What's kept me sober for 3 weeks :)
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Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: New York
Posts: 32
What's kept me sober for 3 weeks :)
I can't remember the last time I went a day without a drink, and now I'm exactly three weeks sober! Woo hoo!
I honestly believe that the thing that is keeping me sober this time (because it's the only thing I haven't tried before) is obsessively reading recovering alcoholic/sobriety memoirs... turning my obsessive nature (previously towards drinking) towards reading through others' full stories has been the difference maker, I think, between all the other times when I've tried to stop drinking for a day, or a week, etc in the past and failed.
So to help others I've make a list of my favorite books that have helped me! [Note - I know there is a much larger thread on sobriety books but I wanted to share what I think is the best of the best.]
My favorite books, in order, so far are:
- Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp
- Dry by Augusten Burroughs (got this rec from someone on this board and it was amazing, thank you!)
- Unwasted: My Lush Sobriety by Sacha Scoblic
- Drink: The Intimate Relationship Between Women and Alcohol by Ann Johnston (both memoir and contains research/facts - I thought it was a very helpful combination, especially for women)
- Sober is the New Black by Rachel Black
- Best Kept Secret by Amy Hatvany (a novel, but apparently based on her true life, so I count it here as a memoir)
And I'm currently reading "Everything I never Wanted to Be" by Dina Kucera - will report back!
I also read My Last Rock Bottom by Sara Berelsman, but unfortunately it couldn't hold my attention and I had to move on (to "Unwasted", which is great!)
Please please let me know if you have any recommendations to add to the list! I am honestly SO afraid of what is going to happen when I run out of books to read..... so please add to the list!
I honestly believe that the thing that is keeping me sober this time (because it's the only thing I haven't tried before) is obsessively reading recovering alcoholic/sobriety memoirs... turning my obsessive nature (previously towards drinking) towards reading through others' full stories has been the difference maker, I think, between all the other times when I've tried to stop drinking for a day, or a week, etc in the past and failed.
So to help others I've make a list of my favorite books that have helped me! [Note - I know there is a much larger thread on sobriety books but I wanted to share what I think is the best of the best.]
My favorite books, in order, so far are:
- Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp
- Dry by Augusten Burroughs (got this rec from someone on this board and it was amazing, thank you!)
- Unwasted: My Lush Sobriety by Sacha Scoblic
- Drink: The Intimate Relationship Between Women and Alcohol by Ann Johnston (both memoir and contains research/facts - I thought it was a very helpful combination, especially for women)
- Sober is the New Black by Rachel Black
- Best Kept Secret by Amy Hatvany (a novel, but apparently based on her true life, so I count it here as a memoir)
And I'm currently reading "Everything I never Wanted to Be" by Dina Kucera - will report back!
I also read My Last Rock Bottom by Sara Berelsman, but unfortunately it couldn't hold my attention and I had to move on (to "Unwasted", which is great!)
Please please let me know if you have any recommendations to add to the list! I am honestly SO afraid of what is going to happen when I run out of books to read..... so please add to the list!
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Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Pacific Northwest
Posts: 645
Drinking: A Love Story is my personal favorite. I'm currently reading High Sobriety: My Year Without Booze by Jill Stark. So far I like it. My Last Rock Bottom wasn't a favorite of mine either. The author Sarah Berelsman must have mentioned how "smokin hot" she was in every single chapter. I thought it was my imagination, but then I read the book reviews for it on Amazon and many others pointed out this same thing. Weird.
Thank you for your post. I will let you know if I come across any other little gems.
Thank you for your post. I will let you know if I come across any other little gems.
Sounds like you are ding great, thanks for sharing Cambie. Reading other people's stories and learning how similar they are to mine helps me a lot too. Looks like a great list of reading, I'll have to check some of them out myself.
We have a whole section of bios/memoirs on our Book List Sticky, so check it out:
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...rituality.html
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...rituality.html
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