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 works, what they do when they don’t like a book, their advice for emerging influencers, and their favorite books of the year, favorite Christmas songs and drinks, and the book they all will be gifting this year. It’s like listening to four best friends talk at a book club.

A Special Thank you to our Episode Sponsors:

• Book of the Month
• Serena & Lily

Reading List:

• Conform by Ariel Sullivan
• The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
• Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• Divergent by Veronica Roth
• The Most Fun We’ve Ever Had by Claire Lombardo
• Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
• The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’ Farrell
• After You’d Gone by Maggie O’Farrell
• American Fantasy by Emma Straub (April 2026)
• The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
• The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
• Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• Heart the Lover by Lily King
• The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons
• Every Last One by Anna Quindlen
• King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby
• Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
• The Ten Year Affair by Erin Somers
• Sweet Valley High by Francine Pascal
• Sarah Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
• On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
• Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• 11/22/63 by Stephen King
• Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten
• A Court of Thorn and Roses by Sarah J Maas
• Shady Hollow Series by Juneau Black
• One Day in December by Josie Silver
• Lonesome Dove by Larry McCurtry
• Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
• Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
• Playworld by Adam Ross
• Winter Stroll by Elin Hilderbrand
• The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand
• 28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand
• What to Cook When you Don’t Feel Like Cooking by Caroline Chambers
• The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
• Heart the Lover by Lily King

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And find us on Instagram at @booksbeachandbeyond

Happy Reading!

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 his newest #1 bestselling novel The Secret of Secrets, the mystical city of Prague, his epic international tour, consciousness, the afterlife, religion and science, the character of Robert Langdon, Hollywood, and so much more.

A Special Thank you to our Episode Sponsor:

• The Nantucket Hotel

Dan Brown Reading List:

• Deception Point
• Digital Fortress
• Angels & Demons
• The DaVinci Code 
• The Lost Symbol
• Inferno
• Origin
• The Secret of Secrets

What else are we reading in this episode? 

• Franny and Zoey by JD Salinger
• Family Happiness by Laurie Colwin
• The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever
• A Gorgeous Excitement by Cynthia Weiner
• Playworld by Adam Ross
• Chief Inspector Gamache/Three Pines novels by Louise Penny
• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
• The Lotus Eaters by Stanley G. Weinbaum
• The Bourne Identity Series by Robert Ludlum
• Memoirs of an Invisible Man by H.F. Saint
• The Doomsday Conspiracy by Sidney Sheldon
• The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand

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And find us on Instagram at @booksbeachandbeyond

Happy Reading!

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 own novels. The three dig in about The Widow, Grisham’s first legal whodunnit, his writing process and routines, The Innocence Project, and his favorite legal thriller of all time.

A Special Thank you to our Episode Sponsors:

• Little, Brown
• N Magazine
• Nantucket Current

John Grisham Reading List:

• A Time to Kill
• The Firm
• Calico Joe
• Bleachers
• Playing for Pizza
• Sooley
• A Painted House
• Skipping Christmas
• The Innocent Man
• Camino Island 
• The Confession
• Framed 

What else are we reading in this episode? 

• The Goldfinch by Donna Tart
• Culpability by Bruce Holsinger
• Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose
• To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• Snow Falling on Cedars by David Gutterson
• Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow
• Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kastner
• The Chip Hilton Series by Clair Bee
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
• Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck 
• Sophie’s Choice by William Styron
• The Little Drummer Girl by John Le Carre
• Scott Turow, Stephen King, James lee Burke, Amor Towles 

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And find us on Instagram at @booksbeachandbeyond

Happy Reading!

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 inspired the writing of the novel and the fictional Tiffin Academy. The three discuss the difference between Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z, what books they were reading and their individual high school experiences, and so much more! It’s a funny, entertaining look at this mother-daughter duo in anticipation of the book's release.

A Special Thank you to our Episode Sponsors:

• Book of the Month
• Nantucket Looms

Reading List:

• The Academy by Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby Cunningham
• Pinkalicious
• Fancy Nancy
• Olivia the Pig
• Perfectly Arugula
• 28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand
• The Love Season by Elin Hilderbrand
• The Blue Bistro by Elin Hilderbrand
• Mrs Dalloway
• The Hours by Michael Cunningham
• Jane Eyre 
• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Coleman Hill by Kim Coleman Foote
• Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
• A Separate Peace by John Knowles
• Huck Finn by Mark Twain
• The Crucible by Arthur Miller
• The Thoroughbreds by Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby Cunningham

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And find us on Instagram at @booksbeachandbeyond

Happy Reading!

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, anthropology, a writer’s process, golf, and love in all its forms. Don’t miss this thoughtful conversation on writing, reading, and everything in between.

A Special Thank you to our Episode Sponsors:

• Nantucket Book Partners
• Open Book With Jenna

Lily King Books

• The Pleasing Hour
• Father of the Rain
• Euphoria
• Writers and Lovers
• Heart the Lover

Who else are we reading in this episode?

• Lorrie Moore
• Maggie O’Farrell
• Tim Winton
• Gish Jen
• Shirley Hazzard
• Tessa Hadley
• Elizabeth Strout
• Ann Patchett
• Playworld by Adam Ross
• Tobias Wolfe
• Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Jude Blume
• It’s Not The End of the World by Judy Blume
• William Faulkner
• Virginia Wolff
• Andre Dubus
• The Cheever Stories by John Cheever
• Franny and Zooey by JD Salinger
• Franz Kafka
• Flannery O’Conner
• Toni Morrison
• What We Can Know by Ian McEwan
• Colm Toibin
• My Friends by Hisham Matar
• Free Love by Tessa Hadley
• Speak Memory by Vladimir Nabokov

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And find us on Instagram at @booksbeachandbeyond

Happy Reading!

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 some of her beloved characters Olive, Lucy, and Bob, and dig into her process, point of view, her Pulitzer Prize win and Oprah’s Book Club experience. We hear about the screen adaptation of Olive Kitteridge with Frances McDormand, which two characters Liz would take to a weekly lunch, and what books her characters would recommend to read.

A Special Thank you to our Episode Sponsors:

• Little, Brown
• Hill House Home

Elizabeth Strout Books:

• Amy and Isabelle
• Olive Kitteridge
• My Name is Lucy Barton
• Olive, Again
• Tell Me Everything

Other Books Mentioned:

• Winesburg, Ohio: A Group of Tales of Ohio Small Town Life by Sherwood Anderson
• The Good Seed by William March
• Mrs. Dalloway by Virgina Woolf
• Middlemarch by George Eliot

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And find us on Instagram at @booksbeachandbeyond

Happy Reading!

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 family summer vacations, what keeps them up at night, health scares, grief, food in her books, her beloved characters, family dynamics, and all the themes and layers upon layers in Catherine’s novels. Don't miss this episode and make sure to pre-order Wreck coming out this fall.

A Special Thank you to our Episode Sponsors:

• Cartolina
• Nantucket Meat & Fish

Catherine Newman Reading List:

• We All Want Impossible Things
• Sandwich
• Wreck (coming October 28, 2026. Pre-order now!)

What else are we reading in this episode?

• The Beans of Egypt, Maine by Carolyn Chute
• Small Rain by Garth Greenwell
• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy
• Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingall’s Wilder
• Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken
• The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
• The Usual Desire to Kill by Camilla Barnes
• Real Americans by Rachel Khong
• Loved and Missed by Susie Boyt
• The Girls in Queens by Christine Kandic Torres
• Heartwood by Amity Gaige
• Cassandra at the Wedding by Dorothy Baker
• Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo
• Straight Man by Richard Russo
• The Risk Pool by Richard Russo
• The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong

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And find us on Instagram at @booksbeachandbeyond

Happy Reading!

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 experience and compare and contrast it to Elin’s upcoming boarding school novel, The Academy, as well as chat about their favorite campus novels. The three move on to Curtis’s novels inspired by First Ladies, American Wife and Rodham, and they laugh about their favorite SNL skits. This episode is rich with reading recommendations so don’t miss it!

A Special Thank you to our Episode Sponsors:

• The Nantucket Hotel
• Nantucket Historical Association

Curtis Sittenfeld’s Reading List:

• Prep
• American Wife
• Eligible
• Romantic Comedy
• Rodham
• Show Don’t Tell

What Else Are We Reading in this Episode:

• Charlotte’s Web by E.B White
• Stuart Little by E.B. White
• The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
• The Secret History by Donna Tartt
• Foster Dade Explores the Cosmos by Nash Jenkins
• Sarah Phillips by Andrea Lee
• Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris
• I am Charlotte Simmons by Thomas Wolfe
• The Islanders by Lewis Robinson
• Girlfriending by Susanna Daniel
• My Own Devices by Dessa
• Animal Instinct by Amy Shearn

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And find us on Instagram at @booksbeachandbeyond

Happy Reading!

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 Wally’s books, one of Tim’s favorites of all time, I Know This Much is True, and the newest novel, The River is Waiting. They examine its themes, our prison system, addiction, the act of forgiveness, emotional intelligence, and the transformative power of fiction.

A Special Thank You To Our Episode Sponsor:

• J.Crew

Wally Lamb Reading List:

• She’s Come Undone
• I Know this Much is True
• The Hour I First Believed
• Couldn’t Keep it To Myself
• I’ll Fly Away
• We Are Water
• Wishin’ and Hopin’
• The River is Waiting

What else are we reading in this episode?
Flannery Conner, Anny Tyler, Raymond Carver, John Updike
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Flannery O’Conner Collected Stories
Raymond Carver Collected Stories
The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
Bird by Bird by Ann Lamott
Paper Girl by Beth Macy

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And find us on Instagram at @booksbeachandbeyond

Happy Reading!

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 discuss about contemporary fiction, the publishing industry, and the art of storytelling.

A Special Thank You To Our Episode Sponsor:

• J.Crew

Adam Ross Reading List:

• Mr. Peanut
• Playworld
• Ladies and Gentleman: Stories

 What else are we reading in this episode?

The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellows

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Happy Reading!

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 children. Carl discusses how publishing has changed in his long career, engaging in politics, the exuberant writing and humor in his novels, his advice to graduates, and his take on Hollywood adaptations. The audience at the Nantucket Book Festival was in stitches and you will be, too.

A Special Thank You To Our Episode Sponsors:

• Cartolina
• Nantucket Looms

Carl Hiaasen Books:

• Double Whammy
• Tourist Season
• Fever Beach
• Assume the Worst: The Graduation Speech You’ll Never Hear
• Hoot

Other Books Mentioned:

• The Hardy Boys by Franklin W Dixon
• Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene
• Davy Barry books
• Karen Russell books
• Erik Larson books
• Martin Amos books
• Christopher Moore books 

Follow/Subscribe to the 'Books, Beach, & Beyond' podcast now to stay current on new episodes.

And find us on Instagram at @booksbeachandbeyond

Happy Reading!