Real Sex
Real Sex is written by FHM sex specialist Grub Smith, and so by all rights it should be, like FHM, truly dire - the literary equivalent of one of those Channel 5 documentaries ("the Secret Life of Strippers"; "Porn Stars and their Pets" etc). In fact, Grub pulls this off rather well (huh huh), successfully managing to mix good humour and a decent amount of content. Written in the contrived FHM "laddish style", which many might find irritating; but this does at least make it far more accessible than the turgid "Joy of Sex"-style manuals that make good love-making seem as exciting as fridge repair. Real Sex is not a textbook for an A-Level biology module. No linear arousal graphs here - just funny quips, real insights, and more pictures of naked folk getting it on than you could shake a three-speed glow-in-the-dark vibrator at....
Books: Sensational Sex
Before you get too excited, that's "sensory"-sensational, not "Roberto-Di-Matteo-scoring-within-the-first-40-seconds-of-the-1997-FA-Cup"-sensational. Eschewing the potential for cheap titillation, this book approaches the subject of sweet lovin' in a staid and level-headed manner, with a chapter devoted to the erotic potential of each of the five senses: sight, taste, smell, touch and hearing. "Taste" explores the sensual capacity of the mouth and the erotic power of food. "Smell" looks into pheromones and the stimulating properties of perfumes and essential oils, coming to the staggering conclusion that the female is, bizarrely, not automatically aroused by the smell of Strongbow and Hassan's on a potential mate's breath. "Sight" reaches some fairly obvious conclusions about how and why we are attracted to the opposite sex - men like big breasts? Hold the front page!...