Totally Booked with Zibby

Lifestyle expert Colin Cowie joins Zibby to discuss his 11th book, The Gold Standard. Zibby shares which piece of advice from the book she recently shared to inspire her team at Zibby Books and asks Colin about how Covid-19 impacted his messaging. The two also talk about how to create a desirable product in a saturated market, the ways in which publishing has changed between the release of his first book in 1996 and today, and the guiding principles Colin offers for leaders to direct and unite their teams.Purchase on Amazon or Bookshop.Amazon: https://amzn.to/3I4H5yfBookshop: https://bit.ly/3d7A4hL Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bestselling author of Whisper Network Chandler Baker returns to talk with Zibby about her latest novel, The Husbands, a Stepford Wives gender-swap. Chandler shares why she wanted to write about the discrepancies in the division of domestic labor, as well as what the responses have been like from actual husbands. The two also discuss the things they love about being a part of the literary community, how Chandler finds time to write with two little kids, and what she is working on next.Amazon: https://amzn.to/3lF0DjpBookshop: https://bit.ly/3xCn11t Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"To me, there's always humor at the edge of the darkness." Zibby is joined by Hilma Wolitzer to talk about her new collection of short stories, Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket, which follows one woman throughout her life. The two discuss how Hilma wrote these stories in the large window between 1966 all the way through the pandemic, as well as how they both reflect and stray from her real life experiences. Hilma also shares what it was like to lose her husband to Covid-19 while recovering from it herself in a different hospital, the best lesson about editing (which she learned through a humiliating but impactful experience), and how her relationship with her daughter Meg has been strengthened through their writing.Purchase on Amazon or Bookshop.Amazon: https://amzn.to/3I28EbrBookshop: https://bit.ly/3I0mPxX Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dana Canedy's career is incredible — a senior editor at the New York Times, the administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes, and now the senior vice president and publisher of Simon & Schuster — but it's her lost love story that has shaped who she is today. Dana joined Zibby to discuss her book, A Journal for Jordan, which tells the story of how Dana's fiancée Charles managed to write down all of the life lessons he wanted to teach their son in a blank journal before he was suddenly killed by an IED while deployed in Iraq. Dana and Zibby talk about the need for community when faced when an unprecedented situation, how they have learned to be resilient in the wake of their losses, and what the experience was like for Dana to have the book adapted into a movie by her good friend, Denzel Washington.Purchase on Amazon or Bookshop.Amazon: https://amzn.to/3rlSnIIBookshop: https://bit.ly/3lBR8kU Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New York Times bestselling author Riley Sager joins Zibby to discuss his latest thriller, Survive the Night. Riley shares why he loves writing plot twists that the readers will least expect, as well as how this book started with the simplest pitch: "a girl, a killer, a car." The two also talk about why it is that they remember the 1990s better than they remember the last few days, the importance of starting a chapter with a captivating sentence, and how Riley has adjusted to living the life he once dreamed he would have.Purchase on Amazon or Bookshop.Amazon: https://amzn.to/319VbO8Bookshop: https://bit.ly/3xB7GhE Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Zibby is joined by professor and poet Maggie Smith to discuss her latest collection, Goldenrod, which includes a selection of the poems Maggie has written since 2016. Maggie shares why she calls herself a recovering pessimist, the reason she doesn't write when she's in the midst of big feelings, and how she often pulls together poems from lines she writes as they come to her. Zibby also reads two selections from the book, including a piece Maggie forgot she had written.Purchase on Amazon or Bookshop.Amazon: https://amzn.to/3xBYAkTBookshop: https://bit.ly/3G1xGpc Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"I love the fact that we all try and replicate our parents and rebel against them at the same time." Novelist Esther Freud joins Zibby to talk about her latest book, I Couldn't Love You More, and how her fascinating family history inspired its intergenerational story. The two discuss why Esther sought to work on a lighter project than her last, as well as which writing techniques Esther employed as she braided three storylines together.Purchase on Amazon or Bookshop.Amazon: https://amzn.to/31gu5VABookshop: https://bit.ly/3FWHAbH Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Zibby is joined by author and dog mother Chloe Shaw to discuss her debut memoir, What Is a Dog? Chloe shares her unique literary career as well as the stories of some of the dogs who have impacted her the most. The two also talk about the importance of community in Chloe's life, why this is the perfect book to gift any dog lover, and how the many forms grief may take are all equally valid.Purchase on Amazon or Bookshop.Amazon: https://amzn.to/3lmjHCDBookshop: https://bit.ly/3FZr0YY Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Zibby is joined by Nora Zelevansky to talk about her latest novel, Competitive Grieving. The two discuss how the death of a friend often also means the loss of a shared history, why moms often feel the need to conceal their grief from their children, and what they each have planned for their own funerals. Read Nora's essay on Moms Don't Have Time to Write.Purchase on Amazon or Bookshop.Amazon: https://amzn.to/3D34MDyBookshop: https://bit.ly/3D6yho3 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Although Jodi Picoult is the bestselling author of 26 novels which have collectively sold over 40 million copies, the pandemic affected her just like everyone else. After interviews with frontline workers, Covid-19 survivors, and a man who accidentally got trapped on the Galapagos Islands in March 2020, Jodi wrote Wish You Were Here, her take on a pandemic book. She joined Zibby to talk about the horrific stories she heard through her interviews, which projects she has resumed working on, and what questions she hopes all readers will ask themselves as we begin to emerge out from Covid-19's shadow.Purchase on Amazon or Bookshop.Amazon: https://amzn.to/2XRZoVhBookshop: https://bit.ly/3vYU9je Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.