LET’S READ ABOUT SEX, BABY!

Five reads about sexuality to add to your bookshelves

RADHIKA SANTAWANAM OR THE APPEASEMENT OF RADHIKA

Translated by

Sandhya Mulchandani Originally written in Telugu in the 1700s by the royal courtesan Muddapalini, this is an erotic classic and is possibly the most gorgeous tale of love, arousal and pleasure.

THE JOY OF SEX

Dr. Alex Comfort

This book is an illustrated sex manual published first in 1972. Modelled on The Joy of Cooking, this 1972 book created a sexual revolution. Comfort realised his patients wanted to love sex – they were just waiting to be taught how to love it, which is also essential!

AMARU SHATAKA

Translated by Andrew Schelling Written ahead of its time! The great Adi Shankaracharya, to learn the philosophy of Kama, enters the body of King Amaru so he can make love to the women of his harem – a different one every night for a hundred nights, because he realises each woman is different, each mood is different and with that each experience is different.

COME AS YOU ARE: THE SURPRISING NEW SCIENCE THAT WILL TRANSFORM YOUR SEX LIFE

Emily Nagoski I almost didn’t read this book because of the word ‘science’ in the title. The secret to reclaiming desire is to ‘come back to yourself’, to stop telling yourself that what you’re doing is wrong and go back to experiencing pleasure as you find it, not as someone else thinks you should find it.

THE ART OF BEING NORMAL

Lisa Williamson

With a lot of turns and twists, this is a story about a transgender teenager, written from the perspective of the generation that will live this evolving reality. This book is not just informative, it is funny, honest, poignant.

Seema Anand is a London-based mythologist and narrative practitioner who is an acknowledged authority on the Kama Sutra