Book Review- He Comes Next by Ian Kerner
I just finished (like literally 5 minutes ago) reading
He Comes Next: The Thinking Woman's Guide to Pleasuring a Man by Ian Kerner. I was skeptical, but it was actually pretty good. He has also written
She Comes First, and
Be Honest, You're Not That Into Him Either. The title might make you think its just a how-to guide for giving better blow jobs, but fear not! Its actually a really good overview of male sexuality. I will say I take any sort of gender generalizations with a grain of salt. Not all men have trouble expressing their emotions, not all women love to cuddle after sex. So when reading this book, I would keep your particular man in mind. The book is definitely geared towards those in long term relationships. It often deals with how to put the desire back into your love life after it has waned. It talks a lot about some of the brain chemistry that I mentioned in my
previous post, as well as building real intimacy. Depending on your relationship, you may feel like you've already progressed passed some of the topics mentioned, but I think it could be beneficial to anyone in a committed relationship.
Labels: book review, men, sex
Book Review: The Secret Lives of Men and Women
On a whim yesterday, I picked up one of the
PostSecret books at the library. This one is called
The Secret Lives of Men and Women. If you are unfamiliar with PostSecret, the concept is simple. People mail in post cards on which they have written their secrets. They are posted on the website, and have been compiled into three books so far. Many of the postcards are handmade collages. The secrets people send in vary from "I rescheduled a business conference so I wouldn't miss my dogs birthday," to "I've been with my wife for 20 years and she doesn't know who I am." They are funny, heartbreaking, and disturbing, sometimes all on the same page.
Why am I reviewing this book here? Why havn't I been reading more books that will help you meet the person of your dreams? Because if you want to understand people and relationships, this book is an excellent place to start.
Labels: book review
Ok...so there is a little religion...
My cousin recently loaned me a book titled The Power of a Praying Wife among a couple other books by Stormie O’Martian. I’m not going to get into the religious aspects here, but there is something I found interesting in what her methods do to cause change in the relationship.
The purpose of the book is to cause healing in a troubled marriage through prayer. Instead of praying for yourself/your marriage, the book asks that you pray for your husband instead. It pulls your focus off of your own desires and forces you to look at your partner. Praying for someone, in general, causes you to have more patience, understanding, compassion and affection toward that person. It also reduces conflict because it asks the wife to turn to prayer instead of reacting negatively when the husband is being a tool. It basically breaks the cycle of conflict.
Ok. I got that. But what I REALLY found interesting is that the very first thing you are told to pray for is your husband’s wife. In essence, you are praying for yourself only after taking your own selfish desires out of the equation. You are praying for God to help you become a better person the way He wants you to be, not the way you want to be. While that may seem strange to a non-believer, it seems to me to be a key element of a happy relationship. You don’t have to be religious to have a successful relationship but you do need to be unselfish in your love for your partner.
For a lot of people in failing marriages, that it a revolutionary concept.
…
On a personal note, I have been praying for my hubby in the aspects she advises, not because our marriage is failing but because I want to keep it from getting there. On Saturday the topic was to pray for his work (that he not be lazy or a workaholic, that he find balance, that he only does “good” work, etc.). He ended up getting reamed by his manager that evening because he was working on a personal project when he had work to do. It may not seem like the answer to my prayer until you know how much his projects have been interfering in our relationship. When he came home he was talking about how he realize that he was letting these projects distract him from doing what he should be doing blah blah blah…which is EXACTLY what I had been trying to make him see for the last couple of months…
Maybe there is something to all of this…*shrug*Labels: book review, marriage
Book Review - Offbeat Bride
I just finished reading Offbeat Bride: Taffeta-Free Alternatives for Independent Brides by Ariel Meadow Stallings. It is AWESOME. Here is the thing, I hate weddings. HATE THEM. Yet sometime in the near future I'll be getting married. So how does one reconcile her independent bad-ass self with the nightmare that is the Wedding Industrial Complex? Stallings interviews many "offbeat brides" and shares the details about her own non-traditional wedding to help you plan your own. This book doesn't list "how-to"s so much as give you the benefit of experience and inspire you to think outside the box. If bridal magazines are all the same old boring shit to you, then read this book! I think the best thing that she points out is that people like going to non-traditional weddings. Who wants to go to the same old church affair that you could quote from memory? Especially among folks around that age where it seems like there is a wedding to go to every couple months, a non-traditional wedding is simply more fun! I definitely recommend this book to anyone with a wedding in their future, and I especially recommend reading it *before* you immerse yourself in bridal magazines and weddingchannel.com.
Labels: book review, offbeat bride, weddings
