The Next Round: What happens after you change your drinking?
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Read More
The Next Round: What happens after you change your drinking?
It’s again time for our annual review of all the new sober and mindful drinking books that we’ve seen. From ancient wisdom to artificial intelligence, this year’s pile has something for everyone. As usual with these articles, we provide Amazon links for the books for convenience, but please support your local bookstore if you have one!
So, artificial intelligence has found its way to quit lit too! The subtitle of Patty’s book is “400+ Prompts to Heal Emotions, Rebuild Self-Respect and Stay Sober – The Best AI Sobriety Guide to Change Your Life”. She says she came up with the idea for the book while using a chatbot to develop ideas for her writing career, and realised that they could be helpful as a tool for quitting alcohol as well. She is careful to note that no chatbot is a replacement for human interaction, and notes that they will not be a 100% reliable cure. But she thinks they might be useful, in combination with more traditional methods.
The book has detailed instructions on how to get started with this ChatGPT journalling. Patty has even created a ready-to-use template profile so you can get started quickly. And she has plenty of example prompts (questions and reflections) to keep going. This is all quite interesting, and I for one am curious to see how helpful these types of tools will be.
Buy How to Quit Drinking Alcohol with ChatGPT from Amazon UK // Amazon US // Amazon Australia // Amazon Canada
A second book from Patty! There’s no AI in this one though. In fact, The Fun Dry January Journal is a more traditional workbook for taking a month off alcohol. There are daily prompts for journalling your goals and progress by writing down your thoughts, or making drawings of them.
Buy The Fun Dry January Journal from Amazon UK // Amazon US // Amazon Australia // Amazon Canada
Miguel’s book is inspired by the ancient classic of Chinese philosophy, The Tao Te Ching, by Lao Tzu. Each of the 81 short chapters has a poem in a Taoist style, reflection, questions for the reader, and an affirmation. If you find these types of things attractive, this is a lovely book to read. I think slowly grazing, a chapter at a time probably works best.
And if you want to take your exploration further, Miguel has also written a workbook, and a facilitator’s guide for recovery group circles. Details of these are at the back of The Way Within Without.
Buy The Way Within Without from Amazon UK // Amazon US // Amazon Australia // Amazon Canada
Undimmed uses the concept of a “dimmer”: alcohol, drugs, bad habits. Anything we use to dull our minds. Cecily mixes her own life story of giving up drinking with her “eight awarenesses”. Inspired but not following the AA’s 12 steps, these let her walk you through the process of giving up and leading a healthier life.
The eight awarenesses start from choice: the decision to quit. They then move from inner to outer world, from knowing yourself to living with others. Cecily writes clearly, and the advice she gives is all sensible. Undimmed is perhaps most suitable for those not yet at “rock bottom”, but slowly heading that way.
Buy Undimmed from Amazon UK // Amazon US // Amazon Australia // Amazon Canada
Club Soda may earn affiliate fees if you buy these books after following the links on this page.
Join Club Soda for 10% off your first order of drinks for UK delivery. Plus get our latest news and special offers for members to choose better drinks, change your drinking and connect with others.
If you get an error message with this form, you can also sign up at eepurl.com/dl5hPn