Books

Explore books written by Zibby… before Blank.

Bookends: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Literature

A deeply personal memoir about one woman’s journey to finding her voice and rewriting her story by Zibby Owens, the creator and host of the award-winning podcast Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books™.

Zibby Owens has become a well-known personality in the publishing world. Her infectious energy, tasteful authenticity, and smart, steadfast support of authors started in childhood, a precedent set by the profound effect books and libraries had on her own family.

But after losing her closest friend on 9/11 and later becoming utterly stressed out and overwhelmed by motherhood, Zibby was forgetting what made her her. She turned to books and writing for help.

Just when things seemed particularly bleak, Zibby unexpectedly fell in love with a tennis pro turned movie producer who showed her the path to happiness: away from type A perfectionism and toward “letting things unfold organically.” What “unfolded” was a meaningful career, a great love, and finally, her voice, now heard by millions of listeners.

An honest and moving story about relationships, love, food issues, the writing life, and finding one’s true calling, Bookends will inspire and uplift.

"Zibby Owens' Bookends is a candid and charming memoir about the ups and downs of midlife through the lens of reading and books. Zibby, one of the most beloved book influencers in Amera, shares how books can help us through tough times. An inspiring and hopeful read."

— Ariana Huffington, Founder and CEO of Thrive Global

Press and Praise for Bookends

  • Amazon First Reads pick for June 2022! 

  • Featured on Good Morning America, CNN, Eyewitness News with Sandy Kenyon, Good Day LA, Good Day Dallas, Good Day DC, Miami NBC, and San Diego

  • One of Town & Country’s “33 Best Summer Beach Reads”

  • One of Book Riot’s “8 Surprising New Memoirs to Add to Your TBR ASAP”

  • Featured in Katie Couric Media, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Woman’s Day, the New York Post, BookTrib, Thrive Global, Avenue, Quest, Amazon Book Review, Dan’s Papers, Audiofile, Hamptons Magazine, the Palisadian Post, Behind the Hedges, Westport Magazine, Spotlight Hamptons, Social Life, James Lane Post, Our Town, The Post & Courier, The Alliance Times Herald, The Westerly Sun, Tampa Bay Parenting, Hippocampus, Atlantic Avenue

  • January 2023 Book Club Pick for Friends & Fiction! Selected for many other book clubs! 

Princess Charming

By Zibby Owens; Illustrated by Holly Hatam (April 19th, 2022)

Princess Charming can’t quite seem to find her “thing.” She’s tried everything from cooking to hip-hop, and hasn’t been able to perfect either. Even her cartwheels are subpar. But when the castle hosts a superstar for a special event, Princess Charming finally finds her time to shine.

Princess Charming is about a brand-new princess character filled with fun, humor, and girl power. With a modern look and can-do attitude, Princess Charming is the perfect gift for all young readers who never give up! For more information, click here.

Press and Praise for Prince Charming

Moms Don’t Have Time to Have Kids

53 SHORT ESSAYS FOR BUSY PEOPLE... BY 49 AMAZING AUTHORS.

Too tired to think? No time to read books? Zibby Owens gets it. Award-winning podcaster of Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books and mother of four (ages 6 to 14) compiled 53 essays by 49 authors to help the rest of us feel understood, inspired, and less alone.

The authors, all previous guests on her podcast (go listen!), include 15 New York Times bestselling authors, 5 national bestsellers and 29 award-winning/notable/critically-acclaimed writers. The super short essays were inspired by a few other things moms don't have time to do: sleep, get sick, write, lose weight, and see friends. Read one a week and you'll finish the whole book in a year: accomplishment!

Topics range from taking care on aging grandmother, mourning the loss of a family member, battling insomnia, wrestling with body image, coping with chronic illness, navigating writer's block, the power of women's friendship, and more juicy stuff.

You'll laugh, cry, think, and feel like you just had coffee with a close friend. If that best friend were a world-renown author.

Moms Don’t Have Time to Have Kids was already selected as a Publishers Lunch Buzz Book for Fall/Winter 2021. What are you waiting for?! Order today!

Press and Praise for Zibby’s Second Anthology

Moms Don’t Have Time To: A Quarantine Anthology

Zibby’s first anthology, Moms Don’t Have Time To: A Quarantine Anthology, was released by Skyhorse Publishing on February 16th, 2021. It included original essays from 60+ authors from her podcast. Essays were inspired by five things moms don’t have time to do: eat, breathe, work out, read, and have sex. Read below to learn about all the amazing press and awards it received!

Press and Praise for Zibby’s First Anthology