Sober celebrities, reality stars in rehab and the sudden ubiquity of mocktail recipes… the culture is shifting, and abstinence is in. best alcoholic memoirs Peak Covid saw people giving into excess where alcohol was concerned, and the rise of sobriety following the pandemic seems straight out of a ‘nature is healing’ meme. The ‘sober curious‘ movement has spawned non-alcoholic bars in cities as different as Nashville and New York, zero-proof liquors and a whole lot of memoirs written by addicts in recovery. Having been in recovery for many years, and working here at Shatterproof, I often get asked to recommend books about addiction.
Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself by Nedra Glover Tawwab
- Codependency is prevalent among people whose loved ones are fighting addiction.
- Written by a cognitive neuroscientist with former substance use struggles, Marc Lewis emphasizes the habitual reward loop in the brain that can cause a substance use disorder to develop.
- He also offers step-by-step instructions for starting recovery and sticking with it.
- In the literature world, you can find books about addiction and recovery in a genre known as “quit lit.” Quit lit is full of authors sharing their personal experiences and resources to help others who are where they’ve been.
- In the book, Holly Whitaker speaks on the irony of a world that glorifies alcohol yet looks down on people who get sick from using it.
This is a lesser known series of essays on the intersection of alcohol and womanhood. The author, Kristi Coulter, engages the reader with her deep insight and quick wit. This combination makes her story heartening, funny, and thought-provoking at the same time. Coulter shares her struggles with alcohol use and also the challenges of getting sober. The third in a memoir trilogy that includes the critically acclaimed The Liars’ Club and Cherry, Lit introduces Mary Karr as a full grown woman, poet, wife, and mother struggling with alcoholism. We see how through hard spiritual work, brutal self-effacement, hospitalization, community, and grace, she found a way through.
“I’m Black and I’m Sober: A Minister’s Daughter Tells Her Story about Fighting the Disease of Alcoholism–And Winning”
- This is the kind of myopic or unreliable narrator we encounter frequently in novels – conspicuously naïve or self-delusive, and unchaperoned by a consolingly wise authorial presence—but almost never in memoir.
- Stoicism is an ancient philosophy that believes self-control, courage, justice, and wisdom are the keys to happiness.
- Having said that, I did—while reading Ditlevsen’s Dependency—occasionally need to put the book down and take a few deep breaths.
- His mother suffered from mental illness and addiction, creating a situation in which Burroughs was raised in a tumultuous and unpredictable manner.
In this book, he combines personal stories with scientific evidence to provide positive support and solutions regarding addiction. As the title denotes, the no-nonsense guide will help you understand the causes of addiction. It will teach you how to end enabling behaviors, support your loved one’s recovery, and https://www.tonyfigo.com/2021/08/16/alcoholism-and-narcissism-are-they-linked/ cope with their relapses. The book’s authors do a great job of helping the reader understand how their experiences have profoundly impacted the affected person’s relationships with others. Any addict can read the book of Alcoholics Anonymous and find overwhelming similarities, as could an Alcoholic find overwhelming similarities in the book of Narcotics Anonymous.
Best Addiction and Sobriety Books
Even if God is not your thing, putting your spouse and yourself before your child’s addiction is highly recommended. When your child is ready for help, getting them help becomes a priority. Putting their addiction first and their spouse second often ends in turmoil, divorce, and Alcoholics Anonymous the addiction problem becoming progressively worse.
Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction, Maia Szalavitz
Reading We are the Luckiest by Laura McKowen can quite possibly save your life. Get therapy and medical care—just $25 with insurance, no hidden fees— for alcohol recovery, depression, everyday illnesses, and more. Electric Literature is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2009. Claudia Acevedo-Quiñones is a writer from Puerto Rico whose poems and short fiction have appeared in The Brooklyn Rail, wildness, Ambit Magazine, Radar Poetry, and other publications.