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.). 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 best alcoholic memoirs their life. 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. We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers).
The Sober Diaries: How one woman stopped drinking and started living
It’s full of stories and useful tips from members of Club Soda, which is a global movement of people looking to actively change their drinking habits, so you know they work. As the digital health editor at woman&home, I read plenty of quit lit and similar books – and there’s not one other like this out there. Even if you’re not looking to change the way you drink specifically, quit lit books can be eye-opening reads as many also look into the psychology of addiction, mental health, and how we can change our most ingrained habits. There’s plenty of insightful literature on this complex topic to help you parse out your feelings and guide your decisions on alcohol. Below, we’ve compiled a list of 12 books about alcohol and sobriety — including feminist cultural commentary, fact-filled guidebooks, and stirring memoirs — that will challenge the way you think about drinking. Whether you’re sober curious yourself or simply want to learn more about how alcohol affects your mind and body, you’ll find something of value on this list.
- She opens up about her battle with bipolar disorder and her recovery from sexual addiction—proving that even some of the greatest divas have to overcome a lot.
- It is well-researched, educational, informative, and at times mind-blowing.
- I cracked up laughing as many times as I nodded my head in knowing, alcoholic agreement.
- Natural disasters can do serious damage, but so can disasters caused by human error.
The Top 6 Female Recovery 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.
- And yet—even though each of these books goes its own way, never hesitating to flout a trope or trample a norm to serve its story—they don’t go in terror of the conventions either.
- She has a high tolerance and never gets sick or passes out.
Interestingly, Russell Brand was fourteen years sober at the time of writing Recovery. Overall, this book is perfect for anyone who’d enjoy an entertaining and surprisingly uplifting story about ending the cycle of addiction. But, growing up with an alcoholic mother, my most common mode of escape as a child was in fiction. Before I was old enough to simply walk out of the house and literally escape, I hid inside my room and read entire afternoons away, happily lost. Whereas my progress was from religion to addiction, Mary Karr’s was the other way around. But though our world-views are in some ways profoundly different, few books have enriched me as a reader and a person more than hers.
quit lit books for sober curious and mindful drinkers
“This book completely changed my mindset around unhelpful drinking habits,” she says. “And it was something I understood and could get on board with. Before this, I didn’t think there was any other way other an AA Alcoholics Anonymous. Having been to an AA meeting and hating it, this wasn’t the path I wanted to go down.” “The Good Drinker also has the stories of other moderate drinkers, interviews with experts, and practical tips and strategies for cutting down,” Willoughby says. “Adrian is a good and engaging writer so the book https://www.riverlino.com/what-causes-a-foggy-mind-after-drinking-alcohol/ is a pleasure to read, and there is lots to digest for anyone considering or practicing moderate or mindful drinking.”
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
I mean help, whether in the form of identification, solace or instruction. I said this convention concerned reading more directly than writing, but—since all good writing involves deep sensitivity to the reader’s experience—the two things are ultimately inseparable. For one kind of author, helping the reader is the whole point of writing an addiction memoir; for another, even to consider doing so would be aesthetically fatal. My guess is that most addiction memoirs involve some kind of compromise between the author’s aesthetic and ethical impulses. This ethical dimension (or an aesthetic impurity) is a distinctive aspect of addiction memoir as a literary form.
Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp
- Alcohol advertising often portrays men drinking as a bonding experience, while portraying women who drink as sexual predators or, at the very least, sexually objectified (“if she is going to get drunk, she is asking for it”).
- I had the opportunity to follow up with all but one of the women on my list and their insights, I believe, are truly enlightening.
- Having said that, I did—while reading Ditlevsen’s Dependency—occasionally need to put the book down and take a few deep breaths.
- I believe in the democratization of the reading experience.
Cupcake Brown was 11 when she was orphaned and placed into foster care. She grew up with a tragic journey, running away and becoming exposed to alcohol, drugs, and sex at a young age, and leaning on those vices to get by. A Piece of Cake is her gripping tale of crashing down to the bottom and crawling back to the top.
Sometimes the best way to understand mental illness or addiction is through the eyes of someone who lived it. That’s because, although men are more likely to drink excessively, women tend to metabolize alcohol more slowly. This makes them more vulnerable to the long-term health effects of heavy drinking.
She wasn’t self-medicating and was able to truly feel her feelings and live marijuana addiction honestly. We Are the Luckiest is a life-changing memoir about recovery—without any sugarcoating. I started reading addiction memoirs in college, well before I admitted to having an alcohol use disorder. But seriously, I hope at least one of these memoirs speaks to you. Beyond the camaraderie of knowing you’re not alone, these books offer practical guidance about the road to sobriety (or your road to changing your relationship with drugs and alcohol).