Totally Booked with Zibby

Latest Episodes:

Nancy Reddy, THE GOOD MOTHER MYTH: Unlearning Our Bad Ideas about How to Be a Good Mom Jan 22, 2025

Show notes

Zibby chats with author Nancy Reddy about THE GOOD MOTHER MYTH, an incisive, meticulously researched, and beautifully written book that blends science, cultural criticism, and memoir to challenge the unrealistic expectations placed on mothers and advocate for a more compassionate, community-driven approach to parenting. Nancy unpacks the damaging "supermom" ideal and explains why understanding motherhood as a shared, relational experience—rather than a solo performance—is key to parental well-being and children's development. Nancy offers wisdom on navigating early parenthood, letting go of perfectionism, and embracing the power of asking for help.

Purchase on Bookshop: https://bit.ly/3CjBhCW

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alison Wood Brooks, TALK: The Science of Conversation and the Art of Being Ourselves Jan 21, 2025

Show notes

Celebrated Harvard Business School professor and leading expert on the psychology of conversation, Alison Wood Brooks, chats with Zibby about TALK, a groundbreaking and immediately useful book that reveals the hidden architecture of our conversations and teaches us how to be better at them. Alison shares her personal and professional journey and then introduces her framework for better conversations—TALK: Topics, Asking, Levity, and Kindness. Zibby reflects on her own experiences with social anxiety and public speaking, and then they touch on parenting, teaching children social skills, and the transformative potential of thoughtful communication.

Purchase on Bookshop: https://bit.ly/3CeZ5YL

Share, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sarah Mlynowski, UPSIDE-DOWN MAGIC and WHATEVER AFTER series Jan 20, 2025

Show notes

Special re-release: In support of authors who have lost their homes in the tragic LA fires, we will be resharing their podcast episodes.

Zibby chats with New York Times bestselling author Sarah Mlynowski, the creative force behind popular children’s and teen book series like WHATEVER AFTER and UPSIDE-DOWN MAGIC. Sarah shares her journey from adult chick lit to middle-grade magic, her meticulous writing strategy, and how she weaves humor, magic, relatable and empowering characters, and life lessons into her books. She also reflects on the impact of personal experiences on her work, how she balances writing and parenting, and her aspirations to explore different genres and mediums, like picture books and TV adaptations.

Purchase on Bookshop:

Upside-Down Magic: Book #1

Whatever After: Book #1

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Samantha Ettus, THE PIE LIFE: A Guilt-Free Recipe for Success and Satisfaction Jan 17, 2025

Show notes

Special re-release: In support of authors who have lost their homes in the tragic LA fires, we will be resharing their podcast episodes.

Zibby interviews Harvard MBA, best-selling author, and “queen of unsolicited advice” Samantha Ettus about her 2016 self-improvement guide for working women, THE PIE LIFE: A Guilt-Free Recipe for Success and Satisfaction. Sam talks about the importance of nurturing every part of our lives (each of the “seven slices”), rejecting guilt and embracing messiness in motherhood, the myth of maternal instincts (dads can do everything moms can do!!), and her passion for empowering women and helping them achieve financial independence.

Purchase on Bookshop: bit.ly/3tPZ2uv

Share, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lisa Cheek, SIT, CINDERELLA, SIT: A Mostly True Memoir Jan 16, 2025

Show notes

Zibby speaks with writer and former film editor Lisa Cheek about her heartfelt and quickwitted memoir, SIT, CINDERELLA, SIT: A Mostly True Memoir. Lisa shares her story, from her groundbreaking career in TV commercial editing to her extraordinary adventure flying to rural China and editing a film about the origins of the Cinderella story on the Tibetan border with a Mandarin-speaking crew—a job she took without knowing the language. She also touches on her nomadic upbringing, her father’s love of books, her pandemic pink hair transformation, her love for dogs, and the profound role kindness has played in her journey.

Purchase on Bookshop: https://bit.ly/4fZvfoI

Share, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sarah Hoover, THE MOTHERLOAD: Episodes from the Brink of Motherhood Jan 15, 2025

Show notes

Debut author Sarah Hoover joins Zibby to discuss THE MOTHERLOAD, an unflinchingly honest and brutally funny motherhood memoir that turns the ecstatic narrative women have been fed on its head. Sarah reflects on her harrowing journey through postpartum depression, navigating identity shifts, new motherhood, marriage challenges, and a complex relationship with her own mother. She shares how the trauma of childbirth and her struggle to find herself in the New York art world inspired her to write a book she wished she’d had during her darkest moments. She also reflects on the joy she now feels in her relationship with her son and offers heartfelt advice for new moms.

Purchase on Bookshop: https://bit.ly/4h95sMB

Share, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alice Feeney, BEAUTIFUL UGLY Jan 14, 2025

Show notes

Zibby is joined by New York Times million-copy bestselling author Alice Feeney to discuss her magnetic, jaw-dropping new thriller, BEAUTIFUL UGLY. Alice delves into the story, which follows struggling author Grady Green a year after his wife’s mysterious disappearance, and what happens when he travels to a tiny Scottish island to get his life back on track... and sees a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife. Alice describes her creative process and explores her novel’s themes of grief, love, identity, and revenge. She also reflects on the balance between fiction and personal experience.

Purchase on Bookshop: https://bit.ly/4068ppK

Share, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elizabeth Harris, HOW TO SLEEP AT NIGHT Jan 13, 2025

Show notes

Award-winning New York Times reporter Elizabeth Harris chats with Zibby about her witty, whip-smart, and compulsively readable debut, HOW TO SLEEP AT NIGHT. Elizabeth delves into the interconnected stories in the novel: a suburban mom struggling with lost ambition, a political reporter questioning her career, and a gay couple navigating political differences and addiction. She touches on the complexities of marriage and parenthood, the theme of love and family ties stretched thin by ambition, the balance of personal and professional ethics, and the evolving representation of LGBTQ+ experiences in literature.

Purchase on Bookshop: https://bit.ly/426k36H

Share, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sash Bischoff, SWEET FURY Jan 10, 2025

Show notes

Theater director and debut author Sash Bischoff joins Zibby to discuss SWEET FURY, a wildly imaginative, subversive, and breathlessly fun literary thriller about a beloved actress who is cast in a feminist adaptation of a Fitzgerald classic, only to find herself the victim in a deadly game of revenge. Sash explains how her acting and directing background helped shape the novel’s complex narrative—and how her tight-knit writing group helped her, too! She also dives into her novel’s themes of fame, ambition, and the darker sides of human nature.

Purchase on Bookshop: https://bit.ly/40cPxWc

Share, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Zibby on the Palisades Fire: "We Are Safe. But We Are Destroyed." Jan 10, 2025

Show notes

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.