In recent months, Zibby Owens, creator and host of the award-winning podcast Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books, has offered book recommendations on Good Morning America and had her upcoming anthology included in Town & Country’s list of 28 Must-Read Books of Winter 2021. Zibby is a fan of strong voices and excellent writing, and she is an advocate for busy moms everywhere. She recently created Moms Don’t Have Time To Lose Weight – a podcast and private support group on Instagram for women who simply want to feel better about their bodies. I am so happy to have spent a little time chatting with Zibby this month about the power of a good book, what she would do with an extra hour each day, and her upcoming anthology that will be raising money for a cause so close to her heart. Fill your mug with something yummy, and find time to read our interview! Me: Are you a regular coffee drinker? What is your favorite beverage? Zibby: YES. Three cups a day. Hard to admit it because in my head I only drink two a day, but I almost always make an exception for that third cup, so…. I prefer k-cup produced coffee at home to store-bought, although I typically drink Starbucks Breakfast Blend. Coffee is my favorite beverage. By far! Me: You’ve been called a book influencer and a top literary podcast host, among many other impressive titles. Which professional accomplishment are you most proud of? Zibby: I’m most proud of being able to help 60+ amazing authors create original works during the pandemic. While I released them on my website at the time, I’m now getting them out into the world in anthology form in Moms Don’t Have Time To: A Quarantine Anthology. I’m also proud of the fact that I could interview Alicia Keys without being so star-struck that I clammed up! Me: Describe an early childhood experience or relationship with a book that influenced your love of reading. Zibby: I remember finishing Charlotte’s Web, hiding in my bathroom after my parents had put me to bed, and crying. I didn’t realize how much books could make me feel until that moment (at age 8!), and I haven’t stopped craving that connection since. Me: Moms barely have time to go to the bathroom, much less find long stretches of time for uninterrupted reading. When do you make time to read? How do you prioritize yourself and other activities you enjoy? Zibby: Who says my reading time isn’t interrupted?!?! I’m interrupted constantly! But I just have to get back to it. I don’t lounge on the sofa mid-day reading. It’s more that I’m pacing outside the kids’ rooms while they protest bedtime each night for about an hour with a book in hand, reading as I walk in circles, or I’m listening to an audiobook in the car driving them somewhere, or I read at my desk while they’re in school. I also treat myself to a book before bed every night once they finally fall asleep. And, I’m divorced and remarried, so every other weekend I have a lot more time to myself to read. Me: If you were gifted an extra hour of free time at the end of each day, how would you spend it? Zibby: Replying to more emails. I hate when they pile up, and I wake up to an overflowing inbox. But if I’d gotten everything done (ha!)…. I’d spend it cuddled up next to my husband watching a movie or TV show. I can’t even remember the last time we did that! Me: Why is the anthology important to you? What would you like readers to know about it? Zibby: First of all, I’m donating all the proceeds to the Susan Felice Owens Program for COVID-19 Vaccine Research, so I’m trying to get the word out to get us all a vaccine option. My mother-in-law passed away from COVID last summer in a horrific six-week battle with it, and I want to spare other families from going through that. Also, it’s a work I’m really proud of. The words of these authors will help other readers out there connect, feel less alone, and, perhaps like the young me crying in my bathroom, feel emotions that sustain them. It’s a deeply personal work that exemplifies why I do everything I do: to connect readers to authors, to help the right person find the right story for them at the right time, and to help busy people –like moms! — fit more reading into their lives. Moms Don’t Have Time To: A Quarantine Anthology will be available February 12, 2021. Order your copy here. Purchase I Love You More Than Coffee by Melissa Face here. |
Melissa Face 
Sorry for the lengthy delay. Coffee Chats are interviews I held with authors and moms as a way to celebrate my book launch during the pandemic.
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