Totally Booked with Zibby

Zibby is joined by Sybille van Kempen, author of the Loaves & Fishes Farm Series cookbooks and owner of the Loaves & Fishes Foodstore, which Zibby has been visiting for nearly her entire life. Sybille talks about the importance of using local ingredients and why she wanted to create seasonal cookbooks. You can order the self-published series at  loavesandfishes.us . Order your copy of...

“Music is not about music. Music is about life. If we lose sight of what life is about, then our music suffers.” Grammy Award-winning musician Victor Wooten joins Zibby to talk about his new book, The Spirit of Music. The two discuss Victor’s rich cultural upbringing, the inspiration for his books, and the influence nature has on both his performances and his immersive music camp. Purchase Victor'...

"The funny thing is, that's what we did as a family: some families take vacations, my family worked together." Lyn Nguyen talks with Zibby about her book, Mango and Peppercorns: A Memoir of Food, an Unlikely Family, and the American Dream, which she co-wrote with her mother Tung and her mother's business partner, Katherine Manning. Lyn shares stories about the mentalities her mother instilled...

"I think most people do doubt their decisions. It's so human to just be like, 'Have I done the right thing here?'" Debut novelist and fellow podcaster Emma Gannon joins Zibby to talk about her shift from nonfiction to fiction writing, the research that helped to create her characters, and why she wanted to approach the weighty decision to have a child with lightness and humor. Purchase Emma's book...

"So many people in America focus on the concept of greatness, on power and prestige, and celebrity and money. I'm really interested in the folks who do the small things that make our communities click." Mark Shriver joins Zibby to discuss the everyday heroes who inspired his children's book, Hidden Heroes, as well as the lessons he continues to learn from his illustrious parents and the mentalitie...

"I was born in 1960, which is pretty much when, as a culture, we started exercising." Cartoonist and memoirist Alison Bechdel talks with Zibby about her latest book and the ways in which exercising has both reflected and shaped the stages of her life, from adopting new routines based on cultural trends to analyzing how exercise intersects with mortality. She touches on her family trauma...

Lisa Gardner joins Zibby to discuss her latest thriller, Before She Disappeared, as well as how she grew attached to both the story and the novel's protagonist, Frankie. Lisa shares how her writing practice has shifted over her decades-long career and why she wants to tell different kinds of law enforcement stories. She also confessed to some high school antics! Purchase Lisa's book on Amazon or B...

"You're always three questions away from a world-class conversation.”Bestselling author of The Middle Place, Glitter and Glue, and Tell Me More Kelly Corrigan joins Zibby (for a second time!) to discuss her new picture book, Hello World!, which teaches readers of any age the importance of getting to know those around them. Everyone has a own story to share. Think: question marks, not periods....

"It's sort of an invitation to a million conversations.” Author, editor, and podcast host Stephanie Butnick shares the inspiration behind "The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia: From Abraham to Zabar’s and Everything in Between,” a book she wrote along with her fellow Tablet Magazine’s ‘Unorthodox’ cohosts. Between frequent interruptions, Stephanie and Zibby discuss all things Jewish in this candid, humo...

Actress and author Robinne Lee discuss the inspiration behind the May-December romance in her novel,  The Idea of You , and how birthing her first child lead to birthing her first publication. She shares with Zibby the deep attachment she felt to her characters and the separation anxiety she experienced once the book was complete, highlighting the trauma that comes with letting go of a fictit...

Zibby had the privilege of moderating author Kristy Woodson Harvey’s virtual tour event with Left Bank Books for her new novel,  Under the Southern Sky . We recorded this conversation, and are releasing it now as a special episode you won’t want to miss!   Purchase your copy on Amazon and Bookshop. Amazon: https://amzn.to/3dMqcLQ Bookshop: https://bit.ly/2QiP8Sh ** Want more? Become a pa...

"I tried to write a narrative that would talk about the collisions of full-throttle life and what happens to women who are over forty who don't remain in that happily-ever-after state.” Gina Frangello discusses her new memoir, Blow Your House Down, and how through it she wants to challenge "the invisibility of middle-aged and older women and this false assumption that our inner lives and our chang...

"We always just pretended like we knew each other for a hundred years because that's what it felt like.” In her moving interview with Zibby, Adriana Trigiani lovingly recalls her late friend and fellow writer, Dorthea Benton Frank. Between anecdotes, Adriana discusses her experience of growing up in Appalachia, her decades of reinvention, and the art of drama.    Purchase your copy on Am...

"I actually got so carried away with some scenes that I'm like, 'Wait, what's the point of this scene again?' It was the most fun that I've ever had writing a book." Jesse Q. Sutanto joins Zibby to talk about her book, Dial A for Aunties, which is currently the #1 book in Humorous American Literature on Amazon. The two discuss Jesse's global experience, how she has four books coming out next year,...

"If there were any means by which I could get some control over this out-of-control story, it had to be through writing." Vince Granata talks with Zibby about how writing helped him contend with his family’s unimaginable past trauma: Vince’s brother murdered his mother in their childhood home. They discuss living with grief, the necessity of continued support systems, and the value of writing ment...

"We Westerners are the exception. This conflict-ridden existence between parents and children is not super universal and not actually really common at all." NPR Correspondent Michaeleen Doucleff traveled around the world and documented the different ways parents communicate with their children. She shares these tools to help de-escalate family tensions and incentivize children to take initiative i...

"Parenting doesn't start when you have a child. It already started when you were a child." When journalist Lynn Berger found out she was pregnant with her second child, she realized there weren't any books combining research on family structures and sibling dynamics with anecdotes about having multiple children, so she wrote Second Thoughts: On Having and Being a Second Child. Lynn joined Zibby to...

Happy Independent Bookstore Day!!!! Author and owner of Books Are Magic Emma Straub answers all of Zibby's questions about owning an independent bookstore like how she and her husband got started, what the book-buying process looks like, and their plans for Independent Bookstore Day today. Emma also shares what is different about doing a tour for a paperback release and drops a few hints about her...

Alena Dillon joins Zibby to talk about the research on USA Gymnastics that went into her new book, The Happiest Girl in the World, as well as her upcoming memoir about pregnancy. The two share what they wished they had known going into motherhood and discuss the effects of parenting habits both on and off the page.  Purchase your copy on Amazon and Bookshop. Amazon: https://amzn.to/...

Sociologist and author Gail Crowther joins Zibby to talk about her latest book, Three-Martini Afternoons at the Ritz: The Rebellion of Sylvia Plath & Anne Sexton, and the incredible history behind it. Gail shares the ghostly experience she had while conducting archival research, why she wants to argue against stereotyping these two poets as crazy women, and the story of how she first fell in l...

"One of my great hopes for the movie and for the book is that when people have been inside a different experience, that when they look at people, they’ll wonder what those people have to say in terms of what their story is rather than just trying to kind of slot them in this American caste system." Zibby is joined by journalist, author, and screenwriter Jessica Bruder to talk about her book, Nomad...

Alison Hammer joins Zibby to talk about her new book, Little Pieces of Me, as well as the other six projects she has going on at the moment. The two talk about how Alison's experiences participating in the National Novel Writing Month challenge have resulted in multiple finished novels, as well as how they both have novels stored away, waiting to be revived one day.   Purchase your copy on Am...

"I'm so grateful to anyone who's read the book or passed the book onto someone or posted about it because it wouldn't exist without all of that." Meg Mason talks with Zibby about how she wrote an entire draft for the wrong book before she found her way into writing her latest novel, Sorrow and Bliss. The two also talk about why doctors often approach mental illness with women, what it's like to co...

"Whether you're dealing with your muffin top over the waistband of your pants or friends who die too young or careers that blow up or slowly shrivel or whatever, you have to remember you're just lucky to be here." Former Editor in Chief of Real Simple and author of Did I Say That Out Loud Kristin van Ogtrop joins Zibby to talk about the importance of a self-chuckle, what it was like to start a new...

Former model and YA writer Laurie Elizabeth Flynn talks with Zibby about her debut adult novel, The Girls Are All So Nice Here, and her process of writing it. From cringing at the memory of high school emotions to buying a pillow to remind herself not to overthink, Laurie explains how she found her inspiration for her book and why she doesn't plot out her stories before writing.  Purchas...