| Title | : | The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober Journal: THE COMPANION TO THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 170 |
| Publication | : | Published December 27, 2018 |
The guided sobriety journal inspired by the Sunday Times bestseller Ever sworn off alcohol for a month and found yourself drinking by the 7th? Think there's 'no point' in just one drink? Welcome!Quitting drinking, whether for a month or for life, is enormously satisfying, but also fiendishly difficult. -There's the getting started ('But I have that party next week!')-There's the feeling clenched and socially anxious.-Throw in a sizeable amount of social pressure and suspicious questions ('So, do you have a drinking problem?'-Finally, chuck in the hundreds of pro-drinking messages we see every day; films where a round of shots always comes with a whoop; fridge magnets that say 'I don't trust people who don't drink'; pub clapboards announcing 'Strong people need strong drinks'; and memes declaring ' it's a holiday in a glass.' Whew. It's no wonder we find it tricky to stay teetotal. But don't worry. We're going to tackle all of the above. I'm going to give you tools that enable you to clear all of these stumbling blocks with the grace of a gazelle. So, let's get started, shall we? PRAISE FOR CATHERINE GRAY'S "An icon of the Quit Lit movement." - Condé Nast Traveller"Fascinating." - Bryony Gordon."Not remotely preachy." - The Times"Jaunty, shrewd and convincing." - The Telegraph "Admirably honest, light, bubbly and remarkably rarely annoying." - The Guardian"Truthful, modern and real." - Stylist"Brave, witty and brilliantly written." - Marie Claire"Haunting, admirable and enlightening." - The Pool 'No other author writes about sober living with as much warmth or emotional range as Catherine Gray. Her deep insight into the subtle psychologies of drinking, and of life, means that everything she writes is both utterly relatable and stretches our minds. Hers is a rare wisdom.' - Dr Richard Piper, CEO, Alcohol Change UK
The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober Journal: THE COMPANION TO THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER Reviews
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This is written less for the sober curious and more for those with an addiction, or at least those who have a worrying belief that their drinking is out of control.
This is written as a confessional with the author explaining that even though they had a superficially charmed life with an exciting career in journalism, they were a total mess due to drink. This first part of the book is a little bit of a drag in places. It's hard to feel empathy when she's writing about all the incredible evenings she had, the famous people she met, travelling everywhere and climbing the career ladder, but also telling you her life sucked. I mean, I do believe her. But the tone isn't quite right and comes across as a desire to impress, in amongst the hell inside her head.
The author also has a skewed idea of being poor. She references this frequently and in relative terms I'm sure she imagines she is. But having impromptu weekends abroad with friends in your twenties whilst living in London and drinking expensive cocktails in bars every night, isn't ever poverty. Poverty in your twenties is lying alone in your flat on New Years Day with no heating or electricity and having counted out your penny jar and realising you don't even have bus money to get to your mum's, a la me, in the 90s. This grated a bit.
The book really gets into its own when she starts to talk about being sober, as per the title of the book. She's incredible for reaching out for help, apologising to friends, speaking up when she's uncomfortable around booze, and seeking out social experiences that don't involve drinking. She's definitely a strong, admirable lady. There's one part that made me hug the book to my chest, which is when she's talking about rediscovering herself without booze and a much more gentle, childlike version of herself comes back. She discovers she's not an extrovert but a quiet, geeky, book lover who's happiest at home. I thought that was beautiful. She then lists all the ways that being sober is fucking brilliant compared to the scary, chaotic hell of alcoholism. I was really motivated to never drink again after this section because it all makes sense, and is so achievable.
There is another section around the health dangers and how much brainwashing the alcohol industry does to convince us that drinking is cool, essential and fundamental to life. It should make you angry...I hope it does.
It's a very good read but just slightly too long for me, and I didn't always relate to her. The Sober Girl Society handbook is more balanced, in my opinion. -
Absolutely brilliant book. Great research and story. Dont miss booze at all - its amazing how much more energy you have without it and how much better you're skin is.
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4.5 stars - I accidentally bought this journal supplement instead of the original book of the same name, but ended up glad I got it anyway. For my purposes, which were primarily to better understand the personal perspective of an alcoholic on addiction and recovery and secondarily to assess the clinical value of the material for someone close to me going through the process, both the text and the exercises seemed clearly written and useful.
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Very short and written from a very particular point of view - It does have some useful guided exercises to help you visualise your drinking, but is also full of instagram inspirational photo pages, which I find egregious. Also it didn't read very well on my Kindle. solid 6/10.
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This was a really difficult book fir me to read as I could relate to most of what she had experienced.
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It was cute and the questions asked were good for initial thought processes. I'm sure I'll be thinking about them for months to come. However, I was put off by the weird instagram pages that seemed to just buff the page numbers and not really help or motivate at all.
Reading the original book is good enough, this is maybe more of an additional money-maker for the author?
