Marriageology: The Art and Science of Staying Together by Belinda Luscombe

Belinda Luscombe is an editor at Time magazine who has written about marriage for over a decade.  With this work, she has written a funny and approachable guide for couples.  Marriageology is an easy read at a little over 200 pages.  (There are 30 pages of footnotes at the end, though, if you really want to check on all of her statistics.)  In general, the takeaway is that people are better off married, as long as it’s not abusive or a “war zone.”  If you can stick it out, married people tend to live longer and be healthier, have more money, and are more satisfied with their lives.  She believes there is no such thing as a soulmate.  Its something that people have to learn how to be.  She encourages couples to work as a team.  It is important to learn to look for the good things that your spouse does, even though the annoying things are much more obvious.  She has many anecdotes from her own family, both with her husband and her parents.

Reviewed by Fiona Swift, Hoyt Library