Recovery Memoirs

Dana Bowman can't escape the lure of perfectionism, trying to be a flawless wife, mother, and person in recovery. When Dana experiences a short-lived relapse during the Christmas holiday, she has the startling realization that recovery is more than just giving up alcohol. In this funny and revealing follow-up to her best-selling book Bottled, Dana reflects on how we live in a society of excess, always pushing ourselves to do and be better. However, it doesn’t take her long to realize that self-care and getting over herself is the key to happiness.

He tells his story AA recovery story by telling many funny stories great humor that inspires lots of identification a classic talk by a great aa speaker - very funny.

They say the first taste of addiction often comes disguised as relief, and for Kevin Murray, that disguise was an innocent-looking white pill. Pills and Me: My Spiral into Addiction is an unflinchingly raw and personal account of a young man’s descent into opioid addiction—a journey from curiosity to survival in a world ravaged by a seemingly harmless but relentless beast. As Kevin tells it, his addiction didn’t begin with a reckless choice. It began with exhaustion, loneliness, and a desire to feel anything other than the crushing weight of his circumstances. From his first Percocet ...

Life and How to Live It: Volume One: Begin the Begin by Chaz Holesworth is a powerful and raw memoir that chronicles a journey of resilience, hope, and triumph against all odds. Raised amidst the harsh realities of Philadelphia’s slums, Chaz’s childhood was shaped by the stark contrast between a heroin-addicted father and a born-again Christian mother. Surrounded by gangs, poverty, and chaos, Chaz faced unthinkable challenges at a young age. This first volume delves into his upbringing, capturing moments of heartache, survival, and an unyielding desire to rise above his circumstances. ...

If you thought sailing the world is an endless holiday of bikinis and martinis, get ready for a bucket-list adventure of a lifetime! Gripping true stories open a window into the liveaboard lifestyle and complex challenges of blue water sailing—where simple decisions have real-life consequences and where the most provocative obstacles live inside a sailor's soul. If you are intrigued by an escape from the ordinary, come aboard as a sailor and two seadogs discover exactly what it’s like to live life sideways. Living Life Sideways Prequel – The Departure Seduced by the sea and enchanting...

If there’s one thing Leah McSweeney knows for sure, it’s that life never quite gives you what you expect. Her road to success as an entrepreneur and Real Housewives breakout star has been paved with unexpected chances, soul-crushing challenges, and, for too long, chaos.

A Story of Unwavering Love, Unthinkable Loss, and Unshakable Faith For 25 years, Pastor John E. Miller and his wife, Carla, devoted their lives to caring for their son, Peter Flint Miller—a child with special needs who depended on them for everything. Every four hours, every single day, their love took the form of feeding, bathing, dressing, and comforting their son. But on March 8, 2025, Peter took his final breath, and their world changed forever. In Grace in the Hard Places, John and Carla share their raw, personal journey through caregiving, grief, and the faith that sustained them. ...

With no fear of taking risks, Susan Binkley embarked on a difficult spiritual journey that started with nothing but a powerful dream one night in 1995—a dream she had clearly intercepted, which was surely intended for someone else. After all, the dream was about helping women and children, and Susan did not particularly care for either. Shortly after, however, she found herself on an unexpected journey that completely changed her life and heart.

When two bombs exploded at the densely crowded finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, the whole world watched in shock as the story unfolded. First, the death toll and life-altering injuries. Next, the identification of the suspects - Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev - and the tense manhunt that brought Boston to a standstill. And, finally, the courageous and inspiring recovery of a wounded American city. Long Mile Home is the riveting tale of that tragic, surreal, and ultimately inspiring week.

Weeks after giving birth, Holly Frances went from being a healthy 26-year-old new mom to paralyzed and on life support—in less than 72 hours. Diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disorder called Guillain-Barre Syndrome, Holly was trapped in her body, unable to move, speak, or hold her newborn daughter. Life Support tells the story of how Holly struggled to overcome the despair, hopelessness and physical pain, to regain her health and get back to being a mother to her daughter.

Award-winning author James Brown gained a cult following after chronicling his turbulent childhood and spiraling drug addiction in The Los Angeles Diaries. This River picks up where Brown left off in his first memoir, describing his tenuous relationship with sobriety, telling of agonizing relapses, and tracking his attempts to become a better father. This is the heartbreaking and at times uplifting tale of Brown's battles, peeking into his former life as an addict and detailing his subsequent ascent to sobriety and fight for redemption.

Lauren’s life story is a raw and gripping journey through the darker side of human experience. With the false freedom of quick cash and the harsh reality of hitting rock bottom, Lauren's quest for independence and survival is both intense and inspiring. When adversity strikes, she reaches out for help but encounters predators at every turn, each encounter shaping her understanding of herself and the world. Reflecting on her troubled childhood in a small town, Lauren's narrative captures the delicate balance between innocence and exploitation, strength and vulnerability. Through vivid and ...

When my eyes creaked open and tried to find focus, I didn’t know where I was. The room was dim, my wrists were tied to the bed rail, and the dull ache of a needle in my hand throbbed through the fog. Motionless and silent, I lay staring at the ceiling until everything started coming back to me—the hallucinations, my teeth were melting, the menacing trolls teetering around the bedroom; uncontrollable shaking while my wife, Robin, helped me take a shower; and the catatonic ride to the emergency department of Meriter Hospital.

There's a seismic shift happening worldwide, as individuals from every social class question their relationship with alcohol and drugs. While marijuana gains mainstream acceptance, a profound inquiry persists: Is this okay? Am I drinking too much? Is this normal? These questions resonate deeply, particularly among professional women who are drinking at higher rates than anyone else, and White women are drinking themselves to death.

One ordinary spring morning in Reykjavik, Iceland, Thordis Elva kisses her son and partner good-bye before boarding a plane to do a remarkable thing: fly 7,000 miles to South Africa to confront the man who raped her when she was just 16. Meanwhile, in Sydney, Australia, Tom Stranger nervously embarks on an equally life-changing journey to meet Thordis, wondering whether he is worthy of this milestone.

What does a nine-year-old baseball fan do when his team and favorite player move 3,000 miles away? He calls up his hero. He tries to talk to Willie Mays. In this real-life story of loss and loyalty, Paul Kocak spins tales from baseball's golden age. With baseball as a backdrop, the author recounts growing up in the Fifties, coming of age in the Sixties, and finding unlikely redemption at long last in the 21st century. Readers follow the author through a tragic drowning, marriage and divorce, alcoholism, and long-term sobriety. Along the way, there's always Willie Mays, the Say Hey Kid. They...

Matt Rowland Hill had two great loves in his life: Jesus and heroin. The son of an evangelical minister, Hill grew up with an unwavering devotion to the tenets of his parents’ Baptist church. But by high school, he began to experience a crisis of faith. To fill the void, he turned to literature, and then to heroin and cocaine. By his twenties, Hill’s substance abuse escalated into a full-on addiction. As he grew increasingly suicidal, he knew he had to come to terms with both religion and drugs to survive.

Nearly every American knows someone who has been affected by the opioid crisis. Addiction is a trans-partisan issue that impacts individuals from every walk of life. Millions of Americans are tired of watching their loved ones die while politicians ignore this issue. Where is the solution? Where is the hope? Where's the outrage? Ryan Hampton understands firsthand how easy it is to develop a dependency on opioids, and how destructive it can quickly become. Now, he is waging a permanent campaign to change our way of thinking about and addressing addiction in this country.

Part recovery journal, part travel log, Recovery Road Trip follows one woman's solo road trip through America after her alcoholic father’s death. Through chance encounters, she creates inspiration for those seeking to overcome addiction and find their path. Meg thought giving up alcohol would lead her to a life of comfort, wisdom, and happiness. Years later, she still hasn’t gotten there. What is it that she’s missing? When her father—a raging alcoholic himself—dies, Meg, an only child, has to fly to California from her home in New Zealand to clean up the mess that was his life.

Double Double is a unique and honest dual memoir of alcoholism, a disease that affects nearly 45 million Americans each year. Now, award-winning mystery writer Martha Grimes and her son, Ken Grimes, offer two points of view on their struggles with alcoholism. In alternating chapters, they share their stories - stories of drinking, recovery, relapse, friendship, travel, work, success, and failure.