Author: John Carter

Best 20 Books About Addiction Recovery to Read in 2020

This book is highly recommended for anyone who, like me, is or was terrified of living a boring life. This book will inspire anyone looking for fun and adventure to create incredible memories while living alcohol-free. Reading We are the Luckiest by Laura McKowen can quite possibly save your life.

Creating healthy boundaries is one of the most useful practices we can put into place in early sobriety. But what does that mean, exactly, and how do you go about establishing boundaries? Nedra Glover Tawwab combines wisdom, research, and practical tools to help you change your life by building sustainable boundaries that actually work for you. This book offers a collection of elegant, complex, and sophisticated recipes that prove there’s so much more to zero proof beverages than overly sweet ‘mocktails’. Bainbridge combines unique ingredients with detailed preparation to create thoughtful and flavorful non-alcoholic beverages. This is more than a cookbook – it’s a captivating read and a gorgeous coffee table book to peruse over and over again.

She offers generous vulnerability in her lessons and encourages you to find your gift within. A life of recovery is an awakened life of purpose, service, and meaning. Straightforward and to the point, Carr helps you examine the reasons you drink in the first place in The Easy Way to Control Alcohol. For example, he explains why stating alcohol is poison and repeating the tagline “Never Question the Decision” can help you change your unconscious thoughts about alcohol, and shift your mindset. This book is a great place to start if you’ve been feeling sober curious.

Although it is hard not to leave when one is angry at the person and experiences many other emotions, we do not have to leave the people we love. The book helps one understand addiction as an illness and explains why we should not judge those suffering from addiction. It gives ways that one can help that person and still stay, unless there is an abusive relationship and one is in danger. It might have seemed that everything is alright, but she was a high functioning alcoholic and cocaine addict. She tells an honest story of what triggered her addiction and how alcohol and drugs became her solution to all the stress and workloads.

When Your Partner Has an Addiction by Christopher Kennedy Lawford and Beverly Engel

Memoirs of an Addicted Brain has some really heavy science in it, but the author breaks it down in a way that one really can understand what is happening in the brain of an addict. The book also tells that information alongside a personal story, which keeps one’s attention and keeps the reader engaged throughout the whole book. 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. She’s drawn to Marlena’s world and joins her on an adventure of drinking, smoking, and kissing. Marlena’s dark habits worsen, though, and she ends up dead within the year.

Although this book was published what might seem ages ago, there is so much valuable information for those who are just beginning their new life, a sober life. This is a relatively short book, which suitable for those who are just trying to take the first steps and do not know where to start. All the advice is presented in a very simple to understand language, making it a simple read. It is also based on real experiences and successful stories, so many recovering addicts find the tips to be actually helpful. It might seem that addiction is behind when a person is in stage two of recovery. However, the new life has just begun and a person needs some guidance on how to rebuild their life.

1. The artist discusses his journey, including his descent into drug use and finding light through the darkness.
2. One of the first of its kind, Drink opens our eyes to the connection between drinking, trauma and the impossible quest to ‘have it all’ that many women experience.
3. This author has a different approach to help stop drinking from what they teach in a 12-step program.
4. This is a lesser known series of essays on the intersection of alcohol and womanhood.

This book provides an eye-opening perspective on and insight into how racism and white supremacy can lead to intergenerational trauma. Resmaa Menakem shares the latest research on body trauma and neuroscience, as well as provides actionable steps towards healing as a collective. These insights can introduce a whole new dimension of healing while on a sobriety or moderation journey. I will read anything Clare Pooley writes simply because she is a magical storyteller.

Stage II Recovery: Life Beyond Addiction by Earnie Larsen

We asked more than a dozen addiction experts, sobriety counselors, podcasters and people in recovery to share the books they found most helpful. The author is a comedian with a sort of funny dark sense of humor. He talks about the 12 steps in his book and explains everything in a really blunt and kind of deep, philosophical way. In a way, this book is an interesting combination of humor and deep philosophy. For more books about alcoholism and addiction, check out this list of 100 must-read books about addiction. Ann Dowsett Johnston combines in-depth research and her own story of recovery in this important book about the relationship between women and alcohol.

Quit Like a Woman takes a groundbreaking look at America’s obsession with alcohol. It explores how society’s perception and targeted marketing campaigns keeps groups of people down while simultaneously putting money into “Big Alcohol’s” pockets. Whitaker’s book offers a road map of non-traditional options for recovery. It is well-researched, educational, informative, and at times mind-blowing. This is a must read for anyone passionate about exploring their relationship with alcohol and the role a patriarchal system has played in rising rates of unhealthy substance use in America.

I chose Atlas of the Heart because it touches on the important theme of second chances. This book provides language for sharing our most heartbreaking moments as a way to connect. Stories heal, and no circle knows that more than the recovery circle. The simple fact that we are not alone in our struggle can be enough to find our way out of the dark.

Girl Walks Out of a Bar: A Memoir by Lisa Smith

Dr. Maté shares the powerful insight that substance use is, in many cases, a survival mechanism. When something awful happens to us, our way to cope is to turn off and even turn against ourselves, as a method of resilience. 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.

Discover the solutions you’ve been seeking with this new guide to living free of alcohol.

It can provide ongoing reminders of why you’re making a change, and give you new tools to incorporate as you continue on your journey. Plus, you’ll get to read beautiful writing, and expand your worldview and perspectives. If you’re looking for more sobriety resources, check out Monument’s therapist-moderated alcohol support groups and anonymous online forum. I am not sure I’d be sober today if it weren’t for Tired of Thinking About Drinking. Belle’s consistent messaging on our faulty thinking led to a major mindset shift for me. She provides actionable steps for anyone looking to drink less or none at all.