Hosting a Book Event for Mitch Albom’s Twice

By SUSAN STITT
Marketing Director, Front Edge Publishing

I was born in Detroit and raised in the Detroit metropolitan area. I’m a Motown girl at heart. Always have been, always will be — even now that I call Senoia, Georgia, home. So when Mitch Albom—Detroit’s own, the man who turned a Tuesday morning with a dying professor into one of the best-selling memoirs of all time—releases a new book, I pay attention. And when I read Twice, I didn’t just want to read it once, I wanted to read it twice, and then bring it to life for an evening with friends.

So I did what any self-respecting book lover would do: I chose it for my monthly book club, invited my girlfriends over to my home here in Senoia, put on my marketing hat, and turned the whole evening into a full-on Twice experience. Here’s how the evening came together — and why you should steal every single idea for your own book club.

First, a Little About the Book

If you haven’t read Twice yet, here’s the premise: eight-year-old Alfie Logan discovers he has the magical ability to relive any moment of his life—once. He can undo mistakes, dodge danger, even perfect his way into love. But there’s a catch. Once he undoes a love, that person can never fall in love with him again. And some things—death, fate, the consequences of unchecked desire—can’t be rewritten at all.

It’s pure Albom: a high-concept premise wrapped around a deeply human question: What would you do differently? And would it actually make things better?

The book was a Good Morning America Book Club pick, a Netflix acquisition, and it is Mitch’s newest novel. The book did exactly what you want a book club pick to do, spark conversation that makes book clubs worth showing up for.

Two Writers, One City

I pitch books for a living. Mitch Albom writes them. We both love Detroit. That felt like reason enough to go all in.

There is something deeply satisfying about watching a writer from your city become one of the best-selling authors on the planet. Albom’s books have sold over 42 million copies in 48 languages. He has poured those earnings—and his heart—back into Detroit and into humanitarian work around the world.

And, as a part of the Front Edge Publishing team, we will never forget that Mitch showed up 12 years ago to help launch one of our most successful books, This Far by Faith, at a book event that astonished even life-long Detroiters.

Every Detail Told the Story

When I design a book club evening, I go deep. My turn to host only comes up once a year, so when it’s my turn, I pour my heart and marketing skills into the night. Here’s what greeted my guests when they walked in—and what every single item meant.

The Composition Notebooks

In Twice, Alfie tells his story through a composition book—that iconic black-and-white marble notebook we all carried to school. Every guest received their own as a take-home gift.

I also gifted my friends a 3D-printed book tracker, made locally for me by KBDesigns99, so that everyone can track how many books they read this year. It was a gift with meaning.

Lallu the Elephant

There’s an elephant character in the book named Lallu, and I knew the moment I read that name that I needed a large elephant on my kitchen island. My trunk-up elephant presided over the entire evening, and more than one guest did a double-take when they spotted him.

The Clock Set to 12:06

On my kitchen island sat a large clock with its hands stopped at 12:06. If you’ve read the book, you know why. If you haven’t—I’m not going to spoil it. Just know that the moment is the entire hinge of the story and a good reminder that one moment can change your life forever.

The Dionne Warwick “Alfie” 45

The book’s protagonist is named Alfie, and Albom and the character’s mom named him deliberately after the classic Burt Bacharach song. I hunted down a vintage Dionne Warwick 45 of “Alfie”, displayed it on a stand—and yes, I played the song for my guests. It was the perfect little wink from 1966 to 2025.

The Year Was 1978

The story begins in August 1978 in Philadelphia—a new house cost $42,500, a gallon of gas was 63 cents, and Grease was lighting up movie screens. I displayed a “1978: The Year” poster on an easel in my kitchen capturing all of this and more—the hit songs (hello, Bee Gees!), President Jimmy Carter, the Oscar winners, what things cost. Guests loved wandering over to read it and remember—or discover for the first time—what the world looked like when Alfie’s story began.

The Wedding Tasting

This was my favorite detail of the entire evening. In Twice, there is a beautiful and unforgettable wedding tasting scene where four ingredients represent the full arc of a marriage. I recreated it on my dining table with a printed card and the actual items:

• Cayenne pepper for the heat of your passion
• Lemon for the inevitable disappointment you will face
• Vinegar for the bitter challenges you must overcome
• Honey for the sweetness that binds you together

These four ingredients beautifully capture what marriage actually is—not the fairy tale version, but the real one. I know because I’ve lived it. This October, my Michigan high school sweetheart and I will celebrate 42 years together. Passion, disappointment, bitter challenges, and sweetness—we’ve tasted all of it. I can’t think of a more honest toast to a life shared

When Your Guests Do Their Homework

In our book club, the hostess picks the book—and our guests know how to show up. This particular evening, eight friends arrived having clearly done their reading. The hostess gifts were so perfectly on-theme that I have to walk you through each one.

Ann, who owns Vaulted Vintage here in Senoia, arrived with gifts that stopped me in my tracks. First: a vintage blue glass ashtray from Nassau, Bahamas, it’s even etched with an image of the Queen’s Staircase. If you’ve read the book, you know the Bahamas plays a pivotal role in the story and the Queen’s Staircase is specifically mentioned. The fact that Ann—a vintage dealer with an extraordinary eye—tracked down an actual Nassau piece is the kind of thing that makes you love your book club friends very, very much. She also brought me an elephant pin to wear, a treasured keepsake from a very fun night. Lallu would have approved.

Another guest brought three rolls of Lifesavers. If you’ve read Twice, you are grinning right now. Detective Vincent LaPorta—the skeptical investigator interrogating Alfie throughout the novel—is rarely seen without a roll of Lifesavers in hand. As a kid who grew up in the 60’s and 70’s, they reminded me of the gift I would buy my dad every Christmas – a “book” of Lifesavers that are still sold each holiday season. The Lifesavers are another example of Albom’s use of symbolism in his writing. The hard candies represent second chances and the moral framework that governs Alfie’s use of his gift. They are both a physical object and a philosophical principle.

Then there was the vintage children’s book titled Susan and the Rain. My name is Susan. Twice opens in a rainstorm. I’m choosing to believe this was entirely intentional and not just a delightful coincidence. Either way, it’s now a treasured book club memento.

The rest of the gifts kept the warmth going: a beautiful shell spoon that looked as if it had washed straight ashore from a Nassau beach (a perfect nod to the book’s Bahamian setting), a shamrock plant, a rose bush, three bottles of wine, and cocktail napkins that read “Sip, Read, Repeat.”

These are my people.

The Menu: Everything Meant Something

A themed menu is non-negotiable in my book club evenings. Every dish had a reason to be on the table.

The main course was a pork roast with a spicy chopped salad—the spice a nod to that cayenne from the wedding tasting. But the star of dinner was the twice-baked potatoes. Yes, twice-baked. Because of course they were.

For wine, I poured Plan de Dieu—a French Côtes du Rhône whose name translates to “God’s Plan.” If you’ve read the book, you know that’s perhaps the whole point of it.

And then, for dessert, I presented each guest with a choice: vanilla or chocolate ice cream, served with Saunders Hot Fudge—a legendary Detroit brand that’s been a Michigan institution since 1875. For my fellow Detroiters in the room, it was a gift of love. You don’t share your Saunders with just anyone!!!  And the choice between vanilla and chocolate? Straight from the pages of the book. Just like Alfie, everyone had to decide.

The Question That Stopped the Room

Mitch Albom has a gift for asking the questions we’ve spent our whole lives quietly carrying. The central question of Twice is deceptively simple: if you could redo any moment in your life, would you?

Around my table, the conversation got going, even before I’d finished serving the meal. Between bites of twice-baked potatoes and sips of  adult beverages, the discussion got honest and vulnerable and funny and wise. That’s what the best books do. They make you talk about yourself and share the wisdom of years gone by. Our group was torn as to whether participants would take a “redo” or not. How about you? Anything you’d like to do over?

Ready to Host Your Own?

Our book club is a treasured part of my life here in Senoia and I hope you have friends to share your own love of books with as well. If Twice isn’t already on your to be read (TBR) list, put it there. Then invite some people over, set a clock to 12:06, and see what happens around your table. You don’t need to go as deep as I did—though I won’t pretend the elephant wasn’t a highlight.

Here are a few starter questions to get your discussion going:

1. Is Alfie’s ability a gift or a curse? When does it cross the line?
2. Which moment in your own life would you most want to redo — and do you think it would actually go better?
3. The book suggests that some things can’t be rewritten. Do you believe in fate?
4. What would you have chosen — vanilla or chocolate?

Here’s what I know for certain after that evening: Mitch Albom is still at the top of his powers. And book clubs are one of the best second chances we give ourselves — a chance to slow down, read something beautiful, and really talk to each other.

At Front Edge Publishing, we believe stories change lives. We’d love to know what you’re reading (or writing). Drop a comment below and tell us about your book club — or the book that made you want to start one.

Visit us at FrontEdgePublishing.com for more reading (or writing) inspiration. ✨