Totally Booked with Zibby

Zibby speaks to award-winning author Emmanuel Iduma about I Am Still With You: A Reckoning with Silence, Inheritance, and History, a powerful, transcendent, and lyrical memoir about his journey through Nigeria as he searches for the truth about his missing uncle. Emmanuel describes the culture shock he experienced when he moved to New York City for his art criticism degree and reveals why he ultim...

Zibby is joined by author, craft beer bar owner, and LGBTQ+ advocate Jillian Abby to discuss her humorous and heartwarming new memoir Perfectly Queer: Facing Big Fears, Living Hard Truths, and Loving Myself Fully Out of the Closet. Jillian reveals what it was like to come out as a lesbian at 38 years old after building a life with her husband and two children. Then, she talks about her “twisty tur...

Zibby speaks to author Eliza Minot about In the Orchard, a profoundly personal and masterfully crafted novel about motherhood, modern family, and love, as seen through the life of a young wife and mother on a single day. Eliza reveals what inspired her to write this story–it involves a toilet and the fear of debt. She also describes her journey to writing and publishing this book, which began in 2...

Zibby interviews actor, award-winning travel writer, and New York Times bestselling author Andrew McCarthy about his intimate, poignant, and funny new memoir Walking with Sam: A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain. Andrew reveals why he walked across the endless Camino de Santiago with his 19-year-old son: he wanted to have a meaningful relationship with him. He shares all the detai...

In this business meeting-turned-podcast episode, Zibby interviews media executive Michelle D. Hord about The Other Side of Yet: Finding Light in the Midst of Darkness, an earth-shattering but hope-filled memoir about confronting grief with grace and resilience, even after the most devastating of losses–for Michelle, this was the murder of her daughter at the hands of her ex-husband. Michelle share...

Zibby is joined by doctor and New York Times bestselling author Abraham Verghese to discuss The Covenant of Water, a dazzling and unforgettable story of love, faith, and medicine that follows three generations of a family navigating a deadly curse in South India. Abraham reveals the inspiration behind this story and discusses the elements that stand out: loss, family, and arranged marriage. He als...

Guest host Julie Chavez interviews New York Times bestselling author Luvvie Ajayi Jones about Little Troublemaker Makes a Mess , a funny, sweet, and brightly illustrated children’s book about a bighearted girl with the best of intentions. Luvvie shares her book’s inspiring message (even kids who make messes are loved!), describes her collaboration with the talented Joey Spiotto (who used photos of...

Zibby interviews #1 New York Times bestselling author Brian Selznick about Big Tree, an enthralling and hopeful book of finely detailed pencil drawings about two little seeds on an epic adventure to find a safe place to grow. Brian explains how Steven Spielberg was involved in this project, which was originally a movie screenplay. He also reveals that both seeds’ personalities are based on his own...

Zibby Books author alert!!! Debut author Megan Tady joins Zibby to discuss Super Bloom , a sparkling, heartwarming novel about a massage therapist at an iconic Vermont spa who, while grieving the death of her boyfriend, agrees to supply a demanding and eccentric romance novelist with spa secrets for her next book... but is instead inspired to write her own. Meg describes the real-life spa trip tha...

Zibby speaks to author (and Reese’s Book Club veteran) Balli Kaur Jaswal about Now You See Us, a wildly entertaining and heartfelt novel about three domestic workers in Singapore who band together to exonerate a friend who has been accused of murder. Balli describes the real, suspected murder case that inspired this story and the research she conducted to understand the nuanced lives of domestic w...

Author Susanna Moore joins Zibby to discuss The Lost Wife, a stirring and immersive historical novel about a white woman who sympathizes with her Native American captors after they abduct her and her two children during the Sioux Uprising of 1862, and is thus vilified and rejected by the white settlers. Susanna talks about her fascinating research on the Sioux and the lives of women during that pe...

Zibby interviews award-winning author Mona Simpson about Commitment, a powerful, engrossing, and deeply-felt family story about a single mother’s depression, and the fate of her three children as she enters a California state hospital in the 1970s. Mona talks about her fascinating research on mental health institutions; her complex mother character, who does everything to give her children a bette...

Zibby speaks to former national television host, advice columnist, nonprofit board leader, and professor Carmen Rita Wong about Why Didn’t You Tell Me? , an explosive and raw memoir about an immigrant mother’s powerful secret and how it upends her Dominican-Chinese daughter’s life. Carmen delves into her fascinating story, which involves a deceptive mother, a gangster father, a genealogist, genera...

Zibby interviews debut author and fifth-generation Coloradoan Shelley Read about Go as a River, a spellbinding and devastatingly beautiful coming-of-age story of a young woman who is broken by tragedy but perseveres, set against the forests and rivers of Colorado from 1948 to 1971. Shelley describes her strong ties to the Colorado Rockies, her love of the wilderness, and her journey to publishing...

Zibby speaks to beloved author and repeat MDHTTRB guest Katherine Heiny about Games and Rituals, a beautiful collection of stories brimming with humor, tenderness, and empathy. Katherine talks about her favorite stories (they involve the DMV, teenagers smoking weed, hearing aids being mistaken for cashews, infidelity, and dying parents). She reveals that all her stories are inspired by real events...

Zibby is joined by former fashion executive and bestselling author Aliza Licht to discuss her indispensable and entertaining personal branding guidebook On Brand: Shape Your Narrative. Share Your Vision. Shift Their Perception. Aliza reveals what it was like to be the voice behind Twitter’s DKNY PR Girl and the transition from corporate PR to entrepreneur, author, and podcaster upon leaving Donna...

Judy Blume Forever explores the life and legacy of trailblazing author Judy Blume, whose honest and captivating books changed the way millions of adolescent readers understood themselves and what it meant to grow up. In this special episode, Zibby interviews Judy (again!?!) and the film's directors. Zibby and Judy talk about their bookstores, giving love another chance, and fan mail (Judy has kept...

Judy Blume’s beloved bestselling classic, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, is hitting the big screen, and Zibby was lucky enough to interview Judy (who she idolizes!!) and the movie’s talented screenwriter and cast. Zibby and a few other podcast hosts ask Rachel McAdams and Abby Ryder Fortson about the books and films that shaped them, behind-the-scenes filming mishaps, and their connection t...

Zibby speaks to bestselling author and repeat MDHTTRB guest Cathleen Schine about Künstlers in Paradise, a dreamy, captivating novel about an Austrian family of movie stars and musicians who flee to LA during WWII; decades later, during the pandemic lockdown, their stories are finally passed down to the next generation. Cathleen talks about the Jewish immigration experience, the beauty and allure...

Zibby interviews author Julie Gerstenblatt about Daughters of Nantucket, a sweeping and emotional novel about Nantucket’s Great Fire of 1846, and the three women whose personal dramas, secrets, and jealousies intersected as the fire hit town. Julie explains how a lifetime of summers on Nantucket inspired this story and then shares all the details of her unexpected agent break-up, several title ite...

Zibby speaks to debut author Jennifer Savran Kelly about Endpapers, an evocative and sharply-written early-2000s literary mystery about a queer bookbinder who finds a love letter and becomes obsessed with tracking down the author (all while struggling in her artistic life and with her gender identity). Jennifer talks about her love of papermaking, bookbinding, and book conservation. She also revea...

Zibby interviews New York Times bestselling authors Susan and James Patterson about Things I Wish I Told My Mother, an irresistible, funny, and heartfelt novel about a dynamic mother-daughter duo, their spontaneous trip to Europe, and the lifetime of secrets they finally unpack while abroad. Susan talks about her own mother, who lived to 98 and inspired this novel, and shares how much fun she had...

Zibby is joined by #1 New York Times bestselling author Jeannette Walls to discuss Hang the Moon , an energetic and propulsive Prohibition-era story about an indomitable young woman in a world of lawlessness, secrets, scandals, and death. Jeannette describes her love of history and her fascination with prohibition, which stems from a childhood with an alcoholic father. She also talks about her fei...

Zibby interviews New York Times bestselling author Emily St. John Mandel about Sea of Tranquility, a shimmering work of speculative and historical fiction about a time-traveling detective investigating an anomaly that seems to indicate her world is a simulation. Emily describes her unique path to becoming an author (it involves homeschooling and dance) and her experience writing this novel mid-pan...

Zibby speaks to New York Times bestselling author and repeat MDHTTRB guest Katherine May about Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age, a lyrical, profound, and warm guide to feeling less burnt out and disconnected and more in tune with our beautiful surroundings. Katherine describes how she came to be an author–it involves years of denying her calling and even once, as a teenager, throwin...