Dating, Fun & Good Books

Forget romance, forget true love, forget soul mates: What do (marriageable) men want? If you want a man to marry you, you have to give him what he needs. And what he needs is not that complicated. Men get married for three simple reasons: Food, sex, and laundry.

In this unconventional throwback of a marriage manual, you'll find the politically incorrect blueprint you need to make your man commit -- and have a good laugh while you're at it. Written by a confirmed bachelor turned happy husband, you'll learn what finally turned his head -- and what will turn your man's as well.

Will Marry for Food, Sex, and Laundry -- because the marriage proposal you long for is just one meal, one tryst, and one batch of dirty underwear away!

Falling in Love with His Family--One Passive-Aggressive, Over-Indulgent, Grandkid-Craving, Streisand-Loving, Bible-Thumping In-Law at a Time - I Heart My In-LawsGirlfriends, fiancés, and wives rejoice! Here, at last, is a book you can turn to in times of stress, panic, and family vacations to the smallest cottage ever built on the island of Nantucket. Mirroring the natural progression of a relationship and incorporating interviews from women just like you, this hilarious, savvy guide will help you survive your first meeting with future in-laws, from the holidays, weddings, and new babies, to the day they retire to the house next door because its a great real estate investment. Discover a wide array of sanity-retention techniques and tips on scoring major points with each and every in-law.

A real-life Madame Butterfly. The tragic love story of an aristocratic British officer and a young Japanese woman, played out against the turmoil of the early twentieth century. In 1904, when thirty-four-year-old British Army captain Arthur Hart-Synnot was sent to Japan to learn the language of his country's new ally, romance was the furthest thing from his mind. Arriving in Tokyo on the eve of the Russo-Japanese War, Arthur met Masa Suzuki at the Officers' Club and tested out his first few words of Japanese on her. Masa had grown up in the working-class section of Tokyo, amid small-shop keepers and craftsmen. She was a dutiful Japanese daughter-when she helped her mother serve meals, she would kneel at a respectful distance while her father and brothers ate. Arthur and Masa fell in love quickly and powerfully.

You know you wanted it once upon a time. You know you had a good reason for buying that black suspender-corset thingy that’s gathering dust at the back of your closet. But since you became a mom, your enthusiasm for sex has dwindled to folding the laundry levels, right? And who can blame you? You’re tired (to put it mildly). You’re afraid of getting knocked up again too soon. Your may have some uh, issues with your post-baby body. Your days are already filled with vile bodily fluids. And you may be feeling more than a little resentful that romance from your husband has been reduced to a nightly Ten O’Clock Shoulder Tap. But are you not, somewhere within the sleep-deprived haze of your new identity as mother, still a woman who wants and deserves a good sex life? Hell yes! So this Mother’s Day, give yourself a little present and reclaim your sexuality.

Actually, it’s pretty simple but most women have the hardest time with understanding exactly what men want. Deep inside the heart of every man is a secret wish to be trusted. How many times have men said to their wives, “If you would just trust me.” Many men wonder why it seems so difficult for their wives to do something so seemingly simple. The answer stems from the physiological differences between the sexes. Men, when the woman you love sees your words lining up with your actions, trust will naturally follow. When you don’t keep your word it causes your wife/girlfriend to become fearful.

Almost without exception, the 'experts' have been asking the wrong questions and are stuck in an old paradigm of how sexual intercourse is supposed to work. Why do some couples get bored with sex after a few months while others continue to enjoy making love throughout their adult lives? The conventional wisdom is that the way to stave off sexual boredom is variety -- that "great sex" consists of different positions, different techniques, different routines, different times of day, different venues, different toys and devices, different perfumes, different condom colors -- and different lovers. Much of contemporary sex material caters to this view, constantly feeding people new ideas on how to add to the sexual menu.

Who is today’s Cinderella? Is she still waiting to be rescued by her Prince Charming, or is she now ready for conscious evolution? Cheryl Steinberg takes us on her passionate journey as a modern-day Cinderella. She shares with us her lifelong dream of becoming a Mother, which is filled with a deep desire to connect with the spirits of her children. Her pregnancies inspire her to question our culture’s conventional approach to everything from pregnancy to childbirth, feminism to motherhood, and health to education. As she embraces her maternal instincts her husband stays staunch in his conservative viewpoints, causing their marriage to completely unravel. As a 42-year-old single Mother, picking up the tattered pieces seems impossible. With her faith in her spirituality she courageously commits to transforming her life anew.

Daily Devotionals have long been a favored tool of those looking for a regular dose of spiritual growth. Bedside volumes, read upon waking in the morning or before retiring at night, Devotionals consist of 365 exercises in learning and reflection. One easily digestible entry is tackled each day. The Intellectual Devotional is a secular compendium in the same tradition. It is one year's worth of daily readings that will refresh your spirit, stimulate your mind, and help complete your education. Each entry is drawn from a different field of knowledge: History, Literature, Visual Arts, Science, Music, Philosophy, and Religion. Read one passage a day and you will explore each subject once a week. These readings offer the kind of regular exercise the brain requires to stay fresh, especially as we age. They represent an escape from the day-to-day grind into the rarefied realm of human wisdom.

During his many years working with thousands of patients and their families, Dr. Bernie Siegel became an expert on how to turn sometimes trying situations into opportunities for personal growth. In his newest book, this husband of more than 50 years, father of five children, and grandparent of eight, shares the gems garnered from his practice and his own family life to show readers what he's learned about raising kids with love, wisdom, and humor.

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Why we can't let love in until you've shown us the way -- and the simple words that can unleash our deepest affections. In this funny and fascinating guide for women, thousands of men confess what turns them on, what turns them off, and what turns "for now" into "forever." What makes a man fall in love? Why do men really cheat? What does he want in the bedroom? What's the one thing that men crave in a relationship more than anything else (besides that)? The surprising and insightful answers to life's biggest relationship questions can be found here in the pages of MEN, LOVE & SEX: The Complete User's Guide for Women. Men's Health(r) editor-in-chief David Zinczenko and coauthor Ted Spiker have written the book that explains and decodes the male creature how they act, what they think, and what they want in their relationships.

A remarkable number of women today are taking the daunting step of having children outside of marriage. In Single By Chance, Mothers By Choice: How Women Are Choosing Parenthood Without Marriage and Creating the New American Family, Rosanna Hertz offers the first full-scale account of this fast-growing phenomenon, revealing why these middle class women took this unorthodox path and how they have managed to make single parenthood work for them. Hertz interviewed 65 women--ranging from physicians and financial analysts to social workers, teachers, and secretaries--women who speak candidly about how they manage their lives and families as single mothers. read more...

A nationally renowned therapist presents his proven strategies for giving blind love 20/20 vision - Every day, single men and women spend millions of dollars on dating services to try to find the ideal partner. Finally, here is an easy-to-use, scientifically based approach for figuring out what a person will be like as a marriage partner. Drawing on clinical research on love, attachment, and intimacy, How to Avoid Marrying a Jerk reveals how to prevent your judgment from being distorted by the bonds of a growing relationship. Based on Dr. John Van Epp's nationally renowned "How to Avoid Marrying a Jerk" workshops, this book presents his trademarked Relationship Attachment Model (RAM), which breaks down the five dynamic bonding forces that influence a relationship. Van Epp helps you simply and succinctly identify--and break--destructive dating patterns.

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian is set in Peterborough, where 84-year old Ukranian immigrant Nikolai Mayevskyj announces to his daughters that he's in love and will remarry. The object of his affection is Valentina, a 36-year old Ukranian woman with a visa about to expire and a pair of marvelous breasts. She's determined to use Nikolai to achieve the Western lifestyle she's assured she deserves, and he's willing to let her while he works on his book about the history of tractors. Meanwhile, his daughters, although markedly different in outlook and lifetime rivals, band together to thwart Valentina's ambitions. Valentina's turns their family home inside out, digging up old family secrets in the process. It's a battle of wills with all the participants shaped by their own pasts through recent Eastern European history.

You think you know exactly what you want in a man, right? You can probably even list the attributes, qualities and qualifications that your future husband needs in order to apply for the job of your mate. I had a three-tiered system myself. First, there were the requirements: an interesting profession (preferably in the arts), a great sense of humor, a sterling character, financial security. Next, there was the frosting (as in, wouldn’t-it-be-nice-if-he-were…): over six feet tall, devastatingly handsome, a cat lover. And finally, there were the deal breakers: children, difficult ex-wives, bad toupees. Of course, like you, I fancied myself to be magnanimous and flexible in as much as I was willing to overlook certain undesirable traits – say, thinning hair and a few extra pounds – for the perfect guy.

My boyfriend -- who was bipolar and an alcoholic -- walked out the door on Thanksgiving Day in 2000. His whereabouts? Unknown. In hindsight, I feel lucky to be free of him. But I wasn't exactly prepared to be the 28-year-old single mom of a seventh-month-old baby.My daughter is going into first grade this fall, and I'm going on Year Six of Single Motherhood. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are more than ten million single mothers whose children under the age of eighteen still live at home. Being a single mom is both fun and knotty; every day, there are new pleasures and pitfalls. But being a single mom is not a problem or liability. I recently took a plunge into online dating for my first time.

Things Your Friends Would Tell You if You Promised Not to Get Mad - By Evan Marc Katz and Linda Holmes - "This book isn't about catching men or reeling anybody in. Catching is for nine-year-olds playing freeze tag, and reeling is for trout . . . This is about you, considering the possibility that you're tripping over your own feet -- no matter how much of an amazing, smart, hot, totally worthwhile ass-kicker you may be as a general rule." --Linda - Some food for thought: If you wouldn't date the "women are bitches" guy, don't be the "men are pigs" woman. If he doesn't want to talk, he won't. Act like a crazy person, and you'll be treated like one.
The logical follow-up to “He’s Just Not That Into You”, “Why You’re Still Single” attempts to answer the big question for any woman over the age of thirty.