Let Me Entertain You

5 podcasts I literally just finished recording and how they can help.

I just finished doing five podcasts. In a row. I hardly ever do that, but today from 11 am to 1:45 pm, I interviewed these authors for Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books with Zibby and learned the following — which will hopefully help (or entertain) you, too.

• Amy Shoenthal, The Setback Cycle. Amy and I discussed how to rebound after professional and personal setbacks. She wouldn’t reveal her most painful, personal setback, but agreed to bring her therapist next time (hahaha). Main message? Setbacks actually help in the long run. Phew! I’ve certainly had enough of them.

• Sophie Cousens, The Good Part. This novel was so good that I finished it in two days, read every word, and sat smiling with the book to my chest afterwards in such a creepy way that Kyle started laughing. It’s a voice-driven, British story by New York Times bestselling author Sophie Cousens about a 26-year-old named Lucy who makes a wish and wakes up in her own life at age 42. Fun, fabulous. We talked about the stress of putting out book after book and worrying about the results, also what inventions she predicts will come. And I thought Google maps was helpful. She also shared sneak peeks about a movie adaptation…

• Megan Nix, Remedies for Sorrow: An Extraordinary Child, a Secret Kept from Pregnant Women, and a Mother’s Pursuit of the Truth. Megan shared her amazing journey when one of her (five) kids was born with CMV, a virus which 91% of moms don’t know about but if they did, they could prevent. Congential CMV mostly gets transmitted to pregnant moms from their toddlers and causes hearing loss, blindness, seizures, and even death in newborns. Not eating your toddler’s mac & cheese can actually be life-saving. I knew I shouldn’t have been doing that.

• Elba Iris Perez, The Things We Didn’t Know. I didn’t know the town Elba wrote about was a real place. I didn’t know that Elba taught theater for 20 years and then got a Ph.D. in history, only to whip out this novel set in the Puerto Rican community in Massachusetts and Puerto Rico itself. And no, she’d never tried writing a novel or even read novels. Now she does. How did she capture the voice of 9-year-old Andrea so well as she navigated the in-between of two cultures? She has no clue. She doesn’t know that either.

• Jenny Hollander, Everyone Who Can Forgive Me is Dead. I’m still not convinced that Jenny wasn’t talking about herself and is keeping some seriously dark secrets from us. The digital director at Marie Claire, Jenny has developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and panic attacks, but still thinks New Yorkers are a helpful bunch whenever she needs help. And yet…. she still moved back to London. Can’t win ‘em all. Secrets and murders in Jenny’s life? Let’s watch closely.

I’m excited to really reboot Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books in 2024. I’m going on a live podcast tour with the Zibby-verse tour (please grab a ticket to one of the 50+ events virtual and across the country!!) with so many authors along the way. I just redid the logo (like it?!?).

I’m launching a subscription option with three things every author recommends which will also be on TikTok. I’m about to launch a Facebook group of listeners and really build out our social around the pod. And more.

This is why I sometimes think there’s something wrong with me. In a meeting this week, I learned my podcast was in the top 5% of podcasts. In the world. That’s crazy. Was I satisfied? No. I said, “Well, how can I get it in the top 1%?”

I don’t know why I’m like this. I could just accept the good news and settle in. But I always want to improve, do better, grow. If you have thoughts on how to grow my podcast listenership this year, please share it! And if you have haven’t listened in a while or subscribed, please do (here).

Also, I have podcast transcripts for all my past 1,700 episodes so if you’re interested in learning about a certain author, chances are I’ve interviewed them! I’ll redo this website soon, but just search by author name here.

Okay, rushing to school pick-up. Have a great weekend!

Zibby