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Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books™️

Mitch Albom, TWICE: A Novel

Season 25, Ep. 14

Totally Booked: LIVE! In this special episode of the podcast (in-person at the Whitby Hotel with a live audience!), Zibby interviews America’s favorite storyteller, Mitch Albom, about his new novel, TWICE, a magical and deeply moving story about regret, love, and second chances. Mitch shares how the idea came to him (in the shower!), the themes that drive his work, and how his own experiences with loss and his orphanage in Haiti inspired the book’s emotional core. Together, they discuss the novel’s time-bending premise, its detective storyline, the limits of love, and the lesson at its heart: if we were always given second chances, we’d never learn a thing.


Purchase on Bookshop: https://bit.ly/3IX5OK5


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(Music by Morning Moon Music. Sound editing by TexturesSound. To inquire about advertising, please contact allie.gallo@acast.com.)

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