Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books™️

Former Christian pop star turned activist Julianna Glasse speaks with Zibby Owens about her new book This is What Happens When Women Read. Her memoir shares the same name as her global foundation which supports women’s autonomy through education, curriculum, and community. Julianna shares what happened when she started reading. She liberated herself, leading to the end of a marriage, a dark period of shame including suicidal ideation, and a new period of play and discovery, and ultimately finding the hero in herself. She also discusses the work of her foundation and how the greatest change someone can make is changing possibilities for others. Learn more about Julianna Glasse here and follow her on Instagram at @juliannaglasse. Visit her foundation’s website here. You can purchase This is What Happens When Women Read here.

New York Times bestselling author Mary Beth Keane talks with Zibby Owens about her new book, this month’s GMA Book Club pick Whale Harbor, an epic, multigenerational story about 11 brothers in Ireland in 1963 who become scattered after their mother’s death. The author of Ask Again, Yes shares how her new book focuses on “love and forgiveness” and especially “forgiveness of one’s self.”Mary Beth explains how the story is based on two events from her own family: the death of her father’s mother and the disappearance of one of her father’s brothers. She touches upon how Whale Harbor is just one take on the family’s story and how there can be multiple versions of the same event, just as people show grief in different ways.In addition to chatting about the critically-acclaimed new story, Mary Beth also talks about “feeling like an alien” as a student at Barnard College and her time teaching the next generation of writers at her alma mater.Learn more about Mary Beth Keane here and follow her on Instagram at @marybethkeane. You can purchase Whale Harbor here.

Wall Street Journal journalist Meghan Cox Gurdon talked to Zibby Owens about her new book Free Range Girl: A Memoir which focuses on the year that twelve-year-old Meghan spent with her father in rural Maine in 1976.Meghan shares how her life shifted from conventional (with her mother) to highly unconventional on a homestead with her father and how memoir writing helped her make sense of her life and unearth memories.She and Zibby also talked extensively about the role of books. Meghan went from being a "greedy reader" as a kid to reading aloud to her five children and eventually covering children’s books. Learn more about Meghan Cox Gurdon here. Follow her on Instagram here. You can purchase Free Range Girl: A Memoir here.

Jessica Radloff joins Zibby Owens to chat about her new book Young Sheldon: The (Juicier-Than-Meemaw's-Brisket) Inside Story of the Hit Comedy which gives readers an inside look at the hit comedy and spotlights interviews with the cast and crew.In addition to discussing Young Sheldon, Jessica talks about the surprises her own career has brought and how she started writing about The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon. She discusses being a late bloomer, feeling shy growing up, and navigating new stages in life and work. Follow Jessica Radloff on Instagram and Substack. Purchase Young Sheldon: The (Juicier-Than-Meemaw's-Brisket) Inside Story of the Hit Comedy here.

Actress Jane Leeves talks with Zibby Owens about her new book Daphne & Me: My Life on Frasier (And a Bit More) which gives a glimpse behind the scenes of her time on the hit show. Jane wrote Daphne & Me with her daughter Isabella Kathryn Coben, who also wrote the foreword. Jane shares memories from her eleven seasons of portraying Daphne on Frasier and how having nothing to fall back on helped her varied, successful career in show business. She also touches upon the tragic loss felt by the show’s cast and crew on 9/11 and how the connection on set helped them grieve. Follow Jane Leeves on Instagram @officialjaneleeves and IMDB. Purchase the book here.

New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Kingdom Meghan O’Rourke sits down with Zibby Owens to talk about her new, slim, poetry anthology The Story of the Body, a collection of 82 poems about illness, pain, and recovery. Meghan talks about her own experience of falling ill in her early twenties and navigating the onset of symptoms that eventually led to a diagnosis a decade later. She also discusses the process of compiling the anthology with her students at Yale and the magic and power of poetry as a way to make sense of the world. Learn more about Meghan O’Rourke here and follow her on Instagram @meghanor. The Story of the Body can be purchased here.

Israeli novelist and contributor to On Being Jewish Now Noa Yedlin speaks with Zibby Owens about her novel House Arrest, a story about a Jerusalem family and the scandal that leads to their downfall. Noa discusses how she first approached writing the book and how it is not just an Israeli story but also a family one, focusing on the relationship between parent and child: a relationship everyone can relate to in one way or another. She also talks about her journey as a writer and her perspective on life in Tel Aviv versus Jerusalem. Learn more about Noa Yedlin here and follow her on Instagram @noayedlin. Purchase House Arrest here.

Co-authors Christine Pride and Jo Piazza join Zibby Owens to discuss their new book I Never Knew You At All, the story of Simone and the investigation into her husband’s grandfather that exposes secrets, traumas, and moral dilemmas around her interracial marriage.Christine and Jo talk about the secrets we keep from not only others but from ourselves, how family can serve as a mirror for self-realization, and the throughline of friendship in their stories. They also share their exploration of ‘what if’ in this story, writing about dementia, and why they add gray areas to their characters. Learn more about Christine Pride here https://www.christinepride.com and Jo Piazza here https://www.jopiazza.com, and follow them both on Instagram @cpride and @jopiazzaauthor.

In this special double episode, Zibby Owens talks to author Kate Hash and podcaster Kara Infante about book clubs, the power of community, and how reading can change lives. First up, Kate Hash tells Zibby about her new book The Mother-In-Law Book Club, a story of friendship, unexpected chances, and found family. Kate talks about exploring empathy in this book, how she collects real stories to use in her novels, and the way homes shape both lives and stories. She also shares the power of women getting together for a book club, the reinvention required when starting a new chapter, and what she is working on next. Then, Zibby talks to Kara Infante about her literary podcast Bookish Flights which features reading recommendations, author interviews, and genre-sorted episodes. Kara shares how she went from physical therapist and military wife to podcaster, the rediscovery of her childhood love of reading, and how audiobooks saved her. She also discusses the steps she took to launch the podcast, the show’s most common and most surprising genres, and her advice to anyone wanting to start something similar. Learn more about Kate here https://www.kate-hash.com and Kara here https://www.bookishflights.com/about, and follow both on Instagram @katehashwrites and @bookishflights.