I've judged people by the books they're reading. This happens a lot while riding the NYC subway. Books are that rare life accessory that says a lot about who we are. If you're reading a popular emotional porno like Something Borrowed, it means that you believe in the power of hunky men who'll use their hospital residency off-hours painting your living room lavender while baking a soufflé. There was the dude I saw with the hipster beard, which is defined as a heavily shampooed and conditioned lumberjack beard that DJs Sunday nights, who was reading a dog-eared copy of Tolstoy's War and Peace. That communicated to me that he enjoyed iconic 19th Century literature about the merciless tumult of history, and also he drinks Jameson's watered down with too much ice and will sleep with you if you're a fashion urchin interested in lame literary poses.
Books that can help you deal with marriage problems, get over your ex, survive a divorce and more.
Sometimes you need to read about other people's relationships before coming face to face with your own. We've culled a few favorites that help us deal.
Romance authors penning books with Amish characters as romantic leads.
Talk about an Amish paradise!
The quiant community from Southeastern Pennsylvania are quickly developing their very own Carrie Bradshaw in Cindy Woodsmall—the Amish romance novelist.
Germany's aghast at Wetlands, a sex-drenched new novel by super-cute TV personality, Charlotte Roche. In the novel, the 18-year-old character, Helen, enjoys anal sex and gets off on...avocado pits? (Yes, you read that correctly.) As the New York Times put it, "It is difficult to overstate the raunchiness of the novel, and hard to describe in a family newspaper." That's the best endorsement ever, right?
What it's really like to spend all day spinning sexy stories.
Writing about sex has always been an honorable tradition. Just like good sex, good sex writing is in the details, the images, the scenario, the melding of reality and fantasy. We read erotica for inspiration, sometimes to lose ourselves, though we often find parts of ourselves within the story. Good sex writing paints a picture; it shows as well as tells, and it connects your mind to your body. Sounds good right, the life of an erotica writer? Can't you see me in my sexy lingerie, sitting at my laptop, popping bonbons from a heart shaped dish into my mouth, porno playing as I sample sex toys for research? Unfortunately the reality is very, very different.
A Q&A with the author of Brown Sugar, a collection of erotic black fiction.
Carol Taylor writes erotic literature. She started as an editor in the publishing industry and eventually put out a book of her own called Brown Sugar: A Collection of Erotic Black Fiction. From there she's become a luminary in the world of erotic fiction in general and black erotica specifically. So, how has becoming a sexpert changed her own love life? Not much, she draws some part of her fiction and the rest is, well, fiction. Maureen Dempsey gets all the details in this Q&A.
