Green Books Campaign Review: Tales of Addiction and Inspiration for Recovery

Tales of Addiction and Inspiration for Recovery

Dr. Barbara Sinor

Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone

Release Date: April 2010

Publisher: Loving Healing Press

Pages: 214

Author Site: http://www.drsinor.com/

My Rating: 4/5

Source: Received for review from Eco-Libris

Synopsis:

[from goodreads.com]

Whether addicted or not, we all have stories to tell

The stories of tragedy and redemption found within Tales of Addiction are not about the well known celebrities you find in the usual tabloids. Rather, these stories are true-grit tales told by people you will never meet but whose words will haunt you for months, years maybe. The author collected the stories for over two years through a "call for stories" she put in journals, workshops and lectures. Interwoven throughout, Barbara and her son share their own story of pain and struggle. In this book, you'll learn:

•How an addict's life begins
•Understand the difficulties in taking initial steps to uncover denial
•Intimate details of how many stay straight and sober
•Gain a new perspective about our national addiction population
•Learn why that Something More means so much to so many
•What happens when the addict or alcoholic loses their battle
•How you can help
 
 

Review:

 
This review is part of the Green Books campaign.Today 200 bloggers take a stand to support books printed in an eco-friendly manner by simultaneously publishing reviews of 200 books printed on recycled or FSC-certified paper. By turning a spotlight on books printed using eco- friendly paper, we hope to raise the awareness of book buyers and encourage everyone to take the environment into consideration when purchasing books.

The campaign is organized for the second time by Eco-Libris, a green company working to make reading more sustainable. We invite you to join the discussion on "green" books and support books printed in an eco-friendly manner! A full list of participating blogs and links to their reviews is available on Eco-Libris website.

When I was asked to join this campaign I jumped at the chance. Being more eco-friendly and "green" is definitely important to me. However, I can only imagine how difficult it is for authors and publishers to go completely "green". This campaign isn't asking for a totally "green" ideal setting where ebooks and eReaders rule the book world and no trees or paper are used. Instead, this campaign is shining some light on those publishers and books who use recycled or FSC-certified paper in hopes to get others to follow suit. It's a wonderful, responsible, and just fantastic idea! I'm honored to be a part of this campaign.

The book I chose was about a subject I had no direct personal relation to. However, I've seen enough movies, read enough books, and heard from enough people the horrible effects of addiction on those participating and their families. Tales of Addiction is not just a collection of alcholic and drug addicts talking about their lives. The book brings the stories of loss, hopelessness, pain, courage, and dedication from all of those affecting by an addict's life - including the addict themselves. Dr. Sinor even shares her personal story with her son's addiction throughout the book.

You don't have to be an addict to find this book inspirational. There's a passage where Dr. Sinor talks about the habits people have in their lives - from driving the same route to a certain destination, to ordering the same kind of food and related it to an addict's decisions. Habits can easily transform into addictions and that fact made so much sense to me. I have so many habits, be they good, neutral or bad, that made me think twice about why I do them and how I've let them become habits. I may not be an addict in the sense one would think of when reading the title and synopsis of this book but I found myself reflective on my life a lot while reading the journey others have taken in their own addiction-ruled life.

The collection of stories are filled with the heavy emotions of each writer and the reader can easily find themselves wrapped in the pain that substance addiction can cause. This book is one of many ways to find hope in recovery. Recovery is a process that can take a lifetime to acheive and still may not be fully gained. I learned that one must have the courage to keep fighting their addiction to live a happy life. I came to really appreciate the compassion the author provided in collecting these stories and adding her personal touch to the book as well. I think a lot of readers can find hope somewhere in this book - regardless if they are a substance abuser or not. There is true inspiration within the pages for everyone.

**Side note- Please visit the Eco-Libris site for more information about its cause and the great campaign they are running. I'm definitely hoping to participate next year and I hope you'll consider joining me!

Book Arrivals

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For Review:

 Tales of Addiction and Inspiration for Recovery :: Dr. Barbara Sinor

(April 2010 - Loving Healing Press)

Whether addicted or not, we all have stories to tell

The stories of tragedy and redemption found within Tales of Addiction are not about the well known celebrities you find in the usual tabloids. Rather, these stories are true-grit tales told by people you will never meet but whose words will haunt you for months, years maybe. The author collected the stories for over two years through a "call for stories" she put in journals, workshops and lectures. Interwoven throughout, Barbara and her son share their own story of pain and struggle. In this book, you'll learn:

• How an addict's life begins
• Understand the difficulties in taking initial steps to uncover denial
• Intimate details of how many stay straight and sober
• Gain a new perspective about our national addiction population
• Learn why that Something More means so much to so many
• What happens when the addict or alcoholic loses their battle
• How you can help

The Dead Boys :: Royce Buckingham

(September 2010 - Putnam Juvenile)

In the desert town of Richland, Washington, there stands a giant sycamore tree. Horribly mutated by nuclear waste, it feeds on the life energy of boys that it snags with its living roots. And when Teddy Matthews moves to town, the tree trains its sights on its next victim.

From the start, Teddy knows something is very wrong with Richland- every kid he meets disappears before his eyes. A trip to the cemetery confirms that these boys are actually dead and trying to lure him to the tree. But that knowledge is no help when Teddy is swept into the tree's world, a dark version of Richland from which there is no escape . . .

 In Dreams Begin :: Skyler White

(December 2010 - Berkley Trade)

“Close your eyes tightly—tightly—and keep them closed . . .”

From a Victorian Ireland of magic, poetry and rebellion, Ida Jameson, an amateur occultist, reaches out for power, but captures Laura Armstrong, a modern-day graphic artist instead. Now, for the man or demon she loves, each woman must span a bridge through Hell and across history . . . or destroy it.

“Every passionate man is linked with another age, historical or imaginary, where alone he finds images that rouse his energy.” W. B. Yeats

Anchored in fact on both sides of history, Laura and Ida, modern rationalist and fin de siècle occultist, are linked from the moment Ida channels Laura into the body of celebrated beauty and Irish freedom-fighter Maud Gonne. When Laura falls—from an ocean and a hundred years away—passionately, Victorianly in love with the young poet W. B. Yeats, their love affair entwines with Irish history and weaves through Yeats’s poetry until Ida discovers something she wants more than magic in the subterranean spaces in between.

With her Irish past threatening her orderly present and the man she loves in it, Laura and Yeats—the practical materialist and the poet magus—must find a way to make love last over time, in changing bodies, through modern damnation, and into the mythic past to link their pilgrim souls . . . or lose them forever.

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From Paperbackswap:

To Sir Phillip, With Love :: Julia Quinn

(July 2003 - Avon)

Sir Phillip knew from his correspondence with his dead wife's distant cousin that Eloise Bridgerton was a spinster, and so he'd proposed, figuring that she'd be homely and unassuming, and more than a little desperate for an offer of marriage. Except . . . she wasn't. The beautiful woman on his doorstep was anything but quiet, and when she stopped talking long enough to close her mouth, all he wanted to do was kiss her...

Eloise Bridgerton couldn't marry a man she had never met! But then she started thinking... and wondering... and before she knew it, she was in a hired carriage in the middle of the night, on her way to meet the man she hoped might be her perfect match. Except... he wasn't. Her perfect husband wouldn't be so moody and ill-mannered. And he certainly should have mentioned that he had two young - and decidedly unruly - children, as much in need of a mother as Phillip is in need of a wife.