group discussion
topic:
OLD TASK HELP THREADS >
ADDICTION BOOKS
I heard great things about Crank and thought it was perfect for this challenge. How wrong I am : ( It is all in poetry form ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGH
Can some one give me some suggestons. thanks
I was originally going to use Choke by Chuck Palahniuk, but I might use The Hour I First Believed A Novel by Wally Lamb instead.
Teresa wrote: "I heard great things about Crank and thought it was perfect for this challenge. How wrong I am : ( It is all in poetry form ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGH..."You don't like books written in poetry form????? SO SAD!!! Did you have a traumatic experience with a book written in poetry form?
A Drinking Life A Memoir or The Toy Collector could work. I've put them both on my list for this challenge.
You can also tryLess Than Zero
Trainspotting
Rachel's Holiday
The Basketball Diaries
Lullabies for Little Criminals A Novel
Shame a chocoholic wouldn't work (addiction to chocolate), workaholic (addiction to work) or shopoholic (addiction to shopping)...unless those work?
Or is the addiction more focused on drugs/alcohol?
Tanja wrote: "Shame a chocoholic wouldn't work (addiction to chocolate), workaholic (addiction to work) or shopoholic (addiction to shopping)...unless those work?
Or is the addiction more focused on drugs/al..."
Or even a (gasp) biblioholic for those of us addicted to books.
A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. DickBest Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie
Any Sherlock Holmes novel by Arthur Conan Doyle would work.
Donna Jo wrote: "Are the poems as novels too long?Poems as novels--
A stanza of books in flight.
Try Haiku stories."
Oh my gosh. That was amazing. (And usually the poems aren't very long at all, though I haven't read any of Ellen Hopkins'.)
Donna Jo wrote: "Are the poems as novels too long?Poems as novels--
A stanza of books in flight.
Try Haiku stories."
Haha! How cool is that?! :)
I'm using The Heroin Diaries A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star for this one, although it's not going to be a pretty read!
The following books, by Deanna Raybourn, are part of a fantastic historical mysteries series. I'm reading the third book for this task. One of the main characters has an opium addiction.Silent in the Sanctuary
Silent In The Grave
Silent On The Moor
Another good book is Smashed Story of a Drunken Girlhood.
A book I read many years ago and was turned into a movie with Jason Patric and Jennifer Jason Leigh was Rush. It was a good mystery involving undercover cops who became addicted.
Sara wrote: "Teresa wrote: "I heard great things about Crank and thought it was perfect for this challenge. How wrong I am : ( It is all in poetry form ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGH..."
You don't like boo..."
That is NOT what I meant at all, the summary makes it sound like a book NEVER did it say anything about poetry and reading over 500 pages in poetry????
Tanja wrote: "Shame a chocoholic wouldn't work (addiction to chocolate), workaholic (addiction to work) or shopoholic (addiction to shopping)...unless those work?
Or is the addiction more focused on drugs/al..."
A very good question : ) BUT since it refers to River Phoenix death, I don't think we can do it? LOL
Donna Jo wrote: "Tanja wrote: "Shame a chocoholic wouldn't work (addiction to chocolate), workaholic (addiction to work) or shopoholic (addiction to shopping)...unless those work?
Or is the addiction more focus..."
OOOH could we do this one, : )
Cait wrote: "You can also try
Less Than Zero
Trainspotting
Rachel's Holiday
The Basketball Diaries
Lullabies for Little Criminals A Novel"
Oooh -- Rachel's Holiday has been languishing on my TBR list for quite awhile. Thanks for the reminder that it would work for this task. I'm so excited now!!
SuzieR wrote: "Donna Jo wrote: "Are the poems as novels too long?Poems as novels--
A stanza of books in flight.
Try Haiku stories."
Haha! How cool is that?! :)
I'm using [book:The Heroin Diaries A Year in t..."
I really liked that book! I'm a little weird like that. Yeah, it's not pretty.
Teresa wrote: "That is NOT what I meant at all, the summary makes it sound like a book NEVER did it say anything about poetry and reading over 500 pages in poetry???? "It goes by so quickly though. Or so I would imagine. (Think of all the white space!) I have a similar book that's 250 pages long, and I breezed through it. It's just like reading a book, except with funny formatting... ;)
I read Crank last month and it was a wonderful book. The lyrical prose moved the story and effectively got you in the mindset of a teenager. It was a quick read that I'd highly recommend.
Would Recovering Charles by Jason F. Wright work for this one? I think it has to do with a man who is trying to forgive his alcoholic father.
Tanja wrote: "Shame a chocoholic wouldn't work (addiction to chocolate), workaholic (addiction to work) or shopoholic (addiction to shopping)...unless those work? Or is the addiction more focused on drugs/al..."
It does just say "addiction" not "drug addiction" or "alcohol addiction". I'm going to run with this because I seriously hate drug books. I'm so turned off by reading about someone's experience tripping.
Danielle wrote: "It does just say "addiction" not "drug addiction" or "alcohol addiction". I'm going to run with this because I seriously hate drug books. I'm so turned off by reading about someone's experience tripping.
I was thinking it was any kind of addiction as well...in fact, I kinda consider vampires as "addicted" to human blood in some stories (when they can eat from other sources, but don't), but maybe that's too lose of an addiction to count. I was going to go with Sherlock Holmes or Silent in the Grave (both drug addicts) so it doesn't matter to me, but maybe we need to clarify with Cynthia.
i was wondering if food addiction would qualify? It would be great of Cynthia could give us a listing of approved addictions!;)
I read Crank and was really skeptical about reading it because it was done in poetry, but it is one of my favorite books...it does not even read like poetry. I suggest giving it a try. I read it in a day because I was so hooked and had to get the sequel immediately!
Adrienne wrote: "SuzieR wrote: "Donna Jo wrote: "Are the poems as novels too long?Poems as novels--
A stanza of books in flight.
Try Haiku stories."
Haha! How cool is that?! :)
I'm using [book:The Heroin Diari..."
Yes, I am looking forward to it in a weird kind of way ...
Danielle wrote: "Tanja wrote: "Shame a chocoholic wouldn't work (addiction to chocolate), workaholic (addiction to work) or shopoholic (addiction to shopping)...unless those work? Or is the addiction more focused..."
Danielle, I would recommend Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes in that case! It's a good read and not a serious addiction book at all ... it's all dealt with in a chick lit way.
Oh! Other addictions never even crossed my mind. I think I'm going to use Shopaholic and Baby by Sophie Kinsella if non-drug addictions are acceptable.
There's a book called Go Ask Alice about a 15-year old girl's life with drugs. Its an anonymous writer, but it might be a good one to check out.
Oh thanks Liz I was wanting to find a book with a gambling addiction as the topic. Does anyone know of any others?
Got approval from Cynthia!! The addiction doesn't necessarily have to be drugs or alcohol. It only has to be a valid addiction.
Going to read Shopaholic Book 1! Woot!
I never pay with credit. Haven't for years. If I cannot afford to pay then and there, forget about it.
Exceptions being big ticket items like car, computer, home, etc.
The YA series by Libba Bray deals with addiction. The main character's father deals with an addiction. THe first book is "A Great and Terrible Beauty"
Ken Bruen's Jack Taylor series would work - Jack is a cocaine addict/alcoholic, and it deals pretty heavily with his many (failed) attempts to quit. They're Irish noir, and very fast reads. I'll probably choose either this or Caroline Knapp's Drinking: A Love Story.
Candace wrote: "There's a book called Go Ask Alice about a 15-year old girl's life with drugs. Its an anonymous writer, but it might be a good one to check out."
I read that as a teen. Very intense book. ANother from about the same time was: Christiane F
Alice wrote: "Does anyone know of any good books where a character has a gambling addiction?"You might be able to use "Bringing down the house".....
Going for Broke by Melanie Dobson doesn't appear on GR but I came across it on Amazon.com. Focuses on a married couple and the wife develops a gambling addiction.
http://www.amazon.com/Going-Broke-Novel-...
The description of Courage of Fear mentions a character with a gambling addiction. It's the book I'm using for this task.
"The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls is a good one. I would have used it, but I was already more than halfway through the book when the challenge began. The father has an alcohol problem.
Jennifer wrote: ""The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls is a good one. I would have used it, but I was already more than halfway through the book when the challenge began. The father has an alcohol problem."
Ooh, I hadn't thought of that book for this task. I've had it on my bookshelf for a few months. Now the hard choices start to emerge.
Rachel's Holiday OR The Glass Castle A Memoir for this task. Do I want to go the fluffy route, or with the memoir? Hmmm... guess I'll have to see what I feel like when I get to that task.
It should be fine. Cynthia agreed that food/shopping addictions worked as long as a character really had a serious addiction."Alexey ... becomes mired in the endless downward spiral of betting and loss. His intense and inescapable addiction is accentuated by his affair with the General’s cruel yet seductive niece, Polina."
The Seasonal Reading Challenge
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Books mentioned in this topic
Crank (other topics)Choke (other topics)
The Hour I First Believed: A Novel (other topics)
A Drinking Life: A Memoir (other topics)
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