Sophia Book Club

Hey book lovers!

Do you enjoy getting lost in a great story? Join the Sophia Book Club!

Four times a year, Julie Trites, Vice‑Chair of our Board of Directors, shares a meaningful, engaging book she’s loving — often connecting to themes of women’s wellness, resilience, and substance use challenges.

We also support existing or emerging book clubs by helping choose diverse, thought‑provoking reads and offering suggestions that spark rich, reflective conversation.

Whether you’re reading on your own or with a group, we’re here to help deepen connection and understanding through story.

Our Fall 2026 Book

Hey, Good Luck Out There: A Novel
By Georgia Toews

"An irreverent, provocative, laugh-out-loud hilarious portrait of a young woman’s journey through rehab and recovery. . . . At once vulnerable and brazen. Toews gives a new voice to addiction, one that highlights the world of female agency, friendship and desperation. A wonderful new voice to watch.” —Heather O’Neill, author

Synopsis

After an unpleasant pizza party intervention, our twenty-two-year-old narrator checks into a women’s rehab facility. A neon-pink journal gifted by her grandmother is her only comfort. When she is discharged from rehab and returned to Toronto’s streets without resources, the book asks: What next? Alone, and at war with an intrusive inner creature, at last she begins the process of making a home for herself in the world.

Special Opportunity: Meet the Author

Georgia Toews will be joining us as a featured guest at the Sunny Side Up Recovery Breakfast on Friday, October 23, 2026.

Attendees will have the opportunity to hear Georgia speak about her experiences with addiction and recovery, learn about the inspiration behind Hey, Good Luck Out There, ask questions, and have books signed following the presentation. Copies of the book will be available for purchase.

Register for the Sunny Side Up Recovery Breakfast

Question Guide:

Keep these questions in mind as you read. They’ll help you dig deeper into your thoughts on novel.

The story is told in first person, so we're inside Bobbi's head. Where do you see a gap between how Bobbi sees herself and what her narration shows you about her? Does that gap make you trust her more or less as a narrator?
What does the journal do for Bobbi herself, and what does it give you as a reader that the rest of the narration doesn’t? Do the entries feel more honest than the rest of her narration?
Bobbi describes addiction as something with its own voice and will. How does this help you understand the internal fight she was in?
Does humor make the subject matter easier to take in? Are there times when it doesn't work for you, or when laughing feels wrong?
Does knowing the author drew on her own experience with addiction, rehab and recovery change how you relate to Bobbi and other characters in the novel?

A conversation with the Author

“Toews weaves a story that is darkly funny, deeply honest, and very personal.”

Listen to Toews’ conversation with CBC host, Piya Chattopadhyay, about the parallels between the novel and her own experience with addiction and rehab.

LISTEN NOW

Audio interview: CBC The Sunday Magazine
Length: 20 minutes

Praise for Hey, Good Luck Out There:

"Honest, funny, scary and beautiful. . . . Hey, Good Luck Out There does not follow a sensationalized rock-bottom-followed-by-redemption-arc of many addiction narratives, instead wandering a middle ground where recovery is an ongoing process, not a destination one arrives at."

—Winnipeg Free Press

Hey, Good Luck Out There is a raw, darkly funny, and unflinching debut novel by Georgia Toews that explores the grueling, unglamorous realities of addiction and early recovery.

—Good Reads