Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    MWF Seeking BFF: My Yearlong Search for a New Best Friend
    Unavailable
    MWF Seeking BFF: My Yearlong Search for a New Best Friend
    Unavailable
    MWF Seeking BFF: My Yearlong Search for a New Best Friend
    Audiobook10 hours

    MWF Seeking BFF: My Yearlong Search for a New Best Friend

    Written by Rachel Bertsche

    Narrated by Annie Wood

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    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 fifty-two 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.


    From the Trade Paperback edition.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateDec 20, 2011
    ISBN9780449009871
    Unavailable
    MWF Seeking BFF: My Yearlong Search for a New Best Friend
    Author

    Rachel Bertsche

    Rachel Bertsche is the bestselling author of The Kids are in Bed: Finding Time for Yourself in the Chaos of Parenting, MWF Seeking BFF: My Yearlong Search for a New Best Friend and Jennifer, Gwyneth, and Me: The Pursuit of Happiness, One Celebrity at a Time. She is also a journalist and editor whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Parents, Marie Claire, Teen Vogue, Seventeen, Self, Cosmopolitan, Women’s Health, New York, and more. A former producer for Oprah.com and an editor at O: The Oprah Magazine, she lives in Chicago with her family.

    Related to MWF Seeking BFF

    Related audiobooks

    Social Science For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Friends Sold Us A Lie Of How Adult Life Would Look

      May 28, 2021

      Remember the one where you moved into a lovely Manhattan apartment for $200 a month? How about the one where your best mates decided to rent the flat opposite and were there to support you through every personal crisis however big or small? Or the on

      5 min read

    • Article

      Hot Right Now!

      Feb 23, 2023

      Renowned romance author Colleen Hoover is back! And for the first time, her trilogy of novellas Never Never, written alongside Tarryn Fisher, will be available as one volume. Forgetting is terrifying – yet it seems that remembering is far worse. Tell

      1 min read

    • Article

      Couple Goals

      Feb 3, 2023

      Couple Goals
      6 min read

    • Article

      Oh, What A Night!

      Dec 12, 2021

      Oh, What A Night!
      2 min read

    • Article

      Guest Of Honour

      Nov 7, 2021

      If there’s a book perfect for right now, it’s The Party Crasher. Comic, madcap and escapist, this is chick-lit at its finest. And while it’s a fun read, it’s definitely not a shallow one. The emotions and relationships are authentic, even though the

      1 min read

    • Article

      Dating A F*ck Boy

      Apr 28, 2021

      Dating A F*ck Boy
      3 min read

    • Article

      Are PDAs Ever Acceptable?

      May 25, 2021

      Are PDAs Ever Acceptable?
      2 min read

    • Article

      Leap Of Faith

      May 18, 2021

      Leap Of Faith
      6 min read

    • Article

      The NEW RULES of DATING

      Dec 5, 2019

      The NEW RULES of DATING
      4 min read

    • Article

      For The Love Of Friends

      Oct 11, 2022

      For The Love Of Friends
      2 min read

    • Article

      No More Friendzone!

      May 22, 2020

      No More Friendzone!
      4 min read

    • Article

      Random Acts Of Joy

      Feb 5, 2023

      This book gave me all the feels. It put a smile on my face but also made me angry and sad. I’m a big fan of Catherine Bennetto’s warm, funny novels and I reckon this is her best so far, even quirkier and much grittier than her previous two. Brooke’s

      2 min read

    • Article

      On The Shelf

      Jul 21, 2021

      by Nancy Johnson (HarperCollins, RRP $27.99) Little secrets grow up to be big lies, goes the old saying. It’s true for Ruth Tuttle, an Ivy League African-American engineer married to possibly the world’s loveliest man. But when he suggests trying for

      2 min read

    • Article

      The THRILL of a NEW FRIEND

      Jan 14, 2020

      Last week, I met my sister for coffee, and the moment I walked into the cafe, she knew something was up. As soon as she’d ordered us our usual cappuccinos, she leaned across the table, her eyes gleaming. ‘You’ve met someone!’ she exclaimed. ‘Come on,

      3 min read

    Reviews for MWF Seeking BFF

    3.5/5

    117 ratings19 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      After moving to Chicago to be with her boyfriend, Rachel Bertsche found herself missing the close friendships she’d had in NYC. She bravely and ambitiously decides to take things into her own hands and invite other women to go on 52 friends dates during the 52 weeks of the coming year.

      As you may have noticed, I almost always enjoy humorous memoirs, stunt memoirs, and memoirs by working women. Since MWF Seeking BFF is all three, it was a book I knew I had to read. Luckily for me, it turned out to be just as good as I expected! The author’s writing style was very funny and down-to-earth. Her stories were very relatable. The number of girls Rachel met meant that names quickly became jumbled together for me. I was about to just give up on remembering who was who when I noticed… there’s a friend glossary in the back! Brilliant.

      It made me happy that a book on this topic even exists. I feel like it’s almost a secret that grown-ups keep that it’s so much harder to find friends when you’re out of college and not living near tons of people your age. Getting some advice on how to deal with this was spectacular. Not only did the book include some great advice, it included both research to back it up and many personal anecdotes to keep it interesting. I would recommend this to any young women just finishing college or starting out in a new place. The author is so personable and told such relatable stories, you’ll feel less alone just reading it and on top of that, I think the author’s advice could be truly helpful.

      This review first published on Doing Dewey.
    • 4/5
      This book really did elaborate on 52 friend dates, but it was much less boring than it sounds. I learned a few things and was reminded quite a few times to be more outgoing and friendly because people will most likely be receptive.
    • 2/5
      I tried, I really wanted to like this, but I bailed after 64 pages. It had promise, but there's no flow. Dates merge into discussion of random articles. I hope she found her BFF, but I think she was trying too hard. Probably worked well as a blog in small bites, but not a full length book.
    • 3/5
      Ms. Bertsche hits the premise of the book spot on - after college, if you don't work at a company with lots of people and don't have kids, it is hard to meet people. I loved how she put herself out there and grew through the process. I was challenged in the way the book was laid out and edited. It got confusing at times and seemed like one big run on sentence/paragraph/chapter.
    • 3/5
      Too analytical; not enough story and heart.
    • 4/5
      It's hard to make friends as an adult. How would you go about it? One woman decides to go on one friend date a week to see if she can find her BFF.A good read. But I was exhausted just reading about how gung ho she went into trying to find a friend. Let alone actually doing it the way she did.
    • 1/5
      20-something career woman moves to Chicago to get married. Although she loves her husband and her job, she misses her girlfriends. She sets off to find a new BFF by going on one girl-date a week and blogging about it. She jumps back and forth between her experiences, conversations with her husband, and tidbits of research she uncovered on the topic of friendship.I Pearl-ruled this one at page 54, then skipped to the end to see if she found a friend. The premise has the potential to be a fun read, but MWF Seeking BFF lacks charm and humour. I found the author to be whiny and judgmental, and the rules she set up for herself, her expectations, and her anxieties all seemed very middle-school. But what really tanked this book for me is that she just wasn't an interesting person.Recommended for: obviously I don't recommend it, but if you are a vacuous and shallow 20-something year old you might relate to this narrator better than I did.
    • 4/5
      Wow, this cropped up in my life at the perfect time. Reading this with a friend helped drive the point home that this is a common issue that girls around the country are having, not just me, not just her. Seriously, I had to put this book down at parts and just, take a breather. I find as I get older that I am looking for lasting friendships based on commonalities, and not just tons of "buddies" to fill seats at my birthday get-together. Quality over quantity is my new motto, and I'll start putting myself out there more. Bertsche clearly did her research; even though the majority of the book is personal stories and situations, she has an extensive bibliography from which she peppers the chapters with. Very interesting, 4.5 stars for sure.
    • 4/5
      Most people who know me well would agree that while I'm pretty personable and can get along with just about anybody when and if I want to, I can be exceptionally picky in my tastes, especially in regards to close friendships. I haven't had a best friend for several years, and I doubt I'll ever have a close relationship like I had with my former bestie back in high school. We were so close I felt connected to her, and was sure that our friendship would stand the test of time. I know she's married now, but that's about it. We haven't spoken in years.

      I picked up this book at my local bookstore because I thought it might provide some useful insights for getting out there and finding a new best friend. I've lived in this town for a couple of years now but I haven't managed to find a special lady to be my very best friend.

      This was an exceptionally quick read and only took me a two or three days of off and on reading. Bertsche has an easy writing style. I have to admit, I almost put the book down immediately because of the quote from The Big Bang Theory at the beginning, but I decided to put my judgements aside and see what I could learn from her year long quest. I liked how she interspersed tidbits of social science research with the details about her individual friend dates.

      In the end, the book left me feeling a bit more positive about my prospects. As Bertsche finally concludes, it may not be possible to have the same kind of bestie relationship like you did in your teenage years, but that's probably a good thing. Our friendship needs change as we grow older, and it's unrealistic to expect from our friends the things we did when we were much younger, when our lives were much less cluttered, without jobs and husbands, etc.

      I haven't been motivated to join a friend finding website or ask out a stranger, but I am trying to be more aware and proactive to the needs of the friends that I do have. I think the biggest point made, and what resonated with me the most, was how much energy and effort has to go into maintaining a friendship in the early stages, to make sure that it doesn't fizzle out.
    • 4/5
      Ms. Bertsche shares her year long quest to find and make friends. Along the way the reader gets bits of friendship research, friendship wisdom, and handy tips for being more friendly. I've always wondered what makes some people I know so friendly and how they do it. Now I know, and what's better, Ms. Bertsche takes the mystery out of doing the same myself. I liked the author's tone - confidential but not overly so. She shares some embarrassing moments, but is never unkind about others or herself. At the end of this memoir, I was ready to go looking for a few good friends myself!
    • 4/5
      I'm getting ready to move from California to New Jersey, where I know no one, so the timing of this book couldn't be more perfect! Rachel provides so many different alternatives for meeting new people, there should be tested techniques for all types. I was worried when most of her first "dates" were with friends of friends. That's great for a sorority sister from a nearby college where many acquaintances have settled in Chicago, but not helpful for me as a person who has always had (and preferred) a small circle of close friends. In addition to her various strategies for meeting people, MWF seeking BFF served as a motivator for me. What a great reminder of the power of girlfriends and the happiness they can bring into our lives! And, I also appreciated the inclusion of scientific studies about friendship - so informative!Even if you aren't new in town, I'd recommend this book as a gentle tool for building social networks (the in-person kind). Rachel's humorous stories of her not-always-successful-outings make the idea of building friendships into an adventure instead of a chore. I can't wait to get started!PS. I did not follow Rachel's blog before reading the book so I can't comment on how much of the content is original and how much is a rehash of previous postings. Hopefully other reviewers will be able to comment.
    • 4/5
      I picked this us because I believe the premise, that it is hard to make friends as an adult. At first, I thought I'd just jump from "friend date" to "friend date", that being the meat of the book. But soon, Rachel's voice gave way to some self-reflection, quotes from reliable friend studies and I was hooked. Rachel's still young enough to have the cushion of making friends via college connections, but some of the other ways she put herself out there were very interesting! I would love to revisit this newly married after she has children. That's quite a game-changer in the world of friendships, both keeping and making them.
    • 5/5
      Less than two years ago I found myself in a very similar situation as Bertsche. I moved with my husband, son and brand new baby to a new town where we knew no one. Add to that the fact that both of my Grandmothers died, I dislocated my knee and couldn’t be near my only sister as she gave birth to her first baby within two months of the move and I was feeling really sad and lonely!I found this book very relatable because of my experience. I have since made a few friends just as Bertsche did by putting myself out there. I trolled the internet for local groups and meet-ups, joined a local parenting website, took my kids to the beach and the parks, hung out in Starbucks and at the gym. I even signed up for classes at the local library. It worked! I was out of my comfort zone, but I can now say I have a nice group of about eight girlfriends to socialize with, plus a pretty cool book club!Bertsche is an engaging writer. She is funny and candid. Some of her stories were laugh out loud funny and some were even cringe-worthy. I love the honest approach she took in writing about her experiences. She could easily be a friend of mine if I lived in Chicago. Besides hitting home because of my similar experience, this book is full of tips on how to be a better friend. I realized that if I want friendships to grow, I need to be the initiator a lot more. That also goes for keeping up my old friendships, because those are just as important. There are also great ideas on how to make even more friends.This book was a light and engaging read. It was just the right blend of funny, endearing, memoir and sociology. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who had a move to a new location and was on a search for new friends, as well as anyone looking to be a better friend. I absolutely loved this book, and we will be discussing it at my new-ish book club at our next meeting.
    • 5/5
      Rachel Bertsche's MWF Seeking BFF: MY Yearlong Search for a New Best Friend was one of my favorite reads of 2011. I read it over the Christmas holiday, and it was the perfect read. Basically, the book chronicals Bertsche's quest for a new best friend after moving to a new city with her husband and leaving behind all of her best buds. She realizes how lonely she is without a friend to call up to hang out with at a moment's notice, so she decides to go on one "friend date" a week for an entire year. Bertsche enrolls in clubs, classes, etc. in the hopes of meeting potential new friends. It is a super fun and very hilarious read.When I picked up MWF, I was expecting a light, fluffy read. I figured I'd like it, but it wouldn't be anything special. Turns out, it's anything but, and it turned into one of my favorite books, and sort of changed the way I think about friends. I was affected by the book immediately. Bertsche goes into detail about how much she loves hanging out with her husband, but how she misses having those conversations you can only have with your best girlfriends. We get a very intimate look at her own life, which made me love the book more because I felt close to the author. This book encouraged me to see my friends more, because I've been lazy about getting together with them for a long time. I loved Bertsche's take on making friends after college. Having just graduated last May, I realized how right she was when she said that it's a lot harder to make new friends once you're out of school. Of course, I still live in my hometown and have my bffs around me, but eventually I know I'll be living in a new city with no close friends nearby. Bertsche is a hilarious author. She's a confident woman, yet she has no problems writing about how awkward she can be at times when meeting new potential friends on "friend dates". It makes you think back to first date moments with guys, and I loved how honest she was about how intimidated friend dates can be, even more so than dates with guys. I really loved how she slowly emerged from being kind of shy on first friend dates to feeling completely comfortable. What was really intriguing was when Bertsche started thinking about what made her click with potential friends and what made dates awkward and not go so well. She also backed this up with articles about friendship. Some of the things she mentioned for clicking with people were obvious, like having things in common, like a shared love of reading. However, she said that having common dislikes was a big factor in clicking as well. Sometimes though, having things in common doesn't gaurantee you'll hit it off. Bertsche said that the friend dates that turned into true friendships always involved a lot of laughter. Which makes sense if you think about it. If you're not laughing with someone, you're not having fun with them. There were a few parts that were super emotional, especially for me. Bertsche lost her father a few years ago, just like I lost mine, and the chapter where she goes home for Thanksgiving and feels his loss a ton, I completely connected with that, especially since I read that particular passage on Christmas day, when I was really missing my own dad. Basically, I loved this book so much. It is very easy to read but it is also super informative, and I felt like Rachel and I were friends by the end. Especially since we're both apparently obsessed with Law and Order SVU....I read this in 2 sittings and couldn't put it down. I've also been recommending it like crazy. I love it, especially since it's the main reason why I've been seeing my friends so much in the new year!
    • 4/5
      I’ve had to think about this one for a while. The premise got me from the beginning, but I think the initial execution of thought-to-paper was a little too clinical for my tastes. The first few chapters of the book are FULL of references to various friend-theme scientific studies…so much so that it seems on almost every page the author is telling us where some data appeared. I understand, a little anyway, why she did this – but it just seemed to me a little over the top and not -quite- necessary.After the first few chapters, though, the writing relaxes and we get into the flow. Yes, there’s still some references to studies, but they’re done more casually and there’s much fewer. The sudden shift to a more casual writing style was what kept me reading, and I’m really glad I did. Mrs. Bertsche is definitely a fun lady and that shows in the way she puts pen to paper (or finger to keyboard, whatever!). I was intrigued to read about her girl-dates; she gives just enough detail about each to keep the readers interest piqued, but not enough to make you wish she’d just hurry up to the next one, already.The ideas and themes within the novel are, for someone who is also a transplant to another state and has had little time to jump into the epic social swing of things, quite interesting. She introduces a way of thinking about girl-dates and ‘friending’ that makes it seem the norm rather than something quirky that people might look at with raised eyebrows.All in all, I really enjoyed the book and I look forward to sharing it with some of my friends.
    • 4/5
      The curse of the introvert is that while I enjoy spending time with people I know, getting there (aka making friends) is a challenge. I frequently wonder how some people go from barely acquaintances to friends in no time with zero awkwardness and lately I've been thinking about the general subject of friendship more than usual. So when a friend gushed about this book I jumped at the chance to read it - here's someone asking the same questions and apparently she has answers! Rachel's memoir is not just a collection of amusing anecdotes about her 52 new girl-dates in search of friends. She's also done some research on the subject of friendship and the narrative is liberally sprinkled with references to books and articles on the subject as well as summaries of her interviews with experts. This did give the book more of a dry air of an almost scientific article than I would have preferred but at least we know without a doubt that the author has thoroughly done her homework! She is also letting us into her life outside the friend-search, giving us a glimpse of how hew new husband was dealing with the whole thing (from what I can tell Rachel better hang on to her Matt, he’s a keeper), her existing friends' and family's support, and her own analysis of herself and her quest throughout the year. It’s interesting to see the transformation of her wish list for the perfect friend from tentative to defined and grounded in the present and her transformation from a young woman seeking companionship to a young woman who has much to offer not only to a potential friend but also to herself. I really enjoyed reading Rachel’s insights into what it takes to build a friendship, her take on our culture where admitting that you are looking for friends is tantamount to admitting that you are a weirdo looser, and her thoughts about one’s spouse being one’s best friend (or not). I can relate to her nervousness starting out on this adventure and applaud her for not leaving a stone unturned, and for turning into a yes-woman of friend-making in the name of having a social life, which is obviously very important to her. While I wouldn’t want to repeat Rachel’s experiment (‘exhausting’ doesn’t even begin to cover my impression of the commitment she made over the course of that year) many of the lessons she learned I would like to apply to my own life. After all, when has it hurt to have more friends?
    • 3/5
      For many people, male or female, it is difficult to acclimate in a new city or state especially when you don't know anyone other than your spouse, their co-workers and your co-workers. Some people are able to establish friendships with co-workers that exist outside of the workplace, and others simply can't because there are no common interests. Some people find new friends with common interests at book clubs, exercise classes, cooking classes or even at places of worship. Rachel tries many of these tactics and more in her search for a new BFF. Rachel isn't a needy, clingy woman that relies on her husband as her sole contact outside of work. She has a full life with friends, family and often traveled out-of-state to weddings, etc. keeping in contact. But we all crave someone to hang out with on the weekends, call when we're having difficulties at home or work, shop with, etc. Rachel's friend-dates are her attempts to find this person in her new hometown. She "dates" women that she may have overlooked because they were older, different ethnicities, or simply different. She is highly descriptive in describing these dates and her expectations. I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I began reading MWF Seeking BFF simply because I'm not a memoir reader. However I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, although it did seem to drag a little in the middle sections. I don't know if I could have the chutzpah to put myself out there as Rachel did when she moved, but I can understand her goal and rationale. This book provides a glimpse into why friends are necessary in order to be a well-rounded person, in addition to providing a glimpse into Rachel’s quest for a new BFF. (Couples with close friends apparently do better than couples without close friends according to one quoted sociology study.) If you enjoy memoirs with a humorous bent then MWF Seeking BFF may be just the book for you.
    • 5/5
      I was a little skeptical at first, but I absolutely loved this book!Rachel Bertsche moved to Chicago for love, but as wonderful as her new husband is, she misses being close to her best friends. So she decides to go on 52 "friend dates" for a year to hopefully find some new best friends in Chicago. When she finds good friend potential, she tries to plan follow up dates with each girl. In order to keep meeting new potential friends, she attempts everything - signing up for classes, going "speed friending", reconnecting with old friends, striking up conversations with potential BFFs wherever she goes. She even tries to "rent a friend." Oh, and did I mention she has a full time job?? I don't know how she managed to do it all, but somehow she did.Along the way, she does research about friendship and tries out suggestions for meeting people and being a good friend in return. She doesn't hesitate to make light of herself and her shortcomings, and she is totally honest when the friend dates go badly. She learns a lot about going outside her comfort zone - sometimes new friends could be those we least expect.Bertsche has a funny writing style - she made me laugh - and yet the book is also educational, and inspiring. As you read it, you will be moved to reach out to your own friends, and appreciate them more than before.(I received this book through Amazon's Vine Program.)
    • 5/5
      What do you do when you are friendless in an unfamiliar big city? You put out an ad for friends, of course! The author moved to the Windy City after marrying her college sweetheart, from that statement alone everything sounds hunky-dory...however, she had to leave behind her two best friends.Rachel's story is hysterical. This book will easily make the reader laugh, experience several awkward moments with Rachel, and hold his/her breath to see if the friendship will work out. The way the author writes will captivate the reader. Rachel's style of writing is fluid, down-to-earth, and infused with humor. Rachel literally holds nothing back, she is very candid with the reader. The potential candidates for Rachel's BFF are fun to get to meet. They each have different qualities and mannerisms that will make them stick out to the reader. The reader will also be able to follow Rachel's reasoning and logic for why a friendship didn't work out or may work out. It's funny to think of speed-dating for friendship, but Rachel will help the reader see the merit in it. One statement of Rachel's that sticks out as a pearl of wisdom is when she states that society has made it acceptable to be a woman seeking a man and vice versa, but not a woman seeking friendship from other women. She also goes into detail about how female friendships are taking a hit in recent years, this information should be interesting to readers-particularly readers of the female persuasion. Overall, this book was hilarious and absorbing, highly recommended to adult/young adult readers.