BREAKING NEWS

Monday, November 14, 2011

31 Dates in 31 Days by Tamara Duricka Johnson

31 Dates in 31 Days by Tamara Duricka Johnson
Seal Press
ISBN: 978-1580053662
Published Oct 2011
Trade Paperback, 336 pages

This book surprised me. I was initially weary of a book about a woman who decides to take on a daring new project of going out on 31 first dates with 31 different guys. But as I began reading, I found myself really enjoying Tamara's journey of self-exploration. This is not only a fun and well-written book, but it's insightful and my mind saw it for what it really was: a psychological experiment into relationships and dating.

Tamara Duricka Johnson is a New York City network television news writer who suffers a series of failed relationships. After a broken heart, she decides on the eve of her thirty-first birthday to make some changes in her view of dating. In her words, she wants to “throw out her old dating habits and criticisms.” She no longer wants to “see every date as a future husband and judge him instantly to whether he lives up to that standard”. Instead she makes a commitment to be positive and open-minded and to learn more about men and herself. What's more, she shares her insights by blogging about her dates (with the men's permission, of course).

This book could have been tacky but instead it was refreshing because Tamara truly was positive and wrote about what each man contributed to the date. She was honest throughout about her feelings, her observations and how hard it was to keep up the dating momentum, and she never slandered or bad-mouthed any of her dates. She took the opportunity to learn from each man she dated. Keep in mind that she set certain rules to this project: dates would take place in a public setting, no drugs or alcohol, no married men and no physical contact. And Date #31 would be a second date.

Although I don't have much experience in dating and I have been married for twenty years now, I still could relate to Tamara and her feelings. I understood her as a romantic, with insecurities, a good heart and a fun side. I liked her! After turning thirty many women start to feel the old adage of “the biological clock is ticking” and hope to find the right man to share their lives, dreams, and start a family. I know how hard this is because I have a gorgeous sister who is in this situation.

As I read, I couldn't help thinking that this would make a great romantic comedy movie. I even envisioned Cameron Diaz playing the role of Tamara. Best of all, this was a clean read that was fun to read and that led to a wonderful ending. Tamara did find her prince charming, and I couldn't help but be thrilled for her!  

Note: This book is rated C = clean read. For more information about this book, visit the author's blog 31 Dates in 31 Days.

Disclosure: Thanks to Andie Atwood from Seal Press for sending me this book for review. I was not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product.

Share this:

5 comments :

  1. I never dated all that much, and only one guy at a time (circumstances not decisions) but this one caught my eye(and I've been happily married for over 20 years).

    ReplyDelete
  2. This sounds like an interesting read and experiment. I like that it is a book about dating but is clean. I am putting this on the wish list!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I would have bypassed this book if I hadn't read your review. I've been out of the dating world so long, it's foreign to me.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have been curious about this book b/c I love "theme/project" topic books. This is the kind of book I would have loved to read during my online dating heyday.

    Great review!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have read something very similar to this although I cannot even recall now what it was called. After such an impression I think I will also give this a miss, but I did enjoy your review Laura.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for commenting! I appreciate your feedback.

Visit Us Today

Visit Us Today
iRead: getting your book in the hands of readers
 
Back To Top
Copyright © 2009-2017 Laura Fabiani Library of Clean Reads . Designed by OddThemes OddThemes