Babes – it’s crazy out here. I can’t lie that I have been overwhelmed, underwhelmed, overworked, and lacking sleep the past couple of months. This quarantine comes at an interesting time for me, and I hope it finds you able to step back from the complexities of your typical day-to-day life to find positive changes to come. I hope everyone is staying safe, above all. This month I wanted to give you a few sex reminders for this strange time, and my book recommendations as of the past week.

Emma’s Two Cents: Spend some quality time with yourself, just like my single friends – reference Chapter 1 one more time. Getting to know yourself is a great practice in self-care – trust and believe!

If you’re in a committed relationship and seeing your spouse every day, perhaps both in full work-from-home mode – remember history’s message of baby booming times. (Ha!) If you’re not ready, take the proper precautions. If you feel in a lull, because of your constant proximity – try something new. (Phone sex from different rooms? IDK – get creative….we may be here awhile). IF your partner is still working outside the house, I’ll just say that now is a superb time as any for creative shower sex.

If you are someone who is dating multiple partners, my advice would honestly be to pause. Step back for the time being, because even though I know you’re practicing safe sex, there are so many other precautions to measure at this point. Spend some quality time with yourself, just like my single friends – reference Chapter 1 one more time. Getting to know yourself is a great practice in self-care – trust and believe!

Okay – so now for a few book recommendations. I have been attempting to listen to audiobooks lately, which are normally not my go-to. I recently finished Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know by Malcolm Gladwell. It’s intelligent, interesting, and I was captivated through the whole 8 hours and 45 minutes. It reads very much like a podcast, so if you’re like me and have a hard time with audio, it might be a good one to try! I’m now listening to Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng – because Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington are in the Hulu show, so duh.

I’m currently reading three books – I know, I know – but remember, I’m a librarian… It’s kind of a must with the job. I try to read very different books at the same time, so I don’t intertwine plotlines.

Ayurveda Made Easy: 50 Exercises for Finding Health, Mindfulness and Balance by Heidi E. Spear (Adult Non-fiction)

All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace (Y.A. Fiction – fantasy, to put it in very short terms: warrior-esque mermaids… so, again, duh)

emma seven.jpg — *Where The Crawdads Sing* by Delia Owens (Adult Fiction – coming of age, murder mystery set in the south – highly recommend)

If you don’t have a library card – you can still get one! There are downloadable cards available through the Cincinnati Public Library website. If you don’t know your library card number, phone lines are still open, so just give us a call! Overdrive and Libby are great apps to use for free library materials.

Much love to you all and continue staying safe – with some fun, too.

Until next time! X.O.,

Emma

Community Mix is our monthly hodge-podge of content from the voices of a hodge-podge of beautiful Cincinnatians. Catch “By the Book” from your local librarian Emma Willig on the first Saturday of every month for a journey through the strange and wonderful world of sex.

Sex Talk, Chapter 7: Books and Sex in the Time of Quarantine

Emma’s Two Cents: Spend some quality time with yourself, just like my single friends – reference Chapter 1 one more time. Getting to know yourself is a great practice in self-care – trust and believe!