On this week's episode of You Are What You Read, we are joined by bestselling author Isabel Allende with her new book, Story Telling: A Writing Life. Isabel Allende is the author of over 30 books, having sold more than 80 million copies across 42 languages. You know her work: The Wind Knows My Name, Violeta, A Long Petal of the Sea, The House of the Spirits, Of Love and Shadows, Eva Luna, and Paula. Isabel has received fifteen honorary doctorates and has been inducted into the California Hall of Fame. She is the recipient of the PEN Center Lifetime Achievement Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Lifetime Achievement Award, the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from the National Book Foundation, and the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Today on You Are What You Read, we are joined by the ultimate book lover and book advocate, my friend Zibby Owens. Zibby is an author, publisher, bookseller, podcaster, and a force in the world of books. She is the founder and CEO of Zibby Media, which brings all of this together in her empire: Zibby Publishing; Zibby’s Bookshop, her independent bookstore in Santa Monica; the award-winning daily podcast, Totally Booked with Zibby; Zibby’s Book Club; and Zibby Retreats for book lovers. Zibby’s new memoir, Between Chapters: How I Started Over, Took Some Chances and Found the Plot, just hit bookshelves, and she is here today to tell us all about it.

This week on You Are What You Read, we are thrilled to welcome Jodi Picoult LIVE from her nationwide “Chapters” tour with HOLLOW BONES. This conversation was recorded live from New York City at Cooper Union with The Strand Bookstore. HOLLOW BONES is Jodi Picoult’s 30th novel. You know her New York Times best sellers: By Any Other Name, Wish You Were Here, Small Great Things, My Sister’s Keeper, and more.

On today’s episode of You Are What You Read, we are excited to welcome the great Alice Hoffman, live from The Strand bookstore in New York City. This is a conversation about Alice’s new novel, The Witches of Cambridge, this September’s Read with Jenna selection. Alice is the author of over thirty novels including The Dovekeepers, Magic Lessons, The Book of Magic, Practical Magic, and Practical Magic 2, the sequel to the blockbuster book and film, which  is now in theaters starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman and directed by Susanne Bier (who you can also hear on the podcast, S1:E50). 

On today’s episode, we are excited to welcome Victoria Aveyard to the show. Victoria is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the blockbuster young adult novels: the RED QUEEN series and the REALM BREAKER trilogy. Her books have been translated into over 40 languages and counting. In this conversation, we discuss Victoria’s adult fiction debut, TEMPEST, which hits shelves today.

Thank you, dear listeners, for joining us this summer on You Are What You Read. We read your comments, and we know what books you have been reading and sharing with your book clubs. In the final weeks of summer, we are bringing back your favorite episodes and authors to the podcast. “The Best of Summer” on You Are What You Read welcomes back the biggest bestsellers of summer 2026. This week, Kathryn Stockett joins us with The Calamity Club. 

On today’s episode of You Are What You Read, we are thrilled to welcome a fellow podcaster and award-winning executive producer and writer, Scott Carter. Scott is the host of Ye Gods, a podcast that explores religion and culture with amazing guests. In his latest season of Ye Gods, Scott celebrates the 250th anniversary of America with notable historians and authors for conversations that explore our nation’s political and spiritual history and share the beliefs that define their own moral compass.

On this week’s episode of You Are What You Read, we are excited to welcome the great RICHARD RUSSO. You know Richard’s work: Somebody’s Fool, Chances Are…, Everybody’s Fool, and That Old Cape Magic; two collections of stories; and the memoir Elsewhere, among others. In 2002, Richard received the Pulitzer Prize for Empire Falls, which, like Nobody’s Fool, won multiple awards for its screen adaptation, and in 2023 his novel Straight Man was adapted into the television series Lucky Hank. In 2017 he received France’s Grand Prix de Littérature Américaine. Richard’s new novel, Under the Falls, is out this week.

This week on You Are What You Read, we are joined by Jayne Anne Phillips to talk about her new memoir, Small Town Girls. Jayne is the author of Black Tickets, Machine Dreams, Fast Lanes, Shelter, MotherKind, Lark and Termite, Quiet Dell, and Night Watch, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2024. Jayne’s work has been a finalist once for the National Book Award and twice for the National Book Critics Circle Award. The recipient of Guggenheim, National Endowment for the Arts, Howard, Bunting, and Rockefeller Foundation Fellowships, she is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. 

On this week's episode of You Are What You Read, we are excited to welcome fashion icon Audrey Smaltz. Audrey bas been a trailblazer in the fashion industry for over sixty years, founding the Ground Crew, a backstage operation of high-end modeling shows. Audrey's Ground Crew has teamed up with designers including Michael Kors, Oscar de la Renta, Donna Karan, Vera Wang, Giorgio Armani, and more. Audrey was a student of the first Black model Ophelia DeVore and worked for the Grace del Marco Modeling Agency. In 1970, Smaltz was hired as the Fashion Editor for the Ebony Magazine and commentator the Ebony Fashion Fair in Chicago. Her exquisite style and humor made her an instant hit on the fashion show circuit. Audrey also has worked with numerous major corporations, among them, Macy’s, Sak’s Fifth Avenue, Vogue, Black Entertainment Television, Kmart. She was a contributing editor to Vogue, Mirabella, and Mode magazines.