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But you know that with a book, it's not gonna be sensationalized just for the sake of it. Someone has spent hours, years of their lives making sure it's worth your time.
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Today is Saturday, July 11th. A great book can be one of the best ways to relax and reset the summer, whether you're heading to the beach or pool, going on a trip, or just trying to find a few minutes to yourself. But with so many options out there and so little time in our busy lives, it's not always easy to get started.
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So today we're talking about how to
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fit reading into our summer schedules, why it matters for your mind and mood, and which book might be just the right one for you. We had a similar episode last summer, and it was a hit. So we invited Zibby Owens back to share her updated viewpoint and book recommendations. She's a bestselling author and editor of several books herself, with a new one coming out this fall called Between Chapters. She's also the host of the Totally Booked podcast and founder of Zibby Media and Zibby's Bookshop in Santa Monica, California. She's known for spotlighting some of the most anticipated new releases and emerging authors in the book world. So today, Zibby is sharing it all with you, from what readers are looking for to what really makes a best summer read, to which specific book you might want to get into next and why, whether you want to laugh, cry, learn, or just escape to another world. Welcome to the Newsworthy special edition Saturday, which is when we sit down with a different expert or celebrity every Saturday to talk about something in the news. Don't forget to tune in every Monday through Friday for our regular episodes where we provide all the day's news in less than 15 minutes. I'm Erica Mandy. It's now time for today's Special Edition Saturday. Zibby Owens, thank you so much for joining us here on the Newsworthy once again.
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Oh, I'm so delighted to be here. Thanks for asking.
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So first, I'm just curious what you're noticing about what readers seem to want most this summer and is it any different than past summers?
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I just noticed this more and more as every summer goes by. But people want to read what everyone else is reading, so I can recommend the best book ever. But if, like, they don't know anyone reading it, they're going to put it aside and read whatever everyone they know is already reading. They just want to be part of the mainstream conversation about books and what everybody's talking about.
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What do you think makes a book a truly great summer read. I guess beyond everybody else's reading it,
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I think it has to turn pages. I was just reading London Falling, which everybody had been recommending and I was so engrossed and my daughter, I have four kids, my 13 year old kept like asking me stuff and I was like, yeah, yeah. And finally she was like, mom, are you mad at me? And I was like, no. I'm just like so into my book. I'm sorry. I just like wanted to know what happened next. Every chapter there was a cliffhanger. It was real life, but it felt like fiction. So I think books that have really strong narrative arcs and are really immersive, for me, that is a great summer read.
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C
I love that you are bringing up specific books because my friend and I were just talking about how we love reading. I love being in a regular routine reading and I do get there once I'm reading a really good book. But I struggle between books. I fall off the wagon. Like, I have a really hard time getting back into it because I don't know what to read next. So what's your best advice for choosing the first or next book that can really pull someone back into reading regularly?
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I mean, all they have to do is just follow me.
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Yes, that's true.
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You have great recommendations.
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I am kidding. Often I feel like if I have a whole stack of books and there's one that I'm like, I feel like I should cheat on the other ones. But I'm going to start this one first. Even though I feel like maybe I should read the others, that's the one I go to. There's some, you know, deep down that, that like, maybe that's the one. Whether it's the COVID or the. Where it's taking you in the world or the author who you love. I think, listen to your instincts. There doesn't have to be a reason why you're reading it. And if you don't love it, I'm totally in the camp where I think it's fine to just put it aside.
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C
You don't have to finish it.
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I don't think you have to finish. And I think if you have a couple books you're debating or you're in a bookstore and you're browsing, read the first page. Read the first two pages. My attention span is shorter and shorter like everyone else's. And if I'm not loving the first two pages, I'll put it aside and wait. So find those books. They're out there.
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What are the Questions someone might ask themselves before choosing their next book to help them determine what type of book they might want.
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I think you always have to ask yourself what you're in the mood to read. And sometimes, like you said, it can be hard. If you've just finished, like, the best book ever, it can be tough to follow that up. And it's. It's almost like everything else is tainted. Like after. After a bad breakup, you're not going to, like, necessarily fall in love with the next guy you meet. I think one of the things we try to do at Zibby's bookshop in Santa Monica is have each little shelf of like 20 books be a specific theme. Books that make you cry, books that make you laugh, books for the outdoors. Because a lot of times people kind of know what they're up for, but they don't know how to find it. If you're in the mood to learn, it's different than if you're in the mood to escape or cry.
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C
And do you find that sometimes people put pressure on themselves that they should be learning all the time or. You know, when I first started a business, I thought I had to read only business books or I had a kid, I needed to read only parenting books. And I've learned to kind of let that go, that sometimes I just want fiction and I. I want escapism. And so what do you tell people about that kind of guilt or pressure that they put on.
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On themselves?
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Oh, my gosh. I am at the phase of life where the shoulds are flying out the window. Yeah, there is no book you should read. It's just great if you can find time to read anything. Putting a whole layer of guilt and responsibility on something that is supposed to be a pleasure is different if you are reading business books or feel like you need to read something for more of a utilitarian reason, maybe you can squeeze it into the work hours, but if it's before bed, that is when I want fiction or a memoir about life that I can just either see myself in or completely not see myself in and get out of my own head. I think that we read for all different reasons. Sometimes we read to relax, sometimes we read to educate ourselves. And it's almost crazy they're all just called books when they're so varied.
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Very different.
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Right? Some should be education manuals and others should be time travel machines. And yet they all look the same.
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C
Oh, I love that. I love the categories you were talking about and the different names we can give books. And you mentioned it sometimes it's hard to find that time to read. So for busy parents or just busy people in general, what is your advice for finding that time, and why is it worth it?
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Oh, gosh. Sometimes my kids are like, why do you read so much? And I'm like, how can you go through life without reading? Like, I wouldn't get a reset. I'm a pretty anxious person, I have to admit. And despite medication, I still need resets in my day. And I think that reading is the quickest way. I just literally open up my book and I have reset my own emotions. It also obviously creates so much empathy. It rejuvenates you, too, when you listen. And a book is really just listening to somebody else tell their story, which has so many benefits, I think.
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C
So often people look for that in social media. It's become habit to just grab your phone and scroll. And it doesn't give you those same benefits as maybe reading.
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Oh, no. I mean, don't get me wrong. I probably spend an hour of an hour a day on Instagram or something. I have to set an alarm. But that doesn't tend to reset. If anything, it exaggerates emotions. But you know that with a book, it's not gonna be sensationalized just for the sake of it. Someone has spent hours, years of their lives, making sure it's worth your time, as opposed to someone who spends two minutes and posts content. I mean, it's actually crazy when you think about how much time we give to things that people don't spend much time on and how little time we spend on the works of art that people have spent a lifetime on. But anyway, in terms of finding time to read, I always have a book on me. In fact, yesterday I went to pick up one of my kids from camp, and I was like, I don't have a book. I ran out of house. I'm like, what am I gonna do sitting here for 30 minutes? But I always bring a book with me. I always read. I can't let too much time go by in a novel, or I just lose the thread.
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Yeah, and I remember last year, too,
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you said, even sometimes you're like, cooking, and you'll grab a book while you have to wait the 10 minutes.
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That was aspirational of me. I do not cook very much. My husband does like a lot of our cooking. But yes, those stolen moments while you're waiting for something, the stolen moments throughout the day add up. And anytime that you're annoyed to be waiting, you can flip that time on its head by instead being Grateful that you have now a reading opportunity.
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Do you have a preference between, you
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know, a real book, a Kindle, an
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audiobook, a little bit of everything?
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I really prefer a physical book. I like to flip pages, I like to dog ear pages underline. It's very tactile experience and I can't listen as fast as I can read. How about you? How do you like to read?
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I like to throw the, have the Kindle as something I can throw in a bag to have as easy access. But I'm starting to feel like I want to go back to a physical book and I do like audio, but I tend to listen to podcasts and so I'm a little bit of everything. I do have a couple audiobooks. I'm that person that has to get started and then I get really into it. But the getting started sometimes is a challenge.
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One other way to make sure you keep reading is to either join a book club, like a big book club, or I have a virtual book club. You can just read on your own time or just make one with your friends. My mom and I now are having like a mini book club so you can, you can find ways to if you need that accountability.
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Do you feel like people should judge a book by its cover?
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I feel like I should say no, don't judge a book by its cover. We all know that. But things have changed and the covers actually are one of the biggest selling points of the book. Again, in our attention starved economy, you have to make a lot of snap decisions and you can tell pretty quickly what type of book it is just by the font and the colors and all of that. I think that sometimes a really unique, interesting cover is worth a moment to stop and figure out what the book is about. I have to make a concerted effort to look past a terrible cover.
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Are there any other quick tips for deciding whether a book is likely going to be good or not?
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Some people really depend on blurbs, which I do think have value. So if you don't know much about the book, but at the top one of your favorite authors has given a quote about how much they love it. I, I take that into consideration.
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Isn't that just though, about who they're friends with? Sometimes it feels like, oh, the author knows that person, so they did them a solid.
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That's true. But if the book wasn't good, they would not be doing that solid. People care very much about their literary reputations and so blurbing a book that they know is not worthy of their love and adoration, that does them a disservice. So I do believe that the people blurbing legitimately enjoy the book. It also tells you what type of book it is. If there are five fantasy writers and I didn't realize it was like a dystopian thriller somehow, then I'll figure that out quickly too. I mean, of course, following the people who love to read who post about the books they love, that really is helpful. I mean, I I really take the advice of people I respect. People don't post if they don't mean it. Generally. I think basically my strategy in life is is finding people whose opinions I really trust and sort of doubling down on them because we don't have enough time to always get new recommendations.
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Still ahead, Zibby Owen shares her book recommendations with little explanations about each one, from the page turners to the ones everyone is talking about to the hidden gems and more. She even has a couple of ideas for people who feel they don't have time to read at all. And she gives us a preview of her upcoming book between How I Started Over, Took Some Chances and Found the Plot. So stay tuned for 12 more book recommendations broken down by category, along with a fun conversation. But first, a break for our sponsors. Summer is when I appreciate a wardrobe that does not need much thought. I want pieces I can grab, wear comfortably and know that they'll work whether I'm doing camp pickup, heading to dinner or packing for a weekend away. That's why Quint's has become such an easy go to I recently got their jeans and they really have that rare balance of looking structured and polished while still feeling soft and comfortable. I'm still loving my Quint's Carry on luggage too. It fits so much and it looks super stylish. And now that I've used it many times, I can tell you it's still in great shape. Quint's also has lightweight European linen pants, dresses and tops starting at just $32, along with organic cotton sweaters for layering when those evenings cool down. And it goes beyond apparel with elevated essentials for your home, bedding, bath, kitchen and furniture. Everything at Quint's is priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. They work directly with ethical factories and cut out the middlemen so you're not paying for brand markup. Make your summer wardrobe feel easier. Go to quints.com newsworthy for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns now available in Canada too. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com newsworthy for free shipping and 365 day returns. Quints.com newsworthy the newsworthy is also brought to you by Smalls. Every pet owner knows that your pet is part of your family. That's why I was so interested in Smalls when their food arrived for my cat. Everything about it felt thoughtfully made, fresh, high quality and designed around what cats are actually meant to eat. Smalls is a protein packed, gently cooked cat food made with preservative free human grade ingredients and delivered right to your door. I love that I can now move away from cheap fillers and toward recipes that put high quality meat first. Cats use protein as their main energy source and Smalls is designed to offer more of the nutrients cats can digest and actually use. Forbes ranked Smalls the best overall cat food and 88% of cat owners reported overall health improvements after switching and there is no pressure to commit blindly. You can try it risk free and Smalls will refund you if your cat won't eat it. So stop serving your little carnivore a bowl of processed shortcuts for a limited time because you are a listener of the newsworthy cat. You can get 60% off your first order plus free shipping and free treats for life when you head to smalls.com newsworthy that's 60% off your first order plus free shipping and free treats for life when you head to smalls.com newsworthy okay, now back to my conversation with Zibby Owens.
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So let's get into your summer reading picks or your various recommendations and similar to how you have categories in your bookstore, let's go through several themes.
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How about a lighter or joyful book for vacation, the beach or the pool?
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40 love by Jane Costello is a great by the pool read. It's about a 40 something mom whose daughter has just left for college and she decides to take up tennis and she meets a long lost love. There is a steamy scene in the tennis shed. I'll just throw that out there. But it's written with that trademarks or British humor and it's really about this woman, Jules and all of her close friends and the importance of close friendships and adult siblings and getting you through whatever life throws your way.
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A Can't put it down book.
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I already said London Falling. I have to say this book is not new. It's from last year, but I just finished Culpability by Bruce Hulsinger and it is so good. It's about a family who get in a car accident. It's a self driving car and so it's about ethics and AI, Whose fault is it everyone is hiding something in the car? And all of these secrets start coming out. It's also a love story of sorts and a cautionary tale because of the family who is next door to this family and all of the things that happen as they recover.
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So many angles in every book, so much complexity. I love it.
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Yes, yes.
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A thoughtful book that gives people something to talk about afterward.
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I really loved Sarah Damoff's the Burning side. It's about a family whose home has just burned down in a fire. But right before the fire started, the husband has asked the wife for a divorce. It's told from multiple viewpoints. The family has to move back in with her parents, and her father has early Alzheimer's. And this is one of those books where I was sitting on an airplane sobbing at the end.
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Okay. Because my next one was gonna be something that makes you cry. But maybe that.
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That one did make me cry. Matthew Quick wrote a memoir called dad Love Me. He wrote Silver Linings Playbook, which was made into that movie with Jennifer Lawrence. This is his first memoir, and it is one of the most raw, vulnerable memoirs I've ever read about his very complicated relationship with his alcoholic dad and his own therapy experience. This sounds a bit heavy for the beach, but I promise it's uplifting because of all the breakthroughs and forgiveness and just growth that happens in the book.
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A nonfiction pick that helps readers feel smarter or see the world differently, but is still really interesting.
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Jason Arday has a memoir coming out called Great and Unfortunate Things. He was an autistic child who couldn't read and write. Everybody wrote him off as just a lost cause. He is now a professor at Cambridge with a PhD and it is in large part because of his mother and her relentless commitment to and conviction in the brilliance of her son. And he is such a special person. So when I interviewed him, I just couldn't get over his humbleness, how dynamic a personality he was. And the book is just like that. You keep reading, you can't believe that this is what his life was like. And this is what people go through in terms of how others underestimate them. And then to see what is possible is just amazing.
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C
I know you don't listen to audiobooks that much, but do you have a
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great audiobook recommendation for maybe a road trip or a family travel day?
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Yes. I See youe've Called In. Dead by John Kenney is hilarious. He's been on npr, and it's a national bestseller. Blah, blah, blah. But the audiobook won, like best audiobook of the year in Audiophile magazine or something. The narrator is phenomenal, and I would highly recommend listening to that. That book is about an obituary writer who accidentally publishes his own obituary when he's a little tipsy one night and then is not allowed to be fired because the system already thinks he's dead. So he has to keep showing up to work and decides to start actually going to wakes and funerals of the people's families who he writes about and ends up finding the meaning of life.
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C
Oh, I love that. Okay, you did this on your Instagram a little bit. But a book or two that was released this summer that deserves the hype it's getting.
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And one from this summer that you
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think deserves more attention and hype than it's actually getting.
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Jenny Jackson's book, the Shampoo Effect is getting so much hype. I mean, read with Jenna Pick. It is a Book of the Month Club pick. And the Barnes and Noble Book Club pick. I do think it's worth the hype. Her last book, Pineapple street, was amazing. She's brilliant and such a nice person to boot. It's about that time in your life where you're going out and trying to find your place in the world and some of your friends have kids and some of them don't. And it's about fate and is this person right for you or not? But it's all done in a very literary way, so you don't have to feel guilty at all reading a book like this. Anyway, it's lovely, so I do think that's worth the hype. A book that deserves more hype. There's a book by Robin Lee called Crash Into Me. It's quite different than her last book, which was more of a fun romp. This is a more serious examination of marriage, and it's about a woman who actually takes up with another woman, and she's married, with kids and living in Brentwood as a black woman among a mostly white society. And so it's about feeling other and trusting your instincts and lust after years of being married for people who don't
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have much uninterrupted time. What kinds of books tend to work best? Or is there a book that would
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be good for this if you really have no time? And I know this sounds counterintuitive, but you can read poetry. Miranda Cowley Heller has a collection of poetry. She wrote the Paper palace, and it's short musings on motherhood, and it's really Impactful and beautiful. Josie Balka has a couple poetry collections and you can literally just read one or two pages and get your fill.
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I love that idea. Was there a book that you didn't think was gonna be very good, but then it was an unexpected great read?
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I tend not to start books I don't think would be very good. There's a book called When Lemons Give youe Life by Anna Johnston, which I thought I would like but ended up completely loving. It's about a man in a nursing home and he wants to end his life but rediscovers cooking. He's a Michelin star chef. It's about so much more than that because a lot of it takes place when he's much younger and it's about him and his sister and their relationship, and it's about the love of his life and what you would do, what lengths you would go to for the people in your life you love the most. And there is a fun foodie component to it which just makes it feel like you've been in the kitchen of somebody who's like, making the best meal ever.
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C
If people like the series the Bear, it sounds like they might like this book.
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Yes.
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Yeah, that's true.
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That's true.
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Is there a particular book you would
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recommend for someone going through a transition this summer? Maybe it's a new job, a divorce,
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grief, that sort of thing.
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I'm so glad you asked. My book doesn't come out till September 22, but it's called Between How I Started Over, Took Some Chances and Found the Plot. It's about a decade that just passed of my life where I changed everything. I got divorced, I got remarried, I moved. I went from stay at home mom to having a career again. And so I share the funniest, the most heartbreaking times, the challenges, all like you were saying in these short, digestible chapters. So they can just read one essay and then get back to whatever they're doing. But you could also read it all. I've launched an essay platform so that people who also are between chapters can and share their stories too. Because as I was writing it and editing it and everything, I was like, you know what? Like, this is my side of the story, but what about everybody else's?
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What do you hope someone who reads it in September really takes away from the book or feels while they're reading it?
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I've been getting a lot of feedback already that the book is making people feel seen, that it's making them laugh and cry and feel like they are not alone. Particularly moms who are striving to maintain their own sense of identity in the chaos of. I think that when you're in the weeds, it's hard to see your way out of it.
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B
Yeah.
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C
And of course, being an author yourself, you've interviewed thousands of authors on your podcast, Totally Booked. Has that those experiences changed the way that you read, or maybe the way
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that you think about books or appreciate
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the work behind every book?
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Yes, I. I feel like I was like a junior reader before I began. And I. I say that laughingly because I was already, like, totally voracious reader and, like, loved books. But I remember at the very beginning of my podcast, I interviewed Charles Duhigg, and he said, oh, whenever I read, I really take apart a book. I look at the structure and I flip back and forth. And I was thinking, he's doing what? Why is he doing that? But now I am interested not just in the experience, start to finish, but in the structure of a book. And, like, what is this? Is it a short period of time? Is this. Like, does it all take place over one day? Like, are we varying viewpoints and perspectives? Is it a reliable narrator? So I'm. I have more interest in the overall structure of books. I have even more interest in the authors themselves and the story behind the story. Like, there must have been something about it. And it's easy to take that for granted when you're standing in a Barnes and Noble or something with, like, millions of books, but each one is something that the author just could not get out of their heads. There's such a strong reason as to why they wrote it. And the mystery is figuring out why and then seeing if you can catch that contagion of interest.
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Is there a weird, funny, or kind
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of tough thing that happens behind the scenes that you can give us a peek into the life of an author.
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People might not know just how many drafts there are. Even when it's typeset, meaning it looks like a book on a PDF, the characters, and there's a header at the top, like, it looks like a book. There's still like five more rounds, at least, of revisions, and it can feel like you are never, ever done, but at some point, you have to pull the plug.
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C
Oh, man. If listeners only choose one book or only get through one book this summer after hearing this episode, what is the one feeling you hope they get from reading this summer?
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I hope that reading makes them feel transported, rejuvenated, and a lot less alone in this crazy life.
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B
Thank you so much to Zibby Owens for coming on the show. Be sure to follow her on Instagram. For even more book recommendations, she's ibbeowens. Check out her upcoming book on her website and subscribe to her substack by going to zibbyowens.com that's also where you'll see where to submit your Between Chapters essay. If you'd like to share your story, we'll link to it all in today's episode notes over on thenewsworthy.com thank you for listening and sharing this episode. If you found it fun and helpful, maybe you and some family or friends can start your own book club after listening. Join us right here at the Newsworthy throughout the week for all the day's news. We help you stay informed on the go in just 15 minutes every Monday through Friday, then dig a little deeper into a different topic each Saturday. So we'll be back on Monday with the latest news to know. Until then, have a great rest of your weekend and happy reading.