As someone who geeks out over psychology, self-help, all things personal growth related and sexuality oriented I almost always have a book or two on my nightstand. As a practitioner I've found that I go through periods of working on similar topics across different spheres and choose my reading material based off of personal interest, likelihood it will be helpful for people I work with, and topics for personal growth in general.
Just like my professional work, I find books also come in themed clusters. I currently have 3 books on my side table, being an ADHDer it's hard to stick to one book cover to cover before starting another one, and variety is the spice of life right? The current books are:
ACE what asexuality reveals about desire, society and the meaning of sex by Angela Chen
Sex for One - The Joy of Self-loving by Betty Dodsen
Untamed by Glenn Doyle
ACE is a book I am revisiting after having read it awhile back. It's a book I'd recommend for anyone who thinks or feels that they approach sexuality and relationships differently than the norm, those that want to deconstruct how sex and sexuality are viewed in relationships and enforced by societal standards, and those who are just damn curious about a way of being that differs from their lived experience. One of the joys of re-reading books at different stages of life is the new awarenesses and takeaways that can be gleaned from the book.
Sex for One is a book I've been meaning to pick up for awhile. Dodson was a clinical sexologist who spent a considerable portion of her life speaking to women's pleasure and challenges with sex, as well as advocacy for mutual pleasure, self-pleasured practice, and body positivity. The book is quite informative and an easy read so far covering topics from liberating self-pleasure to raising sexual consciousness, imagery, orgasms and more. I'm a big advocate of starting with self-pleasure and exploration after traumas, body changes, or feeling stuck/unfilled in your sex life. Bodies change so much over our lifetimes, that sometimes we just need to tune into ourselves again and see what cue was missed.
Untamed, while a chunky hardcover is a lighthearted and insightful foray into the feminine experience in society, natural "next steps", the shoulds, the lessons that didn't make sense, and sexual orientation awakenings. It brings humour to silly and tough topics and is done in short essays and excerpts that are 2-5 pages at a time.
With all that said, what's on your reading list?
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