Seven Stories of Struggle and Recovery
Reading can be a powerful and helpful tool for someone recovering from addiction. Books are a great escape from the ordinary and allow you to learn from and relate to others who have experienced similar struggles.
There are many great and inspiring books about addiction and sobriety to find at your local library or bookstore.
Here are seven great books about addiction and sobriety you should read today.
Journey Through Addiction: Seven Books That Illuminate the Path
Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis
Scar Tissue is a memoir of vocalist Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Kiedis shares an honest and challenging story of drug addiction.
Kiedis reveals he has battled drug addiction most of his life starting at age 11. He has also experienced periods of sobriety and relapses.
Scar Tissue gets to the point and Kiedis does an excellent job focusing on the events in his life and his feelings about his life events. He gives the reader the impression that they have a part to play as the story starts when he is only 11 years old, and we watch him grow up.
Scar Tissue is a great book that gets your attention and holds on to it. It is a bit raunchy, but there is lots of wisdom to be gained from Scar Tissue that is pertinent to maintaining long-term sobriety.
Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget by Sarah Hepola
Blackout is a funny but sad portrayal of an unstoppable and driven woman who spent her evenings at cocktail parties and dark bars. She felt drinking meant she could live her life as a free woman.
But the price of all that drinking was many blackouts. She would wake up many mornings trying to figure out where she was the previous night.
During the day she had her life together and her career was thriving, but as the blackouts became more and more frequent, she could no longer account for her actions.
Sarah Hepola’s memoir is the story of a woman struggling to find her sobriety and the person she left behind. Her depiction is honest and heartbreaking, but it is also funny.
Her account will resonate with anyone struggling to recover from addiction. It is about giving up something to find yourself.
How to Grow Up by Michelle Tea
How to Group Up is Michelle Tea’s memoir about dropping out of college, years of bad relationships and substance abuse. Tea has lived, learned and hit rock bottom but still managed to develop her career on her terms.
Her childhood was less than happy and she started drinking as a teenager. She made her way to San Francisco and Los Angeles where she spent many years battling drug and alcohol addiction.
One day, she decided she wanted to grow up and have a sober life. Her book is in some ways a manual for growing up and proof that getting sober means being honest with yourself about all the things you want out of life.
Clean by Amy Reed
Clean tells the stories of teen addicts named Olivia, Kelly, Jason and Eva, who attend an upscale rehab facility. They are in rehab together facing their own problems and trying to stay sober.
None of them want to be there, and they don’t want to share their deepest secrets with strangers. In the end, they will have to deal with their past choices as they learn how to live without their addictions.
Drunk Mom by Jowita Bydlowska
In Drunk Mom, Jowita Bydlowska shares her journey of alcohol relapse after the birth of her son. After over three years of sobriety, she started drinking again and her addiction came back in full force.
Her alcoholism was determined to take her away from her child. Bydlowska is honest and open in her writing to the point she writes about Googling how long to wait after consuming alcohol to breastfeed.
Bydlowska’s memoir isn’t just about how alcohol took control of her life — it's also about her recovery as a young mother fighting to make her way back to her child.
Between Breaths: A Memoir of Panic and Addiction by Elizabeth Vargas
World News Tonight and 20/20 anchor Elizabeth Vargas shares the story of a struggle she spent years hiding from the public eye and loved ones. Between Breaths starts by explaining Vargas’ struggles with anxiety, and how it shaped her life and led to addiction.
When Vargas felt anxious, she relied on alcohol to calm her and eventually, she became a functioning addict. She attended rehab, had relapsed and had an almost fatal blood alcohol incident. She realized she needed help and eventually sought it out and recovered.
Why Don’t They Just Quit? By Joe Herzanek
Joe Herzanek’s Why Don’t They Just Quit was written for loved ones who have questions about a loved one’s addiction and the road to recovery.
Herzanek offers much-needed advice for family and friends about co-dependence, relapses, costs of rehab, interventions, letting go and many other concerning topics. This is a great read for family and friends of addicts or anyone just trying to understand what addiction looks like and how recovery is possible.