Two surprise racism books in as many days! I am giving up on nonfiction. ( )

both excellent and weak; great but superficial detail of the evolution and cultural bases of kissing, thorough attention to sources and scientific rigor, but rather superficial

I enjoyed reading this book. It covered more things than I ever knew were connected to kissing! Do you remember that people who could not sign their names mark it with an "X", the same "X" as in XOOXX? Ok, I won't spoil it for you and tell you more about that.

Were you like me, when your aunts came to visit, came to dread their sloppy kisses. Kissing when relatives and dignitaries came used to be much more more common than it is today. The Great Plague had something to do with it. There were more social revoultions that made a difference too.

Kissing is not common in all cultures, I already knew that as I married someone out of my culture. But I was surprised to learn what activity was substituted for kissing in many different cultures. And to learn twenty years later that I had been "kissed" by someone from a different culture. I hadn't even realized it, I just thought, "That was strange!"

Besides covering cultural differences, this tidy little black book covers the anatomy of a kiss, sexual differences in kissing, why kissing may be good for your teeth.

Besides the author, Sheril Kirshenbaum answers these questions"

1. What is philematophobia?

2. What is the worst, most dangerous kiss today? Actually there two answers.

3. What does the way that people smell have to do with
kissing?

The author even did some research of her own to push the knowledge of kissing forward.

The writing is clear and easy to understand and you will learn a lot about kissing.

I recommend this to anyone who likes to learn more about the common things in life that don't turn out to be so common. ( )

A long overdue review of an amazing human tradition that has somehow never been seriously considered by anthropologists. We get the chemistry and history behind smooching, but the story is told in a fun, light-hearted tone that keeps it fun. ( )

My thoughts: This book examines kissing in about every way you could possibly imagine. Starting with what different cultures find attractive and how kissing is viewed throughout the world and throughout time. That part was pretty interesting - learning about some meaning behind kissing and learning about non-traditional kisses in cultures - that include sniffing or smelling another person and just touching them. It also talks about the different ways that animals kiss and show emotion.

From that point it goes into the different physical changes that happen in the body, including hormones that are released and how hormones themselves affect the kiss. (Ever kiss someone that you were hoping for romance with only to feel like you were kissing your brother?) It also talks about the different bacteria and viruses that are present in saliva and how they can affect your well-being.

That gives you an overview of part of the book - other things discussed are what happens in the brain when we kiss and I liked the 10 tips at the end to make one a better kisser - based on all the scientific studies used in the book. ( )