MWF Seeking BFF Audiobook By Rachel Bertsche cover art

MWF Seeking BFF

My Yearlong Search for a New Best Friend

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MWF Seeking BFF

By: Rachel Bertsche
Narrated by: Annie Wood
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When Rachel Bertsche first moves to Chicago, she’s thrilled to finally share a zip code, let alone an apartment, with her boyfriend. But shortly after getting married, Bertsche realizes that her new life is missing one thing: friends. Sure, she has plenty of BFFs—in New York and San Francisco and Boston and Washington, D.C. Still, in her adopted hometown, there’s no one to call at the last minute for girl talk over brunch or a reality-TV marathon over a bottle of wine. Taking matters into her own hands, Bertsche develops a plan: She’ll go on 52 friend-dates, one per week for a year, in hopes of meeting her new Best Friend Forever.

In her thought-provoking, uproarious memoir, Bertsche blends the story of her girl-dates (whom she meets everywhere from improv class to friend-rental websites) with the latest social research to examine how difficult—and hilariously awkward—it is to make new friends as an adult. In a time when women will happily announce they need a man but are embarrassed to admit they need a BFF, Bertsche uncovers the reality that no matter how great your love life is, you've gotta have friends.

Public Domain (P)2011 Random House Friendship Gender Studies Relationships Social Sciences Women

Critic reviews

"In this sweet memoir... Bertsche’s pursuit is grounded in what most everyone is looking for—more fulfilling relationships and a sense of belonging—and she bravely provides some of the tools, including openness, persistence, and self-awareness, needed to attain these rewards." ( Publishers Weekly)
“Friendship is one of the most important elements of a happy life—but it can be tough to make new friends. In MWF Seeking BFF, Rachel Bertsche weaves together her engaging and often hilarious adventures in search of a new best friend with the latest research about the science of friendship. I couldn’t put it down.” (Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project)
"Reading about Rachel Bertsche's search for that special someone, you'll find yourself thinking about all the friends you've ever had - and the ones you hope are right around the corner. Rachel writes with engaging humor and a measure of poignancy, too. You'll enjoy joining her on her journey." (Jeffrey Zaslow, author of The Girls from Ames)
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MWF seeking BFF is an entertaining, and insightful story that provides tidbits about human behavior. This book inspires one to go out and make friends. A great motivational tool for those of us who need reminding that people don't bite!

An Insightful and Entertaining Book

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I find myself in a similar situation to the author - moving with my boyfriend to another state and my friends and family far away - so I found the book very relatable. I enjoyed the bits of psychological research that the author threw in - it was just enough to be interesting, but not too much to be distracting. I felt that the story makes you want to adopt the author's go-get-um attitude, and sign up for more classes or more opportunities to meet people.

Good read if you're in a similar situation

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Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

When I listen to audio books, I'm usually working out or driving. They help to take my mind off the workout and I get to

Would you recommend MWF Seeking BFF to your friends? Why or why not?

So far, I don't think I'd recommend this book because its too slow.

What didn???t you like about Annie Wood???s performance?

The reader of this book just goes too slow. If I could speed it up one or two clicks it would be a lot more interesting.

Trying to finish this

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Is it wrong to say that I liked this book because it there's someone out there that's a little crazier than I am?

If you are a fan of blog reading or those "I set a goal and this is how I reached it" books, then you will like this one. After moving to a new city for her husband's job and finding it hard to make girlfriends, Rachel sets a goal of going on 52 girl dates in a year. Let the fun begin!

As a person who has great friends but feels the circle changing as a majority of my friends pair off and have children, I could identify with much of the emotions and anxieties Rachel faced as she tried to achieve her goal. Making new friends as an adult is just as stressful as dating, and doesn't come as easily as it did when in undergrad or a graduate program. Rachel tried some things I have not looked into before, like hiring a friend matchmaker, renting a friend and joining some girlfriend sites. I mean, she really tried everything possible to reach her goal.

I gave the book three stars because at times I was confused about the motivation. At various times in her story, Rachel refers to books that she's read about the science of friendship and how to make friends. While these pieces of information were helpful, I like the story parts better. It was a mix between a traditional self help book and a fun memoir. I hope Rachel received something in the form of kickbacks from all of the experts, authors, and websites that she mentioned!

Self help book or Chick lit? Not sure

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I really enjoyed this story and the perspective it gives on friendships as we get into adulthood. It made me think of the friendships I have, the seasons of friendship, and the possibility of making more friends.
Annie Wood is a great reader that is easy and entertaining to listen to.

Great evaluation of adult friendships

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Where does MWF Seeking BFF rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is a great audiobook! I couldn't stop listening! Funny, and just what I needed moving to a new town!

Couldn't stop listening!

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I thought this book is about finding new friends, but actually it's about a woman finding new girlfriends. That's its biggest flaw for me, I'm not the target audience.
However, I really enjoyed the author's easy style of writing, how she moves from one story to another with ease and how she switches from stories to facts, statistics, and quotes from psychological studies about friendship.
The book can get too 'girly' at times, not just for me but I think for most people but that's understandable given the author's fascination with pop culture in general, Harry Potter, Glee and Entertainment Weekly which she reads cover to cover.
On the other hand, the author offers great information on friendship, making friends, and relationships in general. She uses number of books as a source (The Lonely American, Bowling Alone, and others) but also meets with a Professor who is an expert on the issue.
The book doesn't offer any grand conclusion on the experience, it chronicles the author's experience throughout her quest to make friends in a new city. Sometimes it can get a little bit repetitive, but you can enjoy the progress she makes in approaching new "friend date" as she calls them.
Don't try to keep up with all the people that she meets, there's way too many of them. You can use the author's husband way of remembering them; "the one with the ...". You can enjoy how the author come up with all those different ways to meet new people. This falls into a "tip and tricks" type of information, it can be very helpful. There's plenty of those tips regarding how to approach people without scaring them away.
You can see throughout the book how trying to make friends can make you more social, even if you don't end up with a new BFF, you can still enjoy the benefits of being more open to new relationships, more adventurous, and more at ease when talking to strangers.
I've listened to the audio version of this book. I've found the narrator to be very good. Her normal tone matches the spirit of the book; happy, discovering and uplifting. She does an excellent job of switching between all the different characters (and there's a lot of them).
In general, I found the book to be a fun read. I'm not really the target audience but it was a nice break from all the serious (and mostly depressing) books I normally read. The book can be too happy at times, but most of the time it will just make you laugh.

Joyful even if you're not the intended audience

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Great story and also tips to find that one BFFL.

Performance was a bit annoying though it may just be her voice that irritated me.

Plot line most women can relate to

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This book was absolutely amazing! I felt like Rachel was talking directly to me! I have already recommended it to friends. I think any woman, young or old can relate to Rachel and her quest through this book. If your debating on whether you should read it or not, JUST GOT FOR IT! You won't regret it!

A MUST read for ALL women!

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Would you try another book from Rachel Bertsche and/or Annie Wood?

I might. In the middle I got a little bored with the story but I actually like all the facts and social science part she incorporated.

Would you recommend MWF Seeking BFF to your friends? Why or why not?

Yes, I think it has good insight to how men and women view friendship and what role it plays in their lives. I definitely identified with a lot of what was said and it was nice to know I'm not alone on my search for a BBF.

Have you listened to any of Annie Wood’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but I enjoyed her tone and accents used in the book it kept it very interesting.

Was MWF Seeking BFF worth the listening time?

Yes! It was a little dry in some parts but overall I enjoyed it!

Very interesting

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