kimmie, dearest.

Reading: A YEAR OF SEX by Mia Martina

It’s nearing the end of 2011, and I find myself doing my annual year-in-review. This is something I try to do every year: sit down at my kitchen table and, using my calendars, Twitter, journal entries, and emails, piece together what the past revolution ‘round the sun has been in my life.

One of the things I’ve learned about 2011 was that I was dying for more sexytime. One of the ways I dealt with this desire was to listen to the inimitable Mia On Top’s podcast, I Want Your Sex. Typically, I did this while doing laundry or painting my nails, lounging around in sweatpants wishing my life was as full of hotness as Mia’s was. I’ve developed somewhat of a crush on Mia after meeting her at the first Momentumcon in April 2011— a crush that’s only developed further after listening to her sultry voice and learning that she too is the friend of an incredibly adorable Cocker Spaniel.

As a bookseller, I was thrilled to learn that Mia was writing a book based on the exploits that make up the first part of the I Want Your Sex podcasts. I’m not one for short-story erotica collections, though I’ve tried— I find myself more drawn to erotic novels and memoirs, especially ones that take place in my hometown of New York City. It’s just thrilling to think that all of these adventures are happening right under my nose, and that I too could find myself on a stranger’s mattress during a party surrounded by people I love and people I don’t know at all. It reminds me of that scene in Amelie where she counts how many people in her town are having an orgasm rightthissecond.

A YEAR OF SEX is that book— and it certainly does not disappoint. It’s hot, raw, and honest— and that’s why I like it. Not every sex party is going to end up full of people you’re attracted to. The sex party you say “fuck it” to and just attend even though you’re having a shitty day and don’t feel like going? It might change your life. A YEAR OF SEX also does what few other books on sex do: it provides a playlist to the great, the scintillating, the embarrassing. Everyone knows that fucking is better when you have the perfect soundtrack to accompany it, and Mia has impeccable taste in music. In fact, one of the first lines that had me cracking up as I pulled my laundry out of a washing machine in the East Village one afternoon was this:

There is something to be said for subverting pop songs we’ve heard a thousand times into sexual aids, but the line has to be drawn somewhere. I draw the line at ABBA. If a person spanking me turned our session into disco-era karaoke, I would use my safe word and send the “dancing queen” on his or her way. (p. 29)

I love how freaking New York A YEAR OF SEX is. Hustling into cabs, fancy apartments you’d normally never be in, fierce hot women, rolling your eyes at someone’s terrible choice of music. Do me and yourself a favor. Make 2012 a year of hot sex. And write a very descriptive book about it, along with an amazing playlist, lots of fun and snark, and humble honesty. I can’t wait for the followup.

A YEAR OF SEX is available in ebook format, for download via Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, and Apple iBooks; PDF and print formats pending.