Totally Booked with Zibby

In this special weekend re-release, Zibby speaks to award-winning author David Sedaris about The Best of Me, a wickedly funny and memorable collection of stories about life's surprises. In the interview, David Sedaris talks about owning who you are as a writer and explains why "publishing isn’t writing.” He also tells Zibby why he doesn’t read internet comments and discloses how he expresses love (hint: it involves Christmas!)Purchase on Bookshop: https://bit.ly/3OIvWspShare, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens!** Check out the Z.I.P. membership program—Zibby’s Important People! As a Z.I.P., you’ll get exclusive essays, special author access, discounts at Zibby’s Bookshop, and more. Head to zibbyowens.com to subscribe or upgrade and become a Z.I.P. today!** Follow @totallybookedwithzibby on Instagram for more about today's episode. (Music by Morning Moon Music. Sound editing by TexturesSound. To inquire about advertising, please contact allie.gallo@acast.com.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Guest host Julie Chavez interviews bestselling co-authors Jo Piazza and Christine Pride about You Were Always Mine, a tender, provocative, and thoughtful novel about a Black woman who finds an abandoned white baby. The three discuss the themes of motherhood, adoption, and intimate interracial relationships, as they relate to the book and to their real lives. Jo and Christine also talk about their fascinating co-writing process, their friendship, and the books they are reading and loving. Purchase on Bookshop: https://bit.ly/3DJ3EHKShare, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens!** Check out the Z.I.P. membership program—Zibby’s Important People! As a Z.I.P., you’ll get exclusive essays, special author access, discounts at Zibby’s Bookshop, and more. Head to zibbyowens.com to subscribe or upgrade and become a Z.I.P. today!** Follow @totallybookedwithzibby on Instagram for more about today's episode. (Music by Morning Moon Music. Sound editing by TexturesSound. To inquire about advertising, please contact allie.gallo@acast.com.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Zibby interviews debut author Avery Carpenter Forrey about Social Engagement, a bitingly sharp and wickedly funny novel about a bride whose marriage implodes on her wedding night. It is an unputdownable critique of millennial wedding culture… and the lies we tell on social media. Avery describes the neverending wedding season that inspired this novel and admits she is part of the culture she makes fun of. She also talks about her path to writing, her thoughts on social media, how she is balancing a new book and a new baby, the novel she is working on now, and her best advice for aspiring writers. Purchase on Bookshop: https://bit.ly/44UEJx8Share, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens!** Check out the Z.I.P. membership program—Zibby’s Important People! As a Z.I.P., you’ll get exclusive essays, special author access, discounts at Zibby’s Bookshop, and more. Head to zibbyowens.com to subscribe or upgrade and become a Z.I.P. today!** Follow @totallybookedwithzibby on Instagram for more about today's episode. (Music by Morning Moon Music. Sound editing by TexturesSound. To inquire about advertising, please contact allie.gallo@acast.com.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Guest host Julie Chavez speaks to accomplished Canadian wine expert and New York Times bestselling author Natalie MacLean about Wine Witch on Fire: Rising from the Ashes of Divorce, Defamation, and Drinking Too Much, her powerful coming-of-middle-age memoir about how she resurrected her life and career in the cutthroat wine industry. Natalie reveals why she decided to share her story and then describes her experiences with overdrinking, depression, shyness, perfectionism, and therapy. (Go to winewitchonfire.com/guide for wine-pairing tips and discussion questions!!)Purchase on Bookshop: https://bit.ly/44McuQYShare, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens!** Check out the Z.I.P. membership program—Zibby’s Important People! As a Z.I.P., you’ll get exclusive essays, special author access, discounts at Zibby’s Bookshop, and more. Head to zibbyowens.com to subscribe or upgrade and become a Z.I.P. today!** Follow @totallybookedwithzibby on Instagram for more about today's episode. (Music by Morning Moon Music. Sound editing by TexturesSound. To inquire about advertising, please contact allie.gallo@acast.com.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Zibby Books author alert!!! Zibby interviews author Michelle Wildgen about Wine People, an intoxicating escape into the cutthroat world of wine and the complicated terrain of women’s friendship. Michelle describes her journey to food writing (she started as a back waiter!) and shares the secrets to doing it well! She also discusses her two fascinating female protagonists (and the real-life women who inspired them), her food writing role models, her previous novels, her love of The Bear on Hulu, and the bottle of wine she is saving for the right moment. Finally, she shares her best advice for aspiring authors. Purchase on Bookshop: https://bit.ly/3DCgW8YShare, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens!** Check out the Z.I.P. membership program—Zibby’s Important People! As a Z.I.P., you’ll get exclusive essays, special author access, discounts at Zibby’s Bookshop, and more. Head to zibbyowens.com to subscribe or upgrade and become a Z.I.P. today!** Follow @totallybookedwithzibby on Instagram for more about today's episode. (Music by Morning Moon Music. Sound editing by TexturesSound. To inquire about advertising, please contact allie.gallo@acast.com.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Zibby speaks to therapist, creative coach, and New York Times bestselling author Julia Bartz about The Writing Retreat, a pulse-pounding, claustrophobic, unputdownable thriller about a young author who attends an exclusive writer’s retreat that soon descends into a nightmare. Julia talks about the first iterations of this story and the changes it went through since 2014 NaNoWriMo, and then shares how her own frustrations as a writer (and dreams of attending a writing retreat!) inspired this novel. She also talks about her therapy work, being a writer alongside her sister Andrea Bartz, her love of thrillers (and the great one she is reading now), and what she is working on next.Purchase on Bookshop: https://bit.ly/47dhOhMShare, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens!** Check out the Z.I.P. membership program—Zibby’s Important People! As a Z.I.P., you’ll get exclusive essays, special author access, discounts at Zibby’s Bookshop, and more. Head to zibbyowens.com to subscribe or upgrade and become a Z.I.P. today!** Follow @totallybookedwithzibby on Instagram for more about today's episode. (Music by Morning Moon Music. Sound editing by TexturesSound. To inquire about advertising, please contact allie.gallo@acast.com.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special weekend re-release, Zibby speaks to #1 New York Times bestselling author and "queen of beach reads" Elin Hilderbrand about Troubles in Paradise, a sizzling, sun-soaked summer novel that transports the reader to the bright Caribbean for romance and passion. Purchase on Bookshop: https://bit.ly/43DzO21Share, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens!** Check out the Z.I.P. membership program—Zibby’s Important People! As a Z.I.P., you’ll get exclusive essays, special author access, discounts at Zibby’s Bookshop, and more. Head to zibbyowens.com to subscribe or upgrade and become a Z.I.P. today!** Follow @totallybookedwithzibby on Instagram for more about today's episode. (Music by Morning Moon Music. Sound editing by TexturesSound. To inquire about advertising, please contact allie.gallo@acast.com.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special weekend re-release, Zibby interviews Academy Award-winning actress, director, producer, activist, and New York Times bestselling author Natalie Portman about Natalie Portman's Fables, a children's book with playful, witty, and insightful retellings of three classic fables: The Tortoise and the Hare, The Three Little Pigs, and Country Mouse and City Mouse. It is paired perfectly with Janna Mattia's charming illustrations. Purchase on Bookshop: https://bit.ly/3pQ6MP3Share, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens!** Check out the Z.I.P. membership program—Zibby’s Important People! As a Z.I.P., you’ll get exclusive essays, special author access, discounts at Zibby’s Bookshop, and more. Head to zibbyowens.com to subscribe or upgrade and become a Z.I.P. today!** Follow @totallybookedwithzibby on Instagram for more about today's episode. (Music by Morning Moon Music. Sound editing by TexturesSound. To inquire about advertising, please contact allie.gallo@acast.com.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bestselling author Adrienne Brodeur joins Zibby to discuss Little Monsters, a kaleidoscopic and riveting novel about Cape Cod, complicated families, and corrosive, long-buried secrets. Adrienne delves into her fascinating characters and then reveals how her own complex relationships and experience with family secrets influenced this novel. (You can read all about that in her incredible memoir Wild Game.) She also talks about her job as the director of Aspen Words, a literary nonprofit; the books she has read recently and loved; and her best advice for aspiring writers. Purchase on Bookshop: https://bit.ly/3rD9Y0SShare, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens!** Check out the Z.I.P. membership program—Zibby’s Important People! As a Z.I.P., you’ll get exclusive essays, special author access, discounts at Zibby’s Bookshop, and more. Head to zibbyowens.com to subscribe or upgrade and become a Z.I.P. today!** Follow @totallybookedwithzibby on Instagram for more about today's episode. (Music by Morning Moon Music. Sound editing by TexturesSound. To inquire about advertising, please contact allie.gallo@acast.com.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Zibby interviews New York Times bestselling author (and Zibby’s 1993 summer writing class instructor!!) Helen Schulman about Lucky Dogs, a dazzling and propulsive book about two women on opposite ends of a high-profile sexual abuse scandal. It explores love, power, betrayal, and obsession. Helen describes the heartbreaking Me Too story that inspired this novel and delves into her fascinating female characters. She also talks about her teaching career, her writing process, her screenplays, her next projects, and how the aftermath of the pandemic is still affecting her and the people around her. Purchase on Bookshop: https://bit.ly/3OnBHePShare, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens!** Check out the Z.I.P. membership program—Zibby’s Important People! As a Z.I.P., you’ll get exclusive essays, special author access, discounts at Zibby’s Bookshop, and more. Head to zibbyowens.com to subscribe or upgrade and become a Z.I.P. today!** Follow @totallybookedwithzibby on Instagram for more about today's episode. (Music by Morning Moon Music. Sound editing by TexturesSound. To inquire about advertising, please contact allie.gallo@acast.com.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.