The best books about alcohol

The lush, sun-drenched vineyards of California evoke a romantic, agrarian image of winemaking, though in reality, the industry reflects American agribusiness at its most successful. Nonetheless, this fantasy is deeply rooted in the history of grape cultivation in America. Empire of Vines traces the development of wine culture as grape growing expanded from New York to the Midwest before gaining ascendancy in California--a progression that illustrates viticulture's centrality to the nineteenth-century American projects of national expansion and the formation of a national culture.

My memoir weaves the stories of valiant women who survived war and conflict – intertwined with my own struggles. A long-standing international women’s rights advocate, working to recover from my own history of abuse, I explore courage, resiliency, and forgiveness through the pages of Brick by Brick.

The remarkable strength of the women survivors I’ve met, including the year I lived in Rwanda with my three boys, helped me find my way through conflict zones, confrontations with corrupt officials, and painful questions about my marriage and career. My journey ends with a renewed commitment to my family and to fight for women around the world.

South London, 1896. Sherlock Holmes has once again hit the headlines, solving mysteries for the cream of London society. But among the workhouses and pudding shops of the city, private detective William Arrowood is presented with grittier, more violent, and considerably less well-paid cases. And Arrowood cannot abide Sherlock Holmes.

Captain Moon, the owner of a pleasure steamer moored on the Thames, comes to Arrowood for help because someone has been damaging his boat, putting his business in jeopardy. Arrowood and his trusty sidekick Barnett suspect professional jealousy, but when a shocking discovery is pulled from the river, it seems like even fouler play is afoot. It’s up to Arrowood and Barnett to solve the case, before any more corpses end up in the watery depths.

We spend a majority of our lives as survivors with no clue what we are actually surviving. To protect us, our brains have frozen in time the incidents fueling our ability to be in denial. Unfortunately, the truth of our sexual abuse seeps out into all areas of our lives, causing us to behave like maligned versions of our true selves. We yell, when we are not yellers. We cheat, when we want love. We drink and abuse drugs when we want to see God. Only through facing the denial do we find our true selves hidden in the cobwebs.

Author O’Hara engages the reader with personal stories through a self-help lens. She strikes a balance of commiseration and guidance for any survivor at any stage in their recovery.

This book is ideal for anyone who wants to complete a dry month challenge, giving up all forms of alcohol—wine, beer, spirits, and cocktails, including no shots, no low ABV cocktails, and absolutely no champagne toasts—for thirty-one days. 

Whether you’re thinking of participating in Dry January, Sober October, or want to choose a time of your own, this book walks you step-by-step through one drink-free month, from making a plan to sharing the news with friends and family (and what to do when someone tries to sabotage it) to getting back on track if you slip up and have a drink (or two).

Haunted family trees, chilling photo insights, and twisted psychopaths fill the pages of my bone-chilling thriller. Spanning generations, the story follows the people (and psychopaths) surrounding young Joshua. Everyone is terrified of Joshua. No one understands his mind as he drowns cats, dissects squirrels, and burn dogs instead of playing with Legos. His mother struggles to cover it up. The Senator watches with amusement.

Where does this innocent-looking child come from and how does he control so many people? Where is he headed? Partially based on a true story, young Joshua is the ultimate evil.

Carol Weis unveils her two lives in a series of alternating chapters that reveal her transformation. You'll meet a desperate young woman riddled with anger and fear from childhood trauma, and an equally desperate sober, single mom struggling to push those feelings aside to care for her young daughter.

Starting off on the night of her last drink, Stumbling Home quickly reveals the author's love-hate relationship with the legal drug. It then brings the reader along on the sundry adventures she takes under the influence, interspersed with the challenges she faces when she quits, ultimately, on her quest to reinvent herself and find out who she really is.