Recovery Memoirs

"The first chance I got, I bought my very first bag of crystal methamphetamine... A monster was born. Try as I might, there is simply no way for me to minimize the impact with which crystal meth slammed into my life, at least not without straying far from the truth. It was like throwing a forty-pound sledge hammer though a plate glass window. What a cunning thing this was that lived inside of me. How could I ever hope to win against it? My good intentions meant nothing what I lacked was power."

Psychotherapist Michael Pond is no stranger to the devastating consequences of alcoholism. He has helped hundreds of people conquer their addictions, but this knowledge did not prevent his own near-demise. In this riveting memoir, he recounts how he lost his practice, his home, and his family - all because of his drinking.

The Daughter of a Junkie: A True Love Story narrates a firsthand account of an extraordinary young girl who escaped the ghetto trappings and trickery of the underserved and impoverished communities in which she lived. With sheer determination, Terrinee realized her childhood dream of becoming a lawyer and a judge. She takes you through the slums of the Deep South with appalling near-death experiences that started in kindergarten and continued to "The Promise Land" on the college campus of Clark Atlanta University.

Susan Burton's world changed in an instant when her five-year-old son was killed by a van driving down their street. Consumed by grief and without access to professional help, Susan self-medicated, becoming addicted first to cocaine then to crack. As a resident of South Los Angeles, a Black community under siege in the War on Drugs, it was but a matter of time before Susan was arrested. She cycled in and out of prison for over 15 years; never was she offered therapy or treatment for addiction.

There wasn't one major reason that Kate Gunn decided to give up alcohol, more a few minor ones. She had an inkling that alcohol was holding her back from getting on top of her life. Plus the hangovers were getting worse. No longer just a dull headache throughout the day. At the worst times, entire weekends wiped out by one fun night she could hardly remember.

May 6, 1986: Nick Popaditch arrives at the Receiving Barracks, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, California. April 9, 2003: An AP photographer captures a striking image seen around the world of the Gunny Sergeant smoking a victory cigar in his tank, the haunting statue of Saddam Hussein hovering in the background. Popaditch is immortalized forever as "The Cigar Marine."

Jordan Jongema nearly died in a January snowstorm—not from the cold outside, but from the internal collapse of a system poisoned by alcohol and years of silent self-destruction. What followed was a descent into the most violent hell a human body can endure: full-blown Delirium Tremens. Hallucinations, disintegration of the mind, and a soul clawing to stay in the fight. It wasn’t just detox. It was an exorcism. And it almost killed him.

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.

When Madeleine Dean discovered that her son Harry was stealing from the family to feed a painkiller addiction, she was days away from taking the biggest risk of her life: running for statewide office in Pennsylvania. For years, she had sensed something was wrong. Harry was losing weight and losing friends. He had lost the brightness in his eyes and voice, changing from a young boy with boundless enthusiasm to a shadow of himself, chasing something she could not see. Now her worst fears had come to light.

This deeply personal memoir, cowritten by singer-songwriter, renowned mental health advocate, and recent Order of Canada recipient Séan McCann and wife Andrea Aragon, leaves no stone unturned. Detailing in powerful and lyrical prose a Newfoundland childhood indoctrinated in strict Catholic faith, the creation of the wildly successful Great Big Sea, and the battle with alcoholism that nearly cost them everything, McCann and Aragon offer listeners a story of reaching international fame and finding rock bottom.

Meg Wilson watched her world fall apart when her husband confessed years of sexual addiction. She has an intimate knowledge of all you may have felt-and she's lived to tell about it. With honesty and hopefulness, Meg uses her own story, along with other examples and Scripture, to help women cope and find their way out of the darkness of their husbands' sexual compulsions. She wants you to know that God's first concern is for your relationship with Him - not your circumstances.

The story of a young girl's entrapment in gambling addiction. The true advert for problem gambling and how it controlled her every movement, her every thought and almost took her life. How the guilt and shame that go hand-in-hand with addiction stopped her from reaching out for help for eight years as she didn't feel it was okay for a young female to be a problem gambler. How she believed it was a male dominated problem, and how eventually, she did find the tools that enabled her to become free of her addiction.

In Coming Clean, Seth Haines writes a raw account of his first 90 days of sobriety, illuminating how to face the pain we’d rather avoid, and even more importantly, how an abiding God meets us in that pain. Seth shows us that true wholeness is found in facing our pain and anxieties with the tenacity and tenderness of Jesus, and only through Christ's passion can we truly come clean.

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...

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.

The incidence of addiction has become a major concern for many countries of the world. Youths and adults alike are being destroyed every day by this demon creeping quietly into their lives while we look on having practically nothing to do. I have observed that the solution to this global challenge is not in medical sciences or psychology. The solution is in the name of Jesus. Why do we have many people who made resolutions every year to quit drinking, drugs and other social vices but still find themselves in it after few days? The fact is that they are being held by a power stronger than ...

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...

From the creator of the blog Renegade Mothering, Janelle Hanchett's forthright, darkly funny, and ultimately empowering memoir chronicling her tumultuous journey from young motherhood to abysmal addiction and a recovery she never imagined possible. Pregnant at 21 by a man she'd known three months, Janelle Hanchett embraced motherhood with the determined optimism of the recklessly self-confident. After giving birth, she found herself bored, directionless, and seeking relief in wine, which she justified as sophisticated and going well with chicken.

William didn't know something was missing until it happened. He'd been in recovery for alcohol and drugs for years. He was a recovery activist and a spokesperson for the gold standard of treatment and recovery organizations. He was a model leader and follower of Twelve Step programs. But, still, he slipped. Privately, he was addicted to painkillers while publicly saying he was in recovery from alcohol and drug use. How did it go so wrong? With brutal honesty and introspection, William shares what happened after sobriety—after he'd published his memoir.

Lynn grew up the carefree daughter of a Miami undercover narcotics agent—until her dad snuck out of the house in the dark of night without a glance back. She never knew what happened to her father until she was in high school, and he was in prison for drug smuggling. By then, Lynn had developed a dangerous drug and alcohol habit of her own. It was the perfect setup for her to latch onto the only connection to her dad that remained when he was paroled from prison—cocaine.