2 books

i just finished "marry him ---> the case for settling for mr good enough and i am trying to get through "a love alchemists notebook". ms gottlieb(marry him) gives a lot of good information about dating, marriage, and divorce, but there is no happy ending. she says she has learned a lot, but hasnt gotten married and isnt even dating much. ms shepherd(love alchemist) had a very happy ending. she found the love of her life and got married.
gottlieb hired a dating coach who brought her some dismal numbers about the men available to her. something like 1% of an already small percentage of the male population who are interested in dating a woman in her 40's, while shepherd says that the scarcity we speak of is a myth. there is enough love to go around for everyone. you just have to use her magic secrets to "draw" the love of your life to you. its a tough read. i really dont know if i will make it through it. she is a astrologist, so a lot of her principles are based on knowing when your love sign is in the right house when mars is in retrograde or something like that. i really dont have the patience for that crap.
i am happy to say that i didnt fall into many of the traps that "marry him" talks about, but i am a little embarrassed to say that i have fallen into the trap of wanting the "perfect" romantic love story. in sex in the city, charlotte wanted the ny times write up in the wedding section. i want the good story to tell when my (imaginary) husband and i give a talk in sacrament meeting. gottlieb tells many stories of how women were holding out for the perfect story only to pass up the right guy because he didnt meet every lofty expectation. gottlieb herself tells of 2 guys she passed up and regrets it terribly.
overall, the book was a little depressing. her spin on the statistics are pretty dim for a girl like me, but it was a good read and there was some good information towards the end about happiness in marriage.
i will let you know about the love alchemist,if i make it through.