Love Nonfiction

Happy Valentine's Day!  Here are ten nonfiction titles on love & romance.

Crazy Little Thing: Why Love and Sex Drive Us Mad by Liz Langley - Crazy Little Thing is a look at why we want to be in love and the burbling, boiling soup of endorphins, hormones, and neurotransmitters that spill from our brain to make us do things that would otherwise be viewed as insane. Investigative journalist Liz Langley traveled the country to research and interview singularly love-mad folks who maimed, murdered, and married. Langley reveals the science of love and lust, as well as very human stories: a spouse who can't stop loving her criminally psychotic husband, even after he threw acid in her face; the sweet romance between alligator-skinned sideshow performers; and a man whose neurons drive his necrophilia. Langley reveals the control our chemicals have over us in a hilarious, confounding -- and too strange to be anything but true -- look at love.

The Good News About Marriage: Debunking Discouraging Myths About Marriage and Divorce by Shaunti Feldhahn & Tally Whitehead - Divorce is not the biggest threat to marriage. Discouragement is. You’ve probably heard the grim facts: Half of all marriages end in divorce. The divorce rate inside the church is the same as outside. Most marriages are just holding on. But what if these “facts” are actually myths? In The Good News About Marriage, best-selling author Shaunti Feldhahn presents groundbreaking research that reveals the shocking, incredibly inspiring truth:
· The actual divorce rate has never gotten close to 50 percent.
· Those who attend church regularly have a significantly lower divorce rate than those who don’t.
· Most marriages are happy.
· Simple changes make a big difference in most marriage problems.
· Most remarriages succeed.
For too long, our confidence in marriage has been undermined by persistent misunderstandings and imperfect data. This landmark book will radically change how we think and talk about marriage—and what we can dare to hope from it.

How to Look for Love: A Refreshing New Take on Men, Women, and Romance by Mari Ruti - Men and women are not as different as we've always been told. We're not from Venus or Mars; we were all born on planet Earth. Flying in the face of traditional relationship advice, How to Look for Love offers up a refreshing take in a world full of tired rules and fake games. This is an inspirational manifesto that brilliantly skewers the status quo while using everything from Freud to Gossip Girl to help us rethink our notions of how love works.

It's Complicated (But It Doesn't Have to Be): A Modern Guide to Finding and Keeping Love by Paul Carrick Brunson - Finding and keeping a mate has never been harder. New rules are needed to navigate the complicated and changing modern-love landscape. If someone wants to find "the one," what are the guidelines he or she needs to know, now that online dating and Google-searching a prospective love interest are the norm? Happily married for ten years, Paul Carrick Brunson is a husband, a father, and a rising star in the matchmaking world. In It's Complicated (But It Doesn't Have to Be), Brunson tackles relevant questions such as:
    Is marriage right for my personality type?
    Do the rules of chivalry still apply?
    How can I date more than one person without hurt feelings?
    What is the best mode of communication (text messages, phone, e-mail, etc.) for asking someone out?
With an appealing mix of humor, candor, and real-world examples, It's Complicated (But It Doesn't Have to Be)  is a breath of fresh air in the dating guide category, offering a message of eternal optimism from a man who believes in true love--and practices what he preaches.

Love Sense: The Revolutionary New Science of Romantic Relationships by Susan Johnson - Every day, we hear of relationships failing and questions of whether humans are meant to be monogamous. LOVE SENSE presents new scientific evidence that tells us that humans are meant to mate for life. Dr. Johnson explains that romantic love is an attachment bond, just like that between mother and child, and shows us how to develop our "love sense"--our ability to develop long-lasting relationships. Love is not the least bit illogical or random, but actually an ordered and wise recipe for survival. LOVE SENSE covers the three stages of a relationship and how to best weather them; the intelligence of emotions and the logic of love; the physical and psychological benefits of secure love; and much more. Based on groundbreaking research, LOVE SENSE will change the way we think about love.

Power Love: Use Your Brain to Be Your Best Self and Create Your Ideal Relationship by Steven Stosny - Readers will garner valuable negotiating strategies, learn interactive exercises (including a 'bedroom scoreboard') to engage more proactively with their partners, and apply practical knowledge on shepherding their own relationships away from destructive behaviors and toward a unifying, durable connection. Readers on the lookout for self-development and a deeper loving connection with their partner will find ideas and guidance galore in this sensible relationship manual.

Rewire Your Brain for Love: Creating Vibrant Relationships Using the Science of Mindfulness by Marsha Lucas - On the way to finding and creating vibrant, successful relationships, too many of us end up tangled in the same old patterns, tripped up by relationship habits that get in our way whether we "know better" or not.  In Rewire Your Brain for Love, neuropsychologist and psychotherapist Marsha Lucas, PhD, helps you untangle those relationship snarls, bringing together the latest neuroscience with a practice consistently heralded by top academic institutions for its effectiveness in changing the brain: the practice of mindfulness meditation.  Dr. Lucas's clear, unintimidating, often laugh-out-loud style invites you to explore how the brain functions in relationships, helping you understand how your current relationship wiring developed and showing you how you can rewire your relationship brain through mindfulness meditation.

Succulent Wild Love: Six Powerful Habits for Feeling More Love More Often by SARK & John Waddell - SARK has made a career out of sharing her personal, journal-like writings and art, and inspiring others with her vulnerable and honest journeys toward self-acceptance. She has helped her legions of fans craft lives filled with joy, creativity, and self-love -- and she even married herself in a "statement of self-liberation" described in Succulent Wild Woman. And yet SARK had one big secret wish: overcoming her fears to commit to an intimate life partnership. So she embarked on a "Covert Love Operation," and, after much soul-shaping, it culminated in her meeting psychologist and spiritual teacher Dr. John Waddell -- and discovering Succulent Wild Love. They now teach and mentor together using the principles in this book -- six powerful habits that can transform any relationship or open you to create the partnership you want.

The Two Truths About Love: The Art & Wisdom of Extraordinary Relationships by Jason Fischer - Just two simple, yet profound insights can make any intimate relationship not only stable and functional, but extraordinary: 1. Give permission for the other person to be who they truly are and 2. Take responsibility for your own reactions, behaviors, and expectations. In The Two Truths About Love, Jason Fischer reveals these insights and offers guidance for building a deeply accepting and fulfilling partnership.

Wired for Love: How Understanding Your Partner's Brain and Attachment Style Can Help You Defuse Conflict and Build a Secure Relationship by Stan Tatkin - "What the heck is my partner thinking?" is a common refrain in romantic relationships, and with good reason. Every person is wired for love differently, with different habits, needs, and reactions to conflict. The good news is that most people's minds work in predictable ways and respond well to security, attachment, and rituals, making it possible to actually neurologically prime the brain for greater love and fewer conflicts.  Wired for Love is a complete insider's guide to understanding your partner's brain and enjoying a romantic relationship built on love and trust. Synthesizing research findings on how and why love lasts drawn from neuroscience, attachment theory, and emotion regulation, this book presents ten guiding principles that can improve any relationship.