Top ‘quit lit’ books and resources for anyone looking to take a break from booze

Luckily for us, quit lit doesn’t just cover books and extends to a whole host of other resources including podcasts, videos, guided meditations and much more. We wanted to bring you the best variety of suggestions, so we asked the experts – our Dry January® challenge participants from past years. Take a look!

• Alcohol Explained by William Porter – Described by the publisher as explaining “how alcohol affects human beings on a chemical, physiological and psychological level”, the book promises to be a comprehensive overview on all things alcohol. There’s also an Alcohol Explained 2: Tools for Stronger Sobriety for those that want to explore Porter’s writing further.
  

• Drink?: The New Science of Alcohol and your Health by David Nutt – Described by the publisher as a book “written by a scientist and rooted in 40 years of medical research and hands-on experience treating patients”, this book takes a scientific approach to alcohol’s effect on everything from mental health and hormones, to fertility and addiction. You can purchase it from many online book sellers.
  
  
  
• Quit Like a Woman: The Radical Choice to Not Drink in a Culture Obsessed with Alcohol by Holly Whitaker – Written from personal experience, Whitaker has a particular interest in helping women change their relationship with alcohol, as well examining wider drinking cultures as a whole.
  
  
• Alcohol Lied to Me: How to Stop Drinking and Get the Real You Back by Craig Beck – Beck uses his personal experiences of how he overcame his problematic ‘two bottles of wine a night’ habit to bring practical strategies to his readers to help them cut out alcohol.
  

• The Easy Way for Women to Stop Drinking by Allen Carr – Carr’s book is aimed at women as he explains his belief that “alcohol blights women's lives often in a distinctly different way to men's”. Carr is also known for a series of books giving advice on stopping smoking.
  
  
  
• This Naked Mind by Annie Grace – Described by the publisher as the antidote for the “millions of people who worry that drinking is affecting their health, yet are unwilling to seek change because of the misery and stigma associated”. Grace focuses on supporting readers to leave their psychological dependence on alcohol behind. You can purchase it from many online book sellers.
  
  
• 99% Sober: Improve Your Health, Wealth and Happiness by Taking Control of Your Drinking by Patrick Ruddy – Described by the author as ‘part memoir, part self-help book’, Ruddy’s book gives the reader advice on regaining control over their drinking and gives us a resource that is for those that want to cut back, as well as cut out, alcohol.
  

• The Sober Diaries: How one woman stopped drinking and started living by Clare Pooley – This autobiographical book covers a year in the author’s life after she decided to give up alcohol. After making a significant life change and making the decision to leave a high-powered, stressful job to raise her children, Clare found her drinking getting out of control and wanted to get back to living life to the full.
  

• The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober by Catherine Gray – The author describes herself as “stuck in a hellish whirligig of Drink, Make horrible decisions, Hangover, Repeat” and covers her process of discovery in the book as she made the decision to reduce her drinking.

• The Bee Sober podcast – Described by the producers as “a funny and honest account to self-discovery”.
  

• Coping with Cravings from Headspace, a series of guided meditations – The wellbeing app Headspace uses meditation, mindfulness and coaching to support users to better mental health. Their short, guided meditations on cravings are designed to help you through a craving in real time. Available via the Headspace app only.
  

• Hello Someday podcast – Described by the producers as a mental health podcast for ‘sober curious women and grey area drinkers’ or in other words, those who are not physically dependent but may find themselves drinking too much. Host Casey Davidson provides weekly advice for women trying out stopping drinking.
  

• Over the Influence: The Alcohol Free podcast - Presented by BBC Lancashire presenter Sharon Hartley and Sound Rebel podcast producer Ben Anderson, the hosts discuss the transformative effect they believe becoming alcohol-free has had on their lives.
  

• Sober Awkward podcast – Hosts and Brits now living in Australia, Vic and Hamish, take a humorous (and sometimes awkward!) look at their newly alcohol-free lives. Winner of the Wellbeing Australian Podcast Award.
  
  
• Sober Stories from Everyday People – Instagram’s @sassyysobermum hosts this one, asking everyday people on their alcohol-free journey the same seven questions.
  
  
• Loudermilk on Netflix – If you’re looking for something to watch to help support your alcohol-free goals, past challenge participants tell us this is a good one for some light relief and distraction! Netflix gives a quick summary of what to expect from the series: “Grumpy former music critic Sam Loudermilk grudgingly navigates the world of sobriety with surly rants, even as he guides others in recovery.”

• Dr Alex George on Instagram – You may know him from his stint on dating reality show Love Island, but nowadays Alex describes himself as an author, podcaster and online creator. Our Dry January® challenge participants from past years tell us they love the alcohol-free content you can find his Instagram profile.
  

• Sobernsound on Instagram – An acquired taste for some with some adult language! But if punchy, no-nonsense reflections and motivations on alcohol-free life are your thing, Gary Mairs’ account might just float your boat.
  
  
• Sober Dave on Instagram – Dave Wilson, who’s also an Alcohol Change UK Ambassador, takes a trauma-informed approach to his content, which is often a hit with our Dry January® challenge past participants.

As we gathered these recommendations from our Dry January® alumni, we heard a few of our past participants explain how they found ‘quit lit’ hard to relate to, or they never quite found their perfect fit. Don’t worry if this sounds like you. Perhaps snippets of a variety of books or resources will resonate with you, and you’ll find they start to accumulate into your useful change toolkit. Perhaps, peer support groups like Dry January® and Beyond Facebook community group will work better for you. Or perhaps you have some better suggestions you’d like to share. Feel free to leave them in the comments below!