Disarmingly candid and fresh – Elena draws charming insight and meaning from her personal story, providing her reader with thoughtful advice and a practical framework for finding The One.
Henri, New York, New York
I’ve always mocked my husband for making lists – to-do lists, lists of pros and cons, shopping lists. But now I wonder how I would have faired when we met, had he ever written down a love list.
In The Love List, a Guide to Getting Who You Want, Elena Murzello shares her list, and how it has changed over the past decade as she continues her search for love. Combined with research and interviews, this nurse, actress and MBA grad has combined her left and right brains to create a process that guides the reader into developing their own Love List.
A Love List, in this instance, is a list of those critical features you look for in a mate. They draw from your own preferences and experiences, but, as we learn in the book, also rely on evolutionary psychology.
Murzello writes about the science of evolution, the drunken tears shed after a bad break-up, online dating, and believing (or not) in “the one.”
Each chapter provides the reader a series of “questions to ponder,” which combine to aid in the creation of their own Love List.
Murzello wears many hats, but openly admits in the preface she is not “a writer.” Regardless, her writing is clear and concise, and the chapters of the Love List combine to develop a complete story. Wrapping up in only 70 pages, the book is an easy read, with enough light-hearted anecdotes to balance out the science and the flow charts.
The take-away message from The Love List: “Every pot has a lid.”
But to find it, you need to know what kind of pot you are, and what type of lid will fit. That’s where your own Love List will serve as a guide.
Mia, Calgary
A great first book!
Elena did a lovely job of mixing personal anecdotes with other’s
lived experiences and reference to other author’s on the topic so smoothly it made it easy to read. There were some sections that I would have liked to see go further with the subject – what to do with those you should just avoid for instance – I liked the identifiers but how to avoid them?? Especially when one seems to only run into that type of person.
I’ll await the next instalment – there will be a next one right?
Faye, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Thank you for sending me ‘The Love List’. When I finally was able to sit down and get personal with this slim little number I was pleased by the mix of canny observation and warm humour. Quite an achievement to see a return on your investment of time, and effort, in the form of a published work. Hopefully this is the beginning of more to come in your blossoming career as author!
Tim, Toronto
The Love List: ROI – Probable Love
The perfect Cosmo has a defined list of ingredients; quality vodka, cranberry juice, Triple Sec liqueur and a generous squeeze of lemon juice. No matter the precision with the ingredients, the drink architect ultimately adds their own unique zest, zeal, and individual perspective to the concoction. In a similar vein, The Love List, by Elena Murzello opens with a finite set of criteria for her perfect man (through the eyes of her younger self), just like the set of Cosmo ingredients. Through her own panache she continuously challenges herself and list philosophy through personal reflection, psychology and imaginative business school modeling; thus adding her own zest to the cocktail. The actual Love List serves as a foundation through the book aiding true self-discovery and promotion of personal happiness which translates into how the reader can also uncover their own relationship bliss.
The book uses a sampling of one hundred interviewed people helping us gain perspective on the common truisms of relationships today. In one example, we learn that women in their younger years seek healthy, humorous, intelligent and caring partners; while men side on the slightly more physical. Remarkably as both age the qualities align. Kindness and sense of humor top the list for both sexes. The book traverses a multitude of thought provoking analogies aiding in the readers self-awareness. Progressing through each chapter infused with the philosophies and golden quotes of dating and relationship experts, the reader learns to hone their own enlightened list through end of chapter self-reflection questions.
From “embracing the crazy” to Zen reflection, Murzello grapples with the concept of a list verses the realities of real life. Ultimately encouraging positivity, she emphasizes living life and declares the importance of relative “list stick-to-itiveness.” At its core, this is a book that almost anyone who is in, or more importantly, hopes to be in a relationship can use to help further their own chances at love.
Joe, Washington D.C.