Weekly Highlights for Book Lovers

6 Reminders

May 04, 2026

Have you ordered Mother’s Day gifts yet? It’s this Sunday! If not, check out my recommendations here (a LONGER LIST is at the bottom!) — or send the guide to someone who just might be shopping for you.

Mother's Day Gift Ideas

(FYI, I gave away a Mother’s Day stack of books on Instagram a few days ago and asked who and why followers would gift them to. The responses filled my heart! Next time I’ll do it here on Substack. The winner of that is @remlovesw, who is donating them to her cardiology department’s free library at Boston Children’s so the moms there can enjoy them. So nice!)

Meanwhile, I realized this week that even though my life and work is all about books, it isn’t just because I love to read, although I do. It’s also because doing so helps scale the life messages I’m trying to shout from the rooftops. Here are my top 6 reminders. (I would amend #5 to “Talk, read, and write about it.”)

Totally Booked This Week

This is such an exciting week on my podcast. I remember reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett when it came out in 2009 and absolutely loving it. Back then, as a stay-at-home mom of twins under age two, the idea that I would get to interview the author would’ve sounded like a joke. Now, with those twins about to graduate high school, I’ve had a great conversation with Kathryn Stockett — and you can listen to it.

Here’s me in 2009 when The Help came out at the twins’ birthday party:

And here’s me last month interviewing Kathryn Stockett about The Calamity Club. Insane.

Loved the book. Also loved Enormous Wings by Laurie Frankel. One of my favorites this year! Hear from Pam Sherman who became a friend after our weekend together at JWI where she nominated me for an award.

Listen

Don’t miss these three conversations.

Book Recs

Have you checked out my Most Anticipated List for summer reading 2026?

Summer 2026: Most Anticipated List

Zibby Owens

Apr 15

Every season, I go through all the upcoming books and select the ones I’m most excited about. Here are the books, by month and topic (with links below), that you should have on your radar! We’ll be s…

Read full story

Upcoming Events

GREENWICH, CT. Thursday, May 7th at 10 am: UJA JCC of Greenwich Women’s Philanthropy speaker. Tickets here.

STAMFORD, CT. Thursday, May 7th at 6 pm: UJF of Stamford, New Canaan, and Darien Women’s Philanthropy Spring Dinner speaker. Tickets here.

NEW YORK, NY. Monday, May 11th at 11:30 am - 1:45 pm. Co-chairing the Child Mind Institute Spring Luncheon with bestselling author Dr. Lisa Damour, Dr. Dave Anderson, and bestselling author Ali Wentworth about empowering parenting in the digital age. Join me. Tickets and tables here.

VIRTUAL. Tuesday, May 12th at 7 pm: Zibby’s Book Club virtual meeting with Emma Grey, Start at the End. Register here for Zoom link.

OYSTER BAY, NY. Sunday, May 17th at 2 pm. Gold Coast Book Festival panelist with Jane L. Rosen, David P. Kaufman, Brenda Janowitz, and me. Info here.

VIRTUAL. Wednesday, May 27th at 1 pm. National Library of Israel online panel, “The Strength of Jewish Women,” with Lihi Lapid, Annabelle Gurwitch, Lisa Barr, Judy Batalion, and me. Link here.

NEW YORK, NY. Monday, June 1st at 8 pm: 92nd Street Y event with actor Mark Feuerstein, Rabbi Steve Leder, Allison Gilbert and me to discuss On Being Jewish Now. Tickets here.

NEW YORK, NY. Wednesday, June 3rd at 3:45 pm. U.S. Book Show panelist, “The New Book Tour: How Podcasts are Revitalizing Your Entire List” with Lauren Cobello. Info here.

NEW HAVEN, CT. Thursday, June 4th at 5:30 pm. Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven Women’s Engagement and Philanthropy event speaker. Info here.

POTOMAC, MD. Friday, June 5th at 9:30 am. Teach Give Inspire Fridays speaker with Pam Sherman and Hilary Fordwich. Tickets here.

VIRTUAL. Tuesday, June 9th at 7 pm. Zibby’s Book Club with Sarah Damoff, The Burning Side. Register here for Zoom link.

Totally Booked TV

Watch the “Totally Booked” TV Show on JBS. New episodes every Thursday at 7:30 pm ET on the JBS network. Watch here.

Recent TV episodes include:

James Frey, Next to Heaven

Brian Kelly (“the Points guy”)

Kate Broad, Greenwich

Jane Hamilton, The Phoebe Variations

On Being Jewish Now

I was thrilled to see that Rachel Goldberg-Polin’s memoir When We See You Again hit the New York Times bestseller list at #1. If you haven’t listened to our episode, please do. It was from my event with her hosted by UJA-NYC.

Our On Being Jewish Now stage performance by The Braid closed its California run but will be expanding across the country. Stay tuned!

With Jewish American Heritage month in May, now’s the time to read or gift a copy of On Being Jewish Now, the anthology.

Read On Being Jewish Now the Substack. Writers from all over the world have been reflecting on what it means and how it feels to be Jewish now. Do you have thoughts? Submit an essay!