Books
Pop Culture
The Best Transgender Books for Kids

Happy International Trans Visibility Day (March 31st)! Unfortunately, it’s not all balloons and supportive hugs: Trump’s list of discriminatory actions against the transgender community so far is too long to list in a single post. Him rescinding the Obama administration’s federal guidelines for schools to allow kids to use the public bathrooms that match their […]

Books
5 Terms Every Parent Should Add to Their Sex-Ed Vocabulary

Cory Silverberg is elevating in-home sex-ed to an art form, one kick-ass book at a time. His first kids’ book on reproduction, called WHAT MAKES A BABY (for preschoolers through 2nd-graders), combines inclusive language, helpful descriptions, and bright, bold and beautiful illustrations by Fiona Smyth (that get us all nostalgic for “Free to Be You and Me“) […]

Pop Culture
The Science/Poetry of Kissing

We once heard an interview on NPR with Sheril Kirshenbaum, author of the book “The Science of Kissing: What Our Lips Are Telling Us.” (It was was timed perfectly to come out about a month before Valentine’s Day). The question came up: Are we the only species that kisses? To which Kirshenbaum answered: …Well, scientists have […]

TV
Sex Is Life-Affirming Freedom in “The Handmaid’s Tale” 

[spoiler alert!] When the state controls your body, sex is rape. The “ceremony” scenes in Season 1 of “The Handmaid’s Tale” on Hulu (based on the 1985 seemingly evergreen novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood) made that clear: when a fertile handmaid’s male “master” penetrates her in the presence of his infertile wife, there […]

Pop Culture
10 Things We WON’T Miss from the Fifty Shades Franchise

We finally got closure on our seriously unhealthy relationship with the Fifty Shades juggernaut this past weekend. Fifty Shades Freed, the third and final cinematic adaptation of E.L. James’ best-selling erotica trilogy, was released on Friday — much to the chagrin of hardcore fans and to the relief of movie critics everywhere. The success of […]

News
When Is It Okay to Ban Books from Prisons?

We were amused when we received a letter from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections informing us, as the founders of our imprint Better Half Books, that our beginner’s guide to kink, “150 Shades of Play,” had been denied to all their inmates: We had so many questions! Had a loved one brought an inmate a […]

Pop Culture
The 12 Days of Kinkmas

You know what makes a great, fun, affordable stocking stuffer (that you an still get last minute)? Our book, 150 SHADES OF PLAY: A Beginner’s Guide to Kink! To whet your appetite, may we present our own special sexy sacrilegious spin on a Xmas classic. Enjoy: On the 12th Day of Kinkmas my true sub gave to me…12 […]

Pop Culture
Your New Favorite Book: “The Power” by Naomi Alderman

The Power by Naomi Alderman, which won the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction earlier this year in England, has already been hailed as “our era’s ‘Handmaid’s Tale,’” it’s that good.  The novel imagines women suddenly having the ability, thanks to environmental pollutants, to emit from their hands electrical charges of varying degrees — from prickly […]

How To
How to Cultivate a Sexual Fantasy

If you don’t have a favorite sexual fantasy, then you haven’t spent enough time dirty–day dreaming. Inspiration surrounds you — you just have to seek it out. Browse a sex toy shop, in person or online, for some new gadgets, accessories, videos, or books. Kinky erotica like Anne Rice’s The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty or […]

How To
Relax, Then Do It! How to Decompress for Better Sex

Good sex is no endeavor for the weary — especially, it must be said, for the women among us. Alas, the world — a frenetic, kinetic, frantic, and frenzied place — often makes you so. Your senses are bombarded daily by unpleasantries (can you say rush hour commute?), so you’ve got to take care to […]

How To
The 5 Worst Places to Learn About Sex…and the 5 Best!

by Sarah Marcantonio THE WORST 1. The Movies Most sex scenes in mainstream movies ain’t exactly cinéma vérité: the male lead sweeps the girl off her feet and whisks her away to bed, clothes fall away, abs are sculpted, sweat glistens, birth control is abandoned, discussions about sexual health histories are never had, and simultaneous […]

Dear Em & Lo
Dear Em & Lo, What Books Are a Good Intro to Open Relationships?

Dear Em & Lo, I would like to find literature that I can give to my wife,  on encouraging her to pursue non-monogamous relationships, as this could be good for our relationship. We are a mature couple and I think she and we could benefit from this. Thanks kindly, Open-Minded Dear O.M., First, are you […]

Pop Culture
The Sex(ism) in Orwell’s “1984”

April 4th is the day Winston starts his diary in 1984. Like a million other book clubs across the country, mine just (re)read George Orwell’s 1949 dystopian novel, 1984. Its current publisher said sales increased by 10,000 percent after Trump’s inauguration, and it skyrocketed to #1 on Amazon’s bestseller list shortly after his counselor Kellyanne […]

How To
10 Reasons to Become a Submissive (If Only for a Night)

  1. You want a little freedom from all your daily responsibilities. 2. You’ve been with your partner for a while and things are getting a little routine. 3. You kinda like being held down and tickled. 4. You’ve thought about downloading our incredibly affordable book, “150 Shades of Play: A Beginner’s Guide to Kink.” 5. […]

How To
A 60-Second Master Class in the Subtle Art of Non-Cheesy Dirty Talk

We recently featured some great sex tips from some of the winners of our Wildfire Contest, which asked readers to give us their best tip for lighting up their love life. The following winning entry was so good, it deserved its own dedicated post: Best tip? Easy. Read. Read to her. Read to her in bed and […]

Celebrities
“Cult” Not “Author” Is the JT LeRoy Documentary You Should Watch

Laura Albert is pretending to be someone she’s not. Again. Or maybe she’s telling the truth this time. That’s the problem when someone lies so much to so many people: when should we start believing their stories about wolves? You probably know Albert better as JT LeRoy, the abused, abandoned, HIV-positive, gender-bending, teenaged, trick-turning, literary […]