How to Be Sober and Keep Your Friends

by Flic Everett

Turning down a drink isn't easy. Not only do you have to deal with your own needs and desires for that chilled and glistening glass of white, you also have to tackle "Why aren't you drinking?" "Are you pregnant?" "Go on... just one!" And the worst one of "You're no fun without a drink!"

Well here's the you are fun! And this book shows you how and why you can still be the life and soul of the party, keep your friends, and not drink. Through a broad range of tips and tricks, you'll feel empowered to take on those trigger moments (stressful work day; challenging family life; break ups), as well as classic big occasions (the wedding toast; the bachelorette party; the Christmas party).

Through the tips, you'll learn more about yourself (why you're giving up/cutting back), how to keep your relationships tight (with your partner, colleagues and friends) and ways to enjoy your new found sobriety, from understanding the benefit to your health to appreciating the improvement in your bank balance.

Genres: Nonfiction

160 pages, Hardcover

Published December 3, 2019

About the author

Flic Everett is a freelance writer based in Manchester, England. Over the past 18 years she has written for most major newspapers and magazines. In the name of work, she’s climbed 30-foot trees, ridden a horse bareback wearing a cocktail dress (her, not it), been white water rafting on the River Jordan and swum with dolphins in Jamaica. She’s also had a drink with George Best, spent New Year’s Eve with Prince Naz, huddled in a hotel room with Howard Marks and served (unofficially) as Anthea Turner’s therapist. Despite that, she spends a lot of time drinking tea and staring out of her office window. She is a columnist, agony aunt, celebrity interviewer, feature writer, broadcaster (she once presented Woman’s Hour- the most grown up she’s ever felt), editor and author. Having just published first novel she’s begun the second. Mostly, she loves what she does.

Reviews

[Dosia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is chill. It’s like a compilation of Psych 101 + good humor to highlight the benefits and challenges of sobriety across different experiences. The author gives you a lowdown on what may occur in different scenarios and some tips on how to cope through them. Very simple stuff with a nice dose of lightheartedness. Nothing too deep, easy to skim through—to be considered that it all very mind-oriented.

*This book is geared more towards people who are beginning to think about sobriety. As someone in sobriety for almost a year, and someone who has before and throughout implemented and developed tools of both mind + heart + most of all spirit to hold myself through challenging experiences, this book had little to offer to me. But I appreciated the humor in it and know it would be beneficial to a specific type of person who just needs an easy and direct way to relate to the material and tough times ahead and get the brain juices flowing with ideas for how to “tackle” sobriety from different angles.

[Johnnysbookreviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

How To Be Sober

Not a bad book. It does give solid advice on drinking, but I knew the majority of these. I guess that's the point. You know alcohol is bad, but we still do it. It's in our culture, and a very normalized drug. Going sober for 2025. Let's go.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book for advice on giving up alcohol. Not so great advice for keeping friends

[Vas · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn't the first book I've read on quitting alcohol and it kind of felt a little basic for me.