Moms Don't Have Time to Have Kids: A Timeless Anthology

by Zibby Owens (Editor)

Overview

53 SHORT ESSAYS FOR BUSY PEOPLE . . . BY 49 AMAZING AUTHORS.
 
Too tired to think? No time to read books? Zibby Owens gets it. Award-winning podcaster of Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books and mother of four (ages six to fourteen) compiled fifty-three essays by forty-nine authors to help the rest of us feel understood, inspired, and less alone. 
 
The authors, all previous guests on her podcast (go listen!), include fifteen New York Times bestselling authors, five national bestsellers, and twenty-nine award-winning/notable/critically acclaimed writers. The super short essays were inspired by a few other things moms don't have time to do: sleep, get sick, write, lose weight, and see friends. Read one a week and you'll finish the whole book in a year: accomplishment! 
 
Topics range from taking care of an aging grandmother, mourning the loss of a family member, battling insomnia, wrestling with body image, coping with chronic illness, navigating writer's block, the power of women's friendship, and more juicy stuff.  
 
You'll laugh, cry, think, and feel like you just had coffee with a close friend. If that best friend were a world-renowned author. 
 
Contributors include: Aimee Agresti, Esther Amini, Chandler Baker, Adrienne Bankert, Andrea Buchanan, Terri Cheney, Jeanine Cummins, Stephanie Danler, KJ Dell'Antonia, Lydia Fenet, Michael Frank, Elyssa Friedland, Melissa Gould, Nicola Harrison, Kristy Woodson Harvey, Joanna Hershon, Angela Himsel, Richie Jackson, Shelli Johannes, Lily King, Jean Kwok, Heather Land, Brooke Adams Law, Caroline Leavitt, Jenny Lee, Shannon Lee, Elizabeth Lesser, Gigi Levangie, Emily Liebert, Lynda Loigman, Abby Maslin, Sarah McColl, Jeanne McCulloch, Malcolm Mitchell, Arden Myrin, Carla Naumburg, Rex Ogle, Zibby Owens, Camille Pagán, Elizabeth Passarella, Allison Pataki, Lindsay Powers, Susie Orman Schnall, Susan Shapiro, Melissa T. Shultz, Claire Bidwell Smith, Rev. Lydia Sohn, Laura Tremaine, and Cecily von Ziegesar.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781510766396
Publisher:	Skyhorse
Publication date:	11/02/2021
Pages:	264
Sales rank:	651,440
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

ZIBBY OWENS is the creator and host of awardwinning podcast Moms Don’t Have Time to ReadBooks. Zibby, named “NYC’s Most Powerful Bookfluencer” by New York Magazine’s Vulture, conducts warm, inquisitive conversations with authors as wide-ranging as Alicia Keys and Lena Dunham to Delia Owens and Brit Bennett, making her show a top literary podcast as selected by Oprah.com two years in a row.
 
Before the pandemic, Zibby ran a literary salon, hosted her own book fairs, and was a frequent bookstore event moderator. During the quarantine, Zibby hosted a daily Instagram Live author talk show “Z-IGTV,” a weekly live show with her husband “KZ Time,” launched an online magazine called We Found Time, and started Zibby’s Virtual Book Club.
 
Zibby is a regular contributor to Good Morning America online and the Washington Post, and has contributed to Real Simple, Parents, Marie Claire, Redbook, and many other publications. She has appeared on CBS This Morning, the BBC, NPR’s All Things Considered, Good Day LA, and local news outlets.
 
Zibby, a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Business School, currently lives in New York with her husband, Kyle, and her four children.

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

Sleep

The Year of Magical Sleeping Lynda Cohen Loigman 3

Night Breathing Carla Naumburg 7

Room for One Allison Pataki 11

It's Ok, I'm Awake Cecily Von Ziegesar 15

On Napping Michael Frank 20

When Bedtime Won't Come Soon Enough Zibby Owens 25

Get Sick

While I Was Sleeping Camille Pagán 33

Bodies in Motion and at Rest Andrea J. Buchanan 37

In Spanish, I Don't Have Cancer KJ Dell'Antonia 43

A Small, Shiny Thing Kristy Woodson Harvey 47

I Am Not Broken. Today, I'm OK Shelli R. Johannes 51

Walls in Our Minds Lily King 55

Sick Leave Caroline Leavitt 60

My Good Body Elizabeth Lesser 64

A Son, Not My Own Gigi Levangie 68

My Father Immortal Emily Liebert 73

Click, Click, Click Through My Mind Zibby Owens 77

Nana's Last Ride Elizabeth Passarella 82

The S Word Susie Orman Schnall 86

Sunlight, Through an Angled Window Melissa T. Shultz 90

See Friends

We Met Online Chandler Baker 97

One on One Adrienne Bankert 100

Life of Pie Lydia Fenet 103

What's in a Name? My Best Friends Melissa Gould 107

A Gift by the Sea Nicola Harrison 111

The Little Pink Unicorn Heather Land 115

The Pursuit of Becoming Abby Maslin 118

Snow and the Night Sky Jeanne McCulloch 122

Mission: Quiet the Stomachs Malcolm Mitchell 127

Let's Just Meet Here Every Day Lindsay Powers 131

I'm Here for You Rev. Lydia Sohn 135

Write

Can a Writer Be Too Emotional? Asking for a Friend Aimee Agresti 143

Beneath the Surface Esther Amini 147

Camera Broken, Vision Renewed Terri Cheney 151

In the Time of Corduroys Jeanine Cummins 155

Roses Stephanie Danler 159

The View Out My Window Joanna Hershon 163

A Brand New Way Angela Himsel 168

Whatever You Write in This Will Belong to You Jean Kwok 172

Life Lessons, Korean Mother-Style Jenny Lee 176

Called to the Page Abby Maslin 180

The Circular Breast Sarah McColl 184

I Am the Writer Arden Myrin 189

Historias Sobre Mi (Stories about Me) Rex Ogle 193

To All the Books I Never Sold Zibby Owens 196

The Reason Behind the Words Claire Bidwell Smith 203

Clarity Arrived Laura Tremaine: 206

Lose Weight

I Diet, Therefore I Am Elyssa Friedland 213

Peloton and On and On Richie Jackson 217

Mama, Am I Pretty? Jean Kwok 221

The World I Build for You Brooke Adams Law 225

The Anchor and the Seabird Shannon Lee 230

The Pandemic Taste Test Susan Shapiro 234

Acknowledgments 239

About The Editor 243

Editorial Reviews

Zibby Owens has done it again! Tender, funny, thought-provoking, and wry, this diverse collection of short, readable pieces about motherhood and its challenges will entertain and inspire parents at every age and stage. Reading it feels like hanging out with your smartest and most empathetic friends—the ones who tell you the truth in a way that feels like love.”
—Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train and The Exiles

”These essays are both timeless and made for this (our) time. Each one is a bite-sized gem, but at heart, this hilarious collection from an astonishing array of literary lights is about how we balance that high-wire act of being human. Each essay drew me in and elicited that comforting feeling of talking with my best friend and the astonishing joy at making a new friend.”
—Annabelle Gurwitch, New York Times bestselling author of I See You Made an Effort and You’re Leaving When?, and co-host of the Tiny Victories podcast

“Zibby has brought literary luminaries together in this beautifully curated collection of essays. She has a way of bringing us all together to share in the camaraderie of humanity. I inhaled her book in a single sitting. With each essay I felt more connected and less alone—like a warm embrace at the end of an exhausting journey through this pandemic-ravaged year. Zibby’s constant quest to connect to the stories that give our lives meaning is a beacon of hope. A must-read for anyone seeking heartfelt, soul enriching connection to a community of fellow travelers on the road of life.”
—Stephanie Thornton Plymale, author of American Daughter: A Memoir, CEO of Heritage School of Interior Design, and host of the podcast Overcoming

“These essays help cut through the intense loneliness and isolation of being a mother. Their succinct and often hilarious prose will remind us all that we are in this together. I’m blown away by the incredible women brought together in this single collection.”
—Jo Piazza, bestselling author of Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win and the upcoming novel We Are Not Like Them; host of podcasts Under the Influence and Committed

“Dear Zibby, ‘Pick me, Pick me!’ to contribute to your next anthology! You have a gift for uniting the strongest, most inspiring voices all in one happy place. Moms Don’t Have Time to Have Kids made me say YAY!”
—Meaghan B. Murphy, author of Your Fully Charged Life and editor in chief of Woman’s Day magazine

“Zibby Owens has done it again. If you’re a new mom, a tired mom, a working mom, or any old kind of mom (or dad, or daughter, or son, or basically any human!), you will love these essays.”
—Billie Lourd, actress

“Moms don’t have time NOT to read this wonderful anthology, curated by Zibby Owens, the patron saint of authors. Brimming with heartfelt and relatable essays, it will have you laughing, crying, and shouting, ‘I am not alone!’ from the proverbial rooftops.”
—Jane L. Rosen, author of Eliza Starts a Rumor

From the Publisher

11/01/2021

Owens (Moms Don't Have Time To: A Quarantine Anthology), a mother of four, collects 50-plus essays on things "moms don't have time to" do. Each essay was contributed by a guest on Owens's podcast, Moms Don't Have Time To Read Books. The essays are inspired by five things Owens says mothers don't have time to do: sleep; get sick; have friends; write; and lose weight. Owens herself caught COVID-19 several days before her last anthology launched (underscoring a few of these points). Some contributors lament the combination of remote school and work and the resulting extra schedules to keep track of. Others find themselves struggling with anxiety due to the pandemic, deepening sleep debt as they lie awake worrying about keeping their children and relatives safe. Among the diverse group of essay contributors are cancer survivors, caregivers, Korean immigrants, and LGBTQ+ parents. VERDICT Parents will relate to this funny, heart-warming collection of essays.

Library Journal