The Best Addiction Books

Each day we face a barrage of images and messages from society and the media telling us who, what, and how we should be. We are led to believe that if we could only look perfect and lead perfect lives, we’d no longer feel inadequate. So most of us perform, please, and perfect, all the while thinking, What if I can’t keep all of these balls in the air? Why isn’t everyone else working harder and living up to my expectations?

Decades later, Cat reminisces about those days with Marlena and learns to forgive herself and move on from those days. Julie Buntin’s Marlena is a stunning look at alcoholism, addiction, and bad decisions, and how they haunt us forever. Survival Math is an incredible look at race and class, gangs and guns, addiction and masculinity. Mitchell S. Jackson frames the narrative around his own experiences and those of his family and community.

Imagine what’s possible on the other side of opioid use disorder.

Díaz’s resilience – and success – in the face of mighty obstacles registers as part luck, part strength, and part audacity. In my own healing, I have even questioned the use of the word “recovery” in this context at all, since it implies a retrieval of something lost. Some new habits and practices have had to be built from the ground up.

• Although she doesn’t sugarcoat how difficult sobriety can be (and yes, it’s not without its struggles), she continues to write about the many blessings of living an honest life without the debilitating shame of addiction.
• Alcoholics Anonymous may be the gold standard for dealing with addiction, but what can you do if it doesn’t help?
• Pete Hamill grew up in Brooklyn with parents who immigrated to the United States.
• Please share your experiences in the comments section below.
• A 1996 bestseller, Caroline Knapp paints a vivid picture of substance use and recovery that every reader can appreciate, whether you struggle with substance use or not.

Cupcake learned to survive by turning tricks, downing hard liquor and ingesting every drug she could find while hitchhiking up and down the California coast. At just 16 she stumbled into the terrifying world of the gangsta, dealing drugs, hustling and only just surviving a drive-by shooting. Ironically, it was Cupcake’s rapid descent into the nightmare of crack cocaine addiction that finally saved her. After one four-day crack binge she woke up behind a dumpster. Half-dressed and half-dead, she finally realized she had to change her life or die on the streets – another trash-can addict, another sad statistic.

I’m Black and I’m Sober: The Timeless Story Of A Woman’s Journey Back To Sanity by Chaney Allen

Despite its dark beginning, this is ultimately a hopeful book that inspires readers to root for her throughout. Wurtzel sadly passed away at the age of 52 in January of 2020. Her confessional style of writing has left an indelible mark that remains influential today. Written by addiction counselor Genia Calvin, this book offers a helpful resource for teaching children about substance use and addiction in a format that’s easy to understand. Many readers find the narrative powerful and inspiring and praise Sheff’s writing. Others have a hard time identifying with the family’s privileged lifestyle and Sheff’s approach to parenting.

A therapy approach called rational emotive behavior therapy can help people living with alcohol use disorder and alcohol addiction, according to Albert Ellis, who pioneered REBT in the 1950s. In those stories, the decision to get better often arrives best alcohol recovery books like a bolt of lightning, but this is rarely the case. My own recovery from codependency and alcoholism, which I write about in my memoir Good Morning, Destroyer of Men’s Souls, has felt elusive, circuitous, and sometimes rather boring.

How to Grow Up: A Memoir by Michelle Tea

A family friend gave me this book, telling me that it had kept him from drinking for the decades since he’d last had a drink. It is best read one page per day, since each page contains a short passage and explanation of its meaning. This reflective work can allow you to appreciate the value of the present moment, rather than attempting to live in the past or in the future. When you quit drinking for a year or more, you’ll find that you have the energy to move forward and tackle new projects. This book can supply you with the internal resolve and concrete strategies you’ll need to make progress in all aspects of your life. The only part I took issue with was the diet chapter, which promotes some dated myths about meat.

• More than a journey through addiction and recovery though, this is a tale about how trauma shapes us and how we can only free ourselves by facing it.
• Stephen “Steve-O” Glover—social media icon, comedy-touring stalwart, and star of Jackass—delivers a hilarious and practical guide to recovery, relationships, career, and how to keep thriving long after you should be dead….
• Then about how he lost his beloved big brother to brain cancer… and all of the hardships that led to his years-long battle with addiction.
• Unlike any memoir you will ever read, A Piece of Cake is a redemptive, gripping tale of a resilient spirit who took on the worst of contemporary urban life and survived it.
• Winning career accolades by day and drinking at night, Knapp brings you to the netherworld of alcohol use disorder.