Interview With an Author: Zibby Owens
Zibby Owens is the award-winning host of the podcast Totally Booked With Zibby and the weekly TV show Totally Booked on JBS. Author of six books including two bestsellers, On Being Jewish Now, and Blank: A Novel, she owns Zibby’s Bookshop, an independent bookstore in Santa Monica, CA, and Zibby Publishing, a boutique publishing house, all part of Zibby Media. She runs an events and retreats series, Zibby’s Book Club, and the Z.I.P. membership program. A graduate of Yale University and Harvard Business School, Zibby lives in New York (and sometimes L.A.) with her husband and four children ages 11 to 18. Zibby’s latest book is Between Chapters: How I Started Over, Took Some Chances, and Found the Plot. She recently talked with Tina Lernø for the LAPL Blog.
Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions for us here at the Los Angeles Public Library!
What inspired you to write Between Chapters?
It was a bookend moment in my life. I was turning fifty; my twins were leaving for college; and even though I had two middle schoolers at home, it just seemed like the right time to share what had been going on in my life for the previous decade. My forties were filled with change. I went from being a stay-at-home mom to getting divorced, moving, getting remarried, launching a podcast, opening a bookstore, creating a publishing company, and more. I wasn’t even on social media. Now I’m partnering with brands like Ralph Lauren, Veronica Beard, and Ann Taylor. It’s insane, really! So I wanted to capture all the life that has filled my days. It isn’t a success story; it’s an intimate reflection on who I really am and what was happening behind the posts.
Do you have a favorite chapter of Chapters? (Mine might be The Middle; both the Chapter, and the show!)
Aw, thanks! Love The Middle. Obsessed. My younger son’s favorite chapter is about FanWing Fest, so I’ll go with that. Whatever I can do to make my kids happy, I’ll do.
I see you are a Fire survivor, like me (the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire, respectively). Not a fun club to be a part of, but I thought you wrote about the experience so eloquently in Between Chapters. How are you feeling about your community these days?
Thanks. I’m so sorry for your loss as well. The Palisades is a resilient community, but it’s still grieving. I was there for the reopening of the Palisades Village, and it gave me goosebumps. Watching the planes zoom overhead to mark the moment? Wow. #palisadesstrong
I think Bookstores and Libraries work in harmony to get folks to read and keep reading. Can you talk about your own library experience growing up?
I grew up in libraries. I was always tucked away in the corner of my school library during the year. Over the summers as a kid, my mom took my brother and me weekly, where we’d refill tote bags of books to sustain us over the next week. As I got older, libraries were where I worked, studied, wrote, and connected to authors. I’m a huge fan and a giant supporter of librarians whose unsung work changes lives daily.
You’ve worked so many different aspects of "Book World": Publisher, Editor, Podcaster, Writer, and Book Store Owner. Do you have a favorite role?
I don’t! I love doing all of it together. But I will say that sitting on the couch in my bookstore is one of my favorite places on earth.
On Being Jewish Now had a profound effect on me and was a great source of comfort, knowing I’m not alone. In addition to On Being Jewish Now, do you have any other books you’d recommend to folks who are struggling?
Thank you. I’m so glad it was helpful. I’d recommend Rebekah Lowin’s new book A Year of Jewish Joy. It’s hard not to smile looking at beautiful photos of mezzuzah cookies.
What books are on your TBR pile? I’m imagining it's a pretty big pile, so maybe just the tippy top of the pile!
Yes, it’s a pretty big pile—and there’s never enough time! I’m excited to read Noa Yedlin’s House Arrest, Julie Orringer’s Luna, Phoenix, Queen, and Jennifer E. Smith’s Rabbit Rabbit.
How many books would you say you read a year? Do you have a favorite way to keep track?
I release 5 episodes of Totally Booked each week, so I read at least 260 books a year.
I get told this a lot, that listening to audiobooks is not "Real Reading." What is your take on that?
Totally disagree! It’s consuming books in a different way. It counts.
Since you are also an Interviewer, do you have any questions for us at LAPL?
*What are the top 10 most checked out novels and memoirs?
What is your favorite question to ask? Can you answer that for us?
I often ask: “What advice do you have for aspiring authors?” I’d answer that if you have that feeling deep down where you just know you’re a writer, keep listening to that, no matter what happens to dissuade you. The road may be windy, but you’ll get there. Giving up isn’t an option if there’s a story you need to tell.
Can you name your top five favorite or most influential authors?
What was your favorite book when you were a child?
Is there a book you've faked reading?
Ha! I wouldn’t tell you, would I?
Can you name a book you've bought for the cover?
Marcy Dermansky’s Hot Air. Such a cool cover.
Is there a book that changed your life?
Slow Motion by Dani Shapiro. It was my first memoir, along with Caroline Knapp’s Drinking: A Love Story. I was hooked on memoirs after that.
Can you name a book for which you are an evangelist (and you think everyone should read)?
I really loved Lihi Lapid’s I Wanted to Be Wonderful. Every mother should read it.
Is there a book you would most want to read again for the first time?
I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron. And I have!
What are you working on now?
Preparing for my year of book tour and speaking events. Plus, thinking about a fun new product launch related to reading!
*Top 10 most checked out novels and memoirs of 2025
- Sunrise on the Reaping, Suzanne Collins
- Careless People, Sarah Wynn-Williams
- The Let Them Theory, Mel Robbins
- Lethal Prey, John Sandford
- The Waiting, Michael Connelly
- The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt
- Nobody’s Fool, Harlen Coban
- The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward, Melinda French Gates
- 25 Alive, James Petterson
- Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir
