Rachelle’s Reading List
Here are some resources you can utilize, together, as a couple, to grow in your marital sexual relationship. As in any relationship, learning and reading together as a couple is a great way to grow together and gain a united, harmonious perspective.
Choose a time and place where you can be alone. Privacy is key. Try to find a setting where you can respect the adult nature of the content.
Make yourselves comfortable! Try reading in your bedroom, in bed.
Alternate reading aloud to each other, and create room for discussion. Pause and reflect with each other: do you agree with the author? Does it apply to you as an individual or to your partner? Is this something you would like to address in your marriage? Be supportive and vulnerable when discussing. Reading will give words to ideas and topics that will be mutually beneficial. The goal is not to point fingers, but to gain further intimacy and honesty with each other.
If there are exercises or questions in the book, make sure to do them together. You want to take full advantage of your time and resources.
Celebration of Sex
Dr. Douglas Rosenau.
The book begins with the importance of sex and romance in a marriage; a great foundation for Christian couples.
The Married Guy’s Guide to Great Sex
Clifford and Joyce Penner.
Although it is for men in title, it is still an informative and transformative book for couples to read together.
enjoy: the gift of sexual pleasure for women
The compliment to The Married Guy’s Guide to Great Sex.
THE GIFT OF SEX: A GUIDE TO SEXUAL FULFILLMENT
by Clifford and Joyce Penner
A great manual written by leading sex therapists, filled with many practical takeaways.
SECRETS OF EVE
by Archibald Hart, Catherine Hart-Webber, & Debra Taylor Thomas
An assembled account of over 2000 Christian women; this will help both husbands and wives a framework for understanding the woman’s experience in marriage.
WHEN TWO BECOME ONE: ACHIEVING SEXUAL INTIMACY IN MARRIAGE
by Christopher & Rachel McCluskey
This highlights the spiritual component of intimacy that God intended to be the heart of marriage, broken down in language that’s easy to read.
RESTORING THE PLEASURE
by Dr. Clifford Penner & Joyce Penner R.N.
This book practically addresses steps to overcoming most sexual issues couples face. It gives a fresh Christian perspective on arousal, orgasm, and overall satisfaction.
HEALING THE WOUNDS OF SEXUAL ADDICTION
by Dr. Mark Laaser
This book comes highly recommended to those who may be driven by sexual addiction or sexual compulsivity. Dr. Laaser’s years of experience helping heal individuals of sexual addiction. Laaser’s pastoral heart guides readers through his own accumulated research, years of experience, and Christian perspective.
Wives are recommended Debra Laaser’s companion work: Shattered Vows: Hope and Healing for Women Who Have Been Sexually Betrayed
WHEN SEX HURTS: A WOMAN’S GUIDE TO BANISHING SEXUAL PAIN
A. Goldstein, C. F. Pukall, & I. Goldstein
This book will help you identify the root causes of your pain, and determine what help is best needed. It also helps you locate which physicians or physical therapists you would need for help.
COPING WITH ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION
by Michael Metz & Barry McCarthy
This book is intended as a guide for both persons in your marriage, in order to overcome erectile dysfunction as a couple.
COPING WITH PREMATURE EJACULATION
By Michael Metz & Barry McCarthy
Another guide intended for couples to read together, in order to circumvent experiencing ejaculation prematurely.
BOUNDARIES IN MARRIAGE
by Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend
Drs. Cloud and Townsend describe how boundaries can actually help promote intimacy, and bring couples to a level of deeper care and respect for each other.
THE DNA OF RELATIONSHIPS
by Dr. Gary Smalley
Smalley discusses the human need for relationship with God, self, and others—and how our choices remain at the center of all three.
Resources for Parents
HOW AND WHEN TO TELL YOUR KIDS ABOUT SEX
by Stan & Brenna Jones
This book comes highly recommended to parents, and how to guide their children through a healthy understanding of sexuality. This has the perspective of a lifetime experience over a singular talk about sex.
GOD’S DESIGN FOR SEX SERIES
ages 3-5
ages 5-8
age 8-11
ages 11-14
SOUL VIRGINS: REDEFINING SINGLE SEXUALITY
by Douglas Rosenau & Michael Todd Wilson
The authors go beyond the dismissive “just say ‘no’” idea that is common in discussions about sex. It meets older, single children with a mature voice that reasons with them through theology and guides them in healthy sexual-boundary setting.