Anna Broadway

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3 Reasons to Read Solo Planet with Friends

anna broadway

If you’ve listened to any of my recent podcast and website interviews (see the end for some of these), you’ve probably heard me encourage people to read Solo Planet with friends. The reason? The best thing this book could possibly do in your life is strengthen and deepen some of your existing relationships.

In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General issued the report Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation and launched a whole section of resources. Solo Planet helps readers, single and married alike, look at how day-to-day concerns from meals to housing can deepen our community.

As reviewer Alexandra DeSanctic Marr writes for the Acton Institute: “Even the married need more social structure and connection than the relationships within their homes. How can we make room for those in our midst who are not immediately connected to us by familial bonds or the relationships that flow naturally from marriage and parenthood? Broadway’s work suggests that a renewed effort to answer that question might not only enable Christian churches to better serve their single members but also might contribute to easing the broader loneliness from which so many around us suffer.”

So here are three reasons to read Solo Planet with friends in the coming weeks.

1. Stay connected with friends this summer.

If you’re connected to a church, they likely pause a lot of courses and programming during the summer. And even if you’re not, many of your friends may go on vacation or have different routines. Reading a book together provides a flexible way to reflect and stay connected. Solo Planet might even change how you want to approach certain routines come fall.

2. Get a free sourdough starter from Anna’s travels.

When you read Solo Planet in a group of five or more, you can get some of the very same sourdough starter that Anna packed along with her during fieldwork. Use the contact forms on the site to learn more. You’ll need to provide proof of a five-or-more book order, and a mailing address. Sourdough ships as dry pieces. Shipment outside the U.S. may not be possible, depending on customs regulations.

3. Get signed bookplates.

This perk also applies to group orders of five or more. And unlike #2, it applies for groups reading Solo Planet anywhere in the world. Use the contact forms on the site to learn more. You’ll need to provide proof of a five-or-more book order, and a mailing address.

Bonus: possible savings

Through June 17, U.S.-based orders qualify for extra savings from NavPress. For orders from the lower 48 and Hawaii, contact Anna through this site. For orders within Alaska, email putusbooks@gmail.com (bonus: you’ll support an Iñupiaq-owned micro-enterprise while you’re at it!

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