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Post by murrill on Aug 26, 2015 18:44:26 GMT -5
This is an invitation to share your experiences with literature about alcoholism and recovery. I find that the best and most reliable resources are other readers, and I value their perspectives. Please share yours. I'll start:
I just finished reading The Girl on the Train. I was not aware that the main character, Rachel, is an alcoholic, and her story is much like mine. She has blackouts; she promises to quit but drinks anyway; her credibility is irreparably damaged; she believes them when they tell her she is worthless. The story is told from the points of view of three women who are damaged and vulnerable. A crime was committed, yes, but it is merely a canvas on which their stories unfold. Many years ago I lived Rachel's story, and it is one that the author, Paula Hawkins, writes with raw authenticity.
In the end the mystery demands resolution, and the story shifts from introspection to action-packed thriller. The transition is abrupt, almost rude, but perhaps necessary. Maybe it is the sound of Rachel hitting bottom and finding that moment of clarity.
Some might call it "chick lit," for it is told from feminine points of view, but I think that many who have known the drama of alcoholism will enjoy it.
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Post by doodoodotdot1 on Sept 5, 2015 8:04:08 GMT -5
Hi Murrill Well I finally ordered a copy of Thirst For Freedom by David Stewart. Its not fiction, but so far its very interesting. I'll post more about it when I finish...which will be a while as it is very intense reading.
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Post by Dana on Sept 9, 2015 12:43:36 GMT -5
"The Four Agreements" by don Miguel Ruiz remains one of my favorites. It's not about recover per se - but it sure helps me with acceptance, serenity, and peace. I read it after I got sober and it really struck a chord with me. I recommend it often, and I've been wanting to re-read it myself.
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Post by Pam on Oct 3, 2015 17:10:03 GMT -5
I have read portions of this author's books: Anne Lamott
I'm going to look for this one next. . .
“It's funny: I always imagined when I was a kid that adults had some kind of inner toolbox full of shiny tools: the saw of discernment, the hammer of wisdom, the sandpaper of patience. But then when I grew up I found that life handed you these rusty bent old tools - friendships, prayer, conscience, honesty - and said 'do the best you can with these, they will have to do'. And mostly, against all odds, they do.” ― Anne Lamott, Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith
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Post by Pam on Mar 6, 2016 13:49:15 GMT -5
On my list to read: Jenn mentioned this title:
Cave in the Snow: Tenzin Palmo's Quest for Enlightenment by Vickie MacKenzie This British woman's story is fascinating. She became a Tibetan monk. She spent 12 years alone in a cave 13,000 feet up in the Himalayas.
Listening to an episode of Super Soul Sunday Guests: Tracy Jackson and Paul Williams Book: Gratitude and Trust: 6 Affirmations That Will Change Your Life
Amy Morin's book: 13 Things Strong People Don't Do
and of course a mystery . . .
Pam
*Are you reading anything interesting you'd like to share?
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Post by Pam on Mar 29, 2016 17:45:14 GMT -5
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Post by Pam on Mar 30, 2016 12:20:09 GMT -5
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Post by Pam on Mar 30, 2016 12:24:27 GMT -5
Review:
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi 4.36 avg rating — 18,947 ratings — published 2016 THE NEW YORK TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER 'Finishing this book and then forgetting about it is simply not an option...Unmissable' New York Times At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, the next he was a patient struggling to live. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a medical student asking what makes a virtuous and meaningful life into a neurosurgeon working in the core of human identity – the brain – and finally into a patient and a new father. What makes life worth living in the face of death? What do you do when when life is catastrophically interrupted? What does it mean to have a child as your own life fades away? Paul Kalanithi died while working on this profoundly moving book, yet his words live on as a guide to us all. When Breath Becomes Air is a life-affirming reflection on facing our mortality and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a gifted writer who became both. From: goodreads.com
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Post by Pam on Mar 30, 2016 17:32:28 GMT -5
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr 4.31 avg rating — 311,756 ratings — published 2014 WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, the beautiful, stunningly ambitious instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II. Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel. In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge. Doerr’s “stunning sense of physical detail and gorgeous metaphors” (San Francisco Chronicle) are dazzling. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, he illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another. Ten years in the writing, a National Book Award finalist, All the Light We Cannot See is a magnificent, deeply moving novel from a writer “whose sentences never fail to thrill” (Los Angeles Times). From: goodreads.com
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Post by Pam on Mar 30, 2016 18:09:14 GMT -5
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin 3.81 · Rating Details · 29,307 Ratings · 4,046 Reviews Tom Franklin's narrative power and flair for characterization have been compared to the likes of Harper Lee, Flannery O'Connor, Elmore Leonard, and Cormac McCarthy.
Now the Edgar Award-winning author returns with his most accomplished and resonant novel so far; an atmospheric drama set in rural Mississippi. In the late 1970s, Larry Ott and Silas "32" Jones were boyhood pals. Their worlds were as different as night and day: Larry, the child of lower-middle-class white parents, and Silas, the son of a poor, single black mother. Yet for a few months the boys stepped outside of their circumstances and shared a special bond. But then tragedy struck: Larry took a girl on a date to a drive-in movie, and she was never heard from again. She was never found and Larry never confessed, but all eyes rested on him as the culprit. The incident shook the county and perhaps Silas most of all. His friendship with Larry was broken, and then Silas left town.
More than twenty years have passed. Larry, a mechanic, lives a solitary existence, never able to rise above the whispers of suspicion. Silas has returned as a constable. He and Larry have no reason to cross paths until another girl disappears and Larry is blamed again. And now the two men who once called each other friend are forced to confront the past they've buried and ignored for decades. From: goodreads.com
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Post by Pam on Apr 11, 2016 15:59:03 GMT -5
What the Stones Remember: A Life Rediscovered by Patrick Lane In this exquisitely written memoir, poet Patrick Lane describes his raw and tender emergence at age sixty from a lifetime of alcohol and drug addiction. He spent the first year of his sobriety close to home, tending his garden, where he cast his mind back over his life, searching for the memories he'd tried to drown in vodka. Lane has gardened for as long as he can remember, and his garden's life has become inseparable from his own. A new bloom on a plant, a skirmish among the birds, the way a tree bends in the wind, and the slow, measured change of seasons invariably bring to his mind an episode from his eventful past. "What the Stones Remember " is the emerging chronicle of Lane's attempt to face those memories, as well as his new self--to rediscover his life. In this powerful and beautifully written book, Lane offers readers an unflinching and unsentimental account of coming to one's senses in the presence of nature. goodreads.com
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Post by Pam on Apr 18, 2016 14:05:56 GMT -5
Grace for the Moment: Inspirational Thoughts for Each Day of the Year
by Max Lucado, Terri Gibbs
With more than 2,500,000 copies sold, this devotional continues to touch lives as it emphasizes the help and hope of God in everyday moments. Each daily reading features devotional writings from Max Lucado's numerous bestsellers as well as a Scripture verse selected especially for that day's reading. goodreads.com
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Post by Pam on Apr 18, 2016 20:48:59 GMT -5
Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight
by Alexandra Fuller
Alexandra Fuller remembers her African childhood with candor and sensitivity. Though it is a diary of an unruly life in an often inhospitable place, it is suffused with Fuller’s endearing ability to find laughter, even when there is little to celebrate. Fuller’s debut is unsentimental and unflinching but always captivating. In wry and sometimes hilarious prose, she stares down disaster and looks back with rage and love at the life of an extraordinary family in an extraordinary time. goodreads.com
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Post by Pam on Apr 21, 2016 17:10:27 GMT -5
The Crossing (Harry Bosch Series #20 & Mickey Haller Series #6)
by Michael Connelly
Detective Harry Bosch has retired from the LAPD, but his half-brother, defense attorney Mickey Haller, needs his help. The murder rap against his client seems ironclad, but Mickey is sure it's a setup. Though it goes against all his instincts, Bosch takes the case. With the secret help of his former LAPD partner Lucia Soto, he turns the investigation inside the police department. But as Bosch gets closer to discovering the truth, he makes himself a target. barnesandnoble.com
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Post by Pam on Apr 21, 2016 20:38:47 GMT -5
Quiet - Susan Cain
At least one-third of the people we know are introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking; who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion; who favor working on their own over working in teams. It is to introverts—Rosa Parks, Chopin, Dr. Seuss, Steve Wozniak—that we owe many of the great contributions to society.
In Quiet, Susan Cain argues that we dramatically undervalue introverts and shows how much we lose in doing so. She charts the rise of the Extrovert Ideal throughout the twentieth century and explores how deeply it has come to permeate our culture. She also introduces us to successful introverts—from a witty, high-octane public speaker who recharges in solitude after his talks, to a record-breaking salesman who quietly taps into the power of questions. Passionately argued, superbly researched, and filled with indelible stories of real people, Quiet has the power to permanently change how we see introverts and, equally important, how they see themselves. barnesandnoble.com
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