The Mindful Attraction Plan by Athol Kay

“Money can be anything you want it to be,” says Athol Kay in his book about relationships. It can create a sense of security and put you at ease. Lack of money isn’t good, but debt, he says, is worse.

Kay puts everything into colors; green means “go,” yellow means “push harder or quit,” and red means “stop altogether.” One example of a relationship problem is the “uneven” one, where one partner is hotter than the other. If the woman is a perfect 10 and they guy is a 6, then the woman can snap her fingers and expect to get what she wants. If not, she just dumps that guy for another one that will kowtow to her. Rude? Sure. But tell me, what kind of woman wouldn’t do that if she were totally hot? It’s the same thing if the guy has movie star looks and the woman doesn’t. It’ll be a “my way or the highway” kind of relationship, and there’s always the chance that the better looking one will think “I can do better.” Color code? Yellow! This is the point where you change or stop.

I’ll give this book high marks because, because it’s funny. Why is it funny? It brings to light the kind of relationship problems that are funny because they are ridiculous. If the women outnumber the men by 4 to 1, then the women are going to be desperate. Take for example the strange (and often humorous) phenomena of Ukrainian women marrying fat ugly American guys. There are more women than men in that country, so competition for dates is fierce. If a guy can pick and choose freely, what is he going to pick? Probably the sexiest blue-eyed blonde. But in a place like Anchorage, Alaska, it’s the other way around. The men outnumber the women, so the fattest, ugliest woman can sit back can sit back, and tell the guys “line up with your wallets out.” If a Ukrainian woman ends up in Anchorage, chances are she’ll have the time of her life.

Some of the topics in this book are similar to Steve Harvey’s relationship guide “Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man.” He stresses avoiding men who have too much choice, and lowering certain standards, like salary and height requirements (6”3 and $100,000 a year really shrinks the dating pool.)