Totally Booked with Zibby

My kids and I met (and immediately fell in love with!) Raakhee Mirchandani at the Brooklyn Book Festival. She's an award-winning writer, editor, and pediatric cancer crusader. She's also the author of children’s book Super Satya Saves the Day, which recently won the Purple Dragonfly Award from Bharat Babies. Listen to our conversation about her inspiration for writing this modern superhero picture book, how to survive when you child is ill, the magic of books and more. You'll fall in love with her, too!  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cathleen Schine is the author of 11 books including the best-selling novels The Three Weissmanns of Westport, The Love Letter, and The New Yorkers. Cathy's latest novel is The Grammarians, a coming of age novel about twins, family, relationships, and words. It has been called “an enchanting comic love letter to sibling rivalry and the English language.” Listen to Cathy talk about her writing process and the power of words. As she says, "I always feel like I'm wandering around banging my head against things and one of them turns out to be a door that opens." All this from the author dubbed "a modern day Jewish Jane Austen!"  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mitch Albom is the author of seven #1 New York Times best sellers including Tuesdays with Morrie, the best-selling memoir of all time! His latest heartbreaking, inspiring book is Finding Chika: A Little Girl, an Earthquake, and the Making of a Family. This intimate, sentimental memoir is a poignant framing of love, loss, and family. I can't wait for you to hear our conversation about this achingly beautiful book.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rene Denfeld, is an advocate, award-winning journalist, and best-selling author. We talked about her latest book, The Butterfly Girl, which tackles the plight of homeless children, a marginalized population she's familiar with after growing up homeless herself. Her beautiful, gripping novel — and her journey — is a story of hope, imagination, and rethinking what survival and trauma mean in our culture. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

VC Chickering is the author of TWISTED FAMILY VALUES and NOOKIETOWN. This former comedy and TV writer writes in an engaging and unique way about the illicit love between cousins in a coming-of-age meets WASP tale. Listen to Tori and me talk about dating across cultures (!), family drama, trying not to care so much about what other people thing, home design, being super busy when no one cares, and her upcoming projects. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Susan Shapiro is an award-winning Manhattan writing professor, best-selling author of twelve books, and journalist. Her latest book is The Byline Bible: Get Published in Five Weeks. This is a super special episode for me because I took Sue’s class at The New School in 2004 when I was trying to write full-time for a little bit. Sue’s class was so amazing - and so is her book - all about teaching you how to get published in magazines and newspapers! Listen to us talk about sending out good book vibes, clever titles and more!  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Caitlin Moscatello is an award-winning journalist and author of See Jane Win: The Inspiring Story of the Women Changing American Politics. She has written for New York Magazine’s The Cut, Vanity Fair, Time, Elle, Marie Claire, O, The Oprah Magazine, and many other publications. She started working on this book in February of 2017, a few months after the 2016 election -- when many women across the country thought that we were going to see the first female president. What did happen, though, was a remarkable increase in women running for office - and Caitlin shone a bright spotlight on the journey in See Jane Win. We chatted about all of it, including how she mastered her brilliant journalism while having a baby!  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rachel Levy Lesser is the author of Life’s Accessories: A Memoir (and Fashion Guide). Life’s Accessories is a coming-of-age memoir told in fourteen essays. Each essay centers around an item of clothing, jewelry or an accessory that has had meaning in Rachel's life. Listen to us talk about the pain of losing her mother, fitting in at boarding school, growing up in the 1980s, being a mother herself, and how to bake the perfect chocolate chip cookie.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lisa Jewell is the internationally best-selling author of seventeen (and a half!) novels including the New York Times best seller Then She Was Gone as well as I Found You, The Girls in the Garden, and The House We Grew Up In. Her latest book, The Family Upstairs, is already a number one best seller in the UK and is a Book of the Month Club pick. Through the perspective of three different people, Lisa's novel provides a winding, thrilling discovery process for the characters and an enthralling escape for readers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Katherine Wintsch is the CEO of The Mom Complex and a nationally recognized expert on the topic of modern motherhood. She's also the author of Slay Like a Mother: How to Destroy What's Holding You Back So You Can Live the Life You Want. Her work has been featured on major media outlets, she has spoken at TEDx and was recently named a Woman of the Decade by the Women’s Economic Forum. Her research about women across the globe inspired her to write about the "dragon" of self-doubt - and her book is about how we can all slay it.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.