Drug Abuse Books

Living Sober An extremely informative book which does not offer a plan for getting sober but does offer us sound advice about how to stay sober. Basic, essential information from Alcoholics Anonymous.

Addiction and Grace offers an inspiring and hope–filled vision for those who desire to explore the mystery of who and what they really are. May examines the "processes of attachment" that lead to addiction and describes the relationship between addiction and spiritual awareness. He also details the various addictions from which we can suffer, not only to substances like alcohol and drugs, but to work, sex, performance, responsibility, and intimacy.

Drawing on his experience as a psychiatrist working with the chemically dependent, May emphasizes that addiction represents an attempt to assert complete control over our lives. Addiction and Grace is a compassionate and wise treatment of a topic of major concern in these most addictive of times, one that can provide a critical yet hopeful guide to a place of freedom based on contemplative spirituality.

Drop The Rock: Removing Character Defects, Steps Six and Seven, Second Edition Resentment. Fear. Self-Pity. Intolerance. Anger. This cast of character defects will undermine the best-laid plans for recovery from addiction. It's not uncommon for individuals in recovery to hang on to negative, self-defeating behaviors after they've given up their addiction. These are the "rocks" that can sink recovery - or, at the least, block further progress. With more than 100,000 copies sold, Drop the Rock is the definitive guide to removing character defects that can prevent gratifying, long-standing recovery. Based on the Twelve Step program, particularly the principles behind Steps Six and Seven, Drop the Rock combines personal stories, practical advice, and powerful insights to help readers move forward in recovery. The second edition features additional stories, a reference section, and information about starting a Drop the Rock study group.

The Higher Power of Lucky Lucky, age ten, can't wait another day. The meanness gland in her heart and the crevices full of questions in her brain make running away from Hard Pan, California (population 43), the rock-bottom only choice she has.

It's all Brigitte's fault -- for wanting to go back to France. Guardians are supposed to stay put and look after girls in their care! Instead Lucky is sure that she'll be abandoned to some orphanage in Los Angeles where her beloved dog, HMS Beagle, won't be allowed. She'll have to lose her friends Miles, who lives on cookies, and Lincoln, future U.S. president (maybe) and member of the International Guild of Knot Tyers. Just as bad, she'll have to give up eavesdropping on twelve-step anonymous programs where the interesting talk is all about Higher Powers. Lucky needs her own -- and quick.

The fast lane is much too slow for Rachel Walsh. And Manhattan is the perfect place for a young Irish female to overdo everything. But Rachel's love of a good time is about to land her in the emergency room. It will also cost her a job and the boyfriend she adores.

When her loving family hustles her back home and checks her into Ireland's answer to the Betty Ford Clinic, Rachel is hopeful. Perhaps it will be lovely—spa treatments, celebrities, that kind of thing. Instead, she finds a lot of group therapy, which leads her, against her will, to some important self-knowledge. She will also find something that all women like herself fear: a man who might actually be good for her.

My Friend Leonard In the bold and heartbreaking My Friend Leonard, James Frey picks up the story of his extraordinary life pretty much where things left off in his breakout bestseller and Amazon.com Best Book of 2003, A Million Little Pieces, the fierce, in-your-face memoir about Frey's kamikaze run of self-destruction and his days in rehab. Fresh from a stint in jail from pre-rehab-related charges ("On my first day in jail, a three hundred pound man named Porterhouse hit me in the back of the head with a metal tray."), clean-living Frey returns to Chicago and gets sucker-punched with a cruel blow that will leave readers ducking for cover in anticipation of the blinding bender that's sure to come. But then the titular Leonard, the larger-than-life Vegas mobster ("West Coast Director of a large Italian finance firm") whom James befriended in rehab, steps into the story and serves equal parts unlikely life coach, guardian angel, and father figure for the grief-stricken author, adopting him as his "son" and schooling him in the fine art of "living boldly":

Hurricane Leonard storms into James's life, showering his young charge with multi-course feasts at steakhouses and Italian restaurants, courtside seats at Bulls' games, Cuban cigars, and an elaborate Super Bowl party in Los Angeles, all the while doling out wisdom on life and love and motivating James to stick to his burgeoning writing career. James even has a brief stint as an employee of Leonard's, though occupational hazards--like having a nine millimeter shoved in his face--prove too much for the novice bag man (though he does make enough to invest his earnings in a Picasso drawing). When Leonard drops out of sight for an extended period, his absence leaves readers aching to hear the familiar refrain of "My Son!" just one more time.

Frey sticks to the taut, staccato style that shot through A Million Little Pieces with such raw electricity. Surprisingly, the tone feels equally at home with this book's focus on friendship and extreme loyalty, and works to intensify the always-looming, adrenaline-rush threat of violence and the lure of the Fury that courses like a riptide throughout the book. Ultimately, it's a sense of hope, and humor even, that prevails and makes My Friend Leonard a stand-alone success. Despite his shady pedigree, you'll long to have a friend like Leonard just a phone call away. --Brad Thomas Parsons

James Frey's List of Books You Should Read

Paris Spleen

Tropic of Cancer

The Great Santini

See more recommendations from James Frey

Amazon.com's Significant Seven
James Frey graciously agreed to answer the questions we like to ask every author: the Amazon.com Significant Seven.

Q: What book has had the most significant impact on your life?
A: Tao te Ching by Lao Tsu. Completely changed how I think, behave, live my life. Nothing else comes close.
Q: You are stranded on a desert island with only one book, one CD, and one DVD--what are they?
A: The book would be the Tao te Ching, the CD would be some compilation of love songs from the 70's and 80's, and the DVD would be highlights from the history of the Cleveland Browns.

Q: What is the worst lie you've ever told?
A: No way I can answer that.

Q: Describe the perfect writing environment.
A: I've been working at the same desk since I started writing. It's old and beaten-up and black. The rest of my workroom is empty, except for some crazy sh-- on the wall in front of me: pictures of people I admire, reproductions of artwork I dig, sayings that motivate me, things like--bare your soul, be bold, page a day motherfu--er page a day. I listen to music while I work, have a pile of nicotine gum and a couple cans of diet coke. My dogs are usually a couple feet away from me. I've always worked this way, probably always will.

Q: If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?
A: "Loved, lost, laughed, left."

Q: Who is the one person living or dead that you would like to have dinner with?
A: Winston Churchill

Q: If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
A: Immortality.

Perhaps the most unconventional and literally breathtaking father-son story you'll ever read, My Friend Leonard pulls you immediately and deeply into a relationship as unusual as it is inspiring.

The father figure is Leonard, the high-living, recovering coke addict "West Coast Director of a large Italian-American finance firm" (read: mobster) who helped to keep James Frey clean in A Million Little Pieces. The son is, of course, James, damaged perhaps beyond repair by years of crack and alcohol addiction-and by more than a few cruel tricks of fate.

James embarks on his post-rehab existence in Chicago emotionally devastated, broke, and afraid to get close to other people. But then Leonard comes back into his life, and everything changes. Leonard offers his "son" lucrative-if illegal and slightly dangerous-employment. He teaches James to enjoy life, sober, for the first time. He instructs him in the art of "living boldly," pushes him to pursue his passion for writing, and provides a watchful and supportive veil of protection under which James can get his life together. Both Leonard's and James's careers flourish . . . but then Leonard vanishes. When the reasons behind his mysterious absence are revealed, the book opens up in unexpected emotional ways.

My Friend Leonard showcases a brilliant and energetic young writer rising to important new challenges-displaying surprising warmth, humor, and maturity-without losing his intensity. This book proves that one of the most provocative literary voices of his generation is also one of the most emphatically human.Perhaps the most unconventional and literally breathtaking father-son story you'll ever read, My Friend Leonard pulls you immediately and deeply into a relationship as unusual as it is inspiring. The father figure is Leonard, the high-living, recovering coke addict ""West Coast Director of a large Italian-American finance firm"" (read: mobster) who helped to keep James Frey clean in A Million Little Pieces. The son is, of course, James, damaged perhaps beyond repair by years of crack and alcohol addiction-and by more than a few cruel tricks of fate. James embarks on his post-rehab existence in Chicago emotionally devastated, broke, and afraid to get close to other people. But then Leonard comes back into his life, and everything changes. Leonard offers his ""son"" lucrative-if illegal and slightly dangerous-employment. He teaches James to enjoy life, sober, for the first time. He instructs him in the art of ""living boldly,"" pushes him to pursue his passion for writing, and provides a watchful and supportive veil of protection under which James can get his life together. Both Leonard's and James's careers flourish . . . but then Leonard vanishes. When the reasons behind his mysterious absence are revealed, the book opens up in unexpected emotional ways. My Friend Leonard showcases a brilliant and energetic young writer rising to important new challenges-displaying surprising warmth, humor, and maturity-without losing his intensity. This book proves that one of the most provocative literary voices of his generation is also one of the most emphatically human.

The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood This is a powerful book, a window on aspects of America most people would rather ignore. To their great credit, the authors--David Simon wrote Homicide, the basis for the popular television show; Edward Burns is a former Baltimore police officer, now a public school teacher--refuse to sensationalize their subject or make its people into stereotypes. For a year the two hung out in a West Baltimore neighborhood that was a center of the drug trade. At the center of the narrative is the McCullough family--DeAndre, age 15, and his drug-addicted parents, Gary and Fran. While reading The Corner, there are times when we pity them, times when they make us angry. The book's strength, though, is that we always understand them. The crime-infested intersection of West Fayette and Monroe Streets is well-known--and cautiously avoided--by most of Baltimore. But this notorious corner's 24-hour open-air drug market provides the economic fuel for a dying neighborhood. David Simon, an award-winning author and crime reporter, and Edward Burns, a 20-year veteran of the urban drug war, tell the chilling story of this desolate crossroad.

Through the eyes of one broken family--two drug-addicted adults and their smart, vulnerable 15-year-old son, DeAndre McCollough, Simon and Burns examine the sinister realities of inner cities across the country and unflinchingly assess why law enforcement policies, moral crusades, and the welfare system have accomplished so little. This extraordinary book is a crucial look at the price of the drug culture and the poignant scenes of hope, caring, and love that astonishingly rise in the midst of a place America has abandoned.

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions Originally published in 1952, this classic book is used by A.A. members and groups around the world. It lays out the principles by which A.A. members recover and by which the fellowship functions. The basic text clarifies the Steps which constitute the A.A. way of life and the Traditions, by which A.A. maintains its unity.

Gossip Girl #1: A Novel (Gossip Girl Series) lder teens and adult readers can't get enough of Gossip Girl, the anonymous narrator who made her catty debut in the bestselling Gossip Girl and titillated readers in the juicy sequel, You Know You Love Me. Now in All I Want Is Everything, readers will love her even more as Gossip Girl dishes up dose after hefty dose of dirt on all her friends-New York's wealthiest private school teens. Sharp wit, intriguing characters, and high-stakes melodrama drive the action of this wildly popular new series.

Washed by Blood: Lessons from My Time with Korn and My Journey to Christ

An Out-of-Control Rock Star. An Inescapable Addiction to Drugs. A Miraculous Redemption through Jesus Christ.

You think you've heard this story before but you haven't. Washed by Blood is a look at the dramatic saving power of Jesus Christ unlike any other—one that shows how God looks out for all of us, even those who seem farthest away from his grace.

Brian "Head" Welch was a rock star who thought he had it all. He was the lead guitarist in Korn, one of the biggest and most controversial rock bands on the planet. He lived in a mansion, had millions of dollars in the bank, and legions of fans all over the globe.

He was living the good life, and it should have been perfect. But it was all a lie.

What no one knew was that backstage and away from the crowds, Head was fighting a debilitating addiction to methamphetamines, and that nothing—not even the birth of his daughter—could make him quit for good. He had given up. He was empty inside. He spent his days contemplating suicide convinced that each high would be his last.

And that was when he found God.

Washed by Blood tells the remarkable story of how God's unconditional love freed Head from his addictions and saved him from death. Here Head describes the joys and struggles of his journey to faith, detailing how Jesus has helped him cope with his pain and find the path that's right for both him and his daughter. An account of triumphs, hardships, and the healing power of Jesus, Washed by Blood is an inspirational demonstration that God is always there to save even the most troubled souls.

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