- Welcome to the first video that I am filming
in my new studio space.
Still got bits to play around with.
The doors on this cupboard are the wrong colour,
but the new colour will be coming soon.
I don't know when, but that will be changing,
and maybe other things will be changing.
It's all a big experiment.
But one thing that I knew for sure
was that in my new office/studio space,
I wanted some bookshelves,
specifically bookshelves for my work books.
And so that, essentially, to me, means non-fiction,
sex and relationships, feminism, bodies books.
And so what happened was, I built these shelves
and then I got all of my non-fiction sex books from home
and populated the shelves with them,
and then I was like, "Oh, these shelves are quite empty."
And that's basically because I've been holding back,
I have not been buying many books recently
because I just filled up my shelves at home.
But now, I've got loads of space on here
for my extensive TBR,
and I've got space on my shelves back at home
for my leisure fiction reading books as well.
So I have been very busy buying books recently,
and I wanted to show you them.
So I have, I think, 20 books to show you.
What have I done?
And essentially what I have done
is I've physicalized my TBR.
My TBR was previously digital.
I use Story Graph, by the way,
if you want to follow me there
to follow what I'm reading and all of that stuff.
And so I went on my Story Graph TBR,
I filtered it to non-fiction and I went through and thought,
"Okay, what are my priorities?
"What are the things that I want to have on my shelf
"and kind of be staring at me, like,
"'Read me, Hannah.
"'Read me.
"'Why aren't you reading me yet?'"
So I've just basically created just more of a pressure TBR
because it's physically there,
instead of just in the digital space where I can ignore it.
So I have 20 books.
I have split them into five categories,
but with the nature of the overarching category.
All of these categories bleed into each other
and there's books that would fit into multiple categories.
But that being said, we have sex, relationships, LGBTQ+,
feminism, which is also kind of being used
as just miscellaneous,
and bodies, but currently the two bodies books
that are in this category are just period books,
so that's fun.
So let's start.
I'm just gonna grab one of these piles
and see which one it is.
So I'm just gonna go, woo!
Okay, we're actually starting with the period books.
The period books!
So this first one was actually gifted to me.
"Be Period Positive: Reframe Your Thinking
"and Re-Shape the Future of Menstruation" by Chella Quint.
Chella is an amazing period activist woman,
knowledgeable person, amazing.
She created the Be Period Positive pledge,
which organisations and schools can take,
and I'll leave a link in the description
if you're interested in what that means.
But I'm really excited for this book.
It's literally just come out recently, I believe,
and it's colourful and illustrations.
The other period book, which has been on my TBR for a while
and I cannot believe that I have not read this yet,
is "Period Power" by Maisie Hill.
"Harness your hormones and get your cycle working for you."
I hear a lot of praise for this book
and Maisie is just wonderful.
It is a big one though.
I wasn't expecting it to be so big, so.
TBR, the pressure of the physical TBR.
Next.
Ooh, we have the relationships books.
So first up,
we have "In the Dream House" by Carmen Maria Machado.
So I have her other book, which I also haven't read,
but I was recently book shopping with my friend Sana
and she picked up this book
and she seemed to have had it come highly recommended
and was interested in reading it,
and then I got jealous and so I picked it up myself as well.
What I understand about it is that it's kinda like a memoir
and it details the story of when the author
lived with her girlfriend,
and I don't wanna put words in her mouth
'cause I've not read it yet,
but I think it's an abusive or toxic relationship situation.
The blurb on the back just says,
"With a charismatic but volatile woman."
So it kinda documents this relationship.
I'm kinda interested in that,
and it's meant to be very literary as well,
like interestingly formatted.
Next up, we have Esther Perel's books.
Oh my God, I love this woman.
I've watched her Ted Talks just on repeat so many times.
Her podcast is also brilliant.
And yet, these have been on my TBR for years,
and yet, I have not read the two books
that basically her Ted Talks were based off.
So "Mating in Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence"
is the one that her first Ted Talk is based on,
which is about desire in long-term relationships,
and "The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity"
is the one that her infidelity Ted Talk is all about.
I just wanna read these.
"Can we desire what we already have?
"Does good intimacy always make for hot sex?"
Very exciting.
And finally, another classic that has been on my TBR
for so long, and also is a big one, wasn't expecting this,
is "The Ethical Slut".
But essentially, this book is all about ethical non-monogamy
and this is the third edition, updated and expanded,
by Janet W Hardy and Dossie Easton.
"200 thousand copies sold!"
I know that there's lots of books about polyamory
and ethical non-monogamy that have come out since this book,
but because this book is just kind of such a staple,
it's just one that always comes up,
I just, I wanted to start here.
So those are the relationships books.
Next we have,
all right, it is my feminism miscellaneous pile.
I actually don't really know what category
these would be in.
But we have "Pleasure Activism:
"The Politics of Feeling Good",
written and gathered by Adrienne Maree Brown.
I have been looking for this book for so long.
Not available on Waterstones,
not available on bookshop.org,
just impossible to get ahold of.
And then one day, I was just browsing in Gay's The Word
and there it was.
There it was!
The first line of the blurb says,
"How do we make social justice
"the most pleasurable human experience?"
How do we?
I would like to know.
That sounds fun.
Ooh, there's pictures!
"Where do you learn stigma?
"Pussy power."
Next up is "Three Women" by Lisa Taddeo.
This looks like a fiction book.
Doesn't it look like a fiction book?
But it is non-fiction
and the author basically spent eight years
with three different women, just following their lives,
and this is a story about them,
and it is just highly recommended, highly reviewed.
Apparently great book.
I don't know anything else about it,
I'm going in very blind,
but I quite like that about books sometimes.
Next up is "Sex and World Peace"
by Valerie M Hudson, Bonnie Ballif-Spanvill,
Mary Caprioli and Chad F Emmett,
and I believe that this was on my TBR
because Emma Watson recommended it at some point.
I might be wrong about that,
but that is the vague memory that I have.
And I'll also just read the first line
of the blurb of this one,
"'Sex and World Peace' argues that the security of women
"is a vital factor in the overall security of the state
"and its incidents of conflict and war."
Slightly out of my comfort zone, this book,
but a good reason to read it.
Next, over here.
Oh my God, come on, you can do it Hannah.
LGBTQ+ books.
So I have "Trans Britain: Our Journey from the Shadows",
edited by Christine Burns.
This is a history of trans Britain,
and I love me some sexual history.
I did history at uni, so history stuff,
I have a whole history section on my bookshelves.
Big fan, and this has been highly recommended
and heard lots of good things about it.
"Can Everyone Please Calm Down:
"A Guide to 21st Century Sexuality" by Mae Martin.
I adore Mae Martin.
That show, "Feel Good" on Netflix, watch it, so good.
And this is their YA book about sexuality,
and I've always loved their insights
into gender and sexuality and everything in their comedy,
so excited to read this, and we have the same publisher.
Next is "Gender Euphoria: Stories of Joy
"from Trans, Non-Binary and Intersex Writers",
edited by Laura Kate Dale.
I have no memory of how this ended up on my TBR,
but when I saw it there, I was like, "Looks great.
"I will get that."
Oh, this is published by Unbound.
Unbound are a crowd funded publisher.
I like them a lot.
So yeah, I'm excited to dip into this.
Next we have "The Spectrum of Sex:
"The Science of Male, Female and Intersex"
by Hida Viloria and Maria Nieto, PhD.
So I can't remember exactly how this ended up on my TBR.
I think maybe Hida or Hida was a guest speaker
in one of the webinars
from my Sexuality Educator course that I did,
or their name was mentioned during the Intersex webinar.
I cannot remember.
But either way, I looked them up and this book appeared
and I was like,
"Yes, I would like to learn more about that."
Next up, we have "Untamed" by Glennon Doyle.
I've heard so many amazing things about this.
My friend Elena was reading it recently.
And essentially, Glennon Doyle was married to a man
and I believe had kids with him,
and then when she was older, fell in love with a woman
and left her husband for this woman,
and it's all about, what is it?
"Stop pleasing and start living."
It's all about her experience of that, sexuality
and just being true to yourself, essentially.
And then we have "Top to Bottom:
"A Memoir and Personal Guide Through Phalloplasty"
by Finlay Games.
Finlay is a member of our community.
Finlay watches my videos
and he actually reached out to me about his book.
He has a great YouTube channel as well
where he talks all about being a trans man
and guides and his experiences with phalloplasty,
and then this is his book that I believe is out now,
let me check.
Oh I don't know, it says 2021.
At some point this year, it maybe is out, maybe not yet.
All about phalloplasty, his experience,
and then also just pack-ton of information in here.
So thank you, Finlay.
And then finally, the sex pile.
Just sex.
That's not true, is anything just about sex?
So first up is "Sex and Social Media"
by Katrin Tiidenberg and Emily van der Nagel.
This was recommended to me by one of you
because one of these people is your tutor at university?
This is the vague memory I have
around how this ended up on my TBR.
Now I have it, so thank you for that recommendation.
Sex and social media, two of the things
that I spend most of my time
thinking about and talking about.
Another small red one.
What is it about small red sex books?
Love it.
Is "The Psychology of Sex",
which is part of "The Psychology of Everything" series,
and this is by Meg-John Barker.
I adore Meg-John.
They are a brilliant writer and thinker
around all things sex and relationships,
and I also interviewed them on my podcast "Doing It",
I think, for season one as well.
So yes, very excited for this,
and I also know that someone in my Patreon
in the Common Room was talking about reading this
in the Discord server recently,
and that's what prompted me to be like,
"Okay, I'm gonna get it.
"I've gotta get it and read it."
Next up, we have "Boys and Sex: Young Men on Hookups, Love,
"Porn, Consent and Navigating the New Masculinity"
by Peggy Orenstein.
This is the follow up to a book that she did
that was called "Girls and Sex".
I didn't buy that one, however,
because I couldn't find the edition
that essentially looked like this,
and I wanted my copies to match.
But I have the boys one
and at some point, I will get the girls one too I guess.
But yes, lots of talk about masculinity at the moment,
men being left out of the conversations and all of that,
so I'm interested,
I'm interested to hear what some young men think about sex.
Next up, we have "Magnificent Sex".
What is going on with this cover?
What is this cover?
I hate it.
"Lessons from Extraordinary Lovers"
by Peggy J Kleinplatz and A Dana Menard.
I bought this book because Emily Nagoski recommended it.
And so, essentially, if you want to have a good sex life,
if you want to have better sex,
they did some research essentially into looking at people
who I guess self-report having great sex
and what are the factors in that and in their relationships
and in their sex life.
So, interesting.
And finally, another one that has been on my TBR for so long
is "The Ultimate Guide to Sex and Disability:
"For All of Us Who Live with Disabilities,
"Chronic Pain and Illness"
by Miriam Kaufman, Cory Silverberg and Fran Odette.
Sex and disability is something that I've talked
a lot more about over the last few years,
and interviewed people on my podcast about as well,
and I just wanna see what's going on in here
and just kind of help build up
that knowledge and understanding more.
So that's it.
I believe those are my 20 books, I think it's 20,
that I am now going to add back onto my bookshelf.
Have you read any of these books already,
or are there any that are on your TBR,
or are there any that you're like,
"I can't be bothered reading it,
"but I hope Hannah does so she can tell us about it"?
Which one of those books is that,
so then that can help me prioritise what to read.
Thank you so much for watching
and just a special thank you to my Patrons.
We are on the long and winding road to one thousand patrons
and it just would not be possible for me
to have this studio, have this office space
and a separation of work and home if it wasn't for them,
and I've just got lots of exciting things
to come in this space,
and I'm so excited to be working here.
It feels so cool, even if I am all on my lonesome.
And I absolutely love this space
and I've loved just fixing it all up
and getting all of the bits in.
So yeah, I hope that you like it too
and I'll definitely show you
some more corners of it in the future.
But it's not quite there yet.
If you want to see an empty studio tour,
that's over on my More Hannah YouTube channel
if you are interested in seeing what it was like before.
But yeah, thank you so much for watching.
Make sure to subscribe and like and do all of that stuff
and I will see you in my next video.
Bye!
(light music)