If I had to stop drinking, for whatever reason, then obviously I would do it, and most of my friends would be right on board with that. It’s a really good mix of being informative, factual – but not preachy – and most definitely not ‘it’s my way or the highway’.

There is some practical advice here, but it is more about presenting an alternative to giving up completely.I always want to be able to take a quiet early evening pint or two with a friend or share a bottle of wine over dinner somewhere. It's in these stitches that the quilt of life begins, and embedded in them are strength, warmth, humour and humanity. Honest, funny and full of strategies on how to moderate your drinking, Chiles is genuinely passionate about his pints and the need to enjoy them without ever coming across as preachy - a fine line many have failed to tread . There is plenty of talk of boozing sessions over the years, but this is balanced by reflections on how much of this was actually enjoyable or necessary.

I can freely admit that both of us drink far more than the recommended limits – and definitely when on holiday would be up at a level similar to Adrian’s historic levels.Note: We will be hosting Adrian at our Tasting Room in early 2023, where Laura will discuss the book with him. I have a number of friends who have given up alcohol completely, and had various mental health issues entwined with alcohol issues (although none were lying in a doorstep alcoholics, cracking open the vodka at breakfast) but at the same time I didn’t feel my husband and I had ‘that much of a problem’. However, he also points out that a lot of people who drink a lot are put off by the thought of total abstinence – and therefore don’t bother looking at their drinking levels at all, because moderate drinking isn’t often deemed an option.

The long subtitle of this book is All Occasion Guide to Alcohol-Free, Zero-Proof, No-Regrets, Sober-Curious Lifestyle. Adrian Chiles has consumed absolutely eye watering, Churchillian quantities of alcohol throughout his life. Adrian is honest and transparent about his own alcohol journey, and the challenge in cutting down, whilst still enjoying a drink. Ever since he was a teenager, drinking was his idea of a good time – and not just his, but seemingly the whole nation’s. And then I’d get into another conversation, which I’d bring to an end by saying I needed to go to the toilet.As it turned out, I had a really good time, but it became startlingly clear how reliant I was on alcohol. If you are a very serious drinker, like Adrian, who cannot separate social enjoyment from drinking (often a heck of a lot, he freely admits) then it’s really hard to become a moderate drinker and manage that on a daily basis for the rest of your life. Kate and Mandy are familiar faces in the Club Soda community, and this is not their first book either. First and foremost, alcohol is so woven into the fabric of my life, in all sorts of different ways, that it would take a great deal of unpicking.

These questions lie at the heart of Stitches, Anne Lamott's follow-up to her New York Times-bestselling work, Help, Thanks, Wow. Again, I would stress it’s a personal opinion but if you are looking for inspiration to stop drinking I don’t think it’s this book. There’s no silver bullet in the book - just a series of sensible measures we can all take to start the process of becoming a Good Drinker.If I walk along my three-mile line of drinks I’m appalled to realise that by the one-mile mark, I’m already seeing drinks I could have managed without; drinks I could have not drunk without diminishing my enjoyment of anything one jot. Reading Chiles' book mad me realise that my drinking story was remarkably similar to his own, and I guess many readers will feel the same. So, if you’re a heavy drinker, even if you’re experiencing (as I did) no noticeable ill effects, think about moderating while you can.