Five Books to Read If You're Rethinking Drinking
/It can be difficult and overwhelming sometimes, looking at the self-help section at your local bookstore or library, to find the book that’s exactly right for you on your particular journey. So we did our homework and put together a list of fan favourites for anyone thinking about ditching the mommy-wine culture (plus a little surprise at the end). These books will enlighten, teach, and embolden you, no matter where you are in your rethinking drinking journey.
The Sober Lush: A Hedonist’s Guide to Living a Decadent, Adventurous, Soulful Life — Alcohol-Free by Amanda Eyre Ward and Jardine Libaire
The Sober Lush is my top pick for what to read if you’re rethinking drinking. It teaches readers how to enjoy the lushness of life and to be present without alcohol dulling the experiences. This book is for anyone who ever doubted whether an alcohol-free life could be lived to its most lush potential. Ward and Libaire show just how to indulge in life by reframing what indulgence means: a heady presence and attendance to the moment, the two co-authors seem to say, sans the alcohol. Full to the brim with ideas exploring lushness and extravagance, this book is the perfect accessory as you rethink drinking.
The Sober Diaries by Clare Pooley
I laughed, I cried, it was better than cats - and it’s only $7.99 at Amazon, which is the cost of your next Starbucks shaken espresso. Clare Pooley’s whip-smart memoir brings a change of pace and perspective to traditional writing about sobriety, which tends to be a bit more sombre and based in science. This is not to say The Sober Diaries isn’t credible, rather that it takes a humorous and honest approach to what it means to be — well, honest with yourself. Pooley tracks a particularly tumultuous year of her life: after realizing she was on a slippery slope, she begins to interrogate her drinking habits and how they impact her behaviour in other aspects of her life. Turning a certainly devastating breast cancer diagnosis into an occasion for positive action, Pooley shows us how we can sometimes play crucial parts in spearheading our own struggles, and how we also wield the power to turn things around. Sunny, hilarious, and at all times vulnerable, The Sober Diaries is a must-read if you’re just embarking on your rethinking drinking journey.
Quit Like A Woman by Holly Whitaker
This New York Times Bestseller is an incisive look at our culture of drinking, through a very intersectional lens. Whitaker makes a personal journey universal by taking us under her wing as she shows us how hypocritical it is that alcohol is made to be a very innocuous beverage in a society supposedly obsessed with health and wellness. She sheds light on how big and small alcohol companies target women, on the patriarchal roots of traditional recovery communities, and begins to shrug off deep-seated beliefs and stigma about her own addiction. It’s empowering - Whitaker calls on women to come together to create a sober collective that is uniquely feminine. In her interrogation of women and our dependence on ‘wine to cope’, Whitaker exposes a side of society you have never seen. This book is eye-opening and an emboldening page turner.
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
This book served me in many areas, not just drinking, because it demonstrates how deep our subconscious habits are, and why we have to work so hard at reversing an unhealthy lifestyle, which is why it’s a bestseller and Wall Street Journal’s Best Book of the Year. Duhigg, who is a business reporter, looks at the latest science when it comes to habit forming, uncovering why we have them, how they are made, and how they can be changed. Making clunky science easy to grasp, Duhigg lays bare the workings of human nature in The Power of Habit, showing us that any kind of monumental or inconsequential change in our lives for the better hinges on an understanding of how habits work. This is a powerful book if you’re looking for help in undoing the work that years of habit-forming around alcohol-use has wrought.
The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
It’s an oldie, but a goodie that everyone needs on their shelf. This book teaches you that anything is possible if you want a better life for yourself, and that manifestation is not a joke. Byrne’s book teaches readers how to harness individual power to do amazing things in life. Particularly useful for matters of health and happiness, The Secret allows you to understand how you can make small mental shifts everyday to make drastic changes, and the rewards can sometimes be reaped almost immediately. Through instructions and testimony, The Secret will show you everything you need to know to begin living your alcohol-free dream.
Honorary mention: How to Do the Work by Dr. Nicole LePera
In How to Do the Work, clinical psychologist Nicole LePera outlines her answer to traditional and limited psychotherapy: holistic psychology. The book makes accessible the knowledge you need in order to heal yourself in profound ways. In grounding her theory in the latest science, Dr. LePera helps readers to understand how trauma remains in the body and mind, ultimately walking us through how we can assuage it. This is a great tool to help you unlearn toxic traits and habits, especially when it comes to alcohol use, so that you can move toward bountiful and healthy growth.
