Book Review: The Truth About Sex

Katie August 12, 2011 0 Comments

The Truth About Sex is the first of a planned three-volume set of books by renowned bestselling author Dr. Gloria G. Brame that gives adults the basic tools to have a happy and satisfying sex life. The Truth About Sex, Volume 1 – Sex and the Self answers questions like:

• How can you tell if you’re a sex addict?
• How often is healthy to masturbate?
• What are the physical benefits of frequent orgasm?
• What really causes erectile dysfunction?

A complete primer on masturbation, orgasm and new models for talking about, thinking about and understanding your inner sexual identity, The Truth About Sex includes Dr. Brame’s best clinical techniques for improving sexual performance and increasing every adult’s potential for complete sexual satisfaction.

The Truth About Sex offers reality-based models, hard facts and original theories, as well as over a decade of highly successful, results-oriented sex therapy. Using cutting-edge sex and medical studies, historical research and composite case studies from her private practice, Dr. Brame teaches adults how to make sexual ecstasy a reality.

My Thoughts

This book has a lot of facts in it, backed up by research done at many different establishments about sex.  It also includes some situations that Dr. Gloria saw with her work as a sex therapist and how sometimes changing the way you look at things can help change your sex life and your relationships (with yourself and others) for the better.  For instance, one woman couldn’t figure out why her husband no longer wanted to have sex with her and that it was always done when she initiated it – one or two times a week down from seven to ten times.  The first therapist she went to suggested that she was a sex addict and had worn her husband out.  Visiting Dr. Gloria helped her realize that her husband was feeling down because he had lost his job and that is what led to the decrease in sex drive.  The wife was able to help the husband feel better about himself. (And so it turned out that the problem was not that she was a sex addict after all!)

As volume 1 is titled “sex and the self” it is no surprise that the majority of this book is about masturbation and orgasms.  The one thing that is mentioned the most in this book is that no one is “normal” when it comes to these things and it is up to you to find the right way for you.

The book ends with a few exercises to help familiarize yourself with well, yourself by loving yourself in the tub, loving yourself in bed and tips to give yourself an orgasm. (If you know what works it is easier to get your partner to figure it out too!)

About the Author

Gloria G. Brame, Ph.D., is the bestselling author of Different Loving (An Exploration of Sexual Dominance & Submission, a Groundbreaking Study on BDSM/Fetish Subcultures) and Come Hither (A Commonsense Guide to Kinky Sex, for Novices and Experienced Alike). With a Masters degree in English Literature from Columbia and experience as a journalist, her straightforward communication style allows her to share her expertise as a sex therapist and professor of sexology. Her goal is to share radical types of sexuality in a way mainstream audiences can understand and incorporate into their sex lives. More information about Dr. Gloria Brame is available at www.gloriabrame.com. Her full credentials are listed atwww.gloriabrame.com/credentials.

The Truth About Sex is available for purchase at Amazon.com

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review.  All opinions are mind.

Book Review: Havansu Means Blue Water by Ivory Simone

Katie August 9, 2011 0 Comments

At first, I wasn’t sure I was going to get in to this book, but in the end I absolutely loved it and had a hard time putting it down, even as I grew increasingly tired.

The story is about Lyla, a graduate student who is working on her thesis paper.  She chooses a tough subject that brings her to Willburn, Arizona in order to research why a woman was lynched – Mary Alice, or “Black Mary”, many years ago. She meets all kinds of people in Willburn as she goes about her research.  All of the characters were interesting with their own quirks and kept me interested in the story.

This book can be purchased at Amazon.com

Q&A with the author

What inspired you to write Havasu Means Blue Water

My family history. I grew up listening to my grandfather who told me stories about his grandfather–a black Indian who came out of slavery as a boy.  I found a 1780s census record with my great-great-grandfather’s name and background information. The record confirms my grandfather’s oral history was correct. This family history took on new meaning when I worked for a Native American Tribe years later. Both of these invents laid the foundation for Havasu Means Blue Water.

Does “havasu” mean blue water?

Yes, it does. In the Mojave language it means “blue water”. One of the characters in the story is a descendant of a Mojave tribe decimated by disease and other anti-Indian government policies.

About the Book

Wilburn, Arizona is a dying town full of broken people. A town with a violent past and a festering grudge held against all those responsible for its plight. When feisty graduate student, Lyla Amir, comes to the town to research the 1918 lynching of a black farmer and his wife by the people of Wilburn, she becomes the catalyst for a series of transformative events that will rewrite the town’s history and give it a chance for redemption.

Author Bio
Ivory Simone is an author and poet currently living in Bangkok, Thailand. Ms. Simone is the author of two books, “Havasu Means Blue Water”, a literary fiction about a dying southwestern town’s rocky road to redemption, and, “The Rainy Season, The Poems, Prose and Writings of Ivory Simone”, a collection of poems, prose and essays written. Both books are available at www.lulu.com. Ms. Simone is the creator and host of two online programs: “Bangkok Poetry Streams”, podcasts devoted to the reading and enjoyment of poetry and prose (http://web.me.com/ivorysimone), and, “Take A Bite Out The Big Mango”, a popular blogtalkradio show about ex-pat lifestyles and happenings in-and-around Bangkok (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ivorysimone ). Ms. Simone is the founder of the OneWoman/OneHouse Organization. A grassroots group committed to helping rebuild Haiti by using art as a tool for social justice. She is currently raising funds to build a safe house for rape victims in Haiti. For more information about this effort go to the:OneWoman/OneHouse website.  Ms. Simone also launched a facebook action group to raise public awareness about the pervasive racial discrimination people of African descent face in countries all around the world called, “The Lift Every Voice Campaign: A Million Voices Raised Against Global Racism”.   Follow this link to find out more about the campaign: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_130975403632717

Book Review: The Little Red Book of Wisdom

Katie August 7, 2011 0 Comments

The Little Red Book of Wisdom is a book by Mark DeMoss.

The Little Red Book of Wisdom offers time-tested principles for professional and personal fulfillment.

Mark DeMoss gathers insights for living wisely from history, Scripture, and a lifetime of listening. The result is a handy, accessible book that gives readers a new way to enjoy lasting success in the work world and beyond. Topics include finding and keeping your focus in life, building a winning corporate culture, and setting aside time for good thinking.

Mark DeMoss is president of the DeMoss Group, a public relations firm he founded in 1991 specifically to serve Christian organizations and causes.  More than 150 nonprofit organizations and corporations have sought counsel and support from his firm in the areas of communications, media relations, branding, marketing, nonprofit managing, and crisis management.  Mark and his wife, April, live in Atlanta, Georgia, with their children. His father, the late Arthur S. DeMoss, was a successful businessman, having pioneered direct response marking of life insurance through the National Liberty Corporation, which he founded.

While some of the quotes in this book are based of scripture, there are a lot that are not.  There are 25 chapters each focusing on wisdom for various aspects in your life.  One chapter focuses on twitter and social networking and even quotes what John Mayer had posted on his blog when he decided it was time for him to quit twitter.  A chapter is devoted to the art of letter writing, a seemingly lost cause.  (But one I try to continue through postcard writing.  Not exactly the same as a letter since space is limited but handwritten and requiring a stamp to get anywhere just the same.)

This book can be read easily all in one sitting as I read it – or like other books I have read and reviewed you can choose to break it down and read one of the 25 chapters each night before bed or every morning when you first wake up to give you a different perspective on how you should live your life that day.

Some of the chapter’s relate to things that have gone on in Mark’s life: his father passing away at 53 leaving his mother to take care of their 7 children aged 8 to 22, their house burning down when Mark was a child.  Other chapters relate wisdom to things that he knows from friends or that had happened to others.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”