Totally Booked with Zibby

Bestselling author Adrienne Brodeur joins Zibby to discuss  Little Monsters , a kaleidoscopic and riveting novel about Cape Cod, complicated families, and corrosive, long-buried secrets. Adrienne delves into her fascinating characters and then reveals how her own complex relationships and experience with family secrets influenced this novel. (You can read all about that in her incredible memo...

Zibby interviews  New York Times  bestselling author (and Zibby’s 1993 summer writing class instructor!!) Helen Schulman about  Lucky Dogs , a dazzling and propulsive book about two women on opposite ends of a high-profile sexual abuse scandal. It explores love, power, betrayal, and obsession. Helen describes the heartbreaking Me Too story that inspired this novel and delves into he...

Zibby speaks to award-winning writer Ava Chin about  Mott Street: A Chinese American Family’s Story of Exclusion and Homecoming,  a gorgeously written, deeply researched, and intimate portrayal of the Chinese Exclusion Act and her family’s epic journey to lay down roots in America. Ava shares how this book came to be – from collecting family stories since she was a child, to traveli...

Guest host Julie Chavez interviews  New York Times  bestselling author Bruce Feiler about  The Search: Finding Meaningful Work in a Post-Career World,  an insightful, game-changing book that reimagines work and offers actionable steps for living a happy and meaningful work life. Bruce shares how experiencing his own “lifequakes” (like his cancer diagnosis at 43) turned into a l...

Zibby interviews  New York Times  bestselling author and repeat MDHTTRB guest Kristy Woodson Harvey about  The Summer of Songbirds,  a warm and hopeful novel about four women who come together to the save the summer camp that changed their lives. Kristy talks about the camp experience (and sailing fiasco) that inspired this novel and then discusses the themes she loved explorin...

In this special weekend re-release, Zibby interviews #1  New York Times  bestselling author Brit Bennett about  The Vanishing Half,  a stunning, immersive, provocative, and compassionate novel about twin sisters, inseparable as children, who ultimately choose to live in two very different worlds, one black and one white. "A page-turner."  — O, The Oprah Magazine "Not...

In this special weekend re-release, Zibby interviews the former first daughter and granddaughter, #1  New York Times  bestselling author, and co-anchor of the Today Show, Jenna Bush Hager. In her poignant, humorous, intimate, and sincere memoir,  Everything Beautiful In Its Time,  Jenna shares stories of her grandparents and the wisdom they passed on that has shaped her li...

Guest host Julie Chavez interviews Emmy Award-winning journalist, speaker, and mom-of-three Paula Faris about her latest book,  You Don’t Have to Carry It All: Ditch the Mom Guilt and Find a Better Way Forward.  Paula discusses her research on working moms in America, pointing out the systems and outdated gender expectations that continue to make their lives so challenging. She also talk...

Debut author Diane Marie Brown joins Zibby to discuss  Black Candle Women,  a propulsive, poignant, warm, and wry family drama with a magical twist about four generations of Black women, the secrets they keep for and from each other, and the family love curse that makes anyone they fall in love with die. Diane describes the inspiration behind this story (it involves many childhood summer...

Guest host Julie Chavez interviews Nicole Baart about  The Long Way Back,  a twisty, atmospheric thriller about an Instagram-famous mother-daughter duo living a picture-perfect life in their vintage Airstream trailer… until the daughter goes missing. Nicole describes her life with five children (four teens!!), the inspiration behind this novel (it involves her own cross-country trip in a...

Guest host Julie Chavez interviews cultural critic and co-host of NPR’s hit podcast  Pop Culture Happy Hour , Aisha Harris, about  Wannabe: Reckonings with the Pop Culture That Shapes Me,  a brilliant collection of essays that feels like “hanging out with your smart, hilarious, pop-culture-obsessed friend.” Aisha talks about podcasting, classic TCM movies, Janet Jackson, motherhood,...

Guest host Julie Chavez interviews writer and editor Elizabeth Passarella about  It Was an Ugly Couch Anyway: And Other Thoughts on Moving Forward,  a refreshingly honest and hilarious collection of essays about navigating change and staying sane during the unexpected twists. Elizabeth shares the story behind her iconic title (it isn’t the one she originally wanted!) and describes how to...

In this special weekend re-release, Zibby interviews Golden-Globe nominated actor Lou Diamond Phillips and illustrator Yvonne Phillips about the epic and unforgettable science fiction fantasy tale  The Tinderbox: Soldier of Indira.  Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's famous fairy tale of the same name, this book has the intrigue of  Game of Thrones  mixed with the star-...

In this special weekend re-release, actress, activist, and author Alyssa Milano joins Zibby to talk about her latest book,  Sorry Not Sorry,  a sharply observed, uproarious, and profoundly intimate collection of essays about her life, career, and humanitarianism .  Alyssa shares how she wrote all of the essays to rhythm, how her mental health throughout the pandemic inspired a sizab...

Zibby interviews best friends and co-authors Audrey Bellezza (a two-time Emmy-nominated TV producer) and Emily Harding (also a TV producer!) about their glamorous, heartfelt, and steamy new friends-to-lovers rom-com,  Emma of 83rd St.  Audrey and Emily describe the wine-soaked night they decided to write a book together and how they actually accomplished that during a pandemic (hint: Goo...

Zibby interviews beloved songwriter, Bangles frontwoman, and debut author Susanna Hoffs about her clever, sexy, and riotously funny rockstar redemption romance  This Bird Has Flown.  Susanna compares book-writing to songwriting, reveals she used music to sharpen her mind and stimulate her imagination while writing, and shares how she got here in the first place (it all started with a chi...

Zibby speaks to international rockstar Kevin Jonas and his wife, Danielle Jonas, both repeat guests on MDHTTRB, about  There’s a Beach in My Bedroom,  a colorful new picture book about turning a disappointing canceled beach day into an even more fun day at home. Kevin and Danielle talk about their collaboration with each other and their illustrator, their exciting summer book tour, and t...

Zibby Books author alert!!! Zibby is joined by author Sandra A. Miller to discuss  Wednesdays at One,  an intriguing, atmospheric, and masterfully written literary suspense about family, friendship, and the price we pay when our mistakes come back to haunt us. Sandra describes the terrifying, real-life stalking experience that inspired this novel – her psychologist husband’s client becam...

Zibby interviews debut author Taylor Koekkoek (along with his wife and upcoming Zibby Books author Joselyn Takacs!) about  Thrillville, USA,  a raw and remarkable story collection about Americans living on the margins of society, seeking solace in drugs, booze, and self-destructive relationships. Taylor describes his sources of inspiration (like dangerous, ramshackle amusement parks and...

In this special weekend re-release, Zibby records an Instagram Live with Cheryl Strayed, the #1  New York Times  bestselling author of  Wild  (which was made into an Oscar-nominated film),  Tiny Beautiful Things  (which is now a Hulu TV show), and  This Telling  (the Amazon Original Story they talk about in this episode!).  This Telling  is part of...

In this special weekend re-release, Zibby interviews  New York Times  bestselling author Min Jin Lee about  Pachinko,  a gorgeous, page-turning saga (and National Book Award finalist!) about four generations of a poor Korean immigrant family fighting to control their destiny in 20th-century Japan. "A powerful meditation on what immigrants sacrifice to achieve a home in the worl...

Guest host Julie Chavez interviews litigator and debut author Logan Steiner about  After Anne: A Novel of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Life , a stunning and unexpected portrait of the creator of one of literature’s most prized heroines, Anne of Green Gables. Logan shares how, as a young adult, the  Anne  books inspired her to be creative and live more authentically. What really pushed her...

Zibby speaks to  New York Times  bestselling author and one of today’s most influential observers of happiness and human nature, Gretchen Rubin, about her latest groundbreaking book,  The Four Tendencies,  which analyzes four personality types based on how we respond to expectations: upholders, questioners, obligers, and rebels. Gretchen and Zibby examine the four tendencies as...

Zibby interviews English professor and author Cassandra Jackson about  The Wreck,  a luminous, lyrical, anguished, and wise memoir about her quest to understand a family secret–a car crash that killed her father’s mother, sister, sister-in-law, niece, and first wife before she was born. Cassandra describes what her childhood was like, not knowing what had happened, and then explains how,...

Zibby is joined by clinical psychologist and author Sarah Mandel to discuss  Little Earthquakes,  a beautiful, brave, and thought-provoking memoir about her extraordinary journey with Stage Four breast cancer while pregnant with her second baby, and the insights into life, death, trauma, and healing that she gleaned. Sarah talks about the terrifying experience, from finding a lump and be...