Neil Chethik, the author of 'FatherLoss,' interviewed 358 married men about everything from sex to housekeeping – even the connection between the two (it's stronger than you might think!).

According to Chethik, there are four phases of marriage: newlywed years, family years, empty nest years and mature years. While the latter is probably the most compelling (due in no small part to the amazing stories these long-married men have to tell), the fact that the author includes not just anecdotes but strategies that men in successful marriages use make the book useful for both men and women.

This is a highly readable book that is nonetheless backed up by considerable research. Chethik developed an in-depth survey with the University of Kentucky, so he is able to back up his statistics – the most heartening of which is that 93 percent of all husbands he surveyed said that if given the chance, they would marry the same woman again.

Best For: Anyone curious about the real lives of American husbands – single women might learn a lot.