Babes in Bookland: Your Women's Memoir Podcast

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from traditional publishing and the creative breakthroughs that came from adding family letters and her mother’s own unpublished manuscript.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, Alex

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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, Alex
Purchase Kate Quinn's novels

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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 Alex
Connect with us and suggest a great memoir!
Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod

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 Docherty
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Thank you for listening! Xx, Alex

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Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod

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 Brandy
Support the show:
On Patreon
Buy us a book
Buy cute merch
Subscribe to the Babes in Bookland Substack
Thank you for listening!
xx, Alex
Connect with us and suggest a great memoir!
Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod