Books, Beach, & Beyond

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...

Steven Rowley is the best-selling author of Lily and the Octopus, The Editor, The Guncle (Winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor), The Celebrants (a Today Show Read with Jenna Book Club pick) and the recently published, The Guncle Abroad. Steven begins with his writing talents as a child through his publishing journey to his status as bestselling novelist, the love of our pets, queer voice...

Emily Giffin is the #1 bestselling novelist of Something Borrowed, Something Blue , and on shelves yesterday, The Summer Pact . Elin, Tim, and Emily dissect their college experiences and friendships, and similar to the plot of The Summer Pact , how those relationships are some of the closest you can have in your lives. They segue into the underlying themes in Emily’s 12 books, perspective and poin...

Emma Straub is the New York Times best-selling author of This Time Tomorrow, All Adults Here, The Vacationers, and Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures . Elin and Tim dig in deep on being the daughter of novelist Peter Straub, growing up in New York City, her writing education and origin story, debut novels, time travel (Elin, Tim, and Emma travel back to their 16 year old bedrooms and bookshelves). Em...

After a fun introductory episode, Season 2 of Books, Beach, & Beyond officially begins with award-winning actor, entrepreneur, producer, and designer Sarah Jessica Parker. Elin, Tim, and SJP shine a light on SJP Lit, the collaboration with Zando and her new imprint that publishes thought-provoking, inclusive, and big-hearted stories which include A Quitter’s Paradise by Elysha Chang, Coleman H...

Welcome back into the studio with your hosts of Books, Beach, & Beyond , Elin Hilderbrand and Tim Ehrenberg, for an incredible introductory episode of Season 2. The episode is a quick catch-up with Elin and Tim… where they traveled this winter and what they’ve recently been reading and recommending. The two then dive into Swan Song , Elin’s final Nantucket novel publishing June 11th, and discu...

The final bonus episode of Books, Beach, & Beyond for 2023 features a friendly conversation between your beloved hosts, Elin Hilderbrand and Tim Ehrenberg! The two recap the first season of the podcast, dish on their favorite episodes, favorite books of 2023, most anticipated books of 2024, their reading routines, offer writing and reading advice, discuss Elin's final Nantucket novel Swan...

For our second bonus episode for 2023, we stay across the pond and get to chat with the #1 New York Times best-selling author of the Beartown Series, A Man Called Ove, and Anxious People - Fredrik Backman! Elin and Tim chat with Fredrik about his origin story, his debut novel A Man Called Ove and where the idea for this iconic story came from, his Beartown series and the hockey team and town in th...

In this bonus episode, Elin and Tim travel virtually across the pond to Scotland to interview one of their favorite writers of the English language, Maggie O’Farrell, author of Hamnet and The Marriage Portrait. The three discuss the differences between publishing in the UK and in the US, what it means to Maggie to be Irish, how she researches her settings, point of view and experimentation with th...

It Ends with Colleen Hoover. Yes, Season 1 of Books, Beach, & Beyond wraps up with the mega best-selling author of It Ends With Us and Verity , Colleen Hoover, or CoHo as she is known by all her adoring fans. Colleen, Elin, and Tim discuss Colleen’s super unique journey from self-publishing her books to today working with multiple publishers and editors, domestic abuse and secondary trauma in...

Please welcome to the podcast the hilariously entertaining and #1 best-selling author of In Her Shoes, Mrs. Everything, and The Summer Place , Jennifer Weiner! This is one juicy episode of literary gossip with so many laugh-out-loud moments. Jen takes us through her two decades in the book business, from her debut Good in Bed to her latest, The Breakaway . We dive into mothers and daughters, bikin...

In this episode of Books, Beach, & Beyond , we welcome Gilbert Cruz, Editor of the New York Times Book Review. Cruz discusses his childhood, schooling, and career that led to one of the most elite jobs in the book business. He gives listeners a behind-the-scenes look into the process of choosing books to review in the New York Times,  who reviews them, and how the "Top Ten Books of the Ye...

This episode features one of Elin and Tim’s favorite writers and friends, #1 New York Times best-selling author of Mad Honey, Wish You Were Here, and My Sister’s Keeper , Jodi Picoult! Jodi discusses writing from both perspectives of a controversial issue, her twist endings and intense research process, and co-writing with Samantha Van Leer and Jennifer Finney Boylan. Elin and Jodi dig into their...

September is still summer in our books, and there is still plenty of time to put a couple more "beach reads" in your beach bags. Our latest guest is Sunny Hostin, the 3x Emmy Award-winning co-host of ABC’s “The View” and the New York Times best-selling author of Summer on the Bluffs and Summer on Sag Harbor. Sunny discusses her memoir, I Am These Truths, and how writing it helped form he...

CNN Anchor and chief Washington correspondent Jake Tapper joins Elin Hilderbrand and Tim Ehrenberg to report on his new novel, All the Demons Are Here. They start by discussing growing up in the 80's in Philadelphia, Jake’s origin story as a journalist-turned-novelist, the turbulent year of 1977 (in which his newest thriller takes place), reporting on news today while writing about the past,...

Episode 4 brings us the incredible writing talent that is Ann Patchett, an "auto-buy" author for our hosts and the 2023 National Humanities Medal recipient for "putting into words the beauty, pain and complexity of human nature." The three start their conversation by diving into Elin and Ann's respective years at the Iowa Writers' Workshop before exploring  Ann's...

Episode 3 brings us the incredible reading icon and passionate bookworm that is Jenna Bush Hager, author and the face of The Today Show’s Read with Jenna. The conversation is ripe with reading recommendations, and Elin and Tim ask all the insider questions of how Read with Jenna came about, how she chooses the titles each month, and some of her favorites over the last 4.5 years. They dive into rai...

In this episode, Elin and Tim speak with the incomparable Kristin Hannah, author of The Nightingale, Firefly Lane, and The Four Winds . Kristin discusses her origin story (did you know she wrote a novel with her mom that will never be published?) and the three chat about crying while reading books, labels in literature, "blurbing" other authors’ books, characters pushed to the extremes,...

Buckle up for an entertaining and profound talk with best-selling sensation Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Daisy Jones and the Six, and Carrie Soto is Back . Elin, Tim, and Taylor discuss creating iconic characters, the price of celebrity as a writer, juggling family and career, and so much more. You don’t want to miss this one - it’s laugh out loud funny and ful...

Welcome to Books, Beach, & Beyond! In this introductory episode, Elin and Tim have a "five-star chat" with Elin’s agent, Michael Carlisle of Inkwell Management, and her editor, Judy Clain of Little, Brown. The four reflect on Elin’s career, the editing process, the book business, and Elin’s newly released 30th book, The Five-Star Weekend. Tune in for a real insider’s dive into the te...