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tildahlia's review against another edition
3.0
I've been meaning to read this book for a while after quite a few friends found it had a transformational change to their perspective on drinking. I thought - what better time to read than during my first Febfast? While I can't say it was too transformational from my perspective (if you have a passing interest in alcohol policy, a lot of it generally won't be a shock to you) but she did have some interesting observations about the weird way other people respond to decisions to not drink (something I have both experienced and been guilty of). Also some of the research around how carcinogenic alcohol is was pretty eye-opening. Stark has a good, candid style but it felt like a book that could have been an essay.
theconstantreader's review against another edition
5.0
I wanted to read this book to give a kick in the right direction to do what I've been thinking about for some time now, and that is having a booze-free period. I've done these in the past and always felt great but this time I've been slower to get enthused about the idea. I needed some inspiration and I found it in this book.
Stark comes across as highly likeable but also - and perhaps more importantly - highly relatable. It probably also helped that at the time of taking on her year long sobriety from alcohol, she was basically exactly the same age as I am now and we both have pretty similar drinking habits and life circumstances, only I'm in a long-term relationship. I think it was all the similarities that made this book so impactful for me. I'd read Pooley's The Sober Diaries back in 2020 and while I found it insightful, it didn't hit home in the same way as this book did.
I really appreciated Stark's exploration of what constitutes problem-drinking. She demonstrated an appreciation for the complex nature of the issue and the stigma that surrounds it. No matter how you define your relationship with drinking, one message comes through very clearly in this book: alcohol is not good for you no matter your relationship with it. I really think we'll be looking back on drinking in the future and judging it much the same way way we now do smoking. We'll be wishing we as consumers did more to dismantle the very industry that compromised our health and the health of those we loved.
While her overall voice came across as compelling and even-handed, and her personal experiences matched mine, her intimate understanding alcohol via her profession as a reporter covering this subject matter meant that she was well versed with statistics and facts to really punch her message home. The way she deeply covered topics on what role alcohol plays in our national identity, social lives, personal health, work cultures and the advertising industry, made for a much more compelling analysis then what could have been provided only by one person's account of living an alcohol free year. It was also really nice that the book was focused on Aussie examples!
When I saw Stark's new book Higher Sobriety come out, I then found this one so started here. I'm now really excited to read about 10 years later, where did Stark go to from here and what does her relationship with alcohol look like today. I'm also hoping to better understand whether the proliferation of zero free alcohol options over the past 10 years has improved our nation's relationship to drinking. I'll report back!
Stark comes across as highly likeable but also - and perhaps more importantly - highly relatable. It probably also helped that at the time of taking on her year long sobriety from alcohol, she was basically exactly the same age as I am now and we both have pretty similar drinking habits and life circumstances, only I'm in a long-term relationship. I think it was all the similarities that made this book so impactful for me. I'd read Pooley's The Sober Diaries back in 2020 and while I found it insightful, it didn't hit home in the same way as this book did.
I really appreciated Stark's exploration of what constitutes problem-drinking. She demonstrated an appreciation for the complex nature of the issue and the stigma that surrounds it. No matter how you define your relationship with drinking, one message comes through very clearly in this book: alcohol is not good for you no matter your relationship with it. I really think we'll be looking back on drinking in the future and judging it much the same way way we now do smoking. We'll be wishing we as consumers did more to dismantle the very industry that compromised our health and the health of those we loved.
While her overall voice came across as compelling and even-handed, and her personal experiences matched mine, her intimate understanding alcohol via her profession as a reporter covering this subject matter meant that she was well versed with statistics and facts to really punch her message home. The way she deeply covered topics on what role alcohol plays in our national identity, social lives, personal health, work cultures and the advertising industry, made for a much more compelling analysis then what could have been provided only by one person's account of living an alcohol free year. It was also really nice that the book was focused on Aussie examples!
When I saw Stark's new book Higher Sobriety come out, I then found this one so started here. I'm now really excited to read about 10 years later, where did Stark go to from here and what does her relationship with alcohol look like today. I'm also hoping to better understand whether the proliferation of zero free alcohol options over the past 10 years has improved our nation's relationship to drinking. I'll report back!
katemilkshakes's review against another edition
5.0
I was telling someone about my break from booze when they recommended this book - so I picked it up ready to empathise. It really resonated with a lot of my newly-sober experiences - how friends react, how you feel separate from the fun, and the realisations that it's still completely possible to dance like a fool when you're stone-cold sober.
The author splits each chapter (a month of the year) into a theme as well as covering her experience; looking at Australia's sports, history, dating... a lot of fascinating takeaways and some concerning facts.
Very easy to read, thoroughly recommended.
The author splits each chapter (a month of the year) into a theme as well as covering her experience; looking at Australia's sports, history, dating... a lot of fascinating takeaways and some concerning facts.
Very easy to read, thoroughly recommended.
lottiegasp's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
This book details Stark's journey of a year without alcohol and navigating the social and emotional pressures that came with it. Alongside her own experiences she writes about the role that alcohol plays and the impact it has on Australian (and Scottish) society, as well as the nature of alochol addiction and problem drinking. I read this in my first month of taking a year off drinking, and it is motivational to see through the year and be much more intentional about drinking in future. To be honest, I wonder if I even want to return to drinking after just finishing the book, but we'll see.
My main critiques of the book were that I sometimes found it a bit irritating in its "both sides" approach (e.g. presenting the perspectives of alcohol industry executives alongside public health experts) and the author's somewhat centrist politics came through in ways that I don't agree with (e.g. celebrating Australia Day, focusing on weight loss, saying that she was afraid to be viewed as a health freak vegan for not drinking as though veganism is something to dismiss the exact way she doesn't want to be dismissed as a non-drinker). Otherwise I found it very easy to read, interesting and comprehensive, and at times very poignant.
My main critiques of the book were that I sometimes found it a bit irritating in its "both sides" approach (e.g. presenting the perspectives of alcohol industry executives alongside public health experts) and the author's somewhat centrist politics came through in ways that I don't agree with (e.g. celebrating Australia Day, focusing on weight loss, saying that she was afraid to be viewed as a health freak vegan for not drinking as though veganism is something to dismiss the exact way she doesn't want to be dismissed as a non-drinker). Otherwise I found it very easy to read, interesting and comprehensive, and at times very poignant.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol
Moderate: Child death and Alcoholism
Minor: Fatphobia
jess_ison's review against another edition
2.0
Had some good points but, like so many books in this genre, was aggressively straight and white.