more difficult realities like losing a partner (and finding a new one).
The New Love and Sex After Sixty
Cover image: Ballantine Books
Originally published in the 1970s, this book has undergone several revisions, and while it is due for another, it remains a solid sexual self-help resource on sex and aging. Covering physical and emotional changes that come with aging and the impact medications can have on sexual expression, the authors also offer practical tips on keeping sex alive in a relationship and having it when you aren’t in one.
Orgasms for Two
Cover image: Harmony
Betty Dodson might be annoyed that this book is in a section on sex and aging, but it deserves to be on this list. This excellent book was inspired in part by her relationship with a much younger man, and since the Godmother of Masturbation is a senior citizen, when she writes about her personal experience (which is what she does best) she’s writing about sex and aging. But her real passion is sex, and the way healthy sexual expression can keep us healthy and happy.
A Round-Heeled Woman: My Late-Life Adventures in Sex and Romance
Cover image: Villard
When she was 66 years old, retired schoolteacher Jan Juska placed the following ad in the New York Review of Books: “Before I turn 67--next March--I would like to have a lot of sex with a man I like. If you want to talk first, Trollope works for me." This is not a how to book about sex and aging, but it is a beautifully written memoir that chronicles Juska’s attempt to explore love and lust at 66 and the course of her life up to that point.
Sex and Love for Grownups
Cover image: Pricegrabber
With its question and answer format, this book, which is collected columns from “Modern Love” (a sex column in the American Association of Retired Persons magazine) is easy to follow and offers plenty of answers, and reassurance that you aren’t the only person with questions when it comes to aging and sex.
Still Doing It: (Women & Men over 60 Write About Their Sexuality)
Cover image: Pricegrabber
Sex educator, author, and pioneer Joani Blank has been helping regular people find a voice to their sexual expressions for over 30 years. Still Doing It was her answer to the complete lack of regular voices talking about sex over 60. The book is a wonderful collection of first person stories, some explicit, some not, that most people will find some of their own experience reflected in.
