The Bright List

Anal Pleasure and Health -- Jack Morin's Bible On Audio

Anal Pleasure and Health: A Guide for Men, Women, and Couples, by Jack Morin

I consider Jack Morin among my trinity of sex education mentors. His teaching, writing, and orginality are my gold standard.

There's few books written about anal sex OR anal/rectal health, but APAH  is the Owner's Manual.  —A rare bird of healthcare, guidance, sociology, therapy— as much about health as it is about pleasure. 

Whether you're dealing with the erotic aspects of anal sex and fantasy, or you're wondering why post-partum hemmorrhoids are driving you insane (sound familiar?) this is your Bible. 

All the superstitions and myths about anal sex are blown away. Narrated by Colin Unsinn in comfortable, intelligent chapters, Morin gives specific guidance on relaxation, being at ease in your body, types of anal stimulation, and how to just have fun! 

While you're at it, check out Jack's other books: Men Loving Themselves, (photography and oral history, beautiful)— and,  The Erotic Mind, the best work ever on why we fantasize, and the wherefores of what we fantasize about. Taking the questionnaire at the end of his book is like having the therapist you've always dreamed of.

 Love you, Jack.

-SB

Suggestion Box: What Do You Want to Listen To?

If you're an audiobook fan who wonders why your favorite book isn't in audio...  let's do something about it!

Some of my best choices as an editor were produced because friends recommended titles to me.

If you have a book to suggest, email me: with the title, author, publisher, and year.

Here's a little behind-the-scenes insight on how audiobooks get made:

Famous Books, Especially Famous Books By Dead Authors

If you don't see a "famous title" in audio, it's probably because there is an estate fight between surviving family members, agents, publishers, and ex-lovers.  Large amounts of money and soothed feathers will have to be employed before you see this beloved title in audio. Bummer!

 

Reaching Out to Your Favorite Author

Many authors don't know whether their work is in audio or not, nor have any idea whether there's any interest.

It's a new notion to many writers—  in the past, they may have thought they weren't welcome, that audio was just for "bestsellers."  That's not true anymore.

If you write them a personal note--- most authors these days are easy to find on the Web-- they will be BLOWN away. There's very few writers who get much fan mail or genuine feedback. —So write them! Tell them you love them and you want to listen to their work.

One admirer's prompt is all it takes for most authors to phone their agent or publisher, and say, "Hey, why don't we make an audiobook?"

 

Is the Audiobook World Open to All Comers? 

Back in the tape-cassette and CD days, audio was expensive to produce, cumbersome to sell and store— not something you could stash in your pocket. Consequently, few titles were acquired; they tended to be airport bestsellers, or library classics. The audiobook industry was conservative in its tastes.

I remember when I was first trying to get one of my books produced on audio, in the early 90s. The Big Cheese of An UnNamed Audiobook Company told me that my work would NEVER be recorded, because someone might drive off a bridge and have an accident, listening to it!

Digital audio has changed all that. It's so easy to download and listen, to bookmark your place, to move back and forth from print to audio— listeners  nowadays are a diverse, demanding bunch. They want to hear everything!

If you don't see your favorite subject in audio, it's not for lack of interest... we're just pedaling as fast as we can. If you see outlier topics missing, neglected authors, overlooked wonderful titles, TELL ME. I'll do something about it.

 

Joan Roughgarden's Queer, Kinky Animal Kingdom

Evolution’s Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and People, by Joan Roughgarden

If you've ever read stories about “gay dolphins” and the like, you can thank the work of evolutionary biologist Joan Roughgarden.

Roughgarden's book Evolution's Rainbow has caused huge amounts of controversy since it was first published in 2004, depicting a natural world in which animals' lives are teeming with the same variety in their sex lives and behaviors as any human being— but without the moral outrage.

Alfred Kinsey supposedly once said that "The only unnatural sex act is that which you cannot perform." Roughgarden takes that sentiment and runs with it, giving example after example of just how broad the spectrum of "natural" sex and gender really is in the animal world.

For instance, meet the bighorn sheep: macho males live apart from the females and have lots of anal sex to keep them occupied during the mating off-season. Then they rely on feminine males to broker sex between them and the ladies.

Same-sex swan couples happen to be far better parents than their hetero counterparts. Fish bros work together to get laid.  Those doves aren’t actually monogamous. Through impeccable empirical evidence, Roughgarden opens up a world where humans aren’t the center of the universe, and animals have their own dramas and life cycles to get through.

Roughgarden also explores the world of science itself, shining a light on scientists who have refused to acknowledge that animals engage in homosexual behavior, or any gender roles that deviate from the classic Darwinian model of promiscuous males competing for picky females. Sometimes, it's just the opposite!

Narrated by the delightful Carrington MacDuffie.

--Aretha Bright

Saddle Up, Beauties— and Bring a Crop: "The Marketplace" is on Audio

The Marketplace, by Laura Antoniou

Back in the 90s— a time when S/M was still "too hot too handle in the downtown bookstore"— Laura Antoniou's The Marketplace was THE Story of O for the smart-girl BDSM set.

Don't even try to compare it to 50 Shades of Blah-- this is the real thing, both writing-wise and sexwise. A pony-girl classic!

Marketplace stands out for its characters’ depth and believability— and its feminist approach to sexual submission. (Isn’t it so much better that way?) 

You'll follow the trials of four ambitious "slaves" as they undergo training in order to be accepted into the secret underground society of masters and slaves (and ponies). 

Audiobook narrated by the drool-worthy British voice of Elizabeth Jasicki.

--Aretha Bright