- Aug 9
- AddictionAddiction Recovery AlumniRecovery
World Book Day
Today is World Book Day, and another day to celebrate addiction recovery. Here is our list of good reads about struggling through and overcoming addiction, recommended based on what you care about.
FOR THE POP CULTURE EXPERT
Recovery: Freedom From our Addictions by Russell Brand
While sharing his own battles, Brand reaches out to those who are struggling with a variety of addictions. He not only offers his guide and tools to staying sober, but he also encourages people to think about the potential underlying causes of their addictions.
Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis & Larry Sloman
Red Hot Chili Peppers lead singer Anthony Kiedis bares all in this memoir, including his struggles with substance use and how his addiction impacted him at the top of his career. This book is so popular that every time our director of alumni events has loaned it to someone, they’ve kept it for themselves. (You may need to buy your own copy.)
FOR THE LIT NERD
The Recovering by Leslie Jamison
Jamison maps out her road to alcohol use disorder recovery with her landmark life experiences and the books she carried with her along the way. She discusses the conflict of substance use in the arts and the power of rewriting the narrative appealing to alcohol or drugs as necessary fuel for creativity.
The Graybar Hotel by Curtis Dawkins
After a drug-related accidental homicide, Dawkins writes from prison about the lives and issues of the people within and beyond prison walls in these fictional short stories. He addresses the connection between substance use disorders and mental illness and incarceration throughout the collection.
FOR THE ROMANTIC
Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp
Knapp recaps her 20-year battle with alcohol addiction. She begins with how she fell in love with drinking, her armor to protect herself from the bad things in her life – until everything fell apart.
FOR THE NEWS-OBSESSED
Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget by Sarah Hepola
Salon editor and writer Sarah Hepola starts to take back the time, relationships and life that alcohol had taken from her in hours of blackouts.
The Night of the Gun by David Carr
As a journalist for The New York Times, Carr spent the majority of his life writing about other people and their stories. In his book, he writes about his own story – his past and his battle with drug addiction.
FOR THE HISTORY BUFF
Dreamland by Sam Quinones
Quinones explores the opioid crisis and the toll it has taken on millions of people across the United States. Quinones traces the origin of crisis, including the influx of black tar heroin into the country and the lack of oversight in prescribing medication.
Dopesick by Beth Macy
Macy takes readers on a trip to the heart of America’s opioid epidemic: Appalachia. She tells an origin story of the current crisis painted through portraits of affected families and responders.
FOR THE OUTDOORSY
Off the Rails by Susan Burrowes
Told from both the perspectives of a daughter with an opioid use disorder and mother coping with her daughter’s addiction, Burrowes writes about the wilderness journey and Residential Treatment program that helped her daughter and her family overcome addiction.
FOR THE SPIRITUAL
Being Sober and Becoming Happy by Dr. John MacDougall
MacDougall shares his personal journey to recovery and lessons he’s learned over the course of his life. Based on years of lectures on recovery, MacDougall focuses on spirituality its relationship to happiness and sobriety. MacDougall also recently spoke about his life and book at Gateway.
