WE DID IT! The school year is over (at least, for my four kids). Hats off to all the families, caregivers, teachers, administrators, bus drivers, and everyone involved in educating our kids. Bravo!
The only thing missing for me now is a capstone to my own academic year. Like, say, a yearbook.
I was one of the photo editors of my high school yearbook. I’d go around the school and snap candids, cover sports events, and capture all the everyday moments. Then, on Saturdays, I’d come into school and hole up in the darkroom, my hands groping in black bags to unspool canisters of film, and then plunge the negatives in chemical baths until images appeared beneath the water like magic. It never got old.
When the yearbooks came out, I would obsessively pore over every page. Actually, I still pore over those pages. Just two days ago, I met a senior from when I was a freshman (this is in 1990, mind you) and pulled out my worn yearbook yet again. Oh yeah. That guy.
(Browse some yearbook photos here.)
The long messages my friends and I wrote each other would slather the shiny pages in bubbly handwriting, cementing memories I absolutely would’ve forgotten. Some references I don’t get when I reread the messages now. Try me again in 20 years.
Yet, when my kids bring home their yearbooks, I flip through them excitedly, but then I feel deflated. Like, why don’t grown-ups get yearbooks? It’s one of those unsung moments knowing, with photo evidence, that you were a part of something. A community. That you wouldn’t be forgotten. That 30 years later, your photos would still be pristine within the pages as you flip through them in the school library with your own kids. That you finished something you set out to do.
So here’s my quick yearbook for us all. Can you find yourself? Comment if yes or if you’ve enjoyed what we’ve produced this year!
The Inaugural Zibby-verse Yearbook: 2023-2024
To listen to all episodes, click here. To find an author or topic we discussed (ex: grief, Father’s Day, love, motherhood, Kristin Hannah), use the search bar on www.zibbymedia.com. All the episode transcripts and links to listen will come up!!
The Class of 2024
(Authors interviewed on Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books even if their episodes haven’t come out yet)
September Cohort:
Aparna Nancherla
Safiya Sinclair
John Manuel Arias
Matt Gutman
Carrie Berk
Douglas Brunt
Allison Pataki
Jessica Knoll
Kelly McMasters on Zibby’s Book Club
Lindsey Jacobellis
Davon Loeb
Kerri Maher
Lisa Niver
Sarah Blakely-Cartwright
Kristen Ness
Cindy Chupack
Sarah Cooper
Morgan Baker
Jean Kwok
Laura Numeroff
Brittany Means
Terri Liebenson
Angie Kim
Amanda Peters
Stephanie Kramer
Vanessa Kroll Bennett and Cara Natterson
Danny Pellegrino
October Cohort:
Hannah Stowe
Ali Rosen
Mitch Albom
Jane Ferguson
Rabbi Diana Fersko
Caitlin Moran
Alli Webb
Kristen McGuiness
Caitlin Shetterly
Jacquelyn Mitchard
Einat Natan
Richard Hurowitz
Bradley Tusk
Maria Hummel
Wendy Walker
Sonali Dev
Kim Coleman Foote
Kate Christensen
Kimberly Shannon Murphy
Aomawa Shields
November Cohort:
Barbara Kingsolver and Lily Kingsolver
Sarah Gelman
Stephanie Land
Charles Scribner III
Nancy Jooyoun Kim
Taylor Wolfe
Lea Carpenter
Nita Prose
Dr. Uma Naidoo
Christine Coulson
Elaine Roth
Dara Levan
Alix Strauss
Anna Pitoniak
Beth O’Leary
Alyssa Ages
John Sargent
Miriam Landis
Natalie Franke
December Cohort:
Angela Brown
Aliza Pressman
Kristin Hannah
Laurie Frankel
Rachel Renee Russell
Jamie Varon
Jamie Lee Curtis
Sagit Maier-Schwartz
Michele Norris
Nikki Vargas
James Patterson
Carola Lovering
Rebecca Serle
Roxana Robinson
Jacqueline Alnes
Elle Evans
Katherine Vaz
Emma Noyes
Stefanie Wilder-Taylor
Jonathan Conyers
January Cohort:
Jessica Saunders
Allison Holker Boss
Amy Shoenthal
Sophie Cousens
Megan Nix
Elba Iris Perez
Jenny Hollander
Bess Kalb
Susannah Breslin
Ross Gay
Erica Keswin
Dr. Edith Shiro
Jo Piazza
Jordan Salama
Molly Roden Winter
Carrie Sun
Alex Michaelides
Chris Cander
Meg Kissinger
Elyssa Maxx Goodman
Lissa Soepp
Jennifer Weiner
Lindsay Hameroff
Tia Williams
Uche Blackstock
Amy Lin
Maggie Smith
Kennedy Ryan
James Rhee
Betty Cayouette
February Cohort:
Gina Moffa
Katya Apekina
Claire Bidwell Smith
Jessica Gee
Claire Kilroy
Carys Davies
David Duchovny
Paige Layle
Swan Huntley
Lottie Hazell
Jane Bertch
Anna Quinden
Julie Chavez
Tana French
Sheila Heti
Chelsey Goodan
Carmen Johnson
Joan Collins
Rachelle Unreich
Lisa Selin Davis
Phillips Soo and Maris Pasquale Doran
Admiral James Stavridis and Elliot Ackerman
Katrina Leno
Allison Winn Scotch
Savannah Gunthrie
March Cohort:
Craig Melvin
Julia Alvarez
Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez
John E. Schumacher
Estelle Erasmus
Emily Farris
Nick Shaw
Susan Lieu
Neely Alexander
Gretchen Schreiber
Nell Freudenberger
Shannon Reed
Suzanne Park
Lisa Grunwald
April Cohort:
Denise Dorrance
Steve Almond
Courtney Preiss
Ann Leary
Pinky Cole
Caroline Leavitt
Nicholas Kristof
Allison Pataki
Annabel Monaghan
Sheila Yasmin Marikar
Chantha Nguob
Lisa Barr
Rowan Beird
Genevieve Kingston
Jessie Rosen
Charles Duhigg
Francine Prose
Kathleen Dorothy Blackburn
Teddy Wayne
Carley Fortune
Jamie Figueroa
Katherine Center
Yukiko Tominaga
Victor Lodato
Madeleine Henry
Ali Rosen
Beth Rodden
Sophie Trudeau
Rachel Dodes and Lauren Mechling
Jessica Fein
Bakari Sellers
Ruth Reichl
Tiffany Haddish
Jess H. Gutierrez
Emmanuel Acho and Noa Tishby
Sunny Hostin
May Cohort:
Debby Herbenick
Marjan Kamali
Penn and Kim Holderness
Jamie Brenner
Kate Bowler
Katie Arnold
Noa Yedlin
Clare Mackintosh
Poppy Harlow and Laura Jarrett
Emma Rosenblum
Hena Khan
Julia Phillips
Graham Moore
Laura Hankin
Dr. Amy Attas
Catherine Newman
Glynnis MacNicol
Nicole Avant
Paige Toon
Jane Rosen
Tom Seeman
Jen Rudin
Chales Kenney
Colombe Schneck
Plum Sykes
Anastasia Zadeik
Dr. Mary Claire Haver
Catherine Mack
Lauren Aliza Green
Talia Carner
Emily Harding and Audrey Bellezza
Chris Whitaker
Sarah Manguso
Alison Espach
Lisa Keefauver
Jonathan Haidt
Dr. Elizabeth Comen
MK Asante
Ed Burns
Elizabeth O’Connor
Clare Pooley
Bianca Bosker
Sherri Crichton and James Patterson
Elissa Strauss
June Cohort:
Johann Hari
Katherine Applegate
Jeff Norton and Holly Smale
Griffin Dunne
Maggie Smith (IG Live)
Josh Funk
Helen Russell
Brooke Lea Foster
Caro Carver
Sarai Johnson
Kimberly McCreight
Joselyn Takacs
Tara Stringfellow
Paul Scheer
Steven Rowley
Mary Jones
Emily Giffin
Georgia Hunter and Thomas Kail
Sarah Confino
Rebecca Sanford
Find all these conversations on Apple Podcasts here or search Zibby Media for any author name, title, or topic of interest!
Faculty and Staff
Hats off to the AMAZING Zibby Media team including all the exceptional booksellers at Zibby’s Bookshop!! All bios here. (Goodbye to Karen Menzie. Sorry to lose you!)
After-School Activities!
Zibby’s Book Club
Learn more and join here!
September: Kelly McMasters, Patty Lin
October: Brittany Means, Ashley Audrain
November: Mitch Albom, Meghan Riordan Jarvis
December: Cleo Wade (without author), Emma Grey
January: Angela Brown
February: Laurie Frankel
March: Anna Quindlen
April: Susan Lieu
May: Julia Alvarez
The Podcast Club
(Podcasts that Had Me on as a Guest)
Purple Hearts Podcast
Friends and Fiction
Under the Influence with Jo Piazza
A Bookish Home
I’m Not Your Shrink
Powerful Stories with Tory Archbold
She’s Got Issues
Write the Damn Book Already
Meant for It
Get Signed
Dedicated with Doug Brunt
Strala Book Club pick
Sysosset Public Library podcast
Healthy, Wealthy Mama Summit
I Don’t Know How You Do It
Tablet’s Unorthodox
The Skimm’s 9 to 5
Estelle Erasmus’s Freelance Writing Direct
Unimaginable Wellness
Deborah Kobylt Live
The Premise from San Diego Writers’ Festival
Age Well
The Style That Binds
Women with Cool Jobs
Why is Everyone Yelling at Me
Books Are Chic
The Write Review
A Mighty Blaze
NHPR with Rachel Barenbaum
Off the Shelf with Delaware Library podcast
As Told To podcast
The Interview with Leslie
Mom to More
Karin Gutman podcast
Cleveland Public Library podcast
The Print Magazine and Newspaper Club
(PRINT outlets that featured me!)
NYT Styles Section (coming Sunday!)
Publishers Weekly
LA Times
James Lane Post
Voyage LA
Atlantic Ave Magazine
Shoutout LA
Quest Magazine
2023-2024 Awards
Signal Awards for Best Host Interview/Talk Show and Best Host, Arts & Culture Podcast
Webby Award: People’s Voice winner for Best Interview/Talk Show; Honoree for this Substack right here, Zibby’s Highlights on Substack!!; Honoree for Zibby Mag
Lovie Award for General Series: Interview/Talk Show
Shortlisted: The Publisher Podcast Awards for Podcast Hero of the Hero and Best Entertainment Podcast
Girls Write Now Literacy Award
Congrats also to all the winners of The Zibby Awards!!
The Interviewers Club
(Outlets and Journalists Who Interviewed Me here!)
Alyssa Ages for Literary Mama
Destination LA
Good Day DC
Palisades Magazine
NY1 with Annika Pergament
Le Nacion by Juana Libendinsky
Sandy Kenyon for Fox-5 Eyewitness News
Tamron Hall on the Tamron Hall Show
CBS2 NY with Mary Calvi
Columbus Dispatch
Waves Magazine Santa Monica
Romper
LA Mom
Alissa Henry ABC-6 Columbus
LA Mag
CBS-2 Chicago
Good Morning America
Pix-11 News
Today.com
TinyABC Book Club
Readers’ Coffeehouse Book Club
Palm Beach Daily News (The Shiny Sheet!)
New Hampshire NPR with Rachel Barenbaum
Julie Maloney’s Women Reading Aloud
NY Mag
Cup of Jo
The Skimm
Forbes.com
Yale Alumni Magazine
Thrive Global
Spotlight Hamptons
Katie Couric Media
Thrive
Newsday
Gretchen Rubin’s newsletter
WGN-TV
Harvard Business School Alumni Magazine
… and more that featured Blank on lists and more like Town & Country, Bustle, and more plus all the blogs!!! Plus all the outlets that covered our Zibby Books titles. THANK YOU!
The Literary Society
(Where I Contributed but think I’m forgetting some…)
Spotlight Hamptons
Oprah Daily (essay)
The Non-Profit Society
Organizations in which I held a leadership or board position.
Artists Against Antisemitism: Co-founder! Post-10/7 activism was a big part of my year. Read my latest post.
Mount Sinai Parenting Center
Mount Sinai Health System
The Child Mind Institute
NYPL
(Coming soon: a new Women’s Health Center initiative!)
Bookstore Lovers Club
Bookstores where I signed copies of Blank this year!! THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME!!! The Zibby-verse Tour only has a couple more events.
NY:
The Strand
Corner Bookstore
Books are Magic
Shakespeare & Co
P&T Knitwear with Jenny Mollen
BookHampton
Sag Harbor Books
B&N Bridgehampton
Katonah Reading Room
CA:
Zibby’s Bookshop
The Best Little Bookshop in Palm Springs
CO:
Tattered Cover, Denver
CT:
Elm Street Books
Athena Books with Avery Carpenter Forrey
Barrett Bookstore
FL:
Books and Books Coral Gables with Alexandra Wilkis Wilson
The Palm Beach Bookstore with Dara Levan
GA:
Virginia Highland Books with Shelli Johannes
IL:
Madison Street Books with Stacy Igel
MA:
Saltwater Bookstore
Beacon Hill Books
Belmont Bookstore
Newtonville Books, Boston with Hanna Halperin
Bookshop of Beverly Farms
MD:
The Ivy Bookstore on way to Jill Smokler
MN:
Valley Booksellers with Nina Badzin
NJ:
Books and Greetings with Alisyn Camerota
PA:
Booked Chesnut Hill
SC:
Buxton Books with Victoria Benton Frank and Stacy Willingham
TN:
Parnassus Books with Elle Evans
TX:
Brazos Bookstore in Houston with Chris Cander
Cindy Burnett’s Thoughts from a Page Salon
Interabang with Amanda Eyre Ward
… and more that I visited plus more than hosted events for our Zibby Books authors!!
The Book Publishing Club
Books published by Zibby Books this academic year. Every book is a lead title!
September: End Credits by Patty Lin
October: Hell if We Don’t Change Our Ways by Brittany Means
November: End of the Hour by Meghan Riordan Jarvis
December: The Last Love Note by Emma Grey
January: Everyone But Myself by Julie Chavez
February: The House of Plain Truth by Donna Hemans
March: Here After by Amy Lin
April: Wedding Issues by Elle Evans
May: I Want You More by Swan Huntley
Note: Of these titles we had two Book of the Month Club picks, a Target Book Club pick, and two USA Today Bestsellers!!!
My own novel Blank also came out which was NOT published by Zibby Books but published by Little A. Also a USA Today Bestseller!
The Bookshop Club
Too many events to list! 231 live events at Zibby’s Bookshop this year. Watch all the recordings here. Learn more here! 1113 Montana Ave, Santa Monica, CA, 90403.
The Writing Community
Thanks to all the instructors of our Zibby Classes taught, writing community speakers, and participants! Learn more here. Were you a part of it? Comment here!
Collabs
So many amazing partnerships this year!!! We love our Social Goods sweatshirt, hat and mug collab, our Felix Doolittle custom stationery line, the Zibby-verse Boy Meets Girl tour tee, our Montage Resorts and Main Street Hospitality partnerships, and more! Plus all our fabulous brand partnerships for every title we publish. Email info@zibbymedia.com if you want to partner with us! Or if you want to introduce us to a partner, comment!
Field Trips
(Events I Hosted or Organized with My Amazing Team)
Soho House West Hollywood panel moderator
Planet Word event in Washington DC
Solvang, CA Zibby Retreat
Miami Book Fair Zibby Retreat
Emma Grey post-Thanksgiving event
Meghan Riordan Jarvis and Rebecca Soffer event
Media lunch for Blank
Moderated NYPL event with Emma Grey
Launch event for Lea Carpenter
Austin Zibby Retreat (absent: me)
New Year, New Chapter Petite Retreat with Media Cocktails and Author Dinner
Asheville Zibby Retreat
Chicago Petite Retreat at the American Writers Museum
The Zibby Awards at Zibby’s Bookshop
Summer Reads lunch in NY (bookshop party to come on June 23rd!)
Exchange Programs
(Events I personally spoke at this year and where!)
Crafting and Conversation panelist at the Craft Studio
NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute speaker
School Book Fair moderator
School event with Ingrid Fetell Lee
School event: “Writing for Your Life”
Miami Book Fair panelist
Moderated event with Aliza Pressman for Mount Sinai Parenting Center
Temple B’nai Jerusalem with Alisha Fernandez Miranda
Hey Mama conference panelist
Bedford Playhouse with Annabel Monaghan: “How to Survive the Writing Life”
B&N Union Square event booth
Sue Shapiro salon event speaker
Streicker Center event for Blank
School Publishing Panel
Tucson Literary Festival panelist
Literary Society of the Southwest event with Elizabeth Lyons
Happy Women Dinners speaker
Alt Summit Conference speaker
Two private Houston salons
Scarsdale Library panelist
New York Society Library speaker
Event with Delaware County Library at Jeni’s Ice Cream
PLA conference - booth
Erma Bombeck conference keynote speaker
Mom 2.0 panelist
Jill Smokler’s She’s Got Issues event speaker
Planet Word panel with Meghan Riordan Jarvis
Minneapolis event at ModernWell
Women’s Media Group event with Estelle Erasmus
Co-chair, NYPL Library Lunch
LA Times Festival of Books panelist
Charleston Library Society panelist
House of Speakeasy at Joe’s Pub speaker
Matzah Book Club pick event
Friends and Fiction pick event
Sephardic Community Center with Corie Adjmi
Girls Write Now event
JCC event Palm Beach Gardens with Jane L. Rosen
BookTalk with Rochelle Weinstein
Montclair Literary Festival
Streicker Center’s “Women on the Move” Talks with Ann Napolitano, Jean Kwok, Panel with Emma Grey, Patty Lin, Brittany Means and Alisha Fernandez Miranda, Curtis Sittenfeld
The Instagram Community
Thank you for all the support and engagement this year on all our accounts: zibbyowens, zibbysbookshop, zibbybookspublishing and momsdonthavetimetoreadbooks!!!!
Thanks for a fabulous year in the Zibby-verse, everyone! Enjoy summer break!
Browse our yearbook photos here!! And subscribe to our Zibby Media Minute newsletter and Zibby’s Bookshop newsletter plus Zibby’s Book Club here!!
WE DID IT!!!!!
Love this!!!!! What a year !
Thought you might enjoy, Zibby — we recently spoke with Carrie Sun for Women of Letters: https://womenofletters.substack.com/p/carrie-sun