12 of the Best Sober-Curious Books to Support Your Journey

A relationship is, among other things, a shared story – or sometimes, a mutually held delusion. In this haunting, sometimes hallucinatory memoir, Machado inventively recounts the tale of her abusive relationship with a volatile aspiring writer, who viciously warns her not to write about the relationship, among other things. The book serves as a powerful corrective to the fallacy that queer relationships are by nature egalitarian. In those stories, the decision to get better often arrives like a bolt of lightning, but this is rarely the case. My own recovery from codependency and alcoholism, which I write about in my memoir Good Morning, Destroyer of Men’s Souls, has felt elusive, circuitous, and sometimes rather boring. Since I don’t love the word “journey”, I prefer to think of it as a kind of endurance art, the term performance artists give to work that requires long periods of hardship, solitude or pain. Hen we hear the word “recovery”, especially alongside “literature”, we tend to think of books on alcoholism or drug addiction.

For Dr. Remy, his job meant waking up one morning to find himself in rehab for alcohol use disorder. That bottle of merlot was all Kerry Cohen could think about as she worked through her day. She always completed whatever was on the to-do list but always with this reward on top of her mind. It took her until she was forty to realize this was neither normal nor healthy. Eventually, she runs through a series of nine-to-five jobs, but ultimately, she ends up living behind a dumpster as she descends into crack cocaine use.

Party Girl: A Novel

Users of Sober Grid can also find friends while traveling, as the network connects people locally and anywhere in the world. Many famous musicians struggled with various addictions, but many were also able to recover and went on to produce a lot of great music instead of falling victim to the stereotype. Their stories serve to provide strength and inspiration to others on a path of healing and health. A score between 8 and 18 indicates you are drinking above relatively healthy levels. 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. The information on this website is not intended to be a substitute for, or to be relied upon as, medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

In this gripping memoir, she turns it all around with the help of a family of eccentric fellow substance users, friends, and strangers who come to her aid. Cupcake survives thanks to a furious wit and an unyielding determination. There, Burroughs is finally able to truly examine himself, and something starts to click. This memoir is the story of his drinking, finding recovery, and getting sober while also finding love, loss, and Starbucks as a Higher Power. The Recovering takes a deep dive into the history of the recovery movement while also examining how race and class impact our understanding of who is a criminal and who is simply ill. That siren song eventually led broadcast journalist Elizabeth Vargas to admit her addiction on national television. From drinks at baby showers to work events, brunch and book clubs, graduations, and funerals, alcohol’s ubiquity are a given and the only time that people get uncomfortable is when someone doesn’t drink. It’s a consistency among books in this round-up that I’m 100 percent here for—a mix of memoir and self-help. If you’ve ever thought that alcohol makes you more social or easy-going, this is the book that’ll convince you otherwise. Millie reflects on her journey to sobriety, sharing the many doubts, what-ifs, and relatable questions that challenged her along the way.

We Are the Luckiest: The Surprising Magic of a Sober Life

The esteemed and late New York Times columnist David Carr turned his journalistic eye on his own life in this memoir, investigating his own past as a cocaine addict and sifting through muddied memories to discover the truth. The story follows Carr’s unbelievable arc through addiction, recovery, cancer, and life as a single parent to come to an understanding of what those dark years meant. A person of extraordinary intellect, Heather King is a lawyer and writer/commentator for NPR — as well as a recovering alcoholic who spent years descending from functional alcoholism to barely functioning at all. From graduating cum laude from law school despite her excessive drinking to languishing in dive bars, King presents a clear-eyed look at her past and what brought her out of the haze of addiction. Survival Math is an incredible look at race and class, gangs and guns, addiction and masculinity. Mitchell S. Jackson frames the narrative around his own experiences and those of his family and community.

These apps offer different features, such as a virtual community, coaching, and milestone trackers. Some apps may be more suitable for certain alcohol support groups and offer literature and meditations. However, people with AUD drink alcohol even if it negatively affects their lives. Developed by scientists and experts in mindfulness, positive psychology, and cognitive behavioral therapy, Happify’s techniques and programs aim to reduce stress and build greater resilience. Daily notifications may keep people focused on recovery, and special notifications alert a person when they have reached a key milestone. People can add memorable photos for each milestone and save or share their achievements. People can track time and money saved on the app and share successes and new chips on social media. If a person needs to speak to someone right away, they can reach out to Sober Grid’s virtual community for support by selecting the “Burning Desire” button.

I could not put this book down , talk about gut-wrenching honesty and not holding anything back. When I worked in beauty, Cat was a beauty editor at Lucky and xoJane.com, so I knew of her. I found this book uncomfortable at times and very funny at other times. It is the real deal and Cat is a talented writer, but most of all a survivor. He comes from the book publishing world and, again, was someone who was successful and smart, but in active addiction. He lost trust of people around him and in his field, but through sobriety he has been able to regain that trust and help many people along the way. I too was a high-functioning professional with a drinking and cocaine addiction. My addiction always took me to new lows, and cost me many jobs over the years. Under the Influence,” authors James Robert Milam and Katherine Ketcham dispel this and other myths. They discuss recovery, how to help someone with alcoholism, how to increase the chances of a successful recovery, and how to tell if you or someone you love has alcoholism.

Libaire and Ward both found alcohol to be numbing, rather than enriching, and although so many people around them found drinking to be a vital part of their relaxation, Libaire and Ward wanted to seek out an alternate way to enjoy life. “The Sober Lush” is meant to be a road-map that outlines how to have a pleasant life without drinking. Phillips’ father, core member of a popular rock n’ roll band, led what many would consider to be a very hedonistic lifestyle, exposing his daughter to drug fueled party culture very early on. For that reason, Phillips herself became an addict, and “High on Arrival” best sober books intertwines her personal battle with addiction with her perception of her father. Some critics have called out James Frey for fabricating some of the narrative of “A Million Little Pieces” to have it read more like a novel. While Frey denies this, and the publishers have released mixed responses, the story is still a deep dive into the mind of an addict and the experience that one might have in rehabilitation. A wanted criminal, crack-cocaine addict, and alcohol of close to a decade, Frey’s story is incredibly painful, and full of the fury of an individual suffering with addiction.

Powerful Women’s Recovery Memoirs to Inspire Your Own Journey

King was an attorney who developed alcoholism, and then found recovery through spirituality, chiefly Catholicism, to which she converted. King herself refers to “Parched” as, “the dark years” of her life, which should give some indication as to just how severe her experiences with alcohol were. Using her relatable voice, which is equal parts honest and witty, Holly tackles the ways that alcohol companies target women. She also divulges the details on her emerging feminism, an alternate way out of her own addiction, and a calling to create a sober community with resources for anyone who is questioning their own relationship with alcohol. At the end of the Sober Home day, this memoir is a groundbreaking look into our current drinking culture while providing a road map to cut alcohol out of our lives so that we can truly live our best lives. We think as we’re getting sober, in spite of the fact that by the time we quit drinking, we’re not typically leading very glamorous lives. The reminder that sober life need not be ascetic or dull is welcome to seasoned veterans of recovery and newcomers alike, but I think the blueprint here for an abundant life of pleasure could be useful for anyone. This book teaches you that anything is possible if you want a better life for yourself, and that manifestation is not a joke.

In this book, McKowen talks about her personal story along with how she faced the facts, the question of AA, and dealing with other people’s drinking. Although she doesn’t sugarcoat how difficult sobriety can be (and yes, it’s not without its struggles), she continues to write about the many blessings of living an honest life without the debilitating shame of addiction. best sober books Iranian American novelist Porochista Khakpour’s elegant, vibrant memoir is primarily about being sick and trying to find answers. But it also details her journey with addiction to the pills prescribed to treat her insomnia and her struggles with mental health. Alcohol Explained by William Porter takes a science-based approach to discussing alcohol addiction.