Download or read book This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage written by Ann Patchett and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2013-11-07 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'So compellingly personal you feel you're looking over her shoulder as she sits down to write' New York Times 'Electrically entertaining ... Funny, generous, spirited and kind' The Times This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage is an irresistible blend of literature and memoir revealing the big experiences and little moments that shaped Ann Patchett as a daughter, wife, friend and writer. Here, Ann Patchett shares entertaining and moving stories about her tumultuous childhood, her painful early divorce, the excitement of selling her first book, driving a Winnebago from Montana to Yellowstone Park, her joyous discovery of opera, scaling a six-foot wall in order to join the Los Angeles Police Department, the gradual loss of her beloved grandmother, starting her own bookshop in Nashville, her love for her very special dog and, of course, her eventual happy marriage. This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage is a memoir both wide ranging and deeply personal, overflowing with close observation and emotional wisdom, told with wit, honesty and irresistible warmth.

Download or read book What Shamu Taught Me About Life Love and Marriage written by Amy Sutherland and published by Random House. This book was released on 2008-02-12 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While observing exotic animal trainers for her acclaimed book Kicked, Bitten, and Scratched, journalist Amy Sutherland had an epiphany: What if she used these training techniques with the human animals in her own life–namely her dear husband, Scott? In this lively and perceptive book, Sutherland tells how she took the trainers’ lessons home. The next time her forgetful husband stomped through the house in search of his mislaid car keys, she asked herself, “What would a dolphin trainer do?” The answer was: nothing. Trainers reward the behavior they want and, just as important, ignore the behavior they don’t. Rather than appease her mate’s rising temper by joining in the search, or fuel his temper by nagging him to keep better track of his things in the first place, Sutherland kept her mouth shut and her eyes on the dishes she was washing. In short order, Scott found his keys and regained his cool. “I felt like I should throw him a mackerel,” she writes. In time, as she put more training principles into action, she noticed that she became more optimistic and less judgmental, and their twelve-year marriage was better than ever. What started as a goofy experiment had such good results that Sutherland began using the training techniques with all the people in her life, including her mother, her friends, her students, even the clerk at the post office. In the end, the biggest lesson she learned is that the only animal you can truly change is yourself. Full of fun facts, fascinating insights, hilarious anecdotes, and practical tips, What Shamu Taught Me About Life, Love, and Marriage describes Sutherland’s Alice-in-Wonderland experience of stumbling into a world where cheetahs walk nicely on leashes and elephants paint with watercolors, and of leaving a new, improved Homo sapiens.

Download or read book The Good Dad written by Jim Daly and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2014-04-22 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It’s never too late to be a better father Jim Daly, president and CEO of Focus on the Family, is an expert in fatherhood—in part because his own "fathers" failed him so badly. His biological dad was an alcoholic. His stepfather deserted him. His foster father accused Jim of trying to kill him. All were out of Jim's life by the time he turned 13. Isn’t it odd—and reminiscent of the hand of God—that the director of the leading organization on family turned out to be a guy whose own background as a kid and son were pretty messed up? Or could it be that successful parenting is discovered not in the perfect, peaceful household but in the midst of battles and messy situations, where God must constantly be called to the scene? That is the mystery unraveled in this book. Using his own expertise, humor, and inexhaustible wealth of stories, Jim will show you that God can make you a good dad, a great dad, in spite of the way you’ve grown up and in spite of the mistakes you’ve made. Maybe even because of them. It’s not about becoming a perfect father. It’s about trying to become a better father, each and every day. It's about building relationships with your children through love, grace, patience, and fun—and helping them grow into the men and women they’re meant to be.

Download or read book The Happy Marriage written by Tahar Ben Jelloun and published by Melville House. This book was released on 2016 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of one couple - first from the husband's point of view, then from the wife's. The husband, a painter in Casablanca, has been paralyzed by a stroke at the very height of his career and becomes convinced that his marriage is the reason for his decline. Walled up within his illness and desperate to break free of a deeply destructive relationship, he finds escape in writing a secret book about his hellish marriage. When his wife finds it, she responds point by point with her own version of the facts, offering her own striking and incisive reinterpretation of their story.

Download or read book Fun Loving You written by Ted Cunningham and published by David C Cook. This book was released on 2013-09-01 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For a Good Time, Call Home Ted Cunningham has a surprising definition of marriage: a man and a woman enjoying life together. In fact, God created marriage to be a blast—even when it feels like the rest of life is going to explode. This refreshing book will help you: Laugh together again (it’s easier than you think)Make sex even more exciting than on your honeymoonDiscover how to make doing dishes together a partyFight as teammates, not opponentsFigure out how to break the routine without breaking the bankRemember why your spouse is the most likeable person you know Fun Loving You puts laughter, fun, and even spin-the-bottle back into marriage. After all, life is hard. Marriage doesn’t have to be.

Download or read book The Surprising Secrets of Highly Happy Marriages written by Shaunti Feldhahn and published by Multnomah. This book was released on 2013-12-31 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Where does ‘highly happy’ come from—and can we have some too?!” Have you ever looked at a blissfully married couple and thought, I wish I could know their secret? Now you can. After years of investigative research, Shaunti reveals twelve powerful habits that the happiest marriages have in common. Best news of all? Anyone can learn the secrets of a highly happy marriage! In The Surprising Secrets of Highly Happy Marriages, Shaunti Feldhahn shares her findings about little, very unexpected, often overlooked actions that make a huge difference. You’re about to discover that highly happy couples: • Go to bed mad • Keep score (just not in the way you think) • Boss their feelings around • Have factual fantasies • Get in over their heads • Don’t tell it like it is • Don’t look to marriage to make them happy… Packed with eye-opening research and practical helps, this book delivers relationship insights that will take your marriage from “just fine” to “just the marriage we’ve always wanted.”

Download or read book Marriage Done Right written by Jim Daly and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-06-13 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A book to challenge the status quo, spark a debate, and get people talking about the issues and questions we face as a country!

Download or read book Will Our Love Last written by Sam R. Hamburg and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2001-03-17 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Am I with the right person? Will our love last? Men and women in love are haunted by these questions. Love -- especially why it blossoms in relationships and why it later dies -- is a mystery to them. Will Our Love Last? A Couple's Road Map solves this mystery by giving readers a new understanding of love -- an understanding they can actually use to evaluate the soundness of their relationships and to answer confidently the crucial questions that mystified them before. Based on hundreds of cases in his twenty-four years as a marital therapist and twenty-nine years in his own happy marriage, Sam R. Hamburg, Ph.D., explains how compatibility is the key to lasting love. He shows how compatibility on three major dimensions -- the Practical Dimension, the Sexual Dimension, and the Wavelength Dimension -- is essential to the mutual understanding and affirmation that keep love alive, and he leads readers through a simple but systematic procedure for assessing their compatibility with a romantic partner in these crucial relationship areas. Dr. Hamburg introduces a new technique, The Hand Rotation Exercise, to help readers express their degree of compatibility and then convey that visually to their partner. In addition, he presents two new original techniques for working through relationship conflicts and coming to agreement on difficult issues: His Way/Her Way and The Long Conversation. Written in a clear, direct style that is free of jargon, Will Our Love Last? empowers readers to make important relationship decisions that are intellectually and emotionally informed. Will Our Love Last? will help couples trying to decide if they should take the next step to a more committed relationship. It will aid individuals embarking on a new relationship, or who are between relationships, to evaluate the rightness of a new or prospective partner. And it will assist people who are already in committed relationships to make an honest assessment of their prospects for happiness with their current partner. People have it in their power to make sure that they truly are with the right person. Will Our Love Last? shows the way.

Download or read book True Love Dates written by Debra K. Fileta and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2013-10-08 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is possible to find true love through dating. In True Love Dates, Debra Fileta encourages singles not to "kiss dating goodbye" but instead to experience a season of dating as a way to find real love. Through powerful, real-life stories and Fileta's personal journey, this book offers profound insights from the expertise of a professional counselor. Christians are looking for answers to finding true love. They are disillusioned with the church that has provided little practical application in the area of love and relationships. They're bombarded by Christian books that shun dating, idolize courting, fixate on spirituality, and in the end, offer little real relationship help. True Love Dates provides honest help for dating by providing a guide into vital relationship essentials. Debra is a professional Christian counselor who reaches millions with her popular blog, Truelovedates.com, and her book offers sound advice grounded in Christian spirituality. She delivers insight, direction, and counsel when it comes to entering the world of dating and learning to do it right the first time around. Drawing on the stories and struggles of hundreds of young men and women who have pursued the search for true love, Fileta helps readers bypass unnecessary pain while focusing on the things that really matter in the world of dating.

Download or read book A Happy Marriage written by Rafael Yglesias and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2009-07-07 with total page 407 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Happy Marriage is both intimate and expansive: It is the story of Enrique Sabas and his wife, Margaret, a novel that alternates between the romantic misadventures of the first weeks of their courtship and the final months of Margaret's life as she says good-bye to her family, friends, and children -- and to Enrique. Spanning thirty years, this achingly honest story is about what it means for two people to spend a lifetime together -- and what makes a happy marriage. Yglesias's career as a novelist began in 1970 when he wrote an autobiographical novel at sixteen, hailed by critics for its stunning and revelatory depiction of adolescence. A Happy Marriage, his first work of fiction in thirteen years, was inspired by his relationship with his wife, Margaret, who died in 2004. Bold, elegiac, and emotionally suspenseful, even though we know what happens, Yglesias's beautiful novel will break every reader's heart -- while encouraging all of us with its clear-eyed evocation of the enduring value of marriage.

Download or read book Happy Wives Club written by Fawn Weaver and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 2014-01-14 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times Bestseller! One woman undertakes a worldwide search to learn the secrets of a great marriage—and finds one foundational truth that could change everything. Fawn Weaver was a happily married woman running a successful business—and then something happened. Maybe it was divorce rate reports on the evening news, The Real Housewives of Orange County, or any daytime talk show where husbands and wives dramatically reveal their betrayals. Everywhere she looked, Fawn saw negative portrayals of marriage dominating the airwaves and dooming everyone to failure. Looking at Keith, the love of her life, she knew that wasn’t true. She was determined to find and connect with women just like her—happy and optimistic about marriage, deeply in love with her spouse, and committed to building a strong marriage that stands the test of time. On a whim,she started the blog HappyWivesClub.com and sent the link to a few of new friends. What started as a casual invitation to five women exploded into an international online club with 150,000 members in more than 100 countries. Happy Wives Club is Fawn’s journey across the world to meet her friends and discover what makes their marriages great. Join her on this exciting, exotic trip across six continents and through more than eighteen cities. Walk the streets of Mauritius, the historic ruins in Italy, and the vistas of New Zealand and Australia. Go from Cape Town to London, Manila to Buenos Aires, Winnipeg to Zagreb. Along the way, you will meet everyday women whose marriage secrets span cultures. You will hear their stories, witness their love, and be inspired by the proof that happy, healthy marriages do exist—and yours can be one of them! It turns out great marriages are all around us—when we look for them. Go on a trip with Fawn and learn the best marriage secrets the world has to offer.

Download or read book What Makes Love Last written by John Gottman and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-09-10 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "One of the foremost relationship experts at work today offers creative insight on building trust and avoiding betrayal, helping readers to decode the mysteries of healthy love and relationships"--

Download or read book What Makes a Marriage Last written by Marlo Thomas and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2020-05-05 with total page 946 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Power couple Marlo Thomas and Phil Donahue have created a compelling and intimate collection of intriguing conversations with famous couples about their enduring marriages and how they have made them last through the challenges we all share. What makes a marriage last? Who doesn’t want to know the answer to that question? To unlock this mystery, iconic couple Marlo Thomas and Phil Donahue crisscrossed the country and conducted intimate conversations with forty celebrated couples whose long marriages they’ve admired—from award-winning actors, athletes, and newsmakers to writers, comedians, musicians, and a former U.S. president and First Lady. Through these conversations, Marlo and Phil also revealed the rich journey of their own marriage. What Makes a MarriageLast offers practical and heartfelt wisdom for couples of all ages, and a rare glimpse into the lives of husbands and wives we have come to know and love. Marlo and Phil’s frequently funny, often touching, and always engaging conversations span the marital landscape—from that first rush of new love to keeping that precious spark alive, from navigating hard times to celebrating triumphs, from balancing work and play and family to growing better and stronger together. At once intimate, candid, revelatory, hilarious, instructive, and poignant, this book is a beautiful gift for couples of every age and stage. Featuring interviews with: Alan and Arlene Alda • Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick President Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter • James Carville and Mary Matalin Deepak and Rita Chopra • Patricia Cornwell and Staci Gruber Bryan Cranston and Robin Dearden • Billy and Janice Crystal Jamie Lee Curtis and Christopher Guest • Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen Viola Davis and Julius Tennon • Gloria and Emilio Estefan Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan • Chip and Joanna Gaines Sanjay and Rebecca Gupta • Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka • Ron and Cheryl Howard Jesse and Jacqueline Jackson • Elton John and David Furnish John and Justine Leguizamo • LL COOL J and Simone I. Smith Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone • John McEnroe and Patty Smyth Mehmet and Lisa Oz • Rodney and Holly Robinson Peete Letty Cottin Pogrebin and Bert Pogrebin • Rob and Michele Reiner Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos • Al Roker and Deborah Roberts Ray and Anna Romano • Tony Shalhoub and Brooke Adams Judges Judy and Jerry Sheindlin • George Stephanopoulos and Ali Wentworth Sting and Trudie Styler • Capt. Chesley “Sully” and Lorrie Sullenberger Lily Tomlin and Jane Wagner • Judith and Milton Viorst Judy Woodruff and Al Hunt • Bob Woodward and Elsa Walsh

Download or read book 75 Habits for a Happy Marriage written by Ashley Davis Bush and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-07-18 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Powerful techniques for strengthening your marriage! The stresses and strains of life can unravel the tight bond you once had with your spouse, leaving you feeling lonely, frustrated, and unfulfilled. 75 Habits for a Happy Marriage shows you how to restore that intimate and joyful union with simple, positive actions that bring you closer together throughout the day. Designed by authors Ashley and Daniel Bush, each activity takes only a matter of minutes and gives you a moment to set aside the demands of your career, finances, and chores in order to focus on what matters most--your love. When practiced consistently, these powerful behaviors will become lifelong customs and an important part of your daily routine, ensuring that your relationship continues to grow in the right direction in the years to come. From embracing each other for at least twenty seconds after work to touching your partner during dinner, these valuable habits will instantly boost warm, passionate feelings and help you maintain that loving connection even when managing a crowded schedule. With the guidance and practices detailed in 75 Habits for a Happy Marriage, you will enrich the bond you share with your partner and build a happy, supportive, and long-lasting marriage.

Download or read book A Happy Life in an Open Relationship written by Susan Wenzel and published by Chronicle Books. This book was released on 2020-03-10 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover the secrets to successful open relationships. A Happy Life in an Open Relationship is a handbook to healthy nonmonogamous relationships. For anyone curious about open relationships, here is a valuable handbook from an expert in love, sex, and communication. Relationship therapist Susan Wenzel—who is in an open marriage herself—delivers skillful advice on how to navigate the complex emotional landscape of multi-partner relationships, from polyamory to swinging. • Filled with of compelling personal stories, anecdotes from clients, and practical exercises • A guide to cultivating harmonious and fulfilling open relationships • Author Susan Wenzel is a sex and relationship therapist with years of experience counseling patients on issues related to monogamy, intimacy, and trust. A Happy Life in an Open Relationship will help you develop your trust and communication skills, explore sexuality and desire, build your confidence and self-worth, set healthy boundaries, overcome jealousy, and so much more. People interested in making changes in their relationships will appreciate the positive tone, helpful advice, and expert wisdom from an accomplished relationship therapist who has gone through the experience herself. • A great book for anyone interested in testing the boundaries of monogamy and exploring the world of polyamory • An accessible and inviting guide for couples to build an open relationship that is strong and lasting • Perfect for fans of Mating in Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence and The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity by Esther Perel, The Commitment: Love, Sex, Marriage, and My Family by Dan Savage, and Sex at Dawn: How We Mate, Why We Stray, and What It Means for Modern Relationships by Christopher Ryan

Download or read book No More Perfect Marriages written by Jill Savage and published by Moody Publishers. This book was released on 2017-02-07 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Many people say you can fix a broken marriage, but Mark and Jill show you how.” —Dr. Juli Slattery, psychologist, author, and president of Authentic Intimacy No marriage is perfect. But every marriage can get better. Do you feel like the spark is gone? Like a critical spirit has invaded your marriage? Like you want more intimacy, but something is in the way? You could be suffering from the Perfection Infection. The Perfection Infection happens when we cultivate unrealistic expectations of ourselves and our spouse, gradually leading to intimacy-killing behavior, also known as the “Seven Slow Fades.” That was the case for Jill and Mark Savage, and it eventually led to infidelity. In No More Perfect Marriages they speak honestly about their struggles, how they came back from betrayal, and the principles keeping their marriage strong today. They guide you in everything you need to know to kick the Perfection Infection right out and return to intimacy. In their warm, honest, personable style, Jill and Mark discuss: How the Perfection Infection invades a marriage—even a good marriage How to detect and correct the Seven Slow Fades How to set and communicate realistic expectations What to do if your spouse just won’t change How to guard your marriage from the Perfection Infection for good Hurting marriages can heal, and good marriages can become great. It takes work, yes, but No More Perfect Marriages will give you the insights, language, and roadmap you need for the journey. So start today. GROUP RESOURCES: A leader’s guide is included in the back of the book. FREE video curriculum and additional group resources are available for No More Perfect Marriages at www.NoMorePerfect.com. _____ “[Replaces] the Hollywood mirage of a storybook romance with a healthy blueprint of a real and rock-solid relationships. If you're looking for an authentic story, practical how-to, and hope to build true and lasting love, you've found it." — Michele Cushatt, author, Undone: A Story of Making Peace With An Unexpected Life “… Will empower readers to create healthier responses when facing marital challenges… Excited [to add it] to our recommended resources for couples." — Michelle Nietert, licensed counselor “Vulnerable, honest, and helpful… If you want to improve, save, restore, or renew your marriage, read this book.” — Mike Baker, sr. pastor, Eastview Christian Church, Normal, Illinois “Encouraging and very practical!” — Shaunti Feldhahn, social researcher and bestselling author of For Women Only and For Men Only

Download or read book Fierce Marriage written by Ryan Frederick and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2018-04-17 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ryan and Selena Frederick were newlyweds when they landed in Switzerland to pursue Selena's dream of training horses. Neither of them knew at the time that Ryan was living out a death sentence brought on by a worsening genetic heart defect. Soon it became clear he needed major surgery that could either save his life--or result in his death on the operating table. The young couple prepared for the worst. When Ryan survived, they both realized that they still had a future together. But the near loss changed the way they saw all that would lie ahead. They would live and love fiercely, fighting for each other and for a Christ-centered marriage, every step of the way. Fierce Marriage is their story, but more than that, it is a call for married couples to put God first in their relationship, to measure everything they do and say to each other against what Christ did for them, and to see marriage not just as a relationship they should try to keep healthy but also as one worth fighting for in every situation. With the gospel as their foundation, Ryan and Selena offer hope and practical help for common struggles in marriage, including communication problems, sexual frustration, financial stress, family tension, screen-time disconnection, and unrealistic expectations.