Thursday, April 12, 2012

52 Books in 52 Weeks - Book Fourteen: Women Pioneers in 12 Step Recovery


Women Pioneers in 12 Step Recovery – Hazelden Foundation



I was given this book as a gift after helping a friend with some editing work. Though not my usual pick for reading material, I never turn down an opportunity to learn something new.

The book consists of 18 short autobiographical accounts of women who have played significant roles in Alcoholics Anonymous or one of its sister programs: Al-Anon, CoDA, Alateen, etc. While some of the stories were familiar to me, others introduced me to women I had never heard about before. Above all, it reaffirmed how fortunate we are to live at a time when alcoholism – especially for women – is treated as a disease, not a shameful moral failure. 

While this was certainly not the most compelling book I’ve ever read in the recovery genre, it did give good insight into the history of 12 Step programs and the women whose faith and perseverance did much to spread the good news of recovery throughout the world.


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