Ronnie Wood meditates and reads ''affirmation books'' to help him stay sober.

The Rolling Stones guitarist beat alcohol addiction four years ago and has remained sober since, and uses five books published by US treatment centre Hazelden to help him stay clean.

He told The Sunday Times magazine: ''They're little affirmation books, I swear by them. They're daily diaries of people through the years, putting their experience down, how they've managed to get by in a new way of living without alcohol and drugs. There may be a quote from Tolstoy or John Lennon or whoever it may be. They just give you a little wake up call. If I feel really awful one day and think, 'Oh f**k it all.' They hit exactly the mood and give you a way out of it. It's the same books every year, but they take on a totally different meaning.''