Post-Retreat Weekly Highlights

Recap and looking forward

I got back last night from our Palm Beach Retreat for Book Lovers which, I have to say, was really fun and special. Thanks to everyone who participated! For those of you who voted on which outfit I should wear, this one won! You can use code Zibby20 for 20% off this look or anything by Cartolina. Think I made the right choice?!

Here with author Marie Benedict

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Totally Booked with Zibby

I truly loved the episodes that are coming out this week!

Monday: Jewell Parker Rhodes on Finding Yourself Through Storytelling

Award-winning, bestselling author Jewell Parker Rhodes and I have become good friends. She has been on my podcast several times, we’ve done events together, and she even contributed to one of my first anthologies. Sometimes in life you just click with someone — across generations, across backgrounds — united by words and souls. Jewell is like that for me. We were crying by the end of the podcast. Yes, it was about her latest, utterly compelling graphic novel Ghost Boys, but it was also about her entire career, how books saved her life, and how it feels to look back on it all. This was one of my favorite episodes.

Tuesday: Jennifer Niven on her amazing new novel Meet the Newmans

I’m obsessed with this book. Meet the Newmans by Jennifer Niven is one of those can’t-put-down stories about a family, a woman coming into her own, coping with the unexpected, all set in the 1950s and 1960s as women’s roles shifted — with the backdrop of a TV sitcom. Just trust me. It’s so good. Jennifer Niven and I did an event together at the Minnie Rose x Zibby’s Bookshop pop-up and she couldn’t have been more delightful. Listen in.

Wednesday: Why We’re Just Watching Lior Torenberg

Just Watch Me has such a creative concept behind it. Each chapter starts with how many fictitious streaming followers the main character has on her feed. She livestreams her life including eating hot peppers and more funny antics to survive but also to help her sister who is ill. It’s subversive and quirky and really funny. Plus the author shares her ties to Israel which I loved.

Thursday: Nicholas Thompson Runs Publications, Runs Competitively, and Never Runs Out of Insights

This book isn’t just about running. It’s about perseverance, focus, choices, mastery, drive, and fatherhood. Nicholas Thompson has had many swoon-worthy literary jobs including being an editor at The New Yorker, editor-in-chief at Wired magazine, and now running The Atlantic. His personal story includes his career trajectory but also how he became one of the top runners in his age group on the planet right now. The Running Ground is instructive, inspirational, and truly interesting. We spoke about all of it.

Friday: Susan Lucci — From Soap Opera Star to Widow and Everything in Between

Never mind the fact that I accidentally deleted my first podcast interview recording with Susan Lucci. She’s just that gracious that we re-recorded in person in New York the next day. You may know her from “All My Children.” But while Susan’s latest memoir, La Lucci, does focus on that, it focuses more on the behind-the-scenese: how she parented while acting for decades, what came before and after, how she felt. It also delves deep into the now and the aftermath of Susan’s loss of her husband. In our first recording, she cried. In this one, recorded in a closet audio-booth at her publisher’s office, we laughed. I now absolutely adore her. Give this book to someone.

Listen here.

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Watch: The “Totally Booked” TV Show on JBS

Corinne Low, Ph.D., and I spoke on my latest episode of “Totally Booked” TV on JBS. Dr. Low wrote the bestselling book Having it All: What Data Tells Us About Women’s Lives and Getting the Most Out of Yours. Find out the secrets to a happier life here.

All past JBS episodes here.

Watch here

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Events

We just wrapped up our Palm Beach Retreat for Book Lovers which was really amazing! 40 women for the weekend. 6 authors. 150 women at the luncheon. Plus I capped it all off with an event at Malka in West Palm with the JCC and the Paul E. Singer Foundation. Yes. I am tired. (Typing this newsletter from my couch.)

Check out all the photos from our retreat here by Emmy Jay Photography. Password: Book.

Don’t miss our next big Zibby event: March 1st in NYC. Sunday Brunch and Books celebrating International Women’s Day with amazing authors including Anna Quindlen, Allison Pataki, Tovah Feldshuh, Alli Frank & Asha Youmans, Brian Platzer, and Alexandra Potter. Tickets on sale here.

This Week:

February 4th: All Day. We’re celebrating our 3rd year anniversary AND World Read Aloud Day at Zibby’s Bookshop in Santa Monica! Come by anytime from 9 am - 6 pm for free copies of Choose Your Own Adventure and more. Think: custom cookies! RSVP here or pop in.

February 5th at 11 am: I’ll be interviewing Joan Lunden at the Core Club in NYC. Tickets here.

Save the date: On February 23rd, Belle Burden will join us for Zibby’s Book Club to discuss her #1 NYT bestselling memoir, Strangers. RSVP here.

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Items of the Week

I rounded up all my picks for Valentines Day here. You can browse ALL my favorites on my ShopMy page here.

Valentine's Day Gift Guide

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Thanks for reading, everyone! Fun fact: this just took me 1 hour and 40 minutes to write, get links, format, do images, etc. Hope it was worth it! Have a great week. :-)

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