5 Book Reviews You Need to Read This Week

Lisa Hanawalt’s book I Can’t Stop Thinking About Horses and Sex blends humor, memoir, and surreal illustrations to explore themes of sexuality and self-perception.

The book features Hanawalt’s signature style of colorful animal drawings and vignettes that oscillate between playful and disturbing.

For example, she imagines an exaggerated, eroticized version of Mister Rogers, a PBS host known for his wholesome image, taking off more than just his cardigan.

The narrative alternates between her cartoon avatar—a pink bird or green monster—and stark, unsettling self-depictions, such as a femur being sawed apart.

While the book is marketed as a memoir, its structure defies traditional categories, combining long prose sections with silent sketches and photographs inspired by artist David Hockney.

Hanawalt’s work challenges readers to confront uncomfortable questions about sexual liberation and the contradictions between self-perception and reality.

The book’s title reflects its central tension: an endless cycle of introspection that both fascinates and unsettles the author and her fictional counterpart, Juniper.