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Nice Recovery
by
Susan Juby
"There are families, which, through a combination of genetics, culture, and inclination, produce a startling number of professional athletes, such as tennis players or hockey stars. Then there are families like the Baldwins, which produce a high percentage of actors. My family seems to specialize in people who enjoy drinking. And taking drugs. In such families, there is us...more
247 pages
Published
(first published January 1st 2010)
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If the entire book had been like the first half, this book would have had five stars easily. Susan Juby's writing style is hilarious, yet touching, and she perfectly describes her teenage drinking years and how she went a little too far. But the second half of the book is all about her recovery and, although an important aspect of the book, it was a litte too dry and lacked the spunk of the first half. I read this book because I had to pick a non-fiction selection for LIBR 2395 and I loved the A...more
Reviewed by Arwen Rudolph
Susan Juby’s latest work is a personal memoir in three parts about her battle with addiction as a teen. Part One begins with Juby’s description of her years of addiction, from the first time she got really drunk at the age of 13, to when, at the age of 20, she hit bottom and finally decided to seek help. The second part details her experiences in recovery. In Part Three, Juby goes beyond the scope of her own story to include short interviews with several other young reco...more
Susan Juby’s latest work is a personal memoir in three parts about her battle with addiction as a teen. Part One begins with Juby’s description of her years of addiction, from the first time she got really drunk at the age of 13, to when, at the age of 20, she hit bottom and finally decided to seek help. The second part details her experiences in recovery. In Part Three, Juby goes beyond the scope of her own story to include short interviews with several other young reco...more
I have a large second story window I can watch the world from. Today, I have to find spaces in a Norway Maple's rich canopy to see the old guy struggle with his mower across the street. It's beautiful and sad. That's what I've been noticing and feeling since finishing Susan Juby's new addiction memoir, Nice Recovery, the beauty and the sadness that underpin experience.
From a girlhood in Smithers, BC, through a period of couch surfing around the west coast, through still a college and university...more
From a girlhood in Smithers, BC, through a period of couch surfing around the west coast, through still a college and university...more
I had this on my "wish list" at the Toronto Library for a while and downloaded the ebook last week. I forget where I found out about this book and probably put it on my wish list because the author is Canadian.
It's Juby's story of growing up in a small town in British Columbia and struggling to find her place in school among the jocks, popular kids, brainiacs, trouble kids, etc. She discovered while still in junior high school that alcohol and drugs helped her overcome her anxiety. The problem w...more
It's Juby's story of growing up in a small town in British Columbia and struggling to find her place in school among the jocks, popular kids, brainiacs, trouble kids, etc. She discovered while still in junior high school that alcohol and drugs helped her overcome her anxiety. The problem w...more
In this memoir Susan Juby, Canadian author of the bestselling Alice MacLeod books opens up about teenage years…her experiences with drugs, alcohol and addiction. Nice Recovery is divided into three parts. The first and second parts are about how Susan started drinking at a young age, becoming a teenage alcohol addict and finding her way to recovery. The third part is based on interviews that Susan conducted with other young adults and their experiences with drug and alcohol addiction. She also e...more
May 14, 2011
Anna Phoenix
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Shelves:
canadian,
memoir,
recovery,
non-fiction,
fave-authors,
05-may,
2011,
met-authors,
psychology,
overdrive,
reviewed,
calibre
This book is WOW. She does a great job painting the portrait of her own decline and the bottom that an alcoholic's life can devolve to without crashing a car while driving drunk, winding up homeless, or such other things that come to mind when considering the need for recovery - especially at such a young age.
The third part of the book was the most powerful to me, neatly separated into bite sized chunks that vary between her narratives of interviews with other young recoverees and the medical an...more
The third part of the book was the most powerful to me, neatly separated into bite sized chunks that vary between her narratives of interviews with other young recoverees and the medical an...more
Four and a half stars. This excellent book is divided into three sections. One deals with Juby's misadventures as a young alcoholic. She was an alcoholic from ages 12 to 20, and sobered up by age 20. The second half of the book deals with how she sobered up and what happened to her in the first few years of recovery. The third section deals with the experiences of today's young people in recovery and looks how recovery and addiction has changed in the past 20 years. This book was informative, sa...more
I love Susan Juby's Alice books and it is the main reason why I picked up this book. And of course this one is different. It is so much more personal. I am not sure why I love books like that, but I do. About, essentially, not fitting in and having a hard time finding one's place in the world. Nice Recovery is a great book, it's a very straight forward account of downward and upward journey from addiction to recovery. I think she wrote it hoping to reach young people in need of this kind of open...more
Jan 03, 2013
John
added it
I'm not rating this book 'cause I feel unqualified to do so. It's a pretty compelling tale of her train-wreck youth, and then the painstaking process of putting her life back together again. I read this as a kind of companion piece to her funny novel, The Woefield Poultry Collective, which is full of references to addiction memoirs. Susan Juby is a terrific writer, so this is very readable. Pretty painful story, though.
Susan Juby became a drunk, went through AA, got straightened out and gained a successful career while still in her twenties.
Because she's a writer, the book is more entertaining than some recovery books someone might read. Without being cynical, she seems to have never had a really bad rock bottom and was lucky enough to have avoided many of the physical harms that come to young addicts.
Because she's a writer, the book is more entertaining than some recovery books someone might read. Without being cynical, she seems to have never had a really bad rock bottom and was lucky enough to have avoided many of the physical harms that come to young addicts.
This tragically funny memoir of addiction by a well known and comedic YA author is the perfect title to hand to teens or young adults who are struggling with alcohol or drug use. Far more useful than another episode of Dr. Drew's Celebrity Rehab, Juby's wry, humorous take on teenage and young adult alcoholism will resonate with readers and encourage those with drinking problems to take the necessary steps to recovery. Besides telling her own story, Juby includes a section where she shares other...more
I'd never heard of this writer before, so I'm not one of those who was predisposed to admire her wit. Frankly, I had trouble locating much wit. This volume is composed of 3 sections, and the third (completely useless) section served to remove one or two stars from the rating. The third section was introduced as giving others a chance to talk, but really it was just more about the author, told in a flatter, less engaging voice.
Perhaps I've just read too many addiction memoirs -- overdosed, as it...more
Perhaps I've just read too many addiction memoirs -- overdosed, as it...more
not normally a book I would read. Was recommended to me as I am a Susan Juby fan. While I LOVE the way she describes things I found this book dragged on and on and on and on at the ending. I'm not a big biography person however, if I was maybe it would have been a faster read?
A wonderful book that was just like having a conversation about recovery. Written in 3 parts the author writes about her addiction, recovery, and models for recover interspersed with other young people's stories of recovery. Candid and witty, a great memoir from Susan Juby.
Dec 02, 2011
Sarah
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
canlit,
non-fiction-biography
Susan Juby's story is 5/5. Her descent into alcoholism and her recovery are very well-told and nothing is sugar coated.
The 4/5 part is the third section which deals with people in recovery today. I just didn't think that fit with the rest of the book.
The 4/5 part is the third section which deals with people in recovery today. I just didn't think that fit with the rest of the book.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Being a fan of Juby's work, I jumped at the chance to pick up her memoir about teenage alcoholism. This book is written with her usual deadpan humor, she sounds more like her character Alice then I had expected. Juby fans for sure should check this out, and anyone who's interested in addiction memoirs that are not by rocks stars or movie stars and don't take place in the states should check this out.
Being a fan of Juby's work, I jumped at the chance to pick up her memoir about teenage alcoholism. This book is written with her usual deadpan humor, she sounds more like her character Alice then I had expected. Juby fans for sure should check this out, and anyone who's interested in addiction memoirs that are not by rocks stars or movie stars and don't take place in the states should check this out.
It was great talking about her life and it was kinda funny as well xD but then she got all preciy and it got boring
Excellent memoir of addiction with an unexpected but welcome section at the end that includes stories of young adults who have struggled with addiction and gone through treatment more recently.
Susan Juby's own story of recovery is fascinating, raw and often hilarious. I thoroughly enjoyed the first 2/3 of this book. Although I read the rest of the book, I would describe it as opportunistic. This portion, where Juby talks about various strategies to recovery needs to be a reference guide, and not part of the actual novel. Recommended for the OLA White Pine award for non-fiction in 2012, it will be a fascinating read for its visceral and authentic voice.
I enjoyed reading such an honest account of one woman's struggle with teenage substance abuse (mainly booze). It is not overly dramatic (nobody dies or goes to jail), but it feels very 'real.' I had a hard time putting it down, due to her amusing writing style. The one drawback might be that A.A. is pushed pretty hard in the final section. But, I suppose it works for some people!
Hmmm...is it wrong that I much preferred the portion of the book that focused on Susan Juby's addiction to the portion on her recovery? She writes about her experiences with a brand of dark, brutal humour all her own - a humour missing somewhat in the latter half of the book.
3.5 stars.
3.5 stars.
Good book about addiction - Susan Juby's (YA author of Alice books)description of being a teen who turns to alcohol to cope/survive/fit in is witty, poignant and truthful - would highly recommend it!
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May 12, 2013
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May 12, 2013
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