Books, Beach, & Beyond

This special episode of Books, Beach, & Beyond was recorded LIVE at the 15th annual Nantucket Book Festival on June 13, 2026. Tim sits Tayari Jones down to talk about one of the best-selling novels of the year so far - KIN . Tayari and Tim talk about Tayari’s origin story, choosing point of view, mothers and daughters, writing historical fiction, her tour for Kin, and much more. Thank you to N...

This special episode of Books, Beach, & Beyond was recorded LIVE at the 15th annual Nantucket Book Festival on June 12, 2026. Elin sits Belle Burden down to talk about one of the best-selling memoirs of the year so far - “ Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage .” Elin designed the conversation to be split between before the book, about the book, and after the book came out. Belle tells us of her wri...

Carley Fortune is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Every Summer After, One Golden Summer, This Summer Will Be Different, Meet Me at the Lake , and new on shelves this year, the #1 New York Times bestseller - Our Perfect Storm . Carley, Elin, and Tim start talking about the romance genre and its respect in the industry, Carley’s life as a journalist before turning into a novelist, and ho...

Elin Hilderbrand and Tim Ehrenberg of Tim Talks Books are back for Season 4 of Books, Beach, & Beyond! The two co-hosts update listeners on their years so far and then introduce returning guests Ann Patchett and Emma Straub, both bookstore owners (Parnassus Books in Nashville, TN, and Books Are Magic in Brooklyn, NY), and both with new books this year. The four talk about bookstores from child...

Elin and Tim end Season 3 of Books, Beach, & Beyond with two of their favorite book influencers: Katie Shober of @beachreadsandbubbly and Brady Lockerby @bradylockerby. Tim and Elin recap all seasons of the podcast by getting to know Katie and Brady as readers with a long list of reading recommendations. Then they dig into how Katie and Brady started as social media influencers, how their day...

Please welcome to Books, Beach, & Beyond Dan Brown, the author of nine #1 bestselling novels, including The Da Vinci Code , which has become one of the bestselling books of all time, as well as Origin , Inferno , The Lost Symbol , and Angels & Demons . His thrillers have captivated readers worldwide and been the subject of intellectual debate and speculation. Your co-hosts and Dan discuss...

All rise for the honorable John Grisham on Books, Beach, & Beyond this week. The G.O.A.T of the legal thriller and the author of A Time To Kill, The Firm, The Confession, and publishing this October 21st  from DoubleDay, The Widow. John tells us about his life as a lawyer, how he got his start writing, his most memorable reading experiences throughout his life, and some of his favorites of his...

This is a very special episode for Books, Beach, & Beyond celebrating Elin’s 31st novel written with her daughter, Shelby Cunningham – The Academy, publishing this September 16th. Our guest for this episode is Elin’s daughter Shelby and they dig into the writing of The Academy, Shelby growing up on Nantucket and heading to boarding school at St. George’s Academy in Rhode Island, and how that i...

Next up is Lily King, the New York Times bestselling author of six novels, including Euphoria and Writers & Lovers, and coming in the fall, Heart the Lover. Pre-order today! The three start talking about the expression “writers’ writer” and who they would describe as a “writer’s writer”, and then they continue with Lily’s writing and reading origin stories. They spend time on Margaret Mead, an...

Next up for Books, Beach, & Beyond is the best-selling and award-winning writer Elizabeth Strout, author of Olive Kitteridge, My Name is Lucy Barton, and Tell Me Everything, just released in paperback . Elin and Tim start by discussing why they read and welcome Liz with how she got her start in this literary life along with her one night as a stand-up comedian. They continue with discussion on...

Next on Books, Beach, & Beyond is Catherine Newman, author of Sandwich, We All Want Impossible Things, and Wreck, (forthcoming from HarperCollins in October 2025.) Elin and Tim begin by gushing about Catherine’s writing and how much they love her books. Catherine takes us back to her first writing projects, and then her pivot into writing auto-fiction with her three novels. They talk about fam...

Elin and Tim welcome to the podcast Curtis Sittenfeld, the author of Prep, American Wife, and Show, Don’t Tell . They start with Curtis’s favorite books, her time at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop where Elin and her compare stories, and then segue into her debut novel, “the boarding school book of boarding school books”, Prep . They discuss how much of it was inspired by Curtis’s own boarding school e...

This bonus episode features the live conversation with your host, Tim Ehrenberg of Tim Talks Books, at the Nantucket Book Festival with one of his favorite novelists, Wally Lamb. Wally is the author of seven New York Times best-sellers, three of them selections for Oprah’s Book Club, She’s Come Undone , I Know This Much is True , and most recently, The River is Waiting . The two discuss many of Wa...

This bonus episode features the live conversation with your host, Elin Hilderbrand, at the Nantucket Book Festival with Adam Ross, author of Playworld . Playworld is one of Elin’s favorite books she has read in a decade. Adam is the acclaimed author of Mr. Peanut and renowned editor of the Sewanee Review .  Sure to be a conversation to remember, these two masters of their craft have much to discus...

Books, Beach, & Beyond’s first LIVE podcast recording was June 14th at the Nantucket Book Festival where Elin and Tim were in conversation with best-selling author Carl Hiaasen, author of Fever Beach . The three talk about Carl’s career as a journalist turned novelist, setting his novels in the state of Florida, writing satire, his outrageous characters, and writing for both adults and childre...

Our first official episode of Season 3 is with the force that is GAYLE KING! Gayle is an award-winning journalist and co-host of CBS MORNINGS, also editor-at-large of Oprah Daily and hosts “Gayle King in the House,” a live, weekly radio show on SiriusXM. The three discuss their favorite interview topics to engage with writers about, what Gayle was reading as a young girl, how her journalism career...

Elin Hilderbrand and Tim Ehrenberg of Tim Talks Books are back for Season 3 of Books, Beach, & Beyond! This introductory episode is a catch-up on what the two have been reading, watching, and looking forward to this summer on everyone’s favorite island. They also cover the release of The Blue Book , Elin’s recommendation guide to Nantucket. Joining Elin and Tim for the second half of the episo...

In this bonus episode to close out Season 2 of Books, Beach, & Beyond, your hosts gab about favorite moments and books of the year, Elin's new merch at ElinBrand.com, plus take listener questions submitted on Instagram. Hear about Elin's thoughts on The Perfect Couple and other upcoming Hollywood adventures for Elin's novels, writing advice from Elin, Tim's dance moves, how...

Season 2 of Books, Beach, & Beyond ends its regular season with the icon that is Ina Garten and her new memoir Be Ready When The Luck Happens . Ina Garten is the author of a dozen cookbooks and the host of Be My Guest and Barefoot Contessa on Food Network and Max, for which she has won five Emmy Awards and three James Beard Awards. Elin, Tim, and Ina talk about the process of writing the memoi...

Barbara Kingsolver is the Pulitzer Prize winning, #1 best-selling author of Demon Copperhead, The Bean Trees, and The Poisonwood Bible. Elin, Tim, and Barbara start by telling listeners their favorite literary quotes inspired by a character in Demon Copperhead and then continue into Barbara’s origin story as a reader and a writer. They talk about the importance of setting in Barbara’s books, the B...

Our next guest is Liane Moriarty, the author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers Big Little Lies, Apples Never Fall, The Husband’s Secret, Truly Madly Guilty and her newest, sure to be a best-seller on shelves this month - Here One Moment. Liane comes to us live from Australia and begins with how she got her start writing, the differences in publishing and reading between Australia and the US, th...

Our guest today in this special bonus episode of Books, Beach, & Beyond is Academy Award, Golden Globe, SAG, and Emmy Award winner Nicole Kidman. Elin and Tim ask Nicole about what books she loved throughout her life and how that love of literature turned into the passion for storytelling as an actor. They discuss many of Nicole’s book to screen acting portrayals from the Paddington Bear film...

You asked, we listened! Our guest today is #1 New York best-selling writer Emily Henry, author of Beach Read, Book Lovers, People We Meet on Vacation, Happy Place, and Funny Story. We start with Emily’s origin story as a YA writer turned romance queen we know today. We talk about her first novel Beach Read , the pressure for each new book, introverted writers being in the spotlight, naming charact...

Kevin Kwan is the author of the international bestsellers Crazy Rich Asians, China Rich Girlfriend, Rich People Problems, Sex and Vanity and new this year, Lies and Weddings . Elin, Tim, and Kevin tell us some of their favorite scenes in literature and some personal funny wedding stories, discuss Kevin’s upbringing in Singapore and origin story as a writer, and the Hollywood adaptation of Kevin’s...

Claire Lombardo is the best-selling author of The Most Fun We Ever Had (the April 2024 Reese’s Book Club pick) and the recently released Same As It Ever Was. We start with Claire’s origin story, her social work and family therapist background, as well as her time at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop. Claire discusses teaching writing classes, point of view, first sentences, writing flawed characters, and...