Babes in Bookland: Your Favorite Women's Bookclub Podcast

One good choice can re-route an entire life, but only if you trust yourself enough to make it. I sit down with memoirist Cassidy Gard to talk about the real story behind her healing memoir, "Cosmic Goodness: Surrendering the Shadows to Live in the Light." We also get delightfully specific about book cover decisions, permissions, and why the right quote can set the emotional tone for a chapter. From there, we go deeper into the heart of her message: “cosmic goodness,” a grounded kind of spirituality she defines as "courage meeting clarity." Whether you love the woo or you hate it, the point is still practical and universal-- Your life changes when your daily decisions match the life you say you want. Cassidy shares the exercises that helped her shift her inner world, including conscious sobriety, writing-based practices for anger, and a commitment to alignment that keeps her open to the right conversations and opportunities. We also talk about the hard truths that shaped her. Growing up poor with an alcoholic father, shame that settles into the nervous system, imposter syndrome, and the surprising moments that made her feel seen. Motherhood brings another layer, including postpartum anxiety, postpartum rage, and the long road to forgiving yourself after a terrifying accident. The conversation ends with a nuanced take on separating art from artist and how we can outgrow what once carried us. If you care about memoir, intuition, healing, spiritual growth, postpartum mental health, and rebuilding a life with intention, press play. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.Purchase "Cosmic Goodness"Xx, AlexConnect with us and suggest a great memoir!Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A glossy, star-studded book launch. A memoir that rockets past 100,000 copies. Then a wave of silence from major reviewers, an investigative report, and a scientific debate that refuses to stay theoretical. We’re talking about Amy Griffin’s The Tell and the chaos that followed its triumphant debut, where celebrity endorsement meets the most contested questions in trauma psychology. My friend, Colette, joins the show as a licensed marriage and family therapist to share her thoughts on it all!Subscribe for the full conversation, share this with a friend who loves book-world drama with real stakes, and leave a review with your take: where do you draw the line between personal healing and public truth?Purchase the episode individually hereSubscribe on Apple Podcasts for all bonus contentXx, AlexConnect with us and suggest a great memoir!Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is it possible to see joy in life's hardest moments?I sit down with memoirist Alexandra to talk about her memoir, Seeing Joy: A Story of Life, Death, and What Comes Next. We dig into how Alexandra’s story began as a caregiving blog in 2006, written first for friends and family and then embraced by strangers who recognized their own fear and tenderness in her honesty. She shares what it took to transform that real-time writing into a publishable memoir, including years of rejection from traditional publishing and the creative breakthroughs that came from adding family letters and her mother’s own unpublished manuscript. If you’ve ever wondered how memoir gets made, this is the unglamorous, deeply human version. Then we go to the heart of it: hospice care at home, the emotional calculus of choosing home over a nursing facility, and the unexpected moments of grace that arrive alongside the mess. Alexandra describes her mother’s vivid “visitors” near the end of life and what hospice workers call “visioning,” plus how that shifted her mother from fearing death as “the end” to finding a kind of peace. If you’re searching for a clearer way to talk about dying with dignity and still make room for joy, this one stays with you. If this conversation helps, subscribe, share it with a friend who’s caring for someone, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show. What part of end-of-life caregiving do you wish people were more honest about?Purchase Alexandra Grabbe's "Seeing Joy"Purchase Alexandra's father's memoir "Émigré"Xx, AlexConnect with us and suggest a great memoir!Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kate Quinn has a rare talent. She can drop you into another time period so completely that you forget you’re reading, then hit you with a detail that makes you realize how much of women’s history has been ignored, softened, or simply left out. In our first Friday Fiction episode, I sit down with the New York Times bestselling author behind her newest release, The Astral Library, The Briar Club,  The Alice Network, The Rose Code, and my personal favorite, The Diamond Eye to talk about where that power comes from and what it costs to do it well.We start with the origin story that shaped everything, a librarian mom who became her first reader and a dad who quietly modeled what real partnership looks like. From there, we get honest about the vulnerability of sharing drafts, the weird confidence a writer has to carry, and why deadlines can be a gift. Kate also walks through the creative leap into magical realism with The Astral Library, plus the nerves of releasing something new when readers expect a certain kind of historical fiction.We also dig into research ethics and critical thinking, from spotting propaganda in memoirs to reading for bias and noticing what a source refuses to say. If you love libraries, hate book bans, write fiction, or just want a smarter way to read history, this conversation is for you!!Subscribe for more author interviews, share this with a reader who loves historical fiction, and leave a rating and review so more book people can find Babes in Bookland.Thank you! Xx, AlexPurchase Kate Quinn's novelsConnect with us and suggest a great memoir!Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some stories don’t just break the silence, they explain how silence gets built in the first place.This week, I’m joined by author Andrea Leeb to talk about her memoir Such a Pretty Picture, an account of surviving childhood sexual abuse, living with complex trauma and CPTSD, and finding a path back to yourself that isn’t linear or tidy but is real.Andrea shares the early moments that shaped her life, the confusing mix of fear, love, and self-blame, and the way adults can miss obvious warning signs when a family looks “pretty” from the outside. We also get into the effects of trauma: freezing, shame, self-harm, complicated sexuality, relationships that can’t hold intimacy, and the exhausting pressure to perform normal.Andrea details her turning point-- a breakdown that finally makes help non-negotiable, and what treatment, therapy, and community can unlock over time. We end with a conversation about forgiveness, closure, and agency, including Andrea’s work supporting survivors through organizations like RAINN and the UCLA Rape Treatment Center, plus concrete resource reminders for anyone who needs a first step.If this conversation resonates, share it with someone you trust, subscribe for more author interviews, and leave a review so more survivors and supporters can find it. What would it mean to you to be fully believed?Purchase Andrea Leeb's "Such a Pretty Picture"Resources:National - RAINN.org/ 1-800-656-4673 Helping Hands - Commission for Women (Los Angeles area) UCLA Rape Treatment Center / 424-259-7208 HAWC.org - Houston area/ 713-528-7273 Chicago Rape Crisis Hotline - 888-293-2080 Thank you for being here, Xx AlexConnect with us and suggest a great memoir!Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are you selfish?“Selfish” is supposed to be the insult that ends the conversation, especially for women who were raised to be helpful, agreeable, and endlessly available. We sit down with author Kerry Docherty to pull that word apart and rebuild it into something sharper and more useful: self-awareness, honest boundaries, and the courage to admit what you want before you burn out trying to be “good.” Her memoir, Selfish, becomes the jumping-off point for a raw talk about what it costs to keep giving yourself away and why telling the truth can be both selfish and deeply generous.We dig into the trap of likability and the ways girls learn early to smooth everything over, including their own anger and ambition. Kerry reflects on privilege and what she has learned from people who have had to live more openly because the world already judges them. We also get practical about modern “self-care,” from doomscrolling dopamine to the quieter work of choosing what actually makes you feel alive, plus what it looks like to model emotional language and bodily autonomy for your kids.Then the conversation turns toward marriage, work, and longing. Kerry shares what it was like to build the Faherty clothing brand with her husband and his twin brother, how business can strain intimacy, and why writing a memoir is an “act of betrayal” even when it is also an act of love. She opens up about “Beau,” an emotional entanglement that exposes dormant creativity and desire, and we explore a reframe of partnership as something you choose every day rather than a life sentence you simply endure.If this conversation makes you uncomfortable, we think that is the point. Subscribe for more author interviews, share this with a friend who needs it, and leave a review with the one boundary you are ready to set next.Purchase Selfish by Kerry DochertySupport the show:On PatreonBuy us a bookBuy cute merchSubscribe to the Babes in Bookland SubstackThank you for listening! Xx, AlexConnect with us and suggest a great memoir!Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brandy Norwood’s memoir, Phases, is the kind of celebrity memoir that makes you grateful for the music and furious about the machine behind it. My friend Kate and I revisit Brandy’s cultural landmarks like Moesha, Cinderella, and “The Boy Is Mine,” then zoom out to the bigger question: what happens when an industry profits from a “good girl” image and leaves no room for a young Black woman to be human, messy, or still becoming. A big thread is the tension between what Brandy says and what she seems to avoid saying. We talk about how Phases feels careful, as if certain bridges still cannot be burned, even decades later. But we also highlight the memoir’s strongest emotional material, especially around identity and image. When the memoir does go deep, it hits hard. The takeaway is not that Phases answers everything, but that it opens the door to better questions about artistry, survival, and what reclaiming your narrative really costs.Purchase Phases by BrandySupport the show:On PatreonBuy us a bookBuy cute merchSubscribe to the Babes in Bookland SubstackThank you for listening!xx, AlexConnect with us and suggest a great memoir!Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

She graduates near the top of her veterinary class and still couldn't get hired... because she’s a woman! That’s where our conversation with memoirist Linda Rhodes begins and it only gets more vivid, entertaining, and frustrating from there.Linda and I talk about her book Breaking the Barnyard Barrier: A Woman Veterinarian Paves the Way and the reality of becoming a large animal veterinarian in rural Utah when sexism isn’t subtle, it’s stated out loud in job interviews. Linda takes us through the early spark that pulled her into farm work, to the gatekeeping she faced getting into vet school, to the pressure of being “the test case” for whether women can do the job. Along the way, we sit with the unglamorous truth of dairy cow medicine: freezing nights, no hospital nearby, no backup, and decisions that carry real consequences for animals and farmers.We also go deep on the memoir writing process. Linda shares why her mother’s death pushed her to write, how she learned to stop writing like a scientist and start writing like a storyteller, and how she chose what grief to put on the page and what to keep private. From there, the story widens into career reinvention, women in leadership, animal health pharmaceuticals, entrepreneurship, and what it looks like to build a family-friendly workplace that actually works.If you care about women in STEM, gender bias at work, memoir, veterinary medicine, or the kind of resilience that’s earned day after day, this conversation will stay with you. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs it, and leave a review with the moment that hit you hardest.Purchase Linda Rhode's "Breaking the Barnyard Barrier"Support the show:On PatreonBuy us a bookBuy cute merchSubscribe to the Babes in Bookland SubstackOther links:Feather in Her Cap AwardThank you for listening!Xx, AlexConnect with us and suggest a great memoir!Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is life destiny or choice?"Drink from the Nile" is a phrase in Egypt that promises if you drink from the Nile river, you’re destined to return. Katya Dunko's memoir, named for this phrase, is her  refusal to let destiny be controlled by generational trauma. She broke the chain.We talk about the real story behind her jaw-dropping book: growing up in post-Soviet Ukraine, being stowed away on a train as a child, surviving a decade of opioid addiction, and later fleeing an abusive marriage in Egypt with her daughter. Katya doesn’t frame herself as flawless or “inspiring” in a neat way. She names the shame, the people-pleasing, the desperate search for love, and the terrifying moments where her safety is on the line. If you care about women’s memoir, addiction recovery stories, trauma healing, and what it takes to rebuild after emotional abuse, this conversation goes there with honesty and heart.We also get practical about the craft and the aftermath: what it’s like to spend seven years writing a trauma memoir, why she chose a pen name, how self-publishing forced her to learn everything from editing to marketing, and why narrative therapy helped her reframe her past into resilience instead of ruin. The biggest takeaway is simple and hard: pain spreads unless someone breaks the chain.Listen, then share this with a friend who needs a reminder that a clean slate is possible. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us what “real strength” means to you now.Purchase Katya Dunko's "I Drank From the Nile"Support the show:On PatreonBuy us a bookBuy cute merchSubscribe to the Babes in Bookland SubstackThank you for listening!Xx, AlexConnect with us and suggest a great memoir!Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you break free of one legacy to cement your own? We’re back with a bite-sized Babes in Bookland mini review of Liza Minnelli’s memoir “Kid, Wait Till You Hear This,” and it’s equal parts warm, jaw-dropping, and quietly devastating. I went in expecting old Hollywood stories and iconic name-drops. I got those... but I didn’t expect a brutally honest look at what fame can cost a family behind closed doors.I talk about Liza Minnelli the performer and cultural force: an EGOT-winning star of stage and screen, a voice people instantly recognize, and a public figure who showed up as an advocate during the AIDS crisis when many stayed silent. But the heart of her memoir is the private Liza, the daughter trying to survive a mother’s addiction and mental health storms while other adults fail to step in. Her pages on caretaking as a child, living with dread, and trying to “protect” a parent will hit especially hard if you’re an adult child of an addict or you’ve carried responsibilities that were never yours.Liza’s account of her own substance use disorder and recovery, including rehab at the Betty Ford Center and the long road to real sobriety, is the most powerful part of the story and one of the most human celebrity memoir moments I’ve read. If you’re looking for a memoir podcast that blends pop culture with real conversations about addiction recovery, denial, resilience, and choosing life, this one’s for you.Subscribe for more women’s memoir reviews, share this episode with a friend, and leave a review so more readers can find the show. What’s one “yes” you need to tell yourself today?SAMHSA’s National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357) (also known as the Treatment Referral Routing Service), or TTY: 1-800-487-4889 is a confidential, free, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year, information service, in English and Spanish, for individuals and family members facing mental and/or substance use disorders. This service provides referrals to local treatment facilities, support groups, and community-based organizations.Also visit the online treatment locator, or send your zip code via text message: 435748 (HELP4U) to find help near you.Purchase Liza Minnelli's "Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!"Support the show:On PatreonBuy us a bookBuy cute merchSubscribe to the Babes in Bookland SubstackXx, AlexConnect with us and suggest a great memoir!Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Author Ayana Lage joins the show to talk about Missing Me, her memoir of postpartum psychosis and the long road back. We talk about perfectionism as a coping strategy, anxiety as a lifelong undercurrent, and the exhausting need to be seen as “good” while feeling like you’re failing inside. Ayana shares how she turned hospital journals and medical records into a tightly crafted, nonlinear memoir, how she handled the fear of reviews, and what it means to tell the truth when your story includes your partner and your parents. We also get honest about how faith can comfort you and still leave you carrying guilt when mental health doesn’t improve, and why therapy and medication are not character flaws.Then we widen the lens to the realities that raise the stakes: Black maternal health disparities, being dismissed in medical settings, and why support like a doula can matter. We clarify what postpartum psychosis can look like, why it’s different from postpartum depression or postpartum OCD, and how stigma harms mothers, babies, and families when people don’t know the signs. Ayana closes with the aftermath: releasing shame, planning a second pregnancy with care, making feeding choices without guilt, and finding joy in the mundane.Subscribe, share this conversation with a friend, and leave a review if it helps you see postpartum mental health with more clarity and compassion.Purchase Missing Me by Ayana LageSupport the show:On PatreonBuy us a bookBuy cute merchSubscribe to the Babes in Bookland SubstackThank you for listening!Xx, AlexConnect with us and suggest a great memoir!Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A memoir can feel like a mirror you didn’t ask for. We opened Christina Applegate’s and found an unvarnished account of survival: a child actor who worked to live, a dancer who prayed with her body, an artist who hid behind “Christina Applegate” until truth demanded center stage.  We dig into the fault lines: body image and shame running alongside career highs; Sweet Charity on Broadway as a masterclass in grit after a brutal injury; pay inequity countered by quiet solidarity; and more. Her reflections on breast cancer and MS aren’t wrapped in “warrior” clichés.  If you’ve ever performed strength because the world is allergic to pain, her confession will help you feel seen.We also sit with research tying childhood trauma to MS risk, not as final verdict but as a challenge to take our histories seriously. By the end, she rejects the persona and claims the name her people use—Kiki—then asks a question that lingers: Who are you?Hit play for a thoughtful, unsentimental conversation about truth, trauma, dance, illness, craft, and the fragile alchemy of happiness-with-sadness. If this moved you, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review telling us the line you can’t stop thinking about.Purchase Christina Applegate's "You with the Sad Eyes"Support the show:On PatreonBuy us a bookBuy cute merchSubscribe to the Babes in Bookland SubstackThank you for listening!Xx, AlexConnect with us and suggest a great memoir!Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Think you know Demi Moore? Think again. My friend, Mackenzie, and I peel back the tabloid myths to trace a far more gripping arc: a child who found safety in hospital routines because home was chaos, a teenager forced to protect herself when the adults failed, and an artist who spent years equating value with a number on the scale while breaking box‑office ceilings and cultural taboos. Guided by Demi’s memoir Inside Out, we connect the dots between early trauma, addiction, codependence, and the relentless body scrutiny of Hollywood—and how those patterns transform when you finally choose yourself.If this moved you, tap follow, share with a friend who loves smart memoir deep dives, and leave a quick review so more listeners can find the show. Your support helps us bring you more conversations that go beyond the headlines.Support the show:On Patreon Buy us a book Buy cute merch Subscribe to the Babes in Bookland SubstackLink to this episode’s book: Demi Moore's "Inside Out"Other links:What is Kabbalah?Demi Moore's Vanity Fair cover & articleXx, AlexConnect with us and suggest a great memoir!Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ever picked up a buzzy memoir and felt the heart was missing beneath the hype? I sit down with Ryley from the Little Miss Podcast to unpack Elyse Myers’ debut: the charming illustrations, a few resonant lines on anxiety and connection, and the recurring moments where the story stops just shy of reckoning. We wanted the hinge points—the cause, the cost, the change—and too often found stylized vignettes that try to entertain when they should have revealed.From there, we widen the lens to the ecosystem that made this book possible. How has influencer culture reshaped our expectations for honesty, and our tolerance for ambiguity? We talk body image in the age of filters, the resurgence of pro-anorexia aesthetics dressed up as wellness, and a more sustainable posture of body neutrality and body awe. We get practical about family language, food without moral labels, and how to model healthier self-talk at home.We also dig into parasocial bonds and why they feel so real, the consumerism treadmill that turns every feed into a storefront, and the ethics of featuring children online without meaningful consent or protection. Then comes the big question: Do creators owe a public stance when harm is plain to see? We don’t need comedians to become journalists, but acknowledging suffering, pointing to credible resources, and choosing empathy over silence matters—especially when your platform can direct attention toward help.If you’re curious about what makes memoirs feel true, how to read past the gloss of virality, and where to draw firmer boundaries with the content you consume, this conversation is your map. Hit play, then tell us: what do you expect from a life story—and from the people you follow? Subscribe, share with a friend who loves book talk, and leave a review with your favorite memoir recommendations.This Bonus episode is available for free this month! Thank you for supporting the show <3Connect with us and suggest a great memoir!Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does it mean to move shame back where it belongs? We dive into Gisele Pelicot’s A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides—a memoir that confronts sexual violence, courtroom language, and public accountability while fiercely protecting the survivor’s right to joy. I trace Pellicot’s path from the shocking discovery of years of drugging and assault to the rare choice of an open hearing and the powerful moment when all fifty-one perpetrators were found guilty. Along the way, we sit with hard questions: how do institutions perpetuate harm through euphemisms, how can families process conflicting truths, and what does healing look like when love and betrayal share the same house?Support the show: On Patreon Buy us a book Buy cute merch Subscribe to the Babes in Bookland SubstackLink to this episode’s book:A Hymn to Life by Gisele PelicotIf you care about survivor justice and the cultural work of shifting blame off victims, this conversation is for you! Press play, reflect with us, and share your thoughts. If the episode moved you, subscribe, leave a review, and pass it on to someone who needs to hear it.Xx, AlexConnect with us and suggest a great memoir!Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Can you hold two truths at once?  I sit down with author and sociologist Deborah J. Cohan to explore her memoir, Welcome to Wherever We Are, a clear-eyed look at psychological abuse, loyalty, and the quiet heroics of caregiving. From the first moments, Deborah names what so many experience but struggle to articulate—gaslighting, threats, verbal assaults, and financial control—and shows how a child’s devotion to her father can coexist with a fierce need for boundaries.As we trace the book’s path through a pandemic launch, Deborah explains why a sociological lens makes memoir more than confession. She connects the dots between family dynamics, gendered expectations, healthcare systems, and the invisible labor that daughters and partners shoulder. Her years counseling violent men at Emerge, the nation’s oldest batterer intervention program, sharpen her insights: behavior can change, accountability matters, and empathy does not erase harm. That background also deepens her own reckoning with a brilliant, creative, and often wounding father.Rather than preaching forgiveness, Deborah argues for something braver: ambivalence. Holding two truths—love and injury—without flattening either. We talk about staying present at the end of a complicated life, advocating from a distance, and confronting the limits of what one caregiver can do under debt, time pressure, and grief. Along the way we surface practical takeaways for anyone navigating eldercare, emotional abuse, or family estrangement: document patterns, set sustainable boundaries, recruit support, and learn the language that makes the unseen visible.We close with the fuel that keeps Deborah moving—art, nature, movement, laughter—and a glimpse at her next project on her mother and creativity. If you’re searching for thoughtful conversation on caregiving, gaslighting, domestic violence education, and healing family patterns, this one offers tools and tenderness in equal measure. If the conversation resonates, tap follow, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs a little more language for their story.Support the show:On Patreon Buy us a book Buy cute merch Subscribe to the Babes in Bookland SubstackLink to this episode’s book:Welcome to Wherever We Are by Deborah J. Cohan Other links: The Complete U by Deborah J. Cohan DeborahJCohan.comThis episode is produced, recorded, and edited by me.  Xx, Alex@babesinbooklandpodConnect with us and suggest a great memoir!Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if the high you’re chasing isn’t love at all, but the thrill of uncertainty? On pub day, we sit down with author Amanda McCracken to unpack limerence (the obsessive, anxious fixation that can masquerade as romance) and how naming the pattern helped her trade fantasy for reciprocity. We connect the dots between anxious-avoidant dynamics, social media ambiguity, and the dopamine hit of anticipation that keeps us hooked on “what if.” Amanda shares how purity culture shaped her choices, why “safe” once felt boring, and how a later-in-life ADHD diagnosis helped things click. If you’ve ever been caught up in breadcrumbing, ghosting, or the mental movie of an idealized other, this episode offers a clear path forward. You’ll learn how to spot limerence, interrupt the rumination loop, and build self-compassion so you can trust your choices and choose people who choose you back. Plus, Amanda shares more about her podcast The Longing Lab. Listen, share with a friend who’s ready for healthier love, and if this resonated, subscribe and leave a review to help others find the show.Support the show:On Patreon Buy us a book Buy cute merch Subscribe to the Babes in Bookland SubstackIf you have any comments or questions, please connect with me on Instagram or email babesinbooklandpodcast@gmail.com. I’d love to hear your suggestions and feedback!Link to this episode’s book:When Longing Becomes Your Lover by Amanda McCrackenOther links:The Longing Lab PodcastThe Peace BoatThis episode is produced, recorded, and edited by me. Special thanks to my new friend, Amanda.  Xx, AlexConnect with us and suggest a great memoir!Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are you living your most authentic life?Mortality has a way of cutting through noise. My friend, Cara, and I open season three with Alua Arthur’s memoir Briefly Perfectly Human and ask how getting real about death can help us live with more honesty, tenderness, and courage today. Cara shares first-hand insights from death doula training, and together we map the terrain so many of us avoid: grief that won’t be rushed, hard choices families face, and the practical steps that turn love into action at the end of life. If these questions (the same ones many contemplate on their death beds) stir something in you: Who did I love? How did I love? Was I loved?... you’re in the right place! Listen, reflect, and then tell someone you trust what matters to you. Subscribe, share this episode with a friend who needs it, and leave a review to help more people find the show. Support the show:On Patreon Buy us a book Buy cute merch Subscribe to the Babes in Bookland SubstackLink to this episode’s book:Briefly, Perfectly, Human by Alua ArthurOther episodes to check out:AUTHOR CHAT: Brittany Penner's "Children Like Us"Cara's other episode: Anna Dorn's "Bad Lawyer" Other resources:Hospice nurse Barbara Karnes’ booklets For people who want to learn how to become a death doula:Going with Grace – Alua’s company! NEDA (National End-of-Life Doula Alliance) For people looking to get their end of life paperwork in order:Compassion & Choices GYST  A good article about different eco-friendly ways to dispose of body.  https://curious.earth/blog/sustainable-green-burials/Books for children about death/dying:Everywhere, Still , Maybe Tomorrow,  The Rabbit Listened , All About Grief  Special thanks to my dear friend, Cara. Xx, AlexConnect with us and suggest a great memoir!Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How far could you go if you believed in yourself?Katherine Johnson’s memoir My Remarkable Journey is more than a space-age origin story; it is a study in how confidence, education, and community can shape history. Early on, the memoir reads like a love letter to learning. Katherine’s parents, one generation removed from slavery, push her toward college with sacrifices and a father’s mantra etched in memory: “You’re as good as anyone, but no better.” The book also shows how mentors matter. She highlights the teachers who saw a research mathematician before she did, a one-student class in analytic geometry of space, and a culture of high expectations that asked Black students to be twice as good. It’s inspiring and sobering. Proof that talent needs access, and access is a policy choice. We talk about “painful progress,” how proximity humanizes, and why respectful, fact-based dialogue changes minds more reliably than outrage. Through grief—losing her first husband—Katherine keeps moving, anchoring herself in work and family. Her moon-shot math resembles a life philosophy: aim where the future will be, not where the present stands.   If this conversation moved you, follow and subscribe, share it with a friend who loves memoirs or space history, and leave a review to help others find the show. Your support helps us bring more voices, more stories, and more fuel for your TBR.We’ll see you in February 2026 for more author chats, book club conversations, and a new episode type: bite sized babes—where I review memoirs and offer my favorite takeaways!Support the show:On Patreon Buy us a book Buy cute merchIf you have any comments or questions, please connect with me on Instagram or email babesinbooklandpodcast@gmail.com. I’d love to hear your suggestions and feedback!Link to this episode’s book:My Remarkable JourneyOther links: A Brief History of Black Hospitals in America  Transcripts and chapter markers are available through apple’s podcast app—they may not be perfect, but relying on them allows me to dedicate more time to the show! If you’re interested in being a transcript angel, let me know. This episode is produced, recorded, and its content edited by me. Theme song by Devin KennedySpecial thanks to my dear friend, Kate! Xx, AlexConnect with us and suggest a great memoir!Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ready for a holiday watch that actually holds up? We close the year with Jackie and Danielle from No More Late Fees and dig into why Nancy Meyers’ The Holiday still hits. It's a rom-com where self-respect is the twist, friendship is the anchor, and charisma beats swagger every time. We trade Blockbuster memories for sharp analysis then get into what really matters: characters that feel real and show major growth.Is Iris and Arthur’s bond the film’s best relationship? When he tells her to stop acting like the best friend and be the leading lady, it sets the standard for us all! We unpack the hard pivot from pining to gumption, the realism of saying no to Jasper, and the quiet win of choosing yourself. On the other side, we explore why Jack Black’s Miles works as a romantic lead: attention as attraction, care as chemistry, and a story that never turns his looks into a punchline. Jude Law’s Graham gets dimension through grief, daughters, and unexpected softness. He's proof that charm can coexist with responsibility.We also tackle the messy, modern bits: the ethics of one-night stands versus real safety, smarter dating questions to avoid duplicity, and whether long-distance romance can survive airports and time zones. Along the way, we share fun trivia and reflections.If The Holiday is your seasonal ritual--or you’re rom-com curious--you’ll leave with new trivia, fresh angles, and, hopefully, a little extra courage to be the lead in your own story. If you loved this, subscribe, share with a rom-com friend, and leave a review telling us your rating: buy it, five-day, two-day, or same-day return?Want more movie fun? https://nomorelatefeespodcast.com/Wishing you love, peace, and memorable moments this holiday season!Xx, AlexConnect with us and suggest a great memoir!Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.