The Most Important Year in a Man's Life/The Most Important Year in a Woman's Life: What Every Groom Needs to Know/What Every Bride Needs to Know

My fiance and I each bought a book to read for our pre-martial counseling. Even though we haven't even started meeting with the counselor, we have had many deep discussions brought on by this book. Its been excellent in helping us think through things that will affect our marriage.

We thought we were invincible and put off reading this wedding gift until 5 months into our marriage. As I'm sure you can guess, we were having all sorts of frustrating discussions on everything from the dishes to the direction of the toilet paper. When I would approach my husband with a problem, he was constantly trying to "fix me." This book really helped us bridge a communication gap. My husband took to the sports analogies, and I found myself with a new appreciation for my husband's point of view. This really got us past that first hump. It's a must read, and I'm sure we'll do it again somewhere down the road.

I am usually pretty sceptical of self-help books, or books that are recommended by conservative religious groups although I am a Christian. However, this book was given to my husband and me when we were engaged and we both loved it. Although it is geered towards couples who are newlyweds, we found the book great for getting us talking about key issues that we had never considered before, and working out problems before we were confronted with them in the marriage. We learned a lot about each other from this book, and even found it more helpful than our professional pre-marital counseling. We have since given this book to all of our young friends getting married.

I have been married for a year and a half and just read the book. You can read it before you get married or thirty years down the road. It tells you simple rules and ideas you can actually practice. I know its a Christian book and that is one reason why I was given it, but you can read it being any faith, just as long as you want a better marriage and relationship. And its so fun being in one book to "meet in the middle." I am about to read his side of the book now!

Both my husband and I of 4 months are reading "The Most Important Year in a Woman's/Man's Life", and we are thoroughly impressed with it so far! My husband really liked how his "side"of the book started out with topics of sports, and money...he says that immediately grabbed his attention. Now my "side", Susan Devries and Bobble Wolgemuth writing style really appealed to the emotional aspect of marriage...the expectations prior to marraige, and the reality of life after marraige. I appreciate their ability to effectively communicate women's emotion in writing, which is not easy to do! I believe the lady authors do a superb job at capturing the emotions and lending that support for the female during the 1st year of marraige. The book also speaks on topics such as sex from both the male and female perspective...So the female authors explain what sex is like for the men-and the importance of making love with your husband, and the male authors explain sex to the men using a baseball analogy (first base, second base, third base, and home) to ensure they comprehend how to make love to your wife. There is also the middle section, "Meet in the middle" with activities/review material for the husband and wife to complete together once they have each read their portion.This is a very creative book! 2-in-1! I have never seen that!I will definately recommend this book to other newlyweds in my church!