Totally Booked with Zibby

Zibby chats with author Anastasia Zadeik about THE OTHER SIDE OF NOTHING, a riveting and redemptive portrayal of two suicidal young adults who meet in a psychiatric facility and escape on a cross-country journey—and their two mothers, who set out to find them. Anastasia emphasizes her intent to portray mental illness realistically, resisting the urge to sensationalize or simplify it. She shares th...

Zibby chats with memoirist and podcast host Glynnis MacNicol about I’M MOSTLY HERE TO ENJOY MYSELF, an intimate, powerful, jubilant, and triumphant travelog about the radically pleasurable time she spent in Paris after spending the height of the pandemic entirely alone in her NYC apartment. Glynnis describes her five weeks abroad, reflecting on the liberation and joy she rediscovered. She touches...

Award-winning casting director Jen Rudin joins Zibby to discuss CONFESSIONS OF A CASTING DIRECTOR, an invaluable guide to breaking into film, TV, theater, and even YouTube, with advice from actors, agents, and other entertainment industry professionals. Jen reveals her childhood dream of acting and her eventual transition to a career behind the cameras. She describes the qualities needed to excel...

New York Times  bestselling author Clare Mackintosh joins Zibby to discuss I PROMISE IT WON’T ALWAYS HURT LIKE THIS, a deeply honest and compassionate memoir about the unfathomable grief she navigated after the loss of her five-week-old son and the solace and hope she slowly began to feel. Clare reflects on her journey through grief, sharing insights on how it evolved over time, and then desc...

Zibby interviews award-winning Pakistani American author Hena Khan about DRAWING DEENA, a nuanced and quietly powerful middle-grade novel about a young artist determined to manage her anxiety, help her parents, and forge her own creative path. Hena delves into Deena's stresses, from her difficulty finding her artistic style to her parents’ arguments and financial concerns. She also share...

Debut author Simone Gorrindo joins Zibby to discuss THE WIVES, a fearless, gripping, and gorgeously rendered memoir (and Book of the Month Club pick!) about her experience of joining a community of Army wives after her husband joins an elite Army unit and uproots her New York City life. Simone describes her journey from big city editor to Georgia army wife, highlighting the dramatic identity shift...

Zibby chats with author Marjan Kamali about THE LION WOMEN OF TEHRAN, a heartwrenching and achingly beautiful novel of friendship, betrayal, and redemption set against three transformative decades in Tehran, Iran. Marjan describes the plot of her book, which follows two girls from very different backgrounds who form a close bond, face a betrayal, and reconnect years later in America. The conversat...

Zibby is joined by New York City’s premier “house call veterinarian,” Dr. Amy Attas, who takes us into the exclusive penthouses and hotel rooms of the wealthiest Manhattan pet owners in her heartfelt and hilarious new book, PETS AND THE CITY. Dr. Attas describes her 30-year career and shares anecdotes from her most memorable home visits, including when a dog swallowed his owner’s blue pills… She e...

Bestselling author Jamie Brenner returns to the podcast to discuss A NOVEL SUMMER, a delightful, sun-soaked beach read about a novelist who returns to the beach town where she spent her college summers… only to face her old friends’ reactions to the recognizable elements in her novels. Jamie reflects on how summer triggers nostalgia and introspection about friendships—and then delves into the diff...

Co-authors Audrey Bellezza (a two-time Emmy-nominated TV producer) and Emily Harding (also a TV producer!) return to the podcast to discuss their charming, hilariously witty, modern-day retelling of  Pride and Prejudice , ELIZABETH OF EAST HAMPTON. Audrey and Emily delve into their Hamptons research trips, their collaborative writing and editing process, and their adaptation of Mrs. Bennett’s...

Zen practitioner and elite ultrarunner Katie Arnold chats with Zibby about BRIEF FLASHINGS IN THE PHENOMENAL WORLD, a wise, contemplative memoir of destruction and healing written about her struggle to overcome a life-shattering injury. Katie starts by describing her harrowing whitewater rafting accident—the event that opens the novel and unearthed deeper issues in her life and marriage. She then...

Debby Herbenick, PhD, an internationally recognized sexuality researcher and educator and author of five bestselling books, joins Zibby to discuss her authoritative, supportive, sex-positive, and facts-forward parenting guide, YES, YOUR KID: What Parents Need to Know About Today’s Teens and Sex. Dr. Herbenick explains her extensive background in sex research and her observations on recent trends,...

Zibby chats with author Jess H. Gutierrez about A PRODUCT OF GENETICS (AND DAY DRINKING), a laugh-out-loud, bawdy memoir-in-essays that is overflowing with 90s nostalgia and relatable tales of a millennial who feels like a dumpster fire. Jessica describes her chaotic childhood, boomer mom, and coming-out journey while reminiscing on the 90s—from Wow Chips and Journey to glamour shots and candy cig...

Zibby welcomes back  New York Times  bestselling author Emily Giffin to discuss THE SUMMER PACT, a tender and heartfelt novel about four college friends who, after suffering a tragedy their senior year, make a pact that causes them to reunite a decade later and embark on a life-changing adventure together. Emily delves into her characters’ individual journeys, touching on narcissistic pa...

Award-winning journalist Brooke Lea Foster returns to the podcast, this time to discuss ALL THE SUMMERS IN BETWEEN, a breathtaking dual-timeline novel that is at once a mesmerizing portrait of a complex friendship, a delicious glimpse into a bygone Hamptons, and a powerful coming-of-age for two young women who don’t speak for a decade after a devastating night. Brooke delves into her female protag...

Zibby Books author alert! Zibby speaks to debut author Mary Jones about THE GOODBYE PROCESS, an arresting, original, and beautifully rendered short story collection that examines loss and the painful ways we say goodbye—not just after the death of a loved one, but also after divorces, friendship breakups, and when aging, as we lose our younger selves. Mary shares her path to writing—which started...

Zibby chats with author Alison Espach about her absurdly funny and devastatingly tender new novel, THE WEDDING PEOPLE—a Zibby’s Book Club, Read With Jenna, and B&N Book Club pick! Alison delves into the book’s unique premise: Phoebe, a divorced English professor, goes to a luxury hotel to end her life—but then she meets the bride getting married there that weekend, and they form an unlikely fr...

Zibby is joined by two-time Pushcart Prize nominee Tara M. Stringfellow to discuss MAGIC ENUFF, an electrifying, glorious collection of poems that tells a universal tale of survival and revolution through the lens of Black femininity. Tara opens up about her identity as a Black woman and poet. She highlights specific poems, such as "Exodus," written in memory of Tyree Nichols, a Black ar...

National Book Award finalist Julia Phillips joins Zibby to discuss BEAR, a spellbinding and richly imagined novel about survival, obsession, and two sisters on San Juan Island whose lives are disrupted by the arrival of a mysterious bear. Julia delves into the symbolic and narrative significance of the bear, drawing inspiration from Grimm’s fairy tales and her personal fascination with the animal....

Zibby chats with co-authors Rachel Dodes and Lauren Mechling about THE MEMO, a smart, addictive, bittersweet, and ultimately triumphant debut novel about a woman who is approaching her 36th birthday, feeling like she missed life’s crucial “memo” as her friends succeed while she struggles—until she’s given the "memo” and can go back in time… Lauren and Rachel, who co-wrote the novel durin...

Zibby chats with author Jessica Fein about her astonishing, heartrending, vulnerable new book, BREATH TAKING: A Memoir of Family, Dreams, and Broken Genes. Jessica describes her lengthy infertility journey, her and her husband’s unconventional journey to parenthood through international adoption, their three children from Guatemala, and their middle daughter Dalia’s diagnosis with an ultra-rare de...

Bestselling author Ali Rosen returns to the podcast, this time to discuss ALTERNATE ENDINGS, a smart, witty, breathless second-chance romance about a single mother juggling homelife and career who starts traveling to Ireland for work… and reconnects with a high school love who is now the CTO of her company. Ali discusses the complexities of motherhood, divorce and custody, female friendships, writ...

Zibby chats with  New York Times  bestselling author Catherine Newman about SANDWICH, a wise, hilarious, and exquisitely written story about a family’s yearly Cape Cod vacation—but this time, fifty-something Rocky is sandwiched between her half-grown kids and aging parents and her secrets and memories start coming to the surface... Catherine discusses the universal experiences of middle-...

The View  cohost and three-time Emmy Award winner Sunny Hostin returns to the podcast—this time to discuss SUMMER ON HIGHLAND BEACH, the third novel in her  New York Times  bestselling Summer Beach series. Sunny reveals how she makes time to write, which she balances with her morning talk show and a busy family life. Then, she delves into the novel, describing the tense family...

Zibby chats with author Madeleine Henry about MY FAVORITE TERRIBLE THING, an evocative mystery about the sudden disappearance of the world’s most famous author on her wedding day, and the private investigator who reads between the haunting lines of her book…falling into a spiral of secret love, obsession, and death. Madeleine delves into her book’s intricate plot, atmospheric, off-season Hamptons...