Book Club: Was Theo written just for you?

Also: vote on our next read, what to read if you're missing THEO, and mark your calendar for our Feb. live

📢 Before we get started today, I have a few announcements:

1. Help me pick our book club read for March!

Since we read a fiction book this month, I’m thinking something nonfiction next. Our choices include a self-help book, a relatable memoir with humor and heart, and a true story that’s so harrowing, I can’t believe it’s real.

Read a little about each book (click the titles if you’d like to learn more), then vote in the poll below.

MATTERING: The Secret to a Life of Deep Connection and Purpose
by Jennifer Brehney Wallace

From award-winning journalist and bestselling author Jennifer Wallace comes Mattering—a landmark book that introduces a transformative new framework to confront the loneliness, burnout, and lack of purpose so many of us face today.

I MISS YOU WHEN I BLINK: Essays
by Mary Laura Philpott

A charmingly relatable and wise memoir-in-essays by acclaimed writer and bookseller Mary Laura Philpott, “the modern day reincarnation of…Nora Ephron, Erma Bombeck, Jean Kerr, and Laurie Colwin—all rolled into one” (The Washington Post), about what happened after she checked off all the boxes on a successful life’s to-do list and realized she might need to reinvent the list—and herself.

A MARRIAGE AT SEA: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck
by Sophie Elmhurst

An instant New York Times bestseller, this is the electrifying true story of a young couple shipwrecked at sea: a mind-blowing tale of obsession, survival, and partnership stretched to its limits.

2. Live book club meeting — mark your calendar!

Our first live book club meeting will be on Substack next Tuesday, February 24 at 12:00 PM CT!

I’ll share my thoughts on Theo and answer as many of your questions as I can. And if you can’t make it? No worries! The live video will be available later so that you can watch at your leisure.

Have a question you’d like me to answer on the live? Leave a comment on this post!

3. Missing Theo? Here’s what to read next.

My mom asked me what to read now that she’s done with Theo. 😂 I relate, because when I finished, I felt the same kind of hole in my heart! So I scoured my own reading list and the internet for some similar books:

• If you want another story about friendship across generations: A MAN CALLED OVE by Fredrik Bachman. The #1 New York Times bestseller about the grumpy old man next door that’s an uplifting exploration of the unreliability of first impressions and a reminder that life is sweeter when it is shared with other people. If you read this (or saw the movie!), you KNOW what I’m talking about.

• If you want more small-town life: THE STORIED LIFE OF A.J. FIKRY by Gabrielle Zevin. A bookshop, a small town, art and literature as the threads connecting people, a stranger who changes everything. Gabrielle Zevin writes relationships that make you feel seen — and you’ll never forget.

• If you want something big-hearted that makes you ask deep questions: THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY by Matt Haig. Contemplative, life-affirming, faith-adjacent without being heavy-handed, asks big questions gently.

• If you want another story about making new connections with those around you: REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES by Shelby Van Pelt. Another word-of-mouth phenomenon, small-town feel, the invisible threads connecting strangers.

If you’ve read any of these, or you have any suggestions of your own, tell us in the comments!

4. Let’s chat about THEO!

One of the things I want us to be able to do in this space is to casually chat about the book we’re reading. So that’s what I’d like to do today!

I’m opening up the comments of this post. You can talk about any part of the book that resonated with you. You can ask a question for your fellow readers to answer. Anything you’d like to talk about is fair game.

🚨So I need to say — spoiler alert: from today on, we’re opening up the club to discuss the whole plot of THEO OF GOLDEN. So if you don’t want to be spoiled, you might want to click away until you’re ready to join the discussion.

I’ll go first!

I have so many thoughts on Theo, many of which I’ll share at the livestream next week. But one thought I kept on having was, I feel like this book was written just for me.

Author J.T. Ellison often says something that is absolutely true (and I absolutely love): “What you seek is seeking you.”

Basically — if you find yourself wrestling with something, keep your eyes and heart open, because you’re going to find the answers you’re looking for.

When I was reading Theo of Golden, I felt like a thousand lessons I’ve been trying to learn over the past few years kept tapping me on the shoulder, over and over again. But the biggest one that resonated with me?

Theo moves about the world in a way that’s slow.

I have a very hard time doing that with so much going on — my family, my business, the world, you name it. But I WANT to live that way. I want to live in a slow, deliberate way, one that savors the beauty around me, one that listens to every single word in every conversation, one that sees the perfectly imperfect people around me trying their best.

Here’s something else I noticed: the way Allen Levi told this story made me slow down. The words were so beautiful, so lyrical, I had to consume them slowly. So the act of simply reading this book was a step in that direction. It’s impossible to truly listen, to hear people, to bear witness to their stories if you’re rushing to take care of your own. That’s going to sit with me for a long time.

So let me ask you this: When did you feel like this book was written just for you?

Maybe you have an answer off the top of your head. But maybe you didn’t? That’s okay! I have a few more questions to get you thinking:

• Which character would you want as your actual friend? (besides Theo, of course)

• Which relationship in the book felt most true to life?

• Which character made a choice you’re still thinking about?

• Which line made you stop in your tracks?

• What would your 25-year-old self have missed in this book?

• What will you remember about this book in five years?

• What real-life conversation does this book want us to have?

Feel free to answer one, some, all or none of these questions. Just tell us how this book is resonating with you!

💡 A note: In the spirit of Theo, this community leads with curiosity and kindness. You may not agree with someone’s opinion—and that’s okay! That’s totally normal! Let’s be gentle in the way we respond to others and keep this a warm and welcoming space to hang out.