Carrie Fisher, Augusten Burroughs, Leslie Jamison: 15 great recovery memoirs
It’s no surprise, in the circumstances, that Spears’s memoir reads «like a dark fairy tale». Powerful and compellingly candid, it tells of how a «young girl, both adored and vilified for her beauty, talent and fame», was effectively «imprisoned» by her jealous and avaricious family. I chose Atlas of the Heart because it touches on the important theme of second chances. This book provides language for sharing our most heartbreaking moments as a way to connect. Stories heal, and no circle knows that more than the recovery circle.
- Books like Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert inspire people to follow in the author’s footsteps of discovery.
- Dive into even more nostalgia with the best children’s books ever written.
- 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.
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Start with the acclaimed I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, a modern classic published in 1969. Then keep reading more of the best books written by female authors. A.M. Homes was in her early 30s, with a well-established career as a novelist, when she met her birth parents. What she found surprised and unsettled her—and sent her digging deeper into her genealogy.
My Top 12 Secrets to Sober Success
Weller has a relatable story for any high-achiever who finds themselves with boozy, foggy evenings that turn into hangovers the next morning. Written with raw vulnerability, the pages of this book are filled with an honest look at her own relationship to alcohol. It got me thinking the one thing I never wanted to be true… maybe it is the alcohol that’s making me so miserable?
- To help, here’s our list of books by winners of the Nobel literature prize that have been recommended on Five Books.
- Persepolis is told in black-and-white comics, which makes this memoir even more iconic.
- The fact that even a great artist like Ditlevsen can capitulate to such dictates, if only once, demonstrates how powerful they are.
- Rick Bragg grew up dirt-poor in Alabama, the son of a violent, hard-drinking father and a mother who went 18 years without a new dress so her kids could have clothes.
- In the year following, she meditates on grief and the loss of her 40-year relationship.
Next we have Mary Karr’s Lit, which is also the third book in a trilogy; it followed The Liars’ Club and Cherry. It’s a memoir of her addiction to alcohol, and her subsequent recovery, and her conversion to Catholicism. For more resources in sobriety, online alcohol treatment programs like Ria Health can help as well. 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.
The Boy He Left Behind: A Man’s Search for His Lost Father by Mark Matousek
In this stirring author-narrated listen, Jeannette Walls illustrates her early life spent wandering across the country, forced to care for herself and her siblings amidst the dysfunction of her nomadic American family. In this exquisite author-narrated memoir, horror maestro Stephen King talks about his life and his craft, sharing his own experiences, advice for aspiring wordsmiths, thoughts on language and creativity, and more. There’s a mesmerizing warmth in Lulu Miller’s voice as she sweeps listeners into a world of love and natural science, intertwining historical biography with a deeply personal tale of heartache. That’s just one triumph accomplished by these stellar memoirs, listens capable of connecting deeply with a diverse audience.
Written with courage and candor this book leaves you ready to push against a society suggesting alcohol is the solution to women’s problems. Quit Like a Woman takes a groundbreaking look at America’s obsession with alcohol. It explores how society’s perception and targeted marketing campaigns keeps groups of people down while simultaneously putting money into “Big Alcohol’s” pockets. Whitaker’s book offers a road map of non-traditional options for recovery. It is well-researched, educational, informative, and at times mind-blowing. This is a must read for anyone passionate about exploring their relationship with alcohol and the role a patriarchal system has played in rising rates of unhealthy substance use in America.
Naltrexone: How Long Should People Take It?
It’s a tough book to read due to the descriptions of horrific traumas people have experienced, however it’s inspirational in its message of hope. Van der Kolk describes our inner resilience to manage the worst of life’s circumstances with our innate survival instinct. We can survive and even thrive despite the traumas we have endured.
A life of recovery is an awakened life of purpose, service, and meaning. Straightforward and to the point, Carr helps you examine the reasons best alcoholic memoirs you drink in the first place in The Easy Way to Control Alcohol. This book is a great place to start if you’ve been feeling sober curious.
Quit Like a Woman by Holly Whitaker
Cicely Tyson won Emmy, Tony and Oscar awards and inspired a generation before her death at 96. Don’t miss these other great books by Black authors you’ll want to know about. Elisa Bernick’s engaging, tragic and hilarious 2022 memoir weaves recipes, jokes, memories, reporting and scrapbook fragments together into an absorbing and heartrending collage of a dysfunctional family. It’s ultimately a beautiful tale of how identity is formed and how resilience and hope follow when we come to terms with and rewrite our own narratives.