Totally Booked with Zibby

Pam Sherman took her superpower of inspiring others in acting, speaking, and work to write a helpful handbook to put your best foot forward. As Pam says, "You want to be who you are, wherever you are, in order to ignite your audience.” As a board member of Jewish Women International, Pam supports women, inspires leadership and shows what it takes.  ** Want more? Become a part of my community!...

What if your grandmother got pregnant? That’s the premise behind Laurie Frankel’s witty, escapist narrative about an older woman who takes up with her retirement community next-door neighbor and unexpectedly gets more than she bargained for — much to the dismay of her adult children. We spoke about her complete rewrite of the book ("I do not believe a single sentence remains . . . I opened a new d...

I remember reading  The Help  in 2009 when it came out and absolutely loving it! Back then I was a stay-at-home mom of twins under age two. To think that by the time they graduated high school I’d be interviewing the author is insane; I wouldn’t have believed it.  The Calamity Club  is set in Mississippi in 1933 and spins an immersive tale about strong women who have to get thr...

Dr. Tara Narula gives us a specific recipe in  The Healing Power of Resilience: A New Prescription for Health and Well-Being ,   while editor Jenny Bartoy collects stories of others, like her, who have cut off contact with toxic people, sometimes even parents, in  No Contact: Writing on Estrangement.  Taken together, these two conversations arm us with the tools to get through...

Jessica George takes on female friendship in her sophomore novel  Love by the Book , which follows her hit  Maame,  which we also talked about on the podcast, as does Geneen Roth in her latest book  Love, Finally: Untangling the Knot Between Mothers, Daughters, and Food. One woman made a  huge  difference in Geneen’s healing. (This book is for anyone who has ever been...

Marisa Renee Lee shares her battle with long Covid on top of her other excruciating losses in  Waiting for Dawn: Living with Uncertainty. We spoke at Totally Booked: Live at the Whitby Hotel, where she delighted the crowd with her big laughs, delightful personality, and optimism in the face of devastating circumstances. ** Want more? Become a part of my community! Sign up for Zibby's Highligh...

I had the immense honor of interviewing Rachel Goldberg-Polin about her book When We See You Again . Rachel, USA Today's Woman of the Year and one of the TIME 100, is the mother of Hersh Goldberg-Polin who was kidnapped on October 7th and later executed by Hamas. Her book is raw, beautiful, and important. A meditation on grief, love, and how to get through. Please listen. We spoke in front of 1,20...

Yes, Sally Hepworth and I spoke about her new novel,  Mad Mabel ,  which features an older, quirky protagonist whose neighbor dies in the opening, and the young friend who comes along. But we also spoke about Sally’s recent divorce and how she has been getting through  that . Sally is such a good storyteller that anything out of her mouth is captivating. No wonder her latest book is...

I’ve been a fan of actress and bestselling author  Annabelle Gurwitch  since I first read  You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up. I’ve interviewed her on my podcast about her last book  You’re Leaving When?  and then got lucky enough to publish her new book,  The End of My Life is Killing Me  through Zibby Publishing — which has now been on the  USA Today  best...

Hear from two amazing women authors who have survived loss and learned to live with it by finding humor in the darkest times. Screenwriter Angela Nissel writes about the loss of her mother — who had been caught up in a deceptive relationship — in  Good Grief, Pass the Bread, Mom is Dead .  Content creator Leslie Harter-Berg shares how she survived the sudden loss of her 30-year-old husba...

Actress  Gina Gershon  takes us through the unexpected, entertaining steps to becoming a star and the attitude it takes to do so in her memoir  Alphapussy: How I Survived the Valley and Learned to Love My Boobs. ** 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, person...

I touched base with Little Free Library CEO  Daniel Gumnit  about how to promote literacy, why stories are best when shared, and exactly how to bring a Little Free Library to your “neck of the woods.” Learn more  here. ** 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,...

Bestselling memoirist  Wade Rouse  shares about his first novel,  That’s What Friends Are For,  inspired by “The Golden Girls.” In crafting humorous story lines about four gay friends in later life, Wade explores complex issues ranging from prejudice and discrimination to loyalty and love. We spoke about the book live at Zibby’s Bookshop. ** Want more? Become a part of my commu...

Founder of Nowhere Bookshop is anywhere but nowhere. She’s a guru.  Jenny Lawson  has written book after book about her mental health, obstacles, tips and tricks, using her sense of humor and relatable voice.  How to Be Okay When Nothing is Okay  is my favorite of all her books to date. I dog-earred so many pages with actual, actionable advice. Plus I love following her on soci...

Christina Geist , bestselling children’s book author and brand guru, wrote  Before You Fly Away: Life Lessons from Home,  a beautifully illustrated gift book. It’s chockfull of short thoughts and sayings that Christina put together to help  her  kids out in the world. But really, it’s going to help  all  our kids. And, perhaps, us, too. Stay tuned on my Instagram for...

Australian author Emma Grey’s  The Last Love Note  kicked off Emma’s journey with our publishing house. I read the PDF on a flight when her agent pitched it for my podcast — and fell in love. We acquired the U.S. rights and published it to much acclaim including as picks of Book of the Month Club and Target Book Club. Then came  Pictures of You,  an intense story about coercive...

** 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 essay platform with stories from all of you about what chapters you're in (inspired by my upcoming book Between Chapters: How I Started Over, Took Some Chances, and Found the Plot , 9/22/26). And follow me...

How to Survive in the Woods  by Kat Rosenfield is truly hard to put down. Three friends go in the woods where two of them plot against the third in a love triangle that shape shifts. Kat and I spoke about the book and then moved on to how she finds personal essays performative. (I mentioned that I write them!) Thoughts on our discussion? If you like the idea of hiking (even without moving fro...

Join Blair Glaser as she journeys into herself and goes from NYC and LA to a special yoga retreat in  This Incredible Longing: How I Found My Self in a Near-Cult Experience . (Shout out to Isabelle Fisher Krishana, her cousin.)  If you’ve ever felt lost, start here. ** Want more? Become a part of my community! Sign up for Zibby's Highlights , which includes a free weekly newsletter, even...

Literary ingenue J.R. Thornton takes us into the posh world of Harvard College from dorm rooms and classrooms to parties and more when an outsider gets pulled into the ultra-elite establishment by his roommate  Lucien  and has to decide whether to live by his moral code or go along with the plot.  ** Want more? Become a part of my community! Sign up for Zibby's Highlights , which in...

First, get the context for today’s political climate with Yardena Schwartz,  Ghosts of a Holy War: The 1929 Massacre in Palestine That Ignited the Arab-Israeli Conflict.   Then hear from Jonathan Harounoff in  Unveiled: Inside Iran’s #WomenLifeFreedom Revolt.   I guarantee you’ll feel more educated on current events after doing so.  ** Want more? Become a part of my commun...

I loved interviewing Allegra Goodman several times on my show for her novels  Sam   and  Isola . Her latest book  This is Not About Us  was a Zibby’s Book Club pick in March! Instead of a new interview between us, I’m releasing a fabulous conversation we hosted at Zibby’s Bookshop between her and bestselling author Nikki Erlick,  The Measure . Enjoy! ** Want more? Bec...

Who doesn’t know legendary actress Tovah Feldshuh?! (If you don’t, now you will!) Tovah, the subject of an upcoming documentary which just premiered at the Temple Emanuel Streicker Center, is an all-time Broadway and screen great. She’s currently starring at Adam Brody’s mother Bina in  Nobody Wants This.  I interviewed Tovah for the second time as part of Totally Booked: Live in New Yor...

I spoke to Matti Friedman right before the war with Iran began. He remarked that he and his family couldn’t make any plans as they waited to see what would happen. I’ve been thinking of him as Israelis rush to shelters as Iran retaliates. In his book,  Out of the Sky: Heroism and Rebirth in Nazi Europe,  we go back to an earlier war.  Matti, through extensive research, recreates the...

We’ve gone through a multi-year slime phase in our house, much to the dismay of our kitchen table. When we discovered there was basically an amusement park for slime called  Sloomoo Institute , the kids were hooked! It’s an immersive experience, birthday party venue, and sensory sensation with make-your-own-slime, get slimed walls, walk barefoot in smooth sand, and other tactile experiences.&...