Bonk by Mary Roach

I've had my eye on Bonk by Mary Roach ever since reading Dewey's review awhile back. It seems that I'm one of a handful of people who had never heard of Mary Roach before. She's done some interesting research in her short time as an author. Her past two books explore human cadavers and links between science and the afterlife and her latest research now takes her into the field of sex with Bonk. The full title of the book is Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex and let me tell you, it makes for one hell of a read. If you're looking for a "how to have great sex" book or something erotic, this is not it. What Roach gives us is a truly entertaining look at the science of sex, the inner workings of sex, and all of the extremely interesting research that goes on in order to learn those things. And she gives us all of this with a laugh out loud sense of humor. Sample chapter titles include "The Princess and her Pea", "Re-Member Me", and "The Immaculate Orgasm, Who Needs Genitals?" among others. The book is not for those who are not open minded to say the least as many scenes are "graphic" if you want to call it that, but the fact is, it's all a part of life. I personally have never had a problem talking about sex so this wasn't an uncomfortable read for me. Roach gives a great history of sex research starting with the early days, pre-Kinsey...stuff I didn't even know about! And then going on to Alfred Kinsey and Masters and Johnson. While reading this, I learned that the hospital that I work at actually used to have a Masters and Johnson clinic where Masters and Johnson actually came and trained the clinicians to treat sexual disorders! How cool is that? Roach then goes on to describe modern sex research sometimes actually taking part in the research herself to get the research done! Talk about a woman committed to her work! I have to say that some of the research being done out there is truly bizarre...but who am I to question it. It at least makes for entertaining reading. I think what I enjoyed more than anything about this book was Mary Roach's footnotes. They are absolutely hilarious and had me laughing out loud. If you read this one, make sure you don't skip them over. This girl really does her research! Another one that I highly recommend!