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This is the week where the focus turns to hearts, love, romance and anything red. Chocolate, flowers, lingerie, jewelry, romantic dinners --- these are the benchmarks on which many relationships are measured on the 14th. The memories created this day can take a friendship to a new height, or the lack of them can spin a couple in a new way.
Bookreporter.com celebrates this holiday and what I call "the love month" with a roundup of books about love, sex and intimacy. And because sometimes love can hurt, we also look at a title on how to survive the breakup of a relationship, or a broken heart! Think about a book for your special love this Valentine's Day. The right one will be remembered long after the flowers have dried and faded, and the chocolates have melted in your mouths.
Let's start with some titles for those who are in committed relationships as we note three titles about building a better relationship or celebrating it.
GETTING THE LOVE YOU WANT: A Guide for Couples
Hendrix Harville, Ph.D.
Owl Books
ISBN: 0805068953
For couples who may have hit a bump in the road, or want to affirm a much deeper marriage this book will serve as a great guide. Note that the path to a more satisfying relationship will require gut-wrenchingly honest conversations between the partners about what does and does not work in their marriage. Whether you are wondering, why did I marry this person, or do I want to stay married to this person, this book can be a primer to get a couple on track.
CAN LOVE LAST?: The Fate of Romance over Time
Stephen A. Mitchell
W.W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393041840
A study in why the sizzle...fizzles! Over time the stars stop shining, the smiles don't shine as brightly and everyone wonders why. Mitchell explores examples in history and literature, and weaves in his knowledge as a psychologist to set the record straight on what happens to romance over time.
LOVE BY THE GLASS: Tasting Notes From A Marriage
John Brecher and Dorothy J. Gaiter
Villard Books
ISBN: 0375505601
This book written by John Brecher and Dorothy J. Gaiter, better known as the couple who writes the wine tasting column for The Wall Street Journal, a job that many readers would covet. This memoir celebrates their marriage and relationship. The interracial couple who met at the Miami Herald celebrates their courtship, marriage and life after children. With just a few bottles of wine along the way!
Let's now turn to books about ....ahem....sex. Books about sex --- explicit books with detailed positions, manuals about how to make the physical act better, and even a 30-day plan for getting your sex life back into shape can make one blush, but brought into the bedroom and poured over with a partner between the sheets, they can heat up a relationship fast!
ADVANCED SEX TIPS FOR GIRLS: This Time It's Personal
Cynthia Heimel
Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 0684849224
Cynthia Heimel is best known for her twenty-year-old title Sex Tips for Girls, which gave women advice on how to get sexual satisfaction. Here she looks at how sex has changed for her as she has grown older in a personal look at sex and how it has changed in her own life! If you loved the first book, you will love to see that the same wit and cynicism creeps in to this title.
THE GREAT AMERICAN SEX DIET: Where the Only Thing You Nibble On... Is Your Partner!
Laura Corn
William Morrow & Co.
ISBN: 0066212782
Thirty days of great sex all mapped out like a guidebook. Whoa. What couple who has been stuck in a sexual rut would not want to explore this one? Corn puts great emphasis on the pleasure of planning sex and anticipation of it. There are tips on how to spice up a marriage for both men and women. For more on this book see, TheGreatAmericanSexDiet.com, and if you want to see what other couples think about the book try the message board here.
HOW TO GIVE HER ABSOLUTE PLEASURE: Totally Explicit Techniques Every Woman Wants Her Man to Know
Lou Paget
Bantam Doubleday Dell
ISBN: 0767904524
Any man hell-bent on pleasing his woman, or any woman hell-bent on wanting sexual satisfaction from her man, will want to pick up this book. While there are tons of ideas on how to make the bells ring, there are also tons of cautionary notes and ideas about how to explore what a woman wants instead of trying to just follow a guidebook to sexual satisfaction.
But what about intimacy? Where are the books about intimacy? Three years ago I asked this question and I am still finding sparse pickings on the subject. I did find one title that talked about finding intimacy, but I certainly wish there were more.
48 HOURS TO A STRONGER MARRIAGE
Bob Bowersox
St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 0312281145
After a while of being together a couple can feel like they know each other too well. And sometimes the second guessing about everything from what to have for dinner, what movie to see and what works in the bedroom may be totally off. This book provides a list of questions for each couple to answer that during a 48-hour period can drive them closer together and strengthen a marriage just by putting both back on common ground. The topics can also serve as a springboard for nightly refreshers as a new level of communication is achieved.
THE GOOD BYE BOOK: How To Heal A Broken Heart In 30 Days
Howard Bronson and Mike Riley
Listening Inst
ISBN: 0963537822
Sometimes love does not last and the ending of it can break your heart. Here Bronson and Riley look at a 30-day plan for getting your life back on course at a time when you think nothing can make it feel better again.
Happy Valentine's Day to all of our readers!
--- Carol Fitzgerald
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Copyright 2002, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved.
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