Reading list!

[Guest]

Reading list!

Re: library

I read "Drinking, A Love Story" about a year ago when I was grappling with my drinking once again. It always seems to happen after the holidays. Anyway, it is a great book - very honest and open. I like the way Carolyn Knapp writes. I also want to get "Dry". I read some reviews and heard it was good.

Anything to make me feel like I'm not some kind of freak because I can't control my alcohol intake.

Jane.

[Guest]

Reading list!

library and what not to read

oh yes! there's nothing like reading stories like DRY and DRINKING: A LOVE STORY to help you know you're not alone, not a freak!! both are excellent!!! read the latter twice, too. very consoling. can't get enough of stories like that. funny, huh? A Million LIttle Pieces was a captivating read, but i sure don't agree with the lad's approach, not for myself. the possibility of just getting sober out of will, with little to no support, is beyond me. way beyond. though he did go to rehab, he didn't take in much of their support (counseling, aa, certainly no nutritional fortification).

congrats, ttfme for bucking up and doing the library thing!! i know how hard it is in a small town: i'm a teacher in one. i drive a half hour whenever i go to an AA meeting in hopes of reducing chances of seeing someone i know from my small community. i would probably feel shy checking out certain books from the libe, too. i splurge and go to amazon a little too often...

WHat NOT to Read: allen carr's easy way to control alcohol. ...found it on an amazon search and read good reviews... alas, a wasted 5 bucks. it reads like a long advertisement. after skimming a few chapters and sifting through, really giving the book a chance, i have no idea what the guy's getting at beyond, possibly: it's all a matter of your attitude. basically: UNbrainwash yourself. the guy's clearly not an alcoholic. maybe someone out there could wade through his rhetoric, but, boy, this book got me annoyed!! save your time and moula for something else.

[Guest]

Reading list!

reading stuff

What a great list of stuff to read. I will definitely be reading a lot of the stuff on this list that I haven't already read.

I'm curious to know though. Does anyone know what happened to Caroline Knapp and how she died? I had heard that, but didn't want to believe it. I loved her book so much--it was the second book that I have every read that I started over the minute I finished it! I'm immensely sad.

Kathy

[Guest]

Reading list!

Codependent No More

lm,
I just remembered you asked about this book. It is very helpful. I learned in outpt rehab that many of us are "double winners"...both alcoholic and codependent. A lot of us moms are, that's for sure. I became codependent in rehab on other's recovering thinking I could fix them. What a joke!! Anyways, read the reviews at Amazon.com. Enjoy! Gina

[Guest]

Reading list!

books

Onoclea - I liked Alan Carr's book - it helped me realize that we are brainwashed to think of alcohol as having positive value and he's just trying to bring that message home. He's trying to make you change your whole mindset toward alcohol - and with me it succeeded. I really think of alcohol differently now and think about it so much less than before. When I first started MWO, I was doing pretty well but depressed and anxious all the time because I just couldn't get drinking and how not to drink obsessively out of my head. After reading the book, that feeling lifted alot and I got onto other things in my life.

It is was totally different than any other book out there and I think it's worth 2 hours and 5 dollars (used on amazon). I think you just need to be ready for the message. I just had to respond and give the other side so that people could judge for themselves (read the reviews on Amazon)

[Guest]

Reading list!

Books - Caroline Knapp

Kathy, Caroline Knapp was 42 and had lung cancer (I don't know if she smoked). Both of her parents died of cancer also.

[Guest]

Reading list!

Re: books

Hi all,
Love to read about one of my favorite pastimes - reading!

Kath,
Caroline Knapp struggled with eating disorders, alcoholism, and nicotine addiction; the first two she conquered. She was diagnosed with lung cancer in April of 2002 and died that June. Below are a few entries from an online memory book that is maintained by an anonymous donor:

"..I met Caroline at a book signing for Pack of Two" some years back. Her words to the audience that day were gentle, clever, funny and poignant. I told her how amazed and grateful I was that "Drinking: A Love Story", her finest work, had touched me, a struggling, African American woman who fought my own drinking demons. She seemed genuinely flattered, and said "Life's something, isn't it?" Yes, it is.

"...I just picked up "The Merry Recluse" yesterday. I'm already halfway through. My mom and I shared and wept over "Pack of Two" It rang so true to us...The examples and intricacies of why we love dogs and what they mean to us..wow! I've read her columns over the years and always loved everything I read. Caroline Knapp's writing reminds me of Anne LaMott's memoirs -touching, candid, wryly funny and full of so much human pain and growth...

Anyway, you can access her obituary (really lovely, not gloomy), some excerpts from a few of her Boston Phoenix columns, and a link to that legacy page at
www.bostonphoenix.com/pages/boston/carolineknappobit.html

Tammie, I know what you mean about the $$ aspect of all the books, it really adds up. A almost never buy hardcovers anymore unless they're used or significatly discounted (like more than 40%). Mostly I buy used from Amazon, Half.com and sometimes EBay depending on who has what. I also browse tag sales in the summer. I'm also an inveterate dumpster diver (well, not literally but if its trash pick up day and I'm driving by and there's something lovely in front of your house, it's going in my back seat!) I humiliate my husband, couldn't care less. I just got a gorgeous (heavy, maybe 100 pounds?) antique, oval mahogany mirror that needs refinishing a few weeks ago. Not long ago I got a box of books that contained a lot of junk but included Memoirs of a Geisha and several terrific cookbooks.

But I digress.

Onoclea and maria,
One of the reasons I love to read other peoples ideas and opinions on things is because we all have such different perspectives, and the more information I get the better I like it.

Lastly, Anne Lamott writes for Salon.com so you can get lots of her stuff for free there.

Best,
Kate

[Guest]

Reading list!

Re: Reading List

The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, Eckhart Tolle

In this book, Tolle shows readers how to recognize themselves as the creators of their own pain, and how to have a pain-free existence by living fully in the present. Tolle posits that accessing the deepest self, the true self, can be learned by freeing ourselves from the conflicting, unreasonable demands of the mind and living "present, fully and intensely, in the now."

Excuse Me, Your Life Is Waiting: The Astonishing Power of Feelings, Lynn Grabhorn

According to Grabhorn, what actually molds every moment of every day of one's life are feelings, not positive thinking, or sweat and strain, or good or bad luck, or even intelligence. Grabhorn frames her theory as a four-part plan that covers key life topics: money, relationships, health and spirituality.

The Fifth Discipline, Peter M. Senge

Peter Senge, founder of the Center for Organizational Learning at MIT's Sloan School of Management, outlines the five disciplines designed to make organizations and individuals better. In his book, he outlines the disciplines: Building Shared Vision to build a common commitment to long-term results and achievement; creating Mental Models as a technique to foster creativity; Team Learning designed to pass learning from individuals to teams; Personal Mastery, the individual's motivation to learn and become better; and the fifth discipline, Systems Thinking, which allows to see a holistic systemic view of the organization as a function of its environment.

Breaking the Rules, Removing the Obstacles to Effortless High Performance, Kurt Wright, Donn Bruns (photographer), W. George Meredith

Breaking the Rules is both an intensely personal self-improvement book and a business management book. On the self-improvement side it is a personal guide for discovering what you are like at your very best and how to be that way more often. It offers a complete system of self-understanding based on the premise that being at your best is your natural state, and one you could be enjoying more often if you weren't doing so much to interfere with it.

The Right Questions: Ten Essential Questions to Guide You to an Extraordinary Life, Debbie Ford

According to Ford, the realities of the life we live today are a result of the choices we made yesterday, three months ago and three years ago. We don't wind up in debt due to a single purchase, gain 30 pounds because of a few decadent meals or lose relationships overnight based on one decision. These situations are based on repeated unconscious choices made day after day. If we want to understand why and how we created our present day reality all we need to do is look at the choices we made in the past. Ford offers 10 questions that can help reveal the true motivations behind our thoughts and actions. By honestly asking and answering these 10 vital questions, we regain control and have the power necessary to create the life we always wanted.

How to Change Your Life, Ernest Holmes and Michael Beckwith

In How to Change Your Life, Holmes and Beckwith offer a simple explanation of why our thoughts have power and show readers how to change their lives by changing their thinking.

Key to Yourself, Venice Bloodworth

In Key to Yourself, Venice Bloodworth combines modern psychology with the principles taught thousands of years ago by Jesus Christ. In searching for her own spiritual enlightenment, she found the root of true happiness based on a "Spiritual Psychology" that disclosed the power of the mind to think yourself to wellness, prosperity and peace of mind.

Divine Intuition, Lynn A. Robinson

Through Divine Intuition, Lynn Robinson offers access to a unique inner resource: your own intuition. She observes that intuition is part of your birthright, your instructions from a Higher Power, or whatever you choose to call God. The book is designed to help readers tap into the myriad ways this invaluable insight can be received and developed for practical use in everyday life.

Conscious Living: Finding Joy In the Real World, Gay Hendricks

In this book, therapist Gay Hendricks offers a practical guide for the individual that brings new insights into a fundamental truth of daily truth of daily life. Five simple lessons of "conscious living," rooted in the ancient traditions of Stoicism and Taoism, help us overcome obstacles and fears and awaken our own creativity.

A Year of Living Consciously: 365 Daily Inspirations for Creating a Life of Passion and Purpose, Gay Hendricks

A Year of Living Consciously offers readers a daily map full of wisdom, inspirational quotes and transformational exercises, with the goal of achieving personal and relationship success. He encourages understanding, self-awareness and honesty ? all vital elements in a conscious life. A Year of Living Consciously teaches readers to relish the journey that results in greater self-esteem and emotional literacy, achievements that can only come from leading an examined life.

Donna

[Guest]

Reading list!

Re: Reading List

I'm really excited to see this growing reading list and am wondering if anyone minds if I link these books from a section we're setting up on our site--the MWO recommended reading list or "reading room", we haven't fleshed it out yet. I think it would be really great for new visitor coming in and we'll point straight to Amazon to make it easy. Would like to include some of your comments if that's okay, too, still not sure how this will all pan out.

Thanks.

RJ

[Guest]

Reading list!

Reading List

Thanks Kate,

I did look up Caroline Knapp's obit. This sounds terrible, but I'm glad that she didn't succumb to alcoholism. I know that she smoked, and I'm sorry that it got her. What a tragic loss to those of us in recovery and to the world in general! But I can make peace with that. I feel for her twin sister. Anyway, thanks for the info.

Other than that, I can't wait to get into some of the great reading listed on this thread!

Kathy

[Guest]

Reading list!

carr and tolle

maria,
i was wondering if someone in our mwo community would have read allen carr's book. i'm glad you put your two cents in, as i'm sure for some his book could be just the ticket. i wrote my thoughts on it in my post just after putting it down in aggravation; i could not -in twenty minutes- get the gist of what he was getting at and so felt frustrated. i also found his style a little patronizing. i'm glad he was helpful to you. if you care to say any more on the book i'd be interested, as i bought the book in hopes of it being useful, and i wonder what i'm missing that the people who wrote the reviews clearly got. i guess it's basically about changing your thoughts about alcohol as the crucial step...? how does he suggest one go about doing that? anyway, thanks for sharing if you care to.

the tolle book - the power of now - is indeed fantastic! i can vouch for that. great ideas in there. great ideals that are potentially life-changing.

onoclea

[Guest]

Reading list!

Re: Dry

I just finished "Dry" this morning by Augusten Burroughs. Bought it yesterday at Target and couldn't put it down. Almost as good as "A Drinking Life" by Carolyn Knapp, but I still think I liked that one better. I really identified with her; especially the part about her watching "a lovely glass of cold chardonnay" carried by a waiter go by her in a restaurant after she stopped drinking. Sigh. Been there, done that!

It's too bad about all the controversy regarding James Frey's book. Personally, I could care less whether he embellished or not. That seriously was one of the most powerful books I have ever read. My poor family. They didn't get dinner the night I had that book. Read it from cover to cover.

This is totally off the subject of self-help books, etc., but if anyone is looking to "escape", Diana Gabaldon's books are awesome. They are all about 900+ pages. The first one is called "Outlander". There are six books in the series. It is part historical and part romance. Very well written. I read a lot (was an English major in college) and her books are really descriptive. And the love scenes. Whew. I made my husband come home from work one day at noon when I was reading one part!!

Anyway, just thought I'd mention it. I'm looking forward to diving into the books mentioned previously. I definitely will be reading Allen Carr's book.

Jane.

[Guest]

Reading list!

Jane, that must be some good writing!!

Haha, you peaked my interest in Diana Gabaldon's books, I like to balance between self help and entertainment books (all work and no play...)

I have SO much reading to catch up on. I'm really glad we have this thread going.

Thanks,
Janet

[Guest]

Reading list!

feeling vulnerable

kate,
thanks for your words about getting different perspectives. it makes me feel less weird about having posted about the allen carr book. i guess i feel a little defensive about maria's reaction. i'm probably being overly sensitive, but i thought about the line "you have to be ready for the message" for a while and had to come back and address it. i think that his message is probably very good, and i am all for changing one's mind and thereby one's world. yes indeed! i truly believe that perspective and the way we think about things are very important aspects of how we live and experience our lives. i just found carr's writing style didn't appeal to me, and i couldn't get to the heart of his thinking quickly enough. i'm sorry if i offended anyone. obviously, the only thing that matters is whether a book helps you or not. maybe i was wrong to dis it.
jane, i am curious what inspired you to read it. the reviews at amazon are quite convincing. let me know please how it goes, and whether you'd recommend i give it a second try. from your posts i gather that you've got good judgement.
thanks.
onoclea

[Guest]

Reading list!

reading list

Onoclea - I also like the different perspectives, that's what brings me back to this site. If we all had the same opinions - we wouldn't need to come here. I just wanted someone that might get something out of "easy way to control alcohol" to have that chance. The author wants us to stop seeing alcohol as a treat, crutch or friend and start to see it as the true devastation it's been in out lives. He wants you to turn the fear of never being able to drink to the joy and freedom of never having to drink again - it's quite a change from what we have been raised to believe. He devotes a chapter to each of the reasons we drink (to fit in, socialize, relieve boredom, get courage, etc) It can be really scary to think "I will never drink again"

I read it twice, highlighting the points that spoke to me. I wrote them all down in the back of the book. And whenever I think that I could use a treat, or I've been really good lately - it's OK, or I'm bored - I take the book out and read my notes. Unlike the title of the book suggests, it's really for abstinence, not controlled drinking. Although, as a moderator, I've gotten alot out of it. I was ready for the message before I picked up the book. I was starting to think about not feeling alcohol was a relief or reward. So this book came to me at a good time. Looking up "Allen Carr" on Amazon, I see he's written a new book - "Easy way to stop drinking alcohol", which is probably the same book, just updated so the title actually matches the content. (although I don't know for sure)

Thanks Kate for all the great suggestions - Gay Hendricks has a new DVD, CD, book package out called "the Breathing Box" which gives you uncomplicated breathing techniques to relieve stress, reduce cravings and calm down, I really like it.

Thanks for all the great posts.