Author: Charles Frank

11 Gripping Books About Alcoholism and Recovery

The ones who can make it to the other side of addiction gain an enriched, rare perspective on life that they never could’ve had otherwise. Excessive drinking has numerous impacts on your body and mind, ranging from mild to severe. Learn which signs to look out for, and how to care for your well-being. SELF does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Any information published on this website or by this brand is not intended as a substitute for medical advice, and you should not take any action before consulting with a healthcare professional.

How to Murder Your Life by Cat Marnell

I’ve written a play, The Post-Roe Monologues, to elevate women’s stories. I cherish the curiosity that drives outer and inner exploration, and I love memoirs that skillfully weave the two. The books on this list feature extraordinary women who took risks, left comfort and safety, and battled vulnerability to step into the unknown. These authors moved beyond the stories they’d believed about themselves–or that others told about them. They invite you to think about living fuller and bigger lives. Karr arrived with a unique literary voice that combined rich Texan and burst of lyricism.

  1. White thoughtfully explores boundaries, emotional regulation, body image, shame, and self-care in a way that’s actionable and accessible.
  2. This is no joyful, linear skip towards sobriety and redemption.
  3. Elizabeth Vargas takes off her perfectly poised reporter mask and shows you the authentic person behind the anchor desk.
  4. Ria Health is a smartphone-based program that assists people in reaching their unique alcohol-related goals, whether that means cutting back or quitting for good.

The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober: Discovering a Happy, Healthy, Wealthy Alcohol-Free Life by Catherine Gray

There’s no award for “Most Sobriety Memoirs Read,” so read them for yourself — let their wisdom be its own award (I can feel your eye rolls. I’m sorry.). — early into her sobriety, she realized that she was actually the lucky one. Thanks to an alcohol- and drug-free life, McKowen now feels all of her feelings, no longer has to balance multiple lies, and is fully present with her daughter. Shortly after accepting she had a problem with alcohol, she thought a lot about how some people are lucky enough to be able to drink normally without it controlling their life. Clare Pooley left her position at one of the world’s largest advertising agencies to focus on raising her three children. What was meant to be a positive and happy change led to depression, which she self-medicated with drinking, eventually consuming over a bottle of wine a day.

Sometimes, a slow realization of enough being enough is all it takes to start your recovery. Check out our picks for the best addiction and recovery memoirs. It’s understandable to feel alone and like no one can relate to your addiction. Luckily, there’s a whole genre of books that prove you are not the only one who has battled addiction.

Powerful Addiction Memoirs that Sober People Love

Then I insisted the daily drinking was just part of adulthood. Reading these books about alcoholism (memoirs, nonfiction, and fiction) and recommending them to you is part of my personal therapy. They encourage you to embrace the sober “Irish exit,” leaving the party early to enjoy a starlit stroll home.

Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man

In and out of rehab, he falls into relapse, engaging in toxic relationships and other self-destructive behaviors that threaten to undo the hard-won progress he’s made. Unexplained men and bruises the next morning are only a few of the unremembered experiences Sarah Hepola recalls in this honest, raw, poignant memoir. Finding that her creativity didn’t come from a bottle, she gets sober and finds a life she didn’t know she wanted. It was the beginning of using externals to fix an internal problem. A 74-year old Native American found me at ten months in recovery.

The book discusses drug policies, substance use treatment, and the root causes of substance use. More than anything, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts provides a voice of kind generosity and understanding to anyone who is looking to learn more for themselves or a loved one. When 15-year-old Cat moves to a new town in rural Michigan, she’s ecstatic to find a friend in Marlena, a beautiful, pill-popping neighbor.

Many addiction memoirs evince a desire to repay the reader for all the dark places the story has taken them with a thumpingly joyous ending. For these reasons, in many addiction memoirs the end is the weakest part. In this post, we’ve put together nine of the best addiction memoirs and quit lit books for you to check out. From painfully honest stories to science-based tips, there’s a title on this list that’s sure to inspire and motivate you or someone in your life. When I first read this book over ten years ago it felt like I was reading my own journal (if my journal was written in incredibly eloquent prose).

There Are Multiple Evidence-Based Roads to Recovery

For every parent riddled with guilt, for anyone waking up in the shame cave (again), for every person who has had a messy struggle forward towards redemption… this book is for you. Punch Me Up to the Gods is a beautifully written series of personal essays that describe Brian Broome’s experience growing up Black and queer in Ohio, and the effect early substance use had on his upbringing. This book tells an incredible story of not only recovery, but also how it connects to race and sexual identity. All in all, this is an excellent quit lit story for those interested in an eye-opening perspective on alcohol’s role in our society today. Interestingly, Russell Brand was fourteen years sober at the time of writing Recovery.