Totally Booked with Zibby

Rachel Bertsche is the best-selling author of MWF Seeking BFF: My Yearlong Search for a New Best Friend, and Jennifer, Gwyneth & Me: The Pursuit of Happiness, One Celebrity at a Time. I'm obsessed with her latest book called The Kids Are in Bed: Finding Time for Yourself in the Chaos of Parenting. It’s so on brand for me and my podcast because it's all about finding ways to create and use our #momtime. Rachel and I talked about her research into the areas of our lives that fall to the wayside when we have kids, letting go of the guilt we have as parents to get everything done, and tips for what she calls creating "pockets of indulgence.” Sometimes all you need is 20 minutes to see a friend (in the non-COVID days) or read a book. I just love this approach and I'm really trying to follow this wisdom! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Janelle Brown is the New York Times best-selling author of Watch Me Disappear, All We Ever Wanted Was Everything, and This is Where We Live. Her latest book, Pretty Things, comes out this week! Her suspense-novel about two women, one a con-artist and one an “Insta-famous" heiress, takes deceit and scheming in the age of influencers to an unexplored level. Janelle and I talked about the downside of social media, real-life stalkers, transitions and friendships, and how to write something unexpected. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nicole Kear is the author of the middle grade novel Foreverland, the memoir Now I See You which was on many magazines' best-of lists, the chapter series The Fix-It Friends, and The Startup Squad. Her essays have appeared in the Modern Love column of The New York Times, Good Housekeeping, Parents, Salon, HuffPost, and more. I read Foreverland to my two little guys, ages five and six, and they joined us for the interview! A modern retelling of Peter Pan, Nicole and I talked about coming of age, the fantasy of running away from home (don't we all just want to hit pause some days!?), and coping with challenges - for kids and adults, alike. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rebecca Serle is the author of six books, and is a television writer. Her latest novel, In Five Years, is the Good Morning America Book Club pick for March of 2020 and a bestseller on The New York Times list. I interviewed Rebecca on her pub day (this was before the whole coronavirus came out) and there was so much excitement in the air! Her book tour has been cut short, but I have very fond memories of being able to celebrate her publication day with her publicist Arielle Friedman and my husband Kyle. We talked about plans getting replaced by the unpredictability of life, fate versus free will, and even psychic readings. Try to take some of that joy away when you listen to this episode, even though now we're in a very different time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Darcy Miller is the founder of Darcy Miller Designs and the author and illustrator of Celebrate Everything!: Fun Ideas to Bring Your Parties to Life and also Our Wedding Scrapbook. A "celebrations expert” (how can you not love that?), she has been an editor at Martha Stewart for 25 years including as editorial director of Martha Stewart Weddings for 23 years, where she is now editor-at-large. The idea behind Celebrate Everything! is that you just have to celebrate life and the people you love because you never know what's going to happen next. (This current pandemic is case in point!!) The book is visually inspiring and the message — taking the time to appreciate the people you love and toasting to everything from birthdays and anniversaries to losing a tooth or getting a new job — is a positive reminder we need right now! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Adrienne Miller is the author of the novel The Coast of Akron and In the Land of Men: A Memoir. She was the literary and fiction editor of Esquire from 1997 to 2006. In the Land of Men is her coming-of-age story in the male-dominated literary world of the 1990s, during which she became the first female literary editor of Esquire at the age of 25. It's about power dynamics, the workplace, and as she aptly says, "how to build a self." We talked about looking back at our twenties, her relationship with and the loss of writer David Foster Wallace, and being the ultimate decision maker about your own life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Before social distancing, I sat down with Serena Burdick, who is the author of the historical novel The Girls with No Names. She's also the author of Girl in the Afternoon, and is the 2017 International Book Award winner for historical fiction. I was enthralled by her book and totally think it should be a play. Serena and I talked about this story of two sisters, her relationship with her older sister, how societal norms change, Serena's love of storytelling and characters (and how that led her to pursue acting in her twenties!), and separating her research process from her writing process and her advice to aspiring authors: even if you feel discouraged, finish the work so you have something complete you can work with!   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fanny Singer is the author of Always Home: A Daughter's Recipes & Stories with a forward by Alice Waters, her mother. In 2015, the mother-daughter duo published My Pantry, which Fanny also illustrated. Her new book, Always Home, is an immersive and sensory experience: a fusion of recipes, stories about food, and her special and inseparable bond with her mother. We talked about mother-daughter relationships, how food is a meaningful way to show and share love, and how you can use the dinner table as a way to feel part of a team or bigger collective - all of which feels really perfect for the moment we're in right now. I was so honored that Fanny joined my virtual book club this week. She absolutely delighted the group! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Marisa Meltzer is the author of This Is Big: How the Founder of Weight Watchers Changed the World (and Me). She co-authored How Sassy Changed My Life and also Girl Power, and is a contributor to New York Magazine and The New York Times. Her work has also appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Slate, Elle, and Teen Vogue. The inspiration for her newest book, This Is Big, was sparked when she read The New York Times obituary of Jean Nidetch, the founder of Weight Watchers. Part biography and part memoir, Marisa combines two compelling stories: her own journey with weight and body image, and her immersion into the world of Weight Watchers to research Jean's fascinating life and entrepreneurial impact. Marisa and I talked about our personal relationships to dieting, eating habits as a product of our society, and the complicated influence food has on girls and young women in particular. I think this conversation and her book will resonate strongly with a lot of people because it explores how nuanced transformation - physical and emotional - really is. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joanna Hershon is the author of the novels, Swimming, The Outside of August, The German Bride, A Dual Inheritance and, as of the pub day today (!!), St. Ivo. St. Ivo is a psychological/emotional story that centers on a married couple with something out of control in their lives (don’t want to spoil the plot!!) and how they cope during a reunion with two old friends during a weekend in the country. This book deals with how individuals cope with uncertainty and is a timely read for this moment in time! Joanna and I discussed how being what she calls a “recovering actress” influences her writing and her interest in how humans move through the stages of trauma and loss. Joanna shared how writing can feel like time spent with a companion and the idea that writers are often exploring their unconscious anxieties through their work. Make sure you listen in to hear about the encounter on the subway that inspired this book! Joanna's writing has appeared in Granta, The New York Times, One Story, Virginia Quarterly Review, and two literary anthologies, Brooklyn Was Mine and Freud’s Blind Spot. She teaches in the creative writing department at Columbia University and lives in Brooklyn with her husband, the painter Derek Buckner. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.