Don't Say Good Luck
Books, Film, and Goodbyes
We were all sobbing. I won’t give away the ending of the utterly fabulous, moving, heartwarming and pitch perfect film “Don’t Say Good Luck,” but it was a gut punch. I wanted to watch the movie for several reasons.
Laura Hankin, a three-time guest on my podcast for The Daydreams, One-Star Romance, and Happy and You Know It, wrote the screenplay! Another podcast guest, Max Greenfield, I Don’t Want to Read This Book, starred in it. (Fun fact: Max’s wife Tess Sanchez was also on my podcast for her book of essays We’ve Decided to Go in a Different Direction and will be a featured author at our Santa Monica Book Lovers Retreat!)
The movie starred the immensely talented Sunny Sandler (our family thinks it’s “kinda chic” to imagine we’re family friends with the Sandlers, haha). Also, the clips on Instagram looked great. I thought it would be a fun, family movie. It was. But it was deeper than that. It made me think about my own mortality which, on the cusp of turning fifty, I’ve been doing non-stop.
Yesterday, my brother and our families got together and played a fun game. One of the rules was that the oldest player could go first. All eyes turned to me. As we all laughed, I actually held back tears. To make light of the moment, I sang a line from the “Cups” song: “You’re going to miss me when I’m gone…”
“Zib!”
“Mom, don’t even joke.”
But as I looked around at this group of people I love more than almost anyone in the entire world (aside from my parents) and realized that if chronology holds, I would be the first one to go, I got unspeakably sad. I imagined the same set-up minus me. I tried to make out everyone’s expressions on the eve of losing me. The pain my children and family would feel — as any family of a lost loved one would. And I felt helpless. Resigned. Accepting. It all became quite clear.
(Meanwhile, as I typed that last sentence from my couch in the Palisades, the day after the Palisades Village reopened after almost two years of renovations after the fire, the sun literally peeked out from behind the nearby mountains as if God were sending me a personal message. My computer and I became bathed in light.)
Fifty is hitting me hard. Even though I have so much exciting stuff happening professionally — my book is coming out! my tour is about to start! — my personal life is in a new, unknown chapter. My twins both leave for college over the next two weeks. One of them will be a plane-ride away. (I’m starting to cry again thinking about it.)
We’ve had the best summer with all four kids mostly home. So much downtime. So many laughs. So many hugs. And now it’s all about to end. How many days will I even see the “big kids” after drop-off, especially because I have to share their time back at home with their dad? Will I ever be as lucky as I am being with them right this moment? It all feels so final and emotional, even though I’m thrilled for them. My younger kids will soon be in the craziness of middle school with homework, activities, events, and distractions. I’ll be back in the office, racing around the city, overwhelmed.
The sweetness of summer is over. And I just wanted to take a moment to honor the small grief of lost moments while appreciating that I get to be here at all. That’s all we can do, right?
Bookish Film News
Books and movies are lifesavers, especially during challenging chapters. Here are adaptations or films with ties to our community!
“Don’t Say Good Luck:” Written by podcast guest Laura Hankin, starring podcast guest Max Greenfield (see above!).
“Late Fame:” Adapted from a novella by Arthur Schnitzler. (Produced by my husband Kyle! If you’d like to join a special screening I’m hosting on August 21st in Sag Harbor, email me for up to two tickets.) Written up in the New Yorker among other outlets.
“Verity:” Based on the book by past podcast guest for Reminders of Him, Colleen Hoover: Trailer is here. Coming out October 2.
“Spa Weekend:” Starring past podcast guest Michelle Buteau, Survival of the Thickest. (Produced by my brother Teddy!) Coming out August 21.
“The Rivals of Amziah King:” Starring podcast guest Matthew McConaghey, Just Because. (Produced by my brother Teddy). Out now!
“Rolling Loud:” Written and directed by On Being Jewish Now contributor Jeremy Garelick. Info here. Coming out October 2.
Plus there’s an upcoming adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s Night & Day (coming out September 4), John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, and a new season coming of “Nobody Wants This” starring past podcast guest Tovah Feldshuh, Lilyville.
Let’s Hang
Tickets for our next Totally Booked: Live! event are now available. Join us on October 3rd for an intimate literary talk show at the gorgeous Whitby Hotel in New York with literary powerhouses Amber Rae, Griffin Dunne, Beatriz Williams , Tarajia Morrell (a Zibby Publishing author!
Thanks to everyone who came to Zibby’s Bookshop to celebrate Romance Bookstore Day! We had a surprise guest: past podcast guest Ana Huang! Signed copies of her books are available at the bookstore while supplies last.
FYI, Libro.fm is running a sale on romance audiobooks through August 19, with tons available for $5 USD or less! Every purchase supports our bookshop.
We have so many Zibby’s Bookshop events coming up. Be sure to follow our Eventbrite listings for upcoming in-person and Substack Live events with notables like Stephanie Wittel Wachs of Lemonada Media, Sarah Wright Olsen, Maria Shriver, Annabeth Gish, Kristy Woodson Harvey, Fran Hauser, Jackie Friedland, David K. Israel, and more!
Speaking of the bookstore, here are our bestsellers!
For Your Enjoyment…
Be sure to listen to our five new episodes of Totally Booked every week.
Read our new daily essay from the Between Chapters project and join our WhatsApp community.
Pop into the bookstore: 1113 Montana Ave, Santa Monica.
Read the books we publish like:
John Kenney's I See You’ve Called in Dead, now in paperback.
Annabelle Gurwitch’s The End of My Life is Killing Me which was recently featured on NPR (listen here).
Alexandra Potter’s So, I Met This Guy which has now spent three weeks on the Sunday Times bestseller list in the UK.
Follow me on Instagram for daily musings — and follow Zibby Publishing, Zibby’s Bookshop, and Totally Booked with Zibby.