I have recently come across this book by Tara Parker-pope, author of the New York Times‘s Well blog.  I’ve always liked her stuff in the New York Times, so I thought I’d give this book a try.  I was a little surprised to learn that one of the reasons she wrote the book was to explore some of the reasons why she thought her own marriage had recently ended in divorce.  But I did really appreciate her candor and approach to this subject.  This is a great book, chock full of current and fascinating research on why a marriage succeeds.  She explores areas such as monogamy, love, sex, children, money, and housework—and provides lots of good, practical advice.

I think this is a book everyone should read – especially those who are contemplating marriage.  It is so important to know this stuff prior to the “I Do.”  To find out more about the book, click here

According to London psychotherapist and clinical researcher Brett Kahr, virtually every sexually mature adult generates sexual fantasies that fulfill a wide variety of often unconscious psychological needs. Fantasies include themes of rape, infidelity, homosexuality, pedophilia, incest and, apparently for some Brits, kinky sex with the queen and Margaret Thatcher.  Based on the largest-ever survey of sexual fantasies, and drawing on the author’s twenty-five years of clinical practice, this “anatomy of secret desire” does for sexual fantasy what Kinsey did for sexual behavior. However, unlike Kinsey’s books, which were dense and data-driven, Who’s Been Sleeping in Your Head? features narrative accounts of sexual fantasies and the author’s own insightful interpretations of how those fantasies affect our lives. Kahr reveals the astonishing truth behind secrecy, shame and taboo, and demonstrates how sex fantasies exert a more powerful influence on our emotions, behavior, and relationships than we ever imagined.

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From the front lines of today’s sexual battlefield comes an eye-opening examination of the hookup culture, seen through the personal experiences of the teenage girls and young women who live it-and who are left unprepared for its consequences. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author presents a disturbing and enlightening indictment of the hookup culture, the social forces that contribute to it, and what can be done to change it.

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Mary Pipher’s groundbreaking book, exposed the toxic environment faced by adolescent girls in our society. Now, from the same publisher, comes Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys by Dan Kindlon and Michael Thompson, which does the same for adolescent boys. Boys suffer from a too-narrow definition of masculinity, the authors assert as they expose and discuss the relationship between vulnerability and developing sexuality, the “culture of cruelty” boys live in, the “tyranny of toughness,” the disadvantages of being a boy in elementary school, how boys’ emotional lives are squelched, and what we, as a society, can do about all this without turning “boys into girls.” “Our premise is that boys will be better off if boys are better understood–and if they are encouraged to become more emotionally literate,” the authors assert. As a tool for change, Kindlon and Thompsom present the well-developed “What Boys Need,” seven points that reach far beyond the ordinary psychobabble checklist and slogan list. Kindlon (researcher and psychology professor at Harvard and practicing psychotherapist specializing in boys) and Thompson (child psychologist, workshop leader, and staff psychologist of an all-boys school) have created a chilling portrait of male adolescence in America. Through personal stories and theoretical discussion, this well-needed book plumbs the well of sadness, anger, and fear in America’s teenage sons. –Ericka Lutz –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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