Totally Booked with Zibby

James Beard Award-winning chef Alon Shaya talks with Zibby Owens about his new book, Memories of a Good Meal: Recipes of Resilience Inspired by Stories of World War II Survival, which he co-wrote with author June Hersh. The book includes recipes and stories from Holocaust survivors and WWII heroes.

Alon discusses the power of food as a learning tool of history and as a source of identity and safety. He also shares memories of his Safta cooking for him and the encouragement he received from a high school teacher, Donna Barnett, to enter the world of cooking. They later started the Shaya Barnett Foundation together to help other high school students.

Learn more about Alon Shaya, his restaurants, and the Shaya Barnett Foundation here and follow him on Instagram at @alonshaya. You can purchase Memories of A Good Meal here.
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A story for the messy middle. Zibby's essay collection Between Chapters is out now!
Love to listen? She narrated the audiobook.
Listen on Spotify here.
Listen on Apple here.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.
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A story for the messy middle. Zibby's essay collection Between Chapters is out now!
Love to listen? She narrated the audiobook.
Listen on Spotify here.
Listen on Apple here.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.
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A story for the messy middle. Zibby's essay collection Between Chapters is out now!
Love to listen? She narrated the audiobook.
Listen on Spotify here.
Listen on Apple here.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.
*********
A story for the messy middle. Zibby's essay collection Between Chapters is out now!
Love to listen? She narrated the audiobook.
Listen on Spotify here.
Listen on Apple here.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.
*********
A story for the messy middle. Zibby's essay collection Between Chapters is out now!
Love to listen? She narrated the audiobook.
Listen on Spotify here.
Listen on Apple here.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.