Totally Booked with Zibby

Elissa Altman's new memoir, MOTHERLAND, is absolutely beautiful! An intimate tale about her relationship with her mother, both the early stages when she felt "less than" given her mother's beauty and acting background, and in the late stages dealing with her mother's fall as her only caregiver. A tale of narcissistic personality disorder in the flesh, Elissa's story will rivet anyone who has strug...

Fiona Davis is the best-selling author of The Dollhouse , The Address , and  The Masterpiece. Her latest book, The Chelsea Girls,  is in her signature historical fiction style situated around a specific place. This time, she picked The Chelsea Hotel in NYC. Set in the 1950s McCarthy-era, this book is about female friendship and the theater with some major twists thrown in. Listen to us d...

I am beyond excited to be interviewing Candace Bushnell who is the internationally best-selling author of nine books, the latest of which is a memoir:  Is There Still Sex in the City? Listen for a deeply insightful and personal journey about womanhood, midlife, female bonds, dating, and self-exploration.    ** Want more? Become a part of my community! Sign up for Zibby's Highli...

Abby Maslin is the author of  The Washington Post  best seller  Love You Hard: A Memoir of Marriage, Brain Injury, and Reinventing Love . Abby started blogging about caring for her husband’s traumatic brain injury weeks after his brutal attack. This book is so beautifully written - an open, honest exploration of putting the pieces back together after significant trauma. ** Want more...

Liz Astrof is the author of the hilarious collection of essays  Don't Wait Up: Confessions of a Stay-at-Work Mom . An award-winning executive producer and successful sitcom writer, Liz has worked on shows like 2 Broke Girls , The King of Queens , Raising Hope , and many others. She calls herself a writer, producer, and mother-ish. ** Want more? Become a part of my community! Sign up for Zibby...

Joanne Ramos, a debut author whose journey from the Philippines to Princeton informed her story, wrote an AMAZING first novel. THE FARM is not only an inside look at a surrogacy facility but it's also an inside look at the world of nannies, baby nurses and more. We spoke about the lottery of life, how caregivers are able to compartmentalize their own private lives, what "make yourself at home" rea...

Richard Kirshenbaum is an ad man, author, and entrepreneur. His latest book, Rouge: A Novel of Beauty and Rivalry , has already been optioned by Sony Pictures.  Rouge is an incredible story about the women who created the cosmetic industry, the first multibillion-dollar category founded primarily by women. Richard's experience as an ad man having run accounts from Avon to Revlon and having wo...

Mary Laura Philpott is the author of I Miss You When I Blink , her debut memoir written as a collection of essays. She asks: what happens after you check off all the boxes on your to-do list and realize you might need to reinvent the list—and yourself? Follow her journey from a young age as a child perfectionist and how those tendencies to want to be "the best" manifested in adulthood.  ** Wa...

William Dameron is the author of  The Lie: A Memoir of Two Marriages, Catfishing & Coming Out,  which was chosen as the Amazon First Reads Book Pick for June 2019.He is an award-winning blogger and essayist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and HuffPost, among others. William's riveting memoir explores what we do when we put on false identifies and beco...

Lori Gottlieb is the author of the instant New York Times best seller Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed , which is currently being adapted into a TV series with Eva Longoria. She is a psychotherapist, a nationally recognized journalist, and the weekly Dear Therapist columnist for The Atlantic . Lori started her career in the TV and film indus...

Christina Geist, author of BUDDY'S BEDTIME BATTERY and her latest children's book, SORRY, GROWN-UPS, YOU CAN'T GO TO SCHOOL, talks about her amazing career, multi-tasking, BoomBoxGifts and branding!  ** Want more? Become a part of my community! Sign up for Zibby's Highlights , which includes a free weekly newsletter, event livestreams, most anticipated book lists, personal essays, and a new e...

Laurie Gelman spent twenty-five years as a broadcaster in both Canada and the United States before writing novels. She is the author of  You've Been Volunteered: Class Mom , a novel about the mother who volunteers in the classroom to help everybody  out. Find out how Laurie's own experience influenced this fun read!  ** Want more? Become a part of my community! Sign up for Zibby's H...

Marcy Dermansky is the author of Very Nice: A Novel . She has previously written critically acclaimed novels and widely published short fiction. Marcy talks about her writing process and the different angles through which she crafted  Very Nice,  a literary soap opera set in contemporary America that I loved talking about with her!  ** Want more? Become a part of my community! Sign...

Christopher Cerf is an Emmy and Grammy award-winning author, composer, humorist, and producer. A charter contributing editor of the National Lampoon and a former senior editor at Random House, he has written 300+ songs for Sesame Workshop Productions. He's the author of a number of children's books, including Blackie with Paige Peterson and A Skunk in my Bunk! Plus he has a fascinating histor...

Lauren Mechling is the author of How Could She: A Novel . A former reporter at The New York Sun and features editor at The Wall Street Journal , Lauren has written for The New York Times , Vogue , where she is a contributing editor, and The New Yorker online. Her novel,  How Could She,  is a fascinating exploration of the trouble and heartbreak of female friendship over time. Listen to u...

Have any sons? Listen to the highly esteemed, Dr. Michael Reichert, author of HOW TO RAISE A BOY. We had the best conversation about how boys feel pressured to be “brave,” how to parent boys in the best way, and how loss affects everything. As a mother of two boys, this conversation was priceless for me! ** Want more? Become a part of my community! Sign up for Zibby's Highlights , which includes a...

Lisa Taddeo's non-fiction book, THREE WOMEN, is absolutely sensational. Dark, moving, and written in a brilliant, fresh way, THREE WOMEN is a story about desire, relationships, lust and longing. By embedding herself in ordinary communities throughout the country and getting to know women with different backgrounds, Lisa created a riveting portrait in this un-put-down-able book. Lisa and I spo...

Eva Hagberg Fisher is the New York-based author of HOW TO BE LOVED: A MEMOIR OF LIFESAVING FRIENDSHIP. Listen to our discussion about her new book which she says is either "a critique of capitalism dressed up as a narrative about friendship with a little bit of chronic illness and non-chronic illness to move the plot along" or "a memoir about how three friends in particular saved my life when I ne...

Catherine Price is an award-winning writer and science journalist and the author of  How to Break Up with Your Phone.  Before you freak out, breaking up with your phone does not mean getting rid of your phone!! It's learning how to use it in a better, more mindful way. Listen to us discuss addiction, writing, our brains and more!!  ** Want more? Become a part of my community! Sign u...

Emily Oster, Ph. D. is a professor of economics at Brown University, but don't let that scare you away!! She is an amazing storyteller and has combed through all the data out there to give all of us the most science-backed parenting tips out there. Listen to our talk about the relative merits of meal kits, marginal utility as it applies to spending time with kids, the beauty of Aquaphor, what to t...

Dena Moes is the author of The Buddha Sat Right Here: A Family Odyssey Through India and Nepal . Her book is a memoir of adventure, motherhood, and love, woven into a spiritual journey. In 2014, Dena was a mother who pretty much had it all - she was a busy home birth midwife with a successful practice, two amazing daughters who were thriving, a marriage, a house. She was checking all of the b...

Neil Pasricha is the mega-best-selling author of many happiness-related books including THE HAPPINESS EQUATION, THE BOOK OF AWESOME, and the children's book, AWESOME IS EVERYWHERE. Neil also established the Institute for Global Happiness - how cool is that?! We spoke about everything from kids and podcasting (he hosts the amazing podcast, "3 Books with Neil Pasricha ") to loss and little pops of p...

I've been spending a lot of time in the ER this summer. It has made me realize how useless my education has been when it comes to preparing me for motherhood. Why wasn't there a class on how to read ultrasounds? Diagnose illnesses? Undergo extreme sleep deprivation?! Listen to some of the classes I wish I'd taken. I published this as  an essay on Medium.com . What do you wish you'd taken!? Email m...

Julie Morgenstern is an internationally recognized organizational consultant who has written six books including two  New York Times  best sellers. Her latest book is  Time to Parent: Organizing Your Life to Bring Out the Best in Your Child and You,  is a must-read for any parent trying to find time to do anything. It's a modern-day guide book for organizing time with concepts...

Today's short bonus episode is with Nora McInerny the host of podcast “Terrible, Thanks for Asking” and the author of several books including No Happy Endings: A Memoir, which I talked to her about earlier this year. I wanted to meet Nora in person and learn more about her incredible nonprofit, called Still Kickin , which she founded after her husband passed away. Watch a short video of our interv...