Title: Love Listography: Your Love Life in Lists Author: Lisa Nola Publisher: Chronicle Books Publish Date: 2008 Pages: 168 Genres:: Self-Help, Non-Fiction, Psychology Reviewer: B.I. Laureano

Rating:

I’m old school. I like to write down my to-do lists every day and get satisfaction when I cross off something I’ve completed. I feel accomplished. I also like to write things down. It kind of makes things “real” for me. So if you are anything like me, you will be totally into Love Listography: Your Love Life In Lists.

The book is pretty self-explanatory and straightforward. There are 168 pages of questions that ask you to make lists of all sorts of things in your life. The last several pages are blank so you can create whatever lists you desire. There is the theme of “love” that guides the text, yet it does not just focus on cliché ideas of what makes a relationship positive versus what makes a relationship go sour.

I’ll admit if this book gets into the wrong hands there may be hell to pay! But it’s super fun to think about some of the topics, they make great icebreakers, and it jogs the memory in ways that can be fascinating. If you are not into journaling, this may not bet he book for you. However, if you want to get into journaling or want a space to practice your writing, this is a good direction to go.

The first list you are asked to complete is “everyone you have kissed.” I’m not going to share the number of folks I had for this list but it was definitely in the double digits. More fun is filling out the second list of whom you would like to kiss. Now that’s a good conversation to have with a lover, especially if you want to talk about open relationships or threesomes.

Other great lists to spark conversation in your relationship with your partner include: relationship pet peeves, places you would love to be kissed, perfect night with your lover, couples you most admire, your faults in a relationship, and favorite qualities about your current lover.

Personally, I loved the following: how you learned about sex, biggest sexual hang-ups, songs that remind you of past lovers, what you learn from people you love, and favorite fictional loves.

There is definitely a push of monogamy as there are several questions about marriage/commitment and partner preferences. However, the language is gender neutral. I’m of the opinion that the text is appealing to a particular gender or gender orientation based on the marketing and cover design. I mean, they have hearts on the cover with pink lettering. It kind of gives the illusion of a high school notebook. And regardless of what you thought about high school, who didn’t like to tag their name on something that did not belong to them or draw pictures in empty space? There’s room for all of that in this book.