Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books

Author and librarian Maisy Card talks with Zibby about how family secrets inspired her novel, These Ghosts Are Family. She shares the book’s 12-year path to publication, as well as a behind-the-scenes look into working at a library.

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Zibby interviewed Jeanine Cummins, author of American Dirt, as part of Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center's 'Women on the Move' series. Their recorded conversation, released here as a podcast, covers the controversy surrounding the novel. Jeanine also speaks with Zibby about the universality of a mother’s love and shares how writing has helped her process past family traumas.

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“I understand how the culture created this situation where we all had these expectations for our lives that has to do with having boobs and how we judge ourselves and what our expectations are with the other sex." Author Leslie Lehr shares why she was inspired to write a book about, well...boobs. She discusses why she doesn’t let breast cancer define her, and talks with Zibby about the importance of self-care.

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“My journey is a series of moments where I chose to not be moved by the fear that I felt.” The ever-inspirational Luvvie Ajayi Jones redefines what it means to be fearless. She talks with Zibby about confronting impostor syndrome, choosing courage every day, and the radical notion of “firing yourself.”

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"It's another great function of stories and of literature to remind us of our humanness, of our sense of compassion, and that deep essential quality that we must find our way back to, and that is to being relational beings.” Author Jamie Figueroa talks with Zibby about how her latest novel’s opening scene came to her "like a remembered dream." She discusses loss, magical realism, and the importance of cultivating a relationship with your writing.

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“I found after becoming a mom that I was responding to various experiences or happenings in really particular ways.” Professor, author, and mother Courtney Zoffness discusses how the lens of motherhood inspired her new collection, Spilt Milk. She shares her own experience with childhood anxiety, ponders nature vs. nurture, and talks with Zibby about parenting techniques. 

"I try to write these stories that actually redeem experiences because complaining would just be too easy.” Annabelle Gurwitch talks with Zibby about making lemonade out of lemons (figuratively and literally — she grows a lemon crop every year!), and shares how writing has helped her to find the silver linings in the aftermath of her divorce.

“An important part of being a columnist is failing every once in a while or somewhat on the regular. You write the bad ones so you can write the good ones.” Wall Street Journal sports columnist Jason Gay talks with Zibby about his career trajectory leading to the WSJ, becoming a character in his readers’ lives, and, of course, Tom Brady. They also cover the art of reading print, and the emotional recent loss of Jason’s friend and fellow writer, Tom Perrotta.

Kitty O’Meara’s poem, And the People Stayed Home, went absolutely viral during the pandemic (the irony of which is not lost on her). She sits down with Zibby to discuss her sudden rise to fame, her hope for the post-pandemic future, and the illuminating experience of being a hospice chaplain.

“It’s like you unveiled yourself over every dish.” Zibby talks with cookbook author Julia Turshen about the deeply personal nature of Julia's 15th cookbook, including its revelatory essay on body image and self-worth. They discuss cooking when you don’t feel like it and the pandemic’s impact on the cookbook.

"You thought that when you arrived at X age you would be finished, but we're not ever finished.” Kayleen Schaefer talks with Zibby about her experience interviewing eight people in their thirties over the course of a year-plus. She redefines what it means to be an adult, and refutes the notion that everyone else has it figured out. 

“Diaspora is the world’s condition.” Patricia Engel talks with Zibby about growing up the daughter of immigrants, the ingrained pull of an ancestral homeland, and the doubts that haunt those who uproot in search of a better future. 

“I wrote my way out of the darkness.” Tanya Selvaratnam talks with Zibby about the intimate partner violence she suffered in a past abusive relationship. She shares the experience of coming forward with her story, and details what’s next as she moves past this chapter and onto future projects.

Joann Lublin dismisses the myth of work-life balance and makes a case instead for “work-life sway.” She shares with Zibby the biggest challenges she overcame as a top editor at the Wall Street Journal, and her forecast for the future of the female workforce.

Tennis guru and head of the USTA Katrina Adams talks about her success on and off the court -- including her role in a dramatic moment with Serena Williams --  in this candid chat between two tennis lovers.

This frank conversation made Zibby rethink her relationship to “Good Night, Moon” forever as she chatted with novelist Julia Fine about the ways motherhood can make us all crazy.

Book editor turned novelist Jennifer Ryan talks with Zibby about the inspiration behind her latest WWII-era novel, The Kitchen Front. She shares memories of her grandmother, discusses testing ration recipes (she’s a fan of the mushroom soup!) and reveals how she carved out time to write a novel while raising young children. Jennifer recently wrote an essay for Zibby’s Medium publication Moms Don’t Have Time to Write called “When the Novelty of Writing Your Novel Wears Thin.”

We 100% guarantee that Meaghan B. Murphy’s interview with Zibby will put a smile on your face! In this inspirational chat, the editor-in-chief of Woman’s Day discusses ‘doing’ happy and shares some of the active choices we can make every day to live more positively. Yay!

In this moving interview, Georgina Lawton talks with Zibby about the emotional toll of uncovering the long-held secret that explained her black racial identity, despite being born to two white parents.

"This is a book that I needed to write my whole life. It's been building up inside of me for a long time.” Elizabeth Miki Brina talks with Zibby about how writing helped her understand both her history and herself. She discusses inherited traumas and explains the important role writing played in her healing process.

“Teenagers, just by their very nature, are shapeshifters.” Acclaimed novelist Vendela Vida explains how a non-fiction book on lies became We Run the Tides. She talks with Zibby about her pandemic reading habits, writing fan mail (her first letter was to Robert Downey Jr.!), her writing center nonprofit, and more.

Emily Layden’s All Girls: A Novel, honors “the experience of teenage girlhood in all its depth and capacity.” The former high school teacher talks with Zibby about what it was like “to come of age in a place that really promises you the world when that world still isn’t totally yours for the taking.” They also touched on the benefits of therapy and the incredible story of how this book came to be.

"I find it hard to be in one voice while I'm writing.” Maria Adelmann shares with Zibby why she loves writing (and reading!) short stories, and how her latest collection of stories, Girls of A Certain Age, came to be. 

"Don't give up hope.” Congresswoman Madeleine Dean and her son, Harry Cunnane, have a candid conversation with Zibby about Harry’s past struggles with addiction. They discuss learning new truths about each other while writing their book, the toll addiction takes on the family system, and the role of hope in healing. 

“Books are always the place that my characters go when the world bruises them, or when they need to recharge or regroup and just to enjoy themselves.” Prolific writer Kristin Hannah talks with Zibby about her iterative writing process, the unconditional love of motherhood, and the importance of female friendships.

"How great is it to have a job where I get to just share wonderful storytelling with people?” Amy Newmark talks with Zibby about her love of stories, the 30-year path that led her to Chicken Soup for the Soul, and more upcoming anthologies.

IT’S PUB DAY FOR ZIBBY’S ANTHOLOGY! In honor of the big day, we’re releasing a special episode in which Zibby is interviewed by her four kids! This is one episode you won't want to miss. Don’t forget to pick up your copy of Moms Don’t Have Time To: A Quarantine Anthology, out TODAY!

"If I'm going to be reading something in front of an audience, I wouldn't want there to be no laughter. I'm not interested in that.” 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!)

“I do a lot of research and then try to forget it so I can be a little bit more instinctual when I'm writing.” Ladee Hubbard talks with Zibby about weaving fact with fiction, and how her latest novel, The Rib King, speaks to the current cultural moment.

Lauren talks with Zibby about her pandemic pregnancy and her "second baby of the quarantine” — her novel, Ladies of the House: A Modern Retelling of Sense & Sensibility. She discusses growing up around politics, what it takes to modernize Jane Austen, and her relationship-status with writing. 

 

“That's the fun part of writing. You can go anywhere you want.” Chang-rae Lee talks with Zibby about the role of storytellers, how writing helps him cope with his fears, and how being a college professor has kept him from growing old.

David Rubenstein shares with Zibby his thoughts on happiness, mortality, success, and more in this deeply sincere yet humorous chat that runs the conversational gamut.

Random House copy chief Benjamin Dreyer spoke to Zibby about the bakery sign moment that was his "origin story," why younger people should even care about grammar, his love of books, how copy editing is like make-up artistry (or not) and more.

First time novelist and former lawyer Abigail Dean discusses how she wrote the first half of this book during a leave from work, her writing process, the scary street near her parents' home, and more. 

Former Southern Charm and Real World star Cameran Eubanks Wimberly shares her thoughts on motherhood, celebrity (she hates being called "famous") and more in this podcast recorded during a live event with Anderson's Bookshop. 

"I fell through every crack.” Stephanie Thornton Plymale talks with Zibby about overcoming past traumas and the liberation that came with owning her history.

"He confirmed my right to be. I bow down to James Baldwin. I adore him.” Robert Jones, Jr. talks with Zibby about adopting James Baldwin as a spiritual godfather, how a serendipitous find inspired ‘The Prophets,’ and what it means to be a black queer writer.

What would you do if a prenatal test yielded potentially catastrophic results? Peter Ho Davies and Zibby discuss this question that’s at the center of Peter’s latest novel, A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself. Their deeply honest conversation covers the uncertainties of parenthood, the blurry lines between fiction and fact, writing advice, and more.

Maggie Downs’ incredible memoir recounts the year she spent traveling the world completing her mother’s bucket list while her mom was at home in the final stage of Alzheimer’s. She talks with Zibby about grief, marriage (she met her husband skydiving!) and being the Cincinnati Carrie Bradshaw.

Zibby inhaled Nancy's fictionalized story about race, class, and family at the dawn of the Obama era. She loved hearing about Nancy's inspiration for The Kindest Lie, the importance of the 2008 election, her relationship with her father, and more.

Troubles in Paradise is the last of Elin Hilderbrand's delicious trilogy set in the Virgin Islands. Elin and Zibby discussed getting caught up in local gossip, persistence in the publishing world, and being fueled by writing.

When Lauren Fox was in her twenties she found letters in her parents' basement. Her grandparents had been living with them for years and she found a box amongst their belongings containing about seventy-five letters written in German script, which would take Lauren down an immersive path uncovering details about her family. The story she ultimately wrote is fiction, but the inspiration for Send for Me is based on her own ancestry. 

Cherie Jones's book feels like a classic from another era. Her writing is so vivid. She told Zibby about how her characters are inspired by voices that pop into her brain and that it's her role to translate those to paper. The result is vivid, stunning, and entirely captivating.

Zibby describes Rebecca Sacks's novel as a "literary achievement" and "epic journey." She and Rebecca talked about lives intersecting, the beauty in learning new languages, and the idea of being a global citizen. 

Brandon Hobson knows how to get into characters' heads and likens the process to acting. He talked to Zibby about the themes in his latest novel—a beautiful examination of how we grieve, how we heal, and the meaning of home. 

Zibby was honored to speak with Anna Malaika Tubbs about The Three Mothers - a brilliant, conversational, and historically-rich biography. Anna shines a light on the mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin and the crucial role they play in American history, what they symbolize in terms of Black womanhood, and how we can use feminist theory, gender theory, critical race theory to help us better understand and change the world.  

The topic of Adam Grant's book is "The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know," which Zibby thinks will help people view changing their mind, adapting their ideas, or rethinking their decisions as a strength instead of a weakness. Listen on for an enlightening take about flip-flopping, pre-crastinating, false deadlines, and transforming your beliefs. 

Dr. Harold Koplewicz founded the Child Mind Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to children's mental health disorders that Zibby supports as a board member. They talked about combating stigmas associated with mental illness, managing anxiety, and his critical advice to parents to self-care so they have the strength to take care of their children. 

Rachel Ricketts talks to Zibby about spiritual activism, dismantling systems of discrimination and oppression, creating equity, and more in this deeply important conversation. 

Laura Tremaine says that when she changed her mindset around what kind of writer she thought she was supposed to be, this terrific book about connecting took form. Laura shares her experiences with fear, vulnerability, and relationships in a way that sparks deep thought and conversation in her audience.