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After two life-shaking events—losing her father and divorcing the man she’s spent half her life with, who happens to be an actor from a famous family—Rachel Lithgow leaves a thirty-year career to write full time and pursue a relationship with a calming, delightful man she recently met online. She thinks she has it all figured out . . . until he announces he’s joining a cult and moving to Phoenix with a blonde real estate agent. Through a year of terrible dates, peppered with a few great experiences and a lot of pinot noir, the author learns that patterns can be changed, that asking for help is sometimes necessary, and that there’s only one way to repair her brokenness: by facing her trauma and demons head-on. With a unique mix of humor, self-deprecation, and gritty vulnerability, this dark yet hopeful memoir tackles divorce, dating, single motherhood, PTSD, grief, loss, and starting over in midlife. From emotional rock bottom to a peaceful acceptance of the woman she truly is, Lithgow finds the humor in the blackness, redemption in the pathos, and fulfillment in the idea that “happily ever after” isn’t always a storybook ending—and doesn’t need to be.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9798896360100","publication_date":"20251111","publisher":"She Writes Press","slug":"my-year-of-really-bad-dates","subtitle":"A Memoir","title":"My Year of Really Bad Dates"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"BIO026000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Personal Memoirs","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"FAM015000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Divorce & Separation","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HUM012000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Topic / Men, Women & Relationships","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}],"hint":[],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"BIO026000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Personal Memoirs","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"FAM015000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Divorce & Separation","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HUM012000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Topic / Men, Women & Relationships","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Personal Memoirs","score":1,"slug":"personal-memoirs"},{"label":"Divorce & Separation","score":1,"slug":"divorce-separation"},{"label":"Topic","score":1,"slug":"topic"}],"reader_fit":["Good for readers who enjoy Personal Memoirs","Good for readers interested in memoir","Good for fans of Memoir"],"related_lists":[],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Jen Hatmaker","Simon & Schuster Audio"],"book_id":"9781668083680","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781668083680.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":12.8936,"title":"Awake","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781668083680"},{"authors":["Elisabeth Kubler-Ross","Todd Gold","Elisabeth Kübler-Ross"],"book_id":"9780684846316","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780684846316.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":11.8472,"title":"The Wheel of Life","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780684846316"},{"authors":["Julia Reed","Jon Meecham"],"book_id":"9781250166340","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781250166340.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":11.5053,"title":"South Toward Home","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781250166340"},{"authors":["Nina Riggs"],"book_id":"9781501169373","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781501169373.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":10.8042,"title":"The Bright Hour","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781501169373"},{"authors":["Isabel Gillies"],"book_id":"9781401341626","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781401341626.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":10.5675,"title":"A Year and Six Seconds","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781401341626"},{"authors":["Lily Ebert","Dov Forman"],"book_id":"9780063230293","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780063230293.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":10.3638,"title":"Lily's Promise","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780063230293"},{"authors":["Belle Burden","Random House Audio"],"book_id":"9780593733318","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780593733318.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":10.3502,"title":"Strangers","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780593733318"},{"authors":["Will Damron","John J. 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