Reading is so much more than just a temporary distraction from the reality of your daily life. The books you choose can help you gain a new perspective on your own struggles or better understand what the people you care about are going through. Morningside Recovery offers the full-spectrum of comprehensive addiction treatment in Orange County, CA. Take that first step on the road to recovery and make better choices, every day.

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Learn which signs to look out for, and how to care for your well-being. Historian and author Louise Foxcroft prescribes reading on medical practices of the past, from treatments of madness and non-existent disease, to drug use and the origins of hypochondria. I used to work in fashion/beauty/celebrity PR, and I related to her lifestyle before she got sober. I thought my party-girl ways were so glamourous, but it was really sad and unfulfilling, despite the glitz and glamour. I did many things I am deeply ashamed of, and reading her book taught me that I am not alone. I too was a high-functioning professional with a drinking and cocaine addiction.

The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober

I think a trace of that worldview finds expression—again, in the best addiction memoirs—in the form’s tendency to value the authentically commonplace over sensational performance. The various accidental similarities between these books began, before long, to harden into a blueprint, which countless books have faithfully reproduced. Most are forgettable and forgotten, but some accomplished authors—like Caroline Knapp and Sarah Hepola—have created very good books by bringing real skill to the standard formula. I compiled a short list of powerful addiction memoirs to add to your reading list.

The Best Books About Addiction and Recovery

In this intriguing twist on the path of recovery, Caroline Knapp characterises her use of alcohol as a relationship with a romantic partner. With simple, clear writing, she infuses the book with anecdotes and wise observations of her movement to sobriety. These books take you through the lives of seven individual addicts from all walks of life. Hepola spends hungover mornings piecing together the missing hours of the nights before and frequently wakes up with unrecognizable men in unfamiliar places. She eventually realizes a life of forgotten times and missing memories is no life at all, and she sets out to find her identity outside of drinking. Amidst Thatcher’s policies, unemployment, and a looming drugs epidemic, Shuggie’s mother, Agnes, battles addiction while trying to provide for her family.

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. Jerry Stahl, a successful screenwriter, shares his harrowing journey through addiction in his memoir, “Permanent Midnight.” Stahl chronicles his descent into heroin addiction and the devastating impact it had on his career and health. His story takes readers through the depths of addiction and the challenges he faced along the way. It is through a significant crisis that he finds the inspiration to get clean and embarks on the path to recovery.

Jerry Stahl was a writer with significant and successful screenwriting credits – Dr. Caligari, Twin Peaks, Moonlighting, and more. But despite that success, Stahl’s heroin habit began to consume him, derailing his career and destroying his health until one final, intense crisis inspired him to get clean. Quit Like a Woman is a sobriety book that delves into the toxic culture of alcohol in society—and specifically, its impact on women. 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. Dry is a heartbreaking memoir of Augusten Burrough’s story of addiction, beginning with an intervention organized by his coworkers and boss and his first bout of sobriety. One valuable point from this book is that not everyone needs to reach a “rock bottom” before quitting alcohol.

Sober-Curious Resource List

If you are concerned about addiction, please contact one of our specialists today. This genuine and affecting foray into the life of a former alcoholic was written by a staff writer for National Public Radio. Written in an engaging and accessible style, it is filled with anecdotes related in a distinctive New England style – characteristic of her Boston stomping grounds. From her excessive drinking and smoking to disordered eating and falling for the wrong men, Caroline Knapp is seemingly attracted to anything and marijuana addiction everything that isn’t good for her.

• It was every bit as gruelling and heartbreaking as the truth required it to be.
• 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.

• When it comes to addiction and recovery, it’s important to recognize that it is a lifelong process that requires dedication and commitment.
• Identifying with accomplished writers whose creativity seemed to thrive in a haze of intoxication, she fell further into the depths of alcoholism before hitting rock bottom.
• She is a Christian, as am I, and I often battled in my head with being a Christian and being an alcoholic.
• Sarah Hepola, author of Blackout, one of the addiction memoirs that has its own post on this blog, similarly views Knapp’s contribution as seminal.
• Skye, who began acting at age 16, also reveals other crushes she had on costars, including her longtime friend River Phoenix, with whom she starred in 1988’s A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon.
• By addressing causes rather than symptoms, it is framed as a permanent solution rather than lifetime struggle.
• Sarah also explores how alcohol affected her relationships with her friends, family, and even her cat.

Johann Hari discusses the war on drugs, arguing that it has completely failed by almost every single metric you care to use. Hari argues that drug addiction is far more environmentally determined than is allowed for and points to Portugal’s successful programs for reintegrating addicts. Mark Kleiman, a professor of public policy at UCLA School of Public Affairs, talks about the pros and cons of prohibition, arguing that prohibition can work, or at least have benefits, provided it’s done well, which it isn’t currently. Occasionally reminiscent of Sylvia Plath, Karr’s writing style is simultaneously unsentimental and moving. Ditlevsen’s trilogy, by contrast, plunges us into the perspective of a succession of her former selves.

Still, his insatiable desire for alcohol and sex upends his entire life on one fateful night. Here, Naus recounts jail time, an attempted murder charge and an uphill battle to reclaim a life nearly lost to the stranglehold of addiction in this outrageous memoir. Divorce, abandonment, foreclosure and a mass shooting… Mishka Shubaly had plenty of reasons to wallow in drink and drugs, and he does so with wild abandon in I Swear I’ll Make It Up to You. His first full-length memoir follows him from a seemingly endless rock bottom to a passion for running that leads him out of a life of self-destruction and chaos. It’s an inspiring and, at times, unbelievable tale told with unflinching honesty and a heavy dose of self-deprecation. Try these compelling narrative nonfiction books on addiction and recovery for your book stack.

• Before his death in 2015, Carr was a beloved New York Times journalist.
• From the allure of sisterhood and success to the harsh realities of her shattered relationships, Paulson exposes the hidden dangers and deceptive practices of MLMs.
• The duo got married in 1992, but during their union, Skye discovered her bisexuality and entered into a series of affairs, including one with model Jenny Shimizu, the author reveals.

In this poignant memoir, Mary Karr describes the depths of her alcoholism in gruesome detail, and shares the astonishing story of her recovery. Learn how to effectively confront a loved one about their alcohol addiction and guide them towards recovery. Written by a poet and accomplished memoirist with several other best-sellers to her name, this volume chronicles her experiences with alcohol. Rich with vivid imagery, strong storytelling, and stunning self-awareness, this is a book that is both beautiful and touching.

As she grapples with an addiction to pills, he finds himself caught in the chaos. As the chaos and demands grow, Charlie questions whether this job is worth it. Determined to find scientific answers to the suffering around her, she becomes drawn to uncover the mysteries, intertwining with her childhood faith. Not only did she lose her gifted brother, Nana, to a heroin overdose, but she also grapples with her mother’s tragic death.

The best books on Drugs, recommended by Mark Kleiman

In fact, there are dozens of this type of memoir published every year. In this post, we round up some of the best of recent years – all worth a read. Best-selling memoirist Mary Karr longs for the family and stability that eluded her in childhood.