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Around Seattle in 80 Dates: An Online Dating Journey
“Riveting, funny, heartwarming, honest—Around Seattle in 80 Dates is captivating right from the start. This book provokes thoughts and self-reflection and opens one’s eyes to the world of dating and self-discovery after a long-time marriage. Renata is enchanting and raw and not afraid of sharing her experiences as she goes through this healing and self-discovery process after a painful divorce. A must read!”~ Nora Paxton, Life Coaching for Men.A woman in her late forties finds herself suddenly single after thirty-two years with the same man.Does she head off to a resort on the Indian Ocean? Does she become a stand-up comedian? Does she conquer the online dating world by scheduling three or four dates a day for several years?Renata Lubinsky managed to do all three, and by the time she had dated eighty men, she had learned many things in her quest to remain a vital and exciting woman as she headed into the next stage of her life.The author paints a broad canvas of her life in brilliant colors and takes the reader from her home in Israel as a young woman and her first love to her eventual singles’ life in her new home in Seattle.Funny and charming, the book is an honest portrayal of what it’s like to manage the new world of online dating after not dating for more than three decades. Many of the men she met were named Mike, so she dubs each of them in the book with the name and a number or nickname. From Mike #1 to Mike #80, there is laughter, tears, and love in her quest to stay active and involved in the world around her. Renata provides insight and lessons as well as entertainment with stories that are silly and heartbreaking, tender and harsh, ridiculous and poignant. She ends the book with the chapter, “To Do or Not to Do - Instructions for Online Dating Sites,” which gives the reader a guide for staying safe and happy while meeting and dating people found online. Even if you’re not into online dating, this book is worth the read as it provides many insights into relationships between men and women.From one of the many “Love it!!!!! Thank you for keeping me in your memories all these years. Popeye Mike will never ever forget you!!!!!”
286 pages, Paperback
Published February 24, 2018
About the author
Renata M. Lubinsky
1 book1 followerAfter thirty-two years in one relationship, Renata M. Lubinsky divorced her husband and started a journey that she crafted on a daily basis, by using online dating sites.
Renata uses her witty and sensitive voice to describe the world from the perspective of a single, almost fifty-year-old woman starting the second chapter of her life.
Renata was born in Poland, raised in Israel and relocated to Montreal as part of her international Business analyst’s career. Later on, she relocated to Seattle, and was involved in different startup ventures.
In the past few years, Renata has taken her stories on stage and performed in different stand-up events around Seattle. She has won first place in local stand-up competitions and participated in various storytelling shows.
Renata uses her witty and sensitive voice to describe the world from the perspective of a single, almost fifty-year-old woman starting the second chapter of her life.
Renata was born in Poland, raised in Israel and relocated to Montreal as part of her international Business analyst’s career. Later on, she relocated to Seattle, and was involved in different startup ventures.
In the past few years, Renata has taken her stories on stage and performed in different stand-up events around Seattle. She has won first place in local stand-up competitions and participated in various storytelling shows.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 10, 2018
I recieved this book free from the author when she posted a contest on Facebook which due to technical errors did not work, and she was very kind to provide interested parties that had entered the contest with a digital copy of the book.
PROS of the book
Free copy, as mentioned above. (Yea!)
Fast read; I read the entire book in a few hours. (Yea!)
Entertaining; I certainly could not predict what would happen next (Yea!)
Good info./online dating tips at the end of the book.
The beginning of the book was a bit blunt, shall we say, but luckily there were not too many unnecessary details of a private type, it was all thankfully straightforward stuff.
CONS of the book
The book could have used another really good edit; while most elements of a great book were there, I just couldn't get attached to the characters and felt heart was missing from the story.
I wish the story could have shown some personal development of the main character, instead of just a straight purge of information about some of the dates she was on.
The title was a bit misleading, I though I would read about 80 dates, and hopefully a romantic or epic ending. Perhaps a diary style book would have worked better for this type of story?
Overall I enjoyed the book, and hope others do as well.
PROS of the book
Free copy, as mentioned above. (Yea!)
Fast read; I read the entire book in a few hours. (Yea!)
Entertaining; I certainly could not predict what would happen next (Yea!)
Good info./online dating tips at the end of the book.
The beginning of the book was a bit blunt, shall we say, but luckily there were not too many unnecessary details of a private type, it was all thankfully straightforward stuff.
CONS of the book
The book could have used another really good edit; while most elements of a great book were there, I just couldn't get attached to the characters and felt heart was missing from the story.
I wish the story could have shown some personal development of the main character, instead of just a straight purge of information about some of the dates she was on.
The title was a bit misleading, I though I would read about 80 dates, and hopefully a romantic or epic ending. Perhaps a diary style book would have worked better for this type of story?
Overall I enjoyed the book, and hope others do as well.
September 30, 2020
Suddenly divorced, forty-something Renata is suddenly entering the world of dating. Living in Issaquah and then Seattle, this Israeli woman is a mother of two. Renata joins several online dating sites. This book is a memoir of the 80 “Mikes” that she dated.
I was pleasantly surprised that this memoir was so easy and fun to read. I went into it with the expectation that it was a memoir of a middle aged woman in Seattle and her experiences with online dating. And the book delivered on that expectation.
The narrative isn’t sequential, but rather jumps around between the Mikes, spending more time describing some and less on others. I enjoyed the way Lubinsky narrates these stories. She has an easy-to-read narrative style; however, as some have pointed out, a final copy edit would have been great to polish up the story. English is, as Lubinsky herself points out, her third language. Since she was born outside the US, she really brought an interesting perspective to dating.
I really liked how I was able to read the story and set it down without losing the flow of the story as it was broken up into pieces of her dating past.
I was pleasantly surprised that this memoir was so easy and fun to read. I went into it with the expectation that it was a memoir of a middle aged woman in Seattle and her experiences with online dating. And the book delivered on that expectation.
The narrative isn’t sequential, but rather jumps around between the Mikes, spending more time describing some and less on others. I enjoyed the way Lubinsky narrates these stories. She has an easy-to-read narrative style; however, as some have pointed out, a final copy edit would have been great to polish up the story. English is, as Lubinsky herself points out, her third language. Since she was born outside the US, she really brought an interesting perspective to dating.
I really liked how I was able to read the story and set it down without losing the flow of the story as it was broken up into pieces of her dating past.
March 28, 2021
A very interesting story about a woman who experiences online dating in her late forties. The timeline is kind of confusing and some of the Mikes were missing :(
Overall, I had a few laughs with the author's personal account of her online dating journey.
Overall, I had a few laughs with the author's personal account of her online dating journey.
June 24, 2020
Very interesting read
It is a great read. Has some very interesting issues that people find themselves in when they step into the dating world.
It is a great read. Has some very interesting issues that people find themselves in when they step into the dating world.
October 24, 2024
Relateable & fun, for the Carrie-Samanthas who can't be bothered to prance around in high heels.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews