9 Best Quit Lit Books and Sobriety Memoirs to Inspire Your Recovery

best addiction memoirs

She keeps showing up to 12-step meetings, even when they do nothing for her. Her breakthrough arrives as much through exhaustion as some kind of epiphany. She discovers in Catholicism a spirituality that makes sense to her and seems to keep her sober, but she doesn’t proselytise or become too holy for irony.

Shazia Omar on The Best Novels on Drug Addiction

best addiction memoirs

Here, Nikki shares the diary entries—some poetic, some scatterbrained, some bizarre—of those dark times. Joining him are Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Mick Mars, Slash, Rick Nielsen, Bob Rock, and a host of ex-managers, ex-lovers, and more. To vote on books not in the list or books you couldn’t find in the list, you can click on the tab add books to this list and then choose from your books, or simply search. To vote on existing books from the list, beside each book there is a link vote for this book clicking it will add that book to your votes. Historical fiction inspired by the story of Mary Leakey, who carved her own path to become one of the world’s most distinguished paleoanthropologists.

best addiction memoirs

“This Naked Mind: Control Alcohol, Find Freedom, Discover Happiness & Change Your Life”

  • SELF does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
  • Four years old and homeless in 1930, William Walters climbed aboard one of the last American Orphan Trains, and, without knowing it, embarked on an extraordinary path through nine decades of U.S. history.
  • 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.
  • Hari argues that drug addiction is far more environmentally determined than is allowed for and points to Portugal’s successful programs for reintegrating addicts.
  • Starting off on the night of her last drink, Stumbling Home quickly reveals the author’s love-hate relationship with the legal drug.
  • Here are recommendations for the best young adult audiobooks of 2024 from the experts at AudioFile magazine, the best place for audiobook recommendations on the web.

It’s raw; it’s honest, and it’s a beautiful story of redemption and recovery. Unexplained men and bruises the next morning are only a few of the unremembered experiences Sarah Hepola recalls in this honest, raw, poignant memoir. Finding that her creativity didn’t come from a bottle, she gets sober and finds a life she didn’t know she wanted. It’s a theory Szalavitz, a science writer and former cocaine and heroin addict, is uniquely equipped to advance and one that may reframe addiction entirely for you. Historian and author Louise drug addiction treatment 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.

Nonfiction Books » Health & Lifestyle » Addiction

best addiction memoirs

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. I really liked this book because it focuses a lot on her spiritual crisis and how it related to her alcoholism. She is a Christian, as am I, and I often battled in my head with being a Christian and being an alcoholic.

best addiction memoirs

  • They help you recognize that addiction isn’t someone else’s problem.
  • Journalist Jenny Valentish takes a gendered look at drugs and alcohol, using her own story to light the way.
  • Maté challenges the idea that addiction is a medical disease and that drugs are inherently addictive.

Rather than dwelling on the pain of addiction,Tracey focuses on her journey of recovery and rebuilding her life, while exposing the failings of the American rehab system and laying out a path for change. Starting with the first step in her recovery, Tracey re-learns how to interact with men, build new friendships, handle money, and rekindle her best alcoholic memoirs relationship with her mother, all while staying sober, sharp, and dedicated to her future. Books provide the opportunity to learn from others’ experiences, their mistakes, setbacks, and successes.

best addiction memoirs

Health & Wellness

  • How do you craft an ending that makes narrative sense but which feels complex and inconclusive in the way life so often is?
  • Known more for his books on Mayas, Aztecs, and Spanish conquistadors, historian Matthew Restall’s latest book takes his deepest dive yet into the history of pop music.
  • The fact that, in so doing, she effectively obeyed a formal convention of addiction memoir helps explain how many of those conventions arose.
  • It’s an inspiring and, at times, unbelievable tale told with unflinching honesty and a heavy dose of self-deprecation.
  • Karr arrived with a unique literary voice that combined rich Texan and burst of lyricism.

Author William Porter uses the science of the brain and psychology to help you understand the effects of alcohol on your body and mind. He also offers step-by-step instructions for starting recovery and sticking with it. Blackout by Sarah Hepola is a brutally honest quit lit memoir of living through blackout after blackout—something that many who’ve struggled with heavy alcohol use can relate to. Beyond being informative, this powerful book has helped countless people dive deeper into their relationship with alcohol and make positive changes in their lives. Three years sober, Jowita Bydlowska celebrates the birth of her first child with a glass of champagne, and just like that, she is spiraling back into the life of drinking she thought she had escaped. Bydlowska depicts life as a new mom while under the influence with honesty and humility, discovering she can overcome the seemingly impossible for her child.

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