diff --git a/spotipy/client.py b/spotipy/client.py
index 3e52cda..c783eba 100644
--- a/spotipy/client.py
+++ b/spotipy/client.py
@@ -38,21 +38,32 @@ class Spotify(object):
             print(user)
     '''
 
-    trace = False 
-    """enable tracing"""
+    trace = False  # Enable tracing?
 
-    _auth = None
-    
-    def __init__(self, auth=None):
+    def __init__(self, auth=None, requests_session=True):
         '''
-           creates a spotify object
+        Create a Spotify API object.
+
+        :param auth: An authorization token (optional)
+        :param requests_session:
+            A Requests session object or a truthy value to create one.
+            A falsy value disables sessions.
+            It should generally be a good idea to keep sessions enabled
+            for performance reasons (connection pooling).
 
-           Parameters:
-                - auth - the optional authorization token 
         '''
         self.prefix = 'https://api.spotify.com/v1/'
         self._auth = auth
 
+        if isinstance(requests_session, requests.Session):
+            self._session = requests_session
+        else:
+            if requests_session:  # Build a new session.
+                self._session = requests.Session()
+            else:  # Use the Requests API module as a "session".
+                from requests import api
+                self._session = api
+
     def _auth_headers(self):
         if self._auth:
             return {'Authorization': 'Bearer {0}'.format(self._auth)}
@@ -67,12 +78,11 @@ class Spotify(object):
         headers['Content-Type'] = 'application/json'
 
         if payload:
-            r = requests.request(method, url, headers=headers, 
-                data=json.dumps(payload), **args)
-        else:
-            r = requests.request(method, url, headers=headers, **args)
+            args["data"] = json.dumps(payload)
 
-        if self.trace:
+        r = self._session.request(method, url, headers=headers, **args)
+
+        if self.trace:  # pragma: no cover
             print()
             print(method, r.url)
             if payload:
@@ -85,7 +95,7 @@ class Spotify(object):
                 -1, u'%s:\n %s' % (r.url, r.json()['error']['message']))
         if len(r.text) > 0:
             results = r.json()
-            if self.trace:
+            if self.trace:  # pragma: no cover
                 print('RESP', results)
                 print()
             return results
diff --git a/tests/tests.py b/tests/tests.py
index 63befc8..0157ae5 100644
--- a/tests/tests.py
+++ b/tests/tests.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 import spotipy
 import unittest
 import pprint
+from spotipy.client import SpotifyException
 
 
 class TestSpotipy(unittest.TestCase):
@@ -114,6 +115,26 @@ class TestSpotipy(unittest.TestCase):
         except spotipy.SpotifyException:
             self.assertTrue(True)
 
+    def test_unauthenticated_post_fails(self):
+        with self.assertRaises(SpotifyException) as cm:
+            self.spotify.user_playlist_create("spotify", "Best hits of the 90s")
+        self.assertEqual(cm.exception.http_status, 401)
+
+    def test_custom_requests_session(self):
+        from requests import Session
+        sess = Session()
+        sess.headers["user-agent"] = "spotipy-test"
+        with_custom_session = spotipy.Spotify(requests_session=sess)
+        self.assertTrue(with_custom_session.user(user="akx")["uri"] == "spotify:user:akx")
+
+    def test_force_no_requests_session(self):
+        from requests import Session
+        with_no_session = spotipy.Spotify(requests_session=False)
+        self.assertFalse(isinstance(with_no_session._session, Session))
+        self.assertTrue(with_no_session.user(user="akx")["uri"] == "spotify:user:akx")
+
+
+
 '''
     Need tests for: