Sexy book gift list: My top ten

Book preview image from Beneath the Skin by Demetrius González.

I’m trying not to be too gift-listy this year because I know we’re all broke, and the whole gift list thing is just so… done. However, I likely see and read more sex books than most people in the world. (Seen my bookshelves? Ever wonder why people leave my house with gift bags?) So I boiled my list down to ten recommends, and a bonus round of extras — plus, oh yeah, buy my books, especially these, blah blah blah. Even though I think my BWE ’09 rides this year’s erotica books hard and puts them away wet and begging for more, I think it would be crass to put my own stuff on this list. So here we are, 2008’s hottest picks, in no particular order:

* Amorous Woman by Donna George Storey. A langorous, romantic and explicit novel about one American woman’s sexual journey through the Japanese male landscape.
* Hurts So Good edited by Alison Tyler. Not your typical bondage and spanky-spank erotic anthology; full of hot stories and good ideas.
* Never Have the Same Sex Twice also by Alison Tyler; after being in a monogamous het relationship for over a decade and being one of the most prolific erotica writers/editors of our time, she dishes on keeping monogamy hot. And it’s great.
* Opening Up: A Guide to Creating and Sustaining Open Relationships by Tristan Taormino. The opposite, but finally a whole lot of helpful models and practical advice on non-monogamy of any flavor you feel suits you (and your partners) best.
* The Circle by N.T. Morley. Pure smut, superbly written: a novel about female submission that reads like a decadent Andrew Blake film.
* The Transgender Child: A Handbook for Families and Professionals by Stephanie Brill and Rachel Pepper. Should be read by everyone, not just parents (but should be read by all parents, even if to help their kids understand their friends’ issues).
* Lust: Kinky Online Personal Ads from Seattle’s the Stranger by Ellen Forney. Illustrated, a great graphic novel: the bizarre and fun end of the sex ad gene pool, plus the author follows up with some of the advertisers…
* Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach. Hilarious, entertaining, fun and enlightening: Mary takes scence writing (and herself) where neither have gone before. (Note: her and I have a gin drinking date soon…)
* Roy Stuart: Volume 5. See a sample of his work here and know that this is a luxury, explicit collector’s item. And a very hot gift.
* Tasting Him and Tasting Her (Oral Sex Stories, two volumes) edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel. All the stories are sizzling and while it seems like it might be too much of a good thing, remember that anthologies are to be slowly savored over time, and these two are worth it.