by MacDougal
Lovely book. All about how a man started off wanting to rehabilitate a donkey--and, incidentally, fulfil a personal dream he'd had in the back of mind for some time. But MacDougal isn't one to stay on topic, so along the way you learn tidbits about mental illness, Amish people, goat racing, and the life stories of pretty near everyone who helps his venture along the way.
The unexpected Joy of Being Sober
by Catherine Gray
Lots of good stuff here. I was listening to it while I jogged, so although I heard lots of quotable passages, I don't remember any of them to write down here. The gist of it is this: the word "sober" is bad description of a life you can lead when you finally figure out how to stop dragging yourself down with the chains of daily drink.
It's a marvelous book and my only quibble is that it went on for about two chapters after it was over. Everything she wanted to say was said in the first ten chapters or so, and then at the end, she decided to say it all over again. Omitting the last few chapters, I highly recommend it for someone thinking about quitting or in the early days of quitting.
But on a personal note, I found it difficult to listen (audiobook) to descriptions of drinking, right there in my ears, for hour on hour. No matter how horribly painful they were, no matter how badly they always ended, just hearing the words triggered a switch that I thought I'd turned off. Even though she'd just described a horrific life made unbearable by nightly blackouts and miserable mornings, hearing the words "first drink" over and over made me want one. Stupid me.
I think I'll switch from reading about non-drinking to reading other self help books. She mentioned one about mindfulness but I can't find where. That's the problem withaudiobooks. Drat.
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