Totally Booked with Zibby

Zibby interviews renowned orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Erin Nance, about her thought-provoking and revealing debut essay collection, LITTLE MISS DIAGNOSED: A Surgeon’s Guide to Breaking Bones and Bending Rules, which offers a raw, unfiltered look into the exhilarating but complicated world of healthcare. Dr. Erin Nance shares her journey in medicine, from her first day on the job treating her brother after a life-altering accident to ex...

Totally Booked: LIVE! In this special episode of the podcast (in-person at the Whitby Hotel with a live audience!), Zibby interviews debut author (and creative force behind @nycbookgirl), Morgan Pager, about THE ART OF VANISHING, a wildly inventive and deeply moving love story between a museum employee and the man in a masterpiece hanging on the walls. Morgan delves into her journey from Broadway assistant to publishing professiona...

Zibby Publishing author alert! Zibby chats with #1 New York Times bestselling author of THE PAPER PALACE, Miranda Cowley Heller, about her breathtaking and intimate debut poetry collection, WHAT THE DEEP WATER KNOWS. They discuss how the poems, written over 15 years, unintentionally form a powerful narrative arc about womanhood, motherhood, marriage, heartbreak, and self-reclamation. Miranda reflects on her early love of ...

Bestselling author Karen Dukess returns to the podcast to discuss her delightful and heartfelt new novel, WELCOME TO MURDER WEEK, which was inspired by a trip to the English countryside with her sister, her love of British mysteries, and a desire to write something purely fun! The novel follows a reserved 34-year-old American woman who travels to a small British town after discovering tickets her estranged late mother had purc...

Totally Booked: LIVE! In this special episode of the podcast (in-person at the Whitby Hotel with a live audience!), Zibby interviews Dina Alvarez and Dina Aronson (as well as 10 other contributors!) about MIDLIFE PRIVATE PARTS, a soulful and revealing collection of essays on what it really feels like to move through the world as a midlife woman and beyond. Zibby, a contributor herself, moderates the conversation on the complexities...

Zibby chats with award-winning poet Edward Hirsch about his memoir, MY CHILDHOOD IN PIECES: A Standup Comedy, where dark comic microbursts of prose relate a childhood in an aspiring middle-class Jewish family in the 50s and 60s. Edward discusses the book’s innovative structure—told in punchy, titled snippets that blend humor and heartbreak—and how it allowed him to unpack long-buried memories of a complex, often painful childhood. ...

Zibby chats with writer Joanna Sokol about A REAL EMERGENCY, an introspective, richly layered, and surprisingly hopeful memoir about the best and worst parts of her career as a paramedic. Joanna shares gripping insights into the realities of 911 calls, the broken systems behind emergency medical services, and the emotional toll and camaraderie that define life in the ambulance. They discuss everything from the beauty of always show...

Zibby is joined by legendary whitewater rafting guide and debut author Bridget Crocker to discuss THE RIVER’S DAUGHTER, a vivid, propulsive, and deeply insightful memoir about finding courage and meaning in a life outdoors. Bridget shares the decades-long journey of writing her story, which traces her turbulent upbringing in Wyoming, her profound connection to rivers and nature, and her path to healing from trauma, addiction, anxie...

Totally Booked: LIVE! In this special episode of the podcast (in-person at the Whitby Hotel with a live audience!), Zibby interviews New York Times bestselling author Amy Bloom about I’LL BE RIGHT HERE, a sweeping multigenerational story that begins in occupied Paris and spans 50 years. She reflects on her signature themes (family, love, sex, and death), the moral complexity of her writing, and her fascination with found ...

Hannah Brown, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author and The Bachelorette star, joins Zibby to discuss her sparkling new rom-com, THE FOUR ENGAGEMENT RINGS OF SYBIL RAIN, which she describes as White Lotus meets Sex and the City meets Mamma Mia. Hannah delves into her novel’s themes of self-worth, identity, love, and embracing one's true self, and then shares ...

Zibby chats with New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict and Courtney Sheinmel about THE SECRETS OF LOVELACE ACADEMY, a charming middle-grade novel about a young girl who is plucked from a London orphanage to attend a prestigious boarding school. The duo (set up by their literary agent) describe how they collaborated on this historical adventure where bright girls gain access to the elite education previously res...

Bestselling debut author Virginia Evans joins Zibby to discuss THE CORRESPONDENT, a charming, intriguing, and witty novel in the form of letters and emails exchanged by a divorced and retired woman with her friends, family, and foes. Virginia shares the long journey to publication—nearly 20 years and nine novels in the making! She also discusses the power of the epistolary form, the influence of 84, Charing Cross Road, the rea...

Zibby is joined by Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, a leading voice in modern Judaism, to discuss FOR A TIME SUCH AS THIS, a poignant exploration of what it means to be Jewish today. Rabbi Cosgrove shares the urgent circumstances under which the book was written following the October 7th attacks in Israel, and how it explores the complex dynamics of Jewish identity, antisemitism, and solidarity in a time of crisis. The conversation also touc...

Zibby chats with author Julia DeVillers about MEET ME AT WONDERLAND, a charming middle-grade rom-com set at an amusement park, inspired by Julia’s real-life teen job at Chuck E. Cheese and moose-suit meet-cute that changed everything. Julia describes how a life-threating cancer diagnosis in 2022 unexpectedly led to this book’s creation. She also discusses crafting authentic tween and teen voices, writing a dual POV, and the importa...

Zibby interviews Elyce Arons, the cofounder of Kate Spade and CEO and cofounder of Frances Valentine, about WE JUST MIGHT MAKE IT AFTER ALL, a moving portrait of her decades-long best friendship and business journey with Kate Spade. Elyce describes their early days as broke college students, the scrappy beginnings of their brand, and how they turned a simple handbag idea into a cultural phenomenon and multi-billion-dollar fashion c...

Totally Booked: LIVE! In this special episode of the podcast (in-person at the Whitby Hotel with a live audience!), Zibby interviews activist and author Shannon Watts about FIRED UP: How to Turn Your Spark into a Flame and Come Alive at Any Age, which chronicles her journey from suburban mom to founder of Moms Demand Action, the nation’s leading grassroots movement for gun safety. Shannon shares how the tragedy at Sandy Hook ignite...

Totally Booked: LIVE! In this special episode of the podcast (in-person at the Whitby Hotel with a live audience!), Zibby interviews #1 New York Times bestselling author James Frey about his darkly funny and razor-sharp new novel, NEXT TO HEAVEN. James opens up about writing a book that’s bold, dirty, and wildly entertaining—a murder mystery set in an insulated world of obscene wealth, swingers, and secrets. He discusses ...

Totally Booked: LIVE! In this special episode of the podcast (in-person at the Whitby Hotel with a live audience!), Zibby interviews award-winning journalist Leslie Gray Streeter about her vibrant and heartfelt new novel, FAMILY AND OTHER CALAMITIES. They reflect on Leslie’s memoir, BLACK WIDOW, which candidly captures the raw, messy early days of widowhood, and then dive into the new novel, touching on themes of loss, regret, seco...

Zibby is joined by beloved British author and National Book Award winner Nina Stibbe to discuss WENT TO LONDON, TOOK THE DOG, an endlessly funny, blissfully gossipy, and enviably well-observed memoir of a woman changing her life at 60. Nina shares the story behind her sabbatical in London (prompted by an empty nest and the need for creative renewal!), and explains how her private diary turned into this funny and vulnerable book abo...