Snitchin
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Snitchin
Episode 35: The One with Book Club with Sami
We dive into the world of books with Brittany's sister-in-law Sami, discussing everything from favorite reads to literary adaptations and our book club pick "The Seven Sisters." This episode is for book lovers everywhere.
• Sami, Brittany and Kristen give some of their favorite book recommendations, including "The Boys of Tommen" "Small Mercies," "I'm Glad My Mom Died," and "The Last Mrs. Parrish"
• All-time favorite authors include Elin Hilderbrand, Emily Giffin, Jodi Picoult, Colleen Hoover, Kristin Hannah, Sally Hepworth and Emily Henry for their consistent ability to deliver satisfying reads
• The hosts debate their favorite book boyfriends, with mentions of Johnny Kavanaugh, Miles from "Funny Story," and the classic Mr. Darcy
• Discussion of book-to-screen adaptations highlights successes like "The Hunger Games" series and anticipation for upcoming productions
• Detailed review of "The Seven Sisters" by Lucinda Riley, exploring the dual timeline narrative set in modern-day Europe and 1920s Brazil
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Ready, ready. Hey everyone, welcome back to the latest episode of Snitchin' it's your host, kristen.
Speaker 2:And Brittany, Get ready for the best part of your day Happy Friday snitches.
Speaker 1:This is a very exciting Friday episode for us.
Speaker 2:We have the Sammy, the biggest bookworm that I know, my new sister-in-law I can't believe I can call you that officially and yeah, just the person I know that loves books more than anything. Sammy Nolte Well, I guess Sammy Martin now, technically yes, Almost there.
Speaker 3:We're working through the name change but yes, I'm so excited to be here. I'm Sammy. I am Brittany's sister-in-law. I'm a huge fan of books, so I'm super excited to talk through the book club pick and kind of our thoughts on reading in general.
Speaker 1:Yes, sammy, is it true. I've heard the rumor that your parents used to punish you, not by taking away like TV or grounding you, but just taking away your books.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that is what they did, which is kind of crazy because I feel like that is taking away from your child learning, but it's something, but Sammy was also there for the bat breaking.
Speaker 2:So, sammy, let's let the snitches hear your side of the story.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I was sleeping and I woke up in the middle of the night I think it was like four in the morning to Connor screaming and he was crying, and I then heard Brittany say something about why don't you go wash your hands? So I thought like I don't know, he threw up, he wet the bed like something like just with Connor, like not affecting anyone else, and I must've just like rolled over and fell back to sleep. And then the next morning Brittany was like yeah, there was a bat in the room and I was like, oh my God, no way, that's disgusting. We started like talking about the rabies and the shot and I was like, okay, well, this is. I'm like a hypochondriac, so I'm like you guys shouldn't have told me about this.
Speaker 3:I'm looking up everything she's like next level, Asking all my medical friends should I be going to get this? I think I probably would have if I had a car and.
Speaker 3:I was someone else drive me like I probably would have went. But also what threw me off was that you had to get four different shots. So I was like if it was one I probably would have gotten it, but we just like we kept looking at every avenue and there was just no way that anyone else was actually in the room with the bat, so we didn't get it. I think we have to wait like a few months to just make sure. That's the worst part.
Speaker 2:But like four months from now, we can be dead.
Speaker 3:No, I was like I was like off, I put on my clothes to go for a run and then I was like this could be like one of my last days, like I'm not running, I didn't go for a run.
Speaker 1:Oh, I would use that excuse for the next four months.
Speaker 2:Easy, yeah. But the exterminator did come and he well, my dad said he was like it's highly unlikely a bat would get in, Like they couldn't have got across the rooms.
Speaker 1:So that's peace of mind. I mean literally. I told I was with Mish, who the snitches know. She was on the pod and she was like, oh yeah, I had a friend that happened to in the South end. I was like, am I just the only person that had no PSA about bats flying in your room? I've never heard of this before.
Speaker 2:Same. This was why I had to educate, I had to spread awareness.
Speaker 1:Oh, my God, thank you so much. Thank you for your service.
Speaker 3:Hopefully I'm not dead in four months. Kristen, I loved your reference to the office episode.
Speaker 1:Oh, oh yeah, such a good episode. I love that Hilarious. Well, I'm ready to learn about some new books. Should we get into our topics?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Awesome.
Speaker 2:I'm so excited for this episode. I love books. But okay, so yeah, we read the Seven Sisters book. All three of us read it. We're going to talk about it. We understand that probably not everyone has read it, so we're going to save that discussion for the end. We'll do a little summary for those who didn't read it and if you want to read it, you can hop off. But first we're just going to start talking about general book discussion book club here. So question question number one what are the best books that you've read in the last year, sammy?
Speaker 3:you go first okay, so I read this series this year, or I haven't read all. I have one left and I'm just not. I'm not starting it because, oh, kristen will love this.
Speaker 2:Is this the irish boy, one the irish? Oh yes, high school, yes, it's like.
Speaker 3:So it's called the boys of common series. The first one's called binding 13 and it's like how I describe it to people it feels like I'm reading one tree hill, but it's like set in Ireland. So it's about like it's a group of high schoolers and they're all like really good rugby players or the, the guys, and they all like date each other and there's like it's so cute and I love all of the characters. Like it's so fun, it's funny, but it's like sad, it's everything, and they are a commitment. Like I don't recommend it to everyone because it's like one, not everyone cares to read about high schoolers, but two, they are long. What's that? Like cares to read about high schoolers, but they are long. Like you said that you're like I'm not a long book person. I would try the first one in there. I'm obsessed. What's the name? Again, the boys of Tommen.
Speaker 1:Oh my God, I mean literally sold snitches. Can't see but my, my hands like we're thrown up twice in that description. We've got Ireland and oh, like high school love and drama. That sounds amazing. How long are these? Are we talking?
Speaker 3:I think like 600. Okay, it's just crazy for like what that substance is, Cause it's not like it's like a historical book that has so much. But try the first one. The first one's called binding 13.
Speaker 2:I know I feel like I didn't read it Cause you were like, were like, I don't know if you like it, if it's too high school-y, but then you were like oh, maybe you will like it, so maybe I should read it yeah, like I, me and my friend, like we both really like it, and then I was like slowly introducing it to other people, so I gave it to my sister and now she's like four books in.
Speaker 3:She's loving it. So it's like, okay, now I feel like I'm not just being a weirdo liking these and it's actually like how did you find it? Someone else told me about it. And then, yeah, coming up on my TikTok and then here we are.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you should try the audio book, kristen. I feel like you would like the audio book Like go on a walk.
Speaker 1:They're on Spotify. I mean I definitely am like an auditory person. I I mean I definitely am like an auditory person. I love podcasts, I love music. But I mean I'm good with like I'll read it if it's if the thing is, if I'm into the book, I'll fly through it. But generally I will not approach a book that I haven't read if it's over like 400 pages because, yeah, I just think it's too long of a commitment. But this is sounding right up my alley. So I'm willing to give it a try. I'm already thinking that that's like a perfect like book to TV adaption. I've already cast Paul Meskel in my mind as the main character.
Speaker 2:I don't even know who that is. Normal people, oh yes, oh, I love him.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I do love the, the Irish boys.
Speaker 1:Totally. I was going to tell a tangent about when me and my friend Jill went to Ireland and I've been seeing this like trend now online where they get Irish boys to say the number 33. And I feel like I need to claim that because her and I that was our joke back in Ireland Really, three cents or whatever. And the waiter came over and was like, oh, it's $9.33. And I was like, oh my God, that is the best thing an Irish person can say, hands down.
Speaker 2:And now it's like a trend.
Speaker 1:Now it's a trend. Yeah, we send those TikToks to each other, but yeah, okay, I'm sold. I'm sold, great pick. I'm trying to think of some of the best books I've read in the last couple of years. I would say Small Mercies. I loved that book. Oh, yeah, I read that too, is that?
Speaker 2:the South Boston. Yeah, what was that about? Again, it's like about it's set like the backdrop is like the busing thing in the 70s, but it's like not really about that, but it's like a lot about just like all like the prejudicedness and the like racism in the 70s and like I don't know if it's Whitey Bulger or like a Whitey Bulger type character in it. So there's like a mob thing going on and like the main character is like a mom and she's like ends up being really badass and it's just, it's good.
Speaker 1:The one that I was thinking about. I read it more than a year ago and I've already talked about it. But I write all the books that I have read like in my notes app and I was looking through it and you know, a lot of times, like you look through titles and I'm like I can't totally remember what this was about, what this was about. But the one that I saw that I was like, oh, I loved this, was the I'm glad my mom died by Jeanette McCurdy, the Nickelodeon star. That book is it's autobiography. It's so good and it's about her relationship with her mother, who was definitely like the ultimate stage mom as she was starring on Nickelodeon so good. So I would definitely say that one. And then also, I think you've read this Brit and Sammy. I feel like you probably would have too, because I know it's been pretty popular. I think it might be being made into a movie is the last, mrs Parrish.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I love that book.
Speaker 1:One of the made into a movie. I thought I saw that Don't. I could be wrong, but I feel like it's probably. I think that was one of the best like twists and I won't say the twist, but one of the best twists that I've that I've seen in a book. I think JLo is in it.
Speaker 3:Oh JLo.
Speaker 2:That's good. Oh, I wonder who she is Interesting.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that was one of the first books I read. Like I kind of had a gap of reading Really, yeah, like probably like a little in college and then after that, and then COVID like brought me back into it, but like right before that, because I remember I was at my grandmother's house in Florida and I was reading the last. Mrs parish loved it and I accidentally left it there and then she had texted me like oh, I started that book and it was like very like inappropriate.
Speaker 3:but I remember her grandmother and I'd be like oh, my god, that's so awkward that she's reading this and you know. But I just read it and I, yeah, that one was so good. And then did you read the second one no oh, it came out, yeah read it, it was good oh yeah, okay, it's good.
Speaker 2:It wasn't as good, but like it was good.
Speaker 1:The next, mrs Parrish yeah, oh my gosh, I already have two books.
Speaker 2:Yes, let's go, okay oh, you're gonna have so many books. Oh, you know, the other one I loved is the Marjorie Post. Like, if people haven't read that, read that book. No, magn I loved is the Marjorie Post. Like, if people haven't read that, read that book.
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post. You didn't read that, no, what am I doing oh?
Speaker 2:God, yeah, I mean yeah, but the Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post is so good it's about. So Marjorie Post is like In like early 1900s and he like he started out but then he kind of died. She like really made it into like what it is, but it's like all about her life and she just has like she grew up obviously like super rich, but she's like very charitable and it's like she lives through both world wars and like she donates a lot and like I don't know, she just is a very fascinating human being. I would definitely recommend it if you like history especially.
Speaker 1:Sweet.
Speaker 2:Let's do our all-time favorite books. Mine's, the Nightingale.
Speaker 3:Yeah, the.
Speaker 1:Nightingale, yeah, I think that's going to have one of the biggest box office openings of the year.
Speaker 2:I feel like that type of stuff, though it's harder to watch on TV. That's a good point.
Speaker 1:I can't wait though yeah, that that is.
Speaker 2:That would definitely be on mine and, of course, harry potter oh yeah, of course, all the hps oh, I read, we read the kite runner oh, that was a great book yeah, read that, that was really good I was trying to think of mine.
Speaker 1:I feel like I don't have like books specifically. I have all time favorite authors Like I love. I mean, I'm definitely a chick lit reader and I love Ellen Hildebrand. All of her books are set on Nantucket, Always like a love story, always a lot about like the relationship between characters. And then there's also this author, Emily Giffen. She wrote Something Borrowed, Something Blue. She has one called Baby Proof that I also love.
Speaker 1:I love those authors just because of their consistency. You know exactly what you're going to get when you pick up one of their books and I feel like they always deliver and I'm always left satisfied with what I read. It's always kind of easy, breezy storylines, but I like them a lot and I feel like the author, Emily Henry, is kind of coming up in that genre. She wrote what are some of the ones? Like people you meet Funny story yes, Happy place. People you meet on vacation. So I feel like those are authors that I like generally. But I did put down one of the first books that like hit me so hard I was sobbing reading this was do you guys remember the Pact by Jodi Picoult.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 1:Holy moly. I mean haven't read it since I was literally a teenager, but I, yeah, same. Is that a movie? I think it was like a Hallmark adaption or something Jodi Picoult's good adaption or something Jodi Picoult's good. She's really good at doing. Every one of her books, from what I remember, has a legal component and she's really good at taking you through the court case and the court proceedings and that whole process.
Speaker 3:My favorite. I'd always say 19 Minutes was my favorite book for a while and then I haven't read it since high school, but I remember it being so good that was like the school shooting right, yeah, yeah, so good, so good, yeah.
Speaker 2:What about what other authors do?
Speaker 3:we like here? I like, I mean, what do you guys think about Colleen Hoover? Oh, I like her, everyone like. I feel like everyone either like, likes her or they're like think that it's too basic to like her. I enjoy the books, so I haven't read one that I haven't liked, and I'm excited for a lot of them to become movies too. It sounds like.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think I heard regretting you. That was that has a cast already reminders of him. I think it's also being filmed. I'm so excited for Verity. I think that's my favorite Colleen Hoover book.
Speaker 2:I think mine's November 9th. Did you read that one?
Speaker 1:No, I haven't read that one.
Speaker 2:You would like that one, I love that one Another. Did you read that one? No, I haven't read that one.
Speaker 3:You would like that one. I love that one. Another one of hers that no one kind of talks about, but all of our friends all read it. It's called Too Late, it's more. Oh, I read that.
Speaker 2:Really good.
Speaker 3:So it's different than her other ones, okay.
Speaker 2:The thing I like about like Colleen Hoover is I feel like I can appreciate all her books, like they're just easy to get into, you know. It's like you don't have to like really try or like think, it's just like very easy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I also really like Leanne Moriarty. Oh yeah, I like her too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, hypnotist love story I remember. I love she did Big Little Lies. She misses, though. Her latest one with the tennis family what was that? One called Apple Doesn't Fall Far or something that was painful, but generally I like her, yeah I like sally hepworth I love sally.
Speaker 3:I've read every single one. They're just like very good domestic thrillers. I think is what they're, yeah that's a good way to put it and they're all like. I wouldn't say any of them are the best book I've ever read, but they're all just like, very solid, like you could read any single one of them.
Speaker 2:I read Darling Girls recently. That one was good also, like you love Elin. Haven't you met Elin?
Speaker 3:Sammy, yes, yeah, I went to like an event and she like talked and she's great. I follow her on Instagram like I just I don't know. She shares everything and like you can kind of see all of like her life and her books. It's really cool and she's writing a book or it's about to come out, I think, like September 15th or something a book with her daughter, who her daughter's like 18 or 19. They read a wrote a book together. I think the daughter goes to a boarding school, so it's like a boarding school drama type book and she's like it's not like young adult, like it's very like anyone can read it. So I'm excited because that will be different than what she normally writes. Yeah, that sounds good.
Speaker 1:Oh, how cool. I don't know many. I mean I can't think of another like co-author novel with them daughter duo, that's definitely like an interesting kind of angle. Sammy, you said that you got your recommendation for one of the books that we talked about from TikTok. Is that like where you find a lot of your book recs?
Speaker 3:Yeah, tiktok, instagram, like I have saved collections for both apps of books that I see. I follow certain book influencers, I have group chats with different friends that are like book recommendations. So I, yeah, I get honestly from everywhere and then I use Goodreads to keep track of them all. But the Goodreads app is not good, like Kristen, like you have probably have a better user experience writing them in your note than what Goodreads does. Like it's just it looks like it was built in 2007 and hasn't been updated since.
Speaker 2:Really, yeah, I legit don't know how to friend someone.
Speaker 3:I can't figure out how to friend someone it's really difficult and, like I even tried today, I want to sort books by when I most recently read them, so that way I could like see the ones from this past year. And I couldn't even do that. It's just yeah and there's other ones that I think like people have like tried to make, but it's just like it's already so universal that nothing else has really replaced it. But it's just not good.
Speaker 1:That's really surprising. Goodreads do better.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they have a lot of potential.
Speaker 3:Yeah, like I have some ideas that I'll share. Like me and two of my friends, we do a mini book club where, like, we're actually reading it. We're not like doing a social hour, we are like doing this to read. So we did just three of us, but we're like, if you could just go on Goodreads, pick your two other friends and be like, pull a book out that's on everyone's want to read, that no one else has read. Yeah, so simple.
Speaker 2:And I'm like it's like basic internet stuff that it should be able to do Like there's a lot of opportunity. Who owns Goodreads Amazon?
Speaker 3:They might. They're like half all the integration.
Speaker 2:But, oh, get it together. Amazon, seriously, yeah, make it better, please. Like, how do you friend someone? And well, I actually didn't know about Goodreads forever. I mean, I'd seen it, I knew it was like a review thing, but I didn't really know. But I was like, oh my god, you guys, I have such a good idea for an app. Like you put it's like social media for books. Like you put all the books you've read and you have friends, you could see what books they read, and then you could see books like you want to read and whatever, and like you could comment to each other and they're like, yeah, that exists, it's, it's called goodreads, that's hilarious.
Speaker 1:Well, you're right, though. Goodreads is owned by Amazon. It announced its acquisition of the website in March 2013, which is very ironic given Amazon's roots. They started by selling books. Jeff Bezos, get back to your roots here, man, yeah.
Speaker 2:They've forgotten about Goodreads. That needs to get back on the priority list for.
Speaker 3:Amazon. I think after 12 years, they would have updated something by now.
Speaker 1:Seriously yeah, do you get your book recs from Goodreads too?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I mostly get my book recommendations from Sammy. Oh, that's perfect.
Speaker 2:I like to like hear from someone who's already read the book. I feel like sometimes when I like I all do the redheads you know, like the toast, how they have their redheads. I know you like that, Sammy, too, but lately they have been on my shit list because they've been picking bad books and then I read them and I'm like what the fuck redheads Don't make me read these bad books. Can someone pre-read them and then tell me to read them, or something?
Speaker 3:I can't be caught talking negatively, but they had a few bad books in a row. I read the most recent one and it was good. It was called Margo's Got Money Problems. It was not what I expected, but I ended up liking it. I also do listen to podcasts on books. Like Ellen Hildebrand has a podcast. Oh, I listen to the Redheads. And then I also like this is so nerdy of me, but when I finish a book, like I'll just search on the podcast app like the name of the book and I like listen to a podcast about it, cause I just like like talking about it and I'm like if someone didn't just read the book, like it's hard to talk about with someone else, I'm like I just like hearing other people talk about it.
Speaker 2:That is also kind of great strategy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've never thought to do that, but I think I definitely will now.
Speaker 2:Cause, whenever you finish a book, yeah, you're like I want to talk about this with someone, I want to hear other people's opinions, but like it's kind of in that moment you need it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, because I'll have friends that read a book that I told them or anyone, and like they read it six months later and they're texting me oh my God, that part with blah, blah, blah and I'm like I have no idea what you.
Speaker 2:All right, I like this question what's your favorite book boyfriend? Mine is still Miles from Funny Story.
Speaker 3:Oh right, Did you guys read that? I just thought he was like so nice.
Speaker 2:I loved, how nice he was.
Speaker 3:There's like two from the Boys of Tom and that I love. Like Johnny Kavanaugh is more of like the all-american athlete, like really good kid and he's so sweet, I love him. And then there's also, like some of the other books, there's more of like this bad guy, vibe, who, like I, wouldn't actually go for in real life but just reading about him you fall in love with him so I feel like I'm gonna go old school, which kind of leads into our question about books, to movies and TV show adaptions.
Speaker 1:The number one boyfriend of all time, mr Darcy, from Pride and Prejudice, that's like my number one.
Speaker 2:Oh, wait, okay, I want to ask you guys this Do you read classic books, like the classics, like Charles Dickens?
Speaker 1:Not now, not now, not now, I mean, there's only been like a couple of classics that I've reread because I loved them so much when I was younger, like the Catch and the Rye I reread as an adult and it was good but I don't seek them out. Like a lot of those old books, I feel like I'm spending so much time trying to dissect, like or dissect exactly what they're even saying, like the language itself that I can't work exactly.
Speaker 1:I can't even really understand like the like what's happening, because I'm just too in the weeds with the actual words yeah, I feel like school ruined that for me, just making it into like work and they'd be like what did the color yellow mean, right?
Speaker 2:yeah, it's like how was that a? Theme throughout the book, like I don't care yeah yeah, I'm like I'm just trying to say like, was the book good? Was it bad? Like, did you laugh?
Speaker 3:yeah, I don't even like, sometimes like people will be like yeah, I don't like the way that, like she's not good at writing or like I noticed this, I'm like oh, I never noticed that I just like a reading applaud, like I have no idea if they're good at writing or not, like yeah, you wrote a book, so you're. You're better than me.
Speaker 1:What was your favorite like summer reading book, though? Do you guys remember Like I definitely think Captain the Ride was one of my faves?
Speaker 3:I remember liking Great Gatsby, and Of Mice and Men, oh yeah and uh, of mice, of men.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I like that one too.
Speaker 3:I felt like lord of the flies, wasn't bad, I hated shakespeare that was like my least favorite by far you had to read on the left side was like the actual language and the right side was like basically a translation to modern day english.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, I'm not trying to work that hard.
Speaker 3:No, no yeah, outsiders that was a good one that was a movie in the 80s I read we read that in middle school like english class.
Speaker 1:Well, speaking of book to movie, tv, what are like our favorite adaptions?
Speaker 2:or any ones that are coming out that we're excited about. I'm excited about the handmade coming out same good, sydney sweeney's in it. Have you read that book?
Speaker 3:no you would love it yeah, it's a thriller.
Speaker 2:I mean it's an easy thriller read. I used to have it, but I think I actually gave it away. Oh wait, we should tell everyone to do your shower theme, because that was like the best theme ever for sammy shower we did. It was a book theme and it was like book club and and in the invitation we had like a little thing that said like sammy's little library, like everyone bring a book to, not for the bride to like swap, and so like it's basically like you come with a book, you leave with a new book. I came with, I think, two books and I left with like four or five books. It was great.
Speaker 1:What a good idea. I love that.
Speaker 3:And everyone was just like yeah, brought home their book and talked like oh, I think you should read this one. I remember walking in and seeing that, though, and thought they were all for me, and I was like I have no room for this, oh my god, and read the little thing, I was like wait, this is adorable yeah, we had to make it clear that, like they weren't all for you, hilarious but, yeah, it was like just like a great conversation starter at like a shower.
Speaker 2:Everyone I've told about it is like whoa, that's such a great idea so, like other people, should steal it. Maybe taylor can do it for her shower.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a great idea. I love that so unique for book to movie.
Speaker 3:I like I think some of the best ones are just the series, like the old series, like harry potter, hunger games, twilight, like I think all of their games. Yeah did a really good job. Yeah, the help is another one. I hope you guys have read or watched that. I haven't I have and then watch it.
Speaker 1:It was really good, I would say. I mean, I've said it again, I won't pride and prejudice, but we all know my feelings on that I also loved when we were younger. I think the and I've read the book. I think the movie's better a walk to remember. So so good.
Speaker 1:That's a great movie, and then that's a couple that has chemistry oh my God, like Mandy Moore and Shane West, like that's why that movie was so good, cause they have good chemistry and I've seen since they've done interviews Like she was like 15 or 16 when they did that movie and she said that Shane West, the guy who plays Landon, was like the best to her, like just, and they're still friends, they still keep up. She did her like Hollywood walk of fame and he was there. So I love that. And then I also remember when I was younger loving these two books and then loving the movies the sisterhood of traveling pants oh yeah, theories, if you have like any young people in your life or whatever, if you just want to read it. It is so cute, so good, and I love the movie as well. There's two of them and then also the perks of being a wallflower. It became a movie with Logan Lerman, emma Watson was in it and I remember really liking that as well. So definitely my recommendations.
Speaker 3:Did you guys see or read? Are you there, god? It's me Margaret.
Speaker 2:Oh no, but I know you like that one.
Speaker 3:It was so cute Like it did the book such good justice.
Speaker 1:I'm really excited for the one that Emily Henry the people we meet on vacation that's coming out soon, that's being me a movie. Yeah, and it's coming out, I think pretty soon, and the actors, the girls kind of a no name. The boy is. He played the young President Snow in like the latest hunger game movie.
Speaker 2:I'm hoping it'll be really good I feel like one bad one was speaking of elon hildebrand, the perfect couple do you guys? Watch that. I loved the book, but I thought the show was way better book was one that they did off.
Speaker 3:They didn't they. The show is good, the book is good, but they are not the same at all as firefly lane did you guys? Oh yes, yes, it changed the entire thing, but like both are good, but I kind of just had to like forget about the book watching the show because it was so different and I was good again.
Speaker 1:Yeah I don't love when they do that, though if they, if they change it too substantially, like that reminds me of my sister's keeper I think that was a Jodi Picoult. The ending is such a massive part of the book and then they completely did a 180 in the movie and I remember being like what's the point of that? Like it's like that was the whole purpose, but I forgot about Firefly Lane. Liked both of them, yeah, but it is definitely very different Also.
Speaker 2:Summer I turned pretty oh.
Speaker 1:That was better.
Speaker 2:I think oh, also, if we're talking book boyfriends, I'm taking Conrad. Oh, yes, what am I thinking? What are we thinking? What are we thinking, oh my God.
Speaker 1:Team Conrad all day. Well, should we get into our Seven Sisters review? Yeah, let's do it. I'm excited to hear what you guys thought. Yeah, me too.
Speaker 2:Me too. Should we give a little like summary or something?
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, that's a good idea, yeah, okay.
Speaker 2:Google gave me one Great All right, all right, real quick. So in the first book of Lucinda Riley's series, the seven sisters were introduced to Maya Diapolis and her five sisters, all adopted by their mysterious billionaire father, pa Salt After his sudden death. The sisters gather at their beautiful home on Lake Geneva. Each is given a clue to her heritage. As the eldest, maya's clue leads her to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Using a dual timeline, the book follows Maya in the present day as she uncovers her family history and also transports readers to the 1920s Rio, where we learn the story of her great-grandmother, isabella Bonifacio, a passionate young woman who must choose between an arranged marriage with an aristocrat and a forbidden love with a sculptor working on the Christ Redeemer statue. The novel explores themes of loss, love, destiny, as Maya pieces together her past and, in doing so, finds a new direction for her own future.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, what'd you guys like? I timed myself a little wrong with my reading schedule and I did it this morning, so it's really fresh. I loved it. Like I did not expect this, because it opens with you're talking about the six sisters, you're going to learn a little bit about each one and Brittany I had just started and I was like, oh, I made a list of the six sisters to keep track and then like it's not about them at all, it's literally just about one and then it goes back through her kind of family's history. But I loved it at first. When it flashed back to Bella's life I was like, oh, I don't want to read about this. And then all of a sudden I'm like now I don't want to read about the present day. It sucks you in so fast. I really enjoyed her as kind of the main character and like her story and, yeah, I overall would recommend. I rated it five stars on Goodreads.
Speaker 1:I'm with you, sammy. I binged it this week and I feel like sometimes when you like have to read a book by a certain timeline, it can feel like homework. But I was like totally in any type of like like astrology, astronomy, parallel, I'm totally in for that. I love that type of stuff and we'll kind of get into this. But I think one of my favorite parts about the book was that it's that it incorporates real time people and events, so like, for instance, at one point it's set in 1920s Paris and they talk about Chanel influencing the fashion, they talk about going into, like the artist area and they see F Scott Fitzgerald and Pablo Picasso and James Joyce and like all these real people. First off, totally didn't realize that Pablo Picasso was alive in like the 1920s. I thought that guy was like in the 1700s.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:Totally learned something new there. What did you think?
Speaker 2:of it. Yeah, I mean I loved it. I felt like the same way. I like couldn't put it down because I was like so interested in the current story and then I was like so into the new story and I was so frustrated with the girl Bella like the historical one, because I was like is she going to end up with?
Speaker 2:what's the guy's name? Now I read this a month ago Laurent. Yeah. I was like, oh, I really wanted her with him. Like are they going to end up together? And I feel like I read a lot of books so I can usually like guess the ending, but I had like no clue what was going to happen this whole time.
Speaker 2:And then, like in the future, it's like the mystery about, like how she's related to them and like what happened to her family and like these are like generations apart, so like how did they all come together?
Speaker 1:like yeah, I just felt like she kept she kept you hanging on until the very end and I also feel like it explored a lot of like the theme of it with, yeah, like with Isabella the grandmother, like what do you want to do versus what you should do, you know? Like, do you marry into the rich family that your parents want you to and like you'll have security, or do you follow your heart? So, like, those types of stories are always really interesting.
Speaker 3:It is so crazy, just like being a woman then, and it's not even that long ago, like some of the things that it's like like when she wasn't even allowed to like step outside in Paris, when she was there, yeah, I know what of her going.
Speaker 2:I know what of her going? No Well, she kind of like learned. It's like she almost learned a lesson too, because she ended up dying like three years later. That was crazy. So she should have been, she should have stayed with the guy from Paris, like she didn't really end up having a life there anyway.
Speaker 1:No, that's such a good point. Yeah, that is like a good lesson of it of, like you know, live the life you want to live. I mean me and Brittany have talked about this before Like we, our number one. Like value is like no rules and freedom, like I read those books and I'm like, oh my God, blessed to live when we do.
Speaker 2:Like I didn't know much about, like Brazil, yeah, Just like Brazil's history, but even it's like in the 1920s. It sounds like that's when, like a lot of like the coffee industry was booming and it's. But it seems like they were like even more behind us in terms, or like America in terms of like I don't know. I feel like they were still hanging on to that like tradition and like social society and stuff like that, like they kept calling it the new world, like like North and South America, but I felt like they were still like living like the old world.
Speaker 1:Well, it was like a throwback to like Titanic right when it's like, oh, they're new money. It was definitely that like new money, new coffee farms, versus old money, which you know just rich inheritance.
Speaker 3:And had so many different surprises, like, first of all, belle or Isabelle dying, I did not expect that.
Speaker 2:I know.
Speaker 3:Like at that, such young age. And then the part where Beatrice, who's the grandmother, didn't even know who her real dad was. Like I assume when she was telling this whole story she knew all that. Then at the end it was like, oh, she met the professor's assistant. And then I like went back and read it twice because I was like, wait, did she just not know that that was her father? So crazy.
Speaker 1:Sammy, that's so funny. I wrote that too. I was like that made me sad. When she goes over to Paris and she does spend time with Laurent, like I was so happy for him because I felt so bad for Laurent, like he knows that he has a child.
Speaker 2:Okay, I remember now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and he knows he has a child and he but but his love is not going to stay with him. She's going to stay with her, the guy she married and Gustavo. And so he goes back to Paris and then like I love that he got to interact with his kid and he knew it, but I felt so bad for his daughter, beatrix, yeah, that she never knew that and then she thought her dad was just kind of like a drunk who didn't want to spend time with her. But yeah, that was sad yeah.
Speaker 3:Gustavo was like I couldn't. At first I was like thought he was a nice guy and then he kept being like so aggressive once they started getting married. I I was like oh, he's an asshole. Like this is easy, now you definitely can leave him. Yeah, and I've like showed his side and I'm like his parents didn't treat him well. So he wasn't a bad guy, he just was dumb, like he didn't know how to like have a wife and he just kind of was like I don't want to show emotion because my mom told me I showed too much emotion and now like so I felt bad for him at the end, but I feel like she should have definitely left him.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree with you. Like I felt like they were definitely leading towards him being almost I was expecting there to be violence, like I was expecting him, as the story was progressing, like get you know more of a drinking problem, end up being violent and then it's an easy person to root against. But, agreed, like you do feel bad because the mom's such a bitch and Isabelle or Bella is like the most beautiful woman in Brazil and he is not attractive at all. So, like he, he knows she's not into him. So, yeah, you kind of felt bad for him at the end and then, like, when he found out that she did have an affair, he was, you know, nicer to her than you would expect and like he kept her secret. It definitely, you know, nicer to her than you would expect and like he kept her secret, it definitely made me like him more, but he was never someone that I was rooting for.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know I was like the whole time because it was weird, because I felt like you kind of knew that like bella didn't end up with lauren because the maya was related to gustav, I don't know, we weren't sure they got together. But yeah, I was the whole time, though I was just still hoping. I kept thinking she was gonna like trade places with that, like friend that was writing to her right and like I was like why'd they keep bringing this girl up?
Speaker 2:I thought they were. But then you know why I read in the the like. Author's note it's because she used like a lot of that girl that was a real girl and her dad was like building the Christ Redeemer and a lot of like her journals and stuff were like inspiration.
Speaker 1:Oh, I love that. It's like a bigger part. Yeah, did you guys end up like looking up anything about Christ the Redeemer? Because, oh, okay, well, I guess I keep forgetting that everyone who's listening right now has read the book, but so much of it being focused on the construction of Christ the Redeemer and like the real people who did it it totally.
Speaker 2:I started googling. I was like, oh, we saw there's a like a remake of it in portugal. Oh, right, right, yeah, yeah. And I remember when we went on that we went on the boat cruise in portugal. I remember them talking about it and they said it was like a replica of the real one in brazil. It's like a nod to brazil yeah, that's a tough question.
Speaker 3:Like didn't, didn't he say he was going to make it a mosaic? That didn't happen.
Speaker 1:I don't know, I didn't look up that part, but I thought the mosaic, those tiles that they were putting on, I feel like they did do it right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I was picturing the statue being blue little tiles.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know Good question.
Speaker 2:But yeah, I did like how they centered it all around that. That was interesting.
Speaker 1:Yeah, me too.
Speaker 2:Who do you guys think would play the main characters?
Speaker 1:I said Anna de Armas because it seems like she was like gorgeous and I think they said that she had like dark hair and fair like. So that's who I picture was Anna de Armas.
Speaker 3:That's a good one. Hair and fair like. So that's who I pictured was Anna de Armas. That's a good one. That's a good one. I'm so bad at this, like I can never think of anyone, I wrote down Vanessa Hudgens, oh okay. And then for my I did Mila Kunis, because I was just trying to think of like someone that's she's good and brown hair.
Speaker 3:And then I did Gustavo, like he just was like such a joke in my head that I did James Marston, like someone that like literally, yeah, he just keeps appearing and he's just clueless and that's what I was thinking of, but looks wise, I don't know.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I see that oh, laurent would be like, because he's fair-skinned. He's, I think, timothy chalamet I was even french.
Speaker 3:Who were you saying leo for him?
Speaker 1:oh, oh, yeah, yeah leo, yeah, oh, leo woodall, the guy from one day and the new bridget jones, oh yeah and the White Lotus. What a cutie. I would totally watch that.
Speaker 2:Yes, I love him. Love him, I would watch that he's dating the girl from White Lotus.
Speaker 1:Yes, megan Fahey Love her, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Me too. I read the second and the third. I just finished the third, like a week ago, and I'm reading another book in between the fourth, because the fourth sister seems like she kind of sucks. But I actually thought the third one was like the best one which sister? Is that about Star, who's like the quiet one?
Speaker 2:about that whole CC and Star dynamic me too yeah yeah, so she's like she's I mean this isn't giving it away because you could read it in the back of the book. Like she, her story is like from England and it ties back to like one of the. It's very like Downton Abbey, like oh, love that. Yeah, like one of those like old families that had one of those like big estates that they had to manage and whatnot. But that one was good. And the second one was good too. Wasn't my probably my least favorite, but it was still really good, are they all like the same time period going back, or like some later.
Speaker 2:Oh, going back, no, no, so that's what I like too. Like they're all different. Like in the second one there's like two different. It flashes back on like two different people from her family, so like one from like the late 1800s and then one from like world war ii period and then like the. The third one is like only flashback to one person, but it's like kind of like throughout her whole life. So it covers like a lot more time. So they're all kind of different. But the the present day part, I think, is like pretty much the same and like they definitely intertwine more. Like they'll talk about like there's like a show that the second sister does and the third sister goes to it and they like talk about it in the second sister's book and the third sister's book, like from both of their perspectives. And yeah, they obviously talk about like Pa Salt dying and all that stuff, like from each of their perspectives. So it's good, it's like, yeah, it's an interesting dynamic.
Speaker 1:Can we talk about, though, pa Salt for a second, because I feel like that's a big component that we haven't touched on First off. Is Pa Salt alive? Because the end of the book makes me feel like he is alive.
Speaker 1:I feel like he could be alive too. Yeah, because Allie's like, okay, there's this boat wreck, he was involved, I don't know. It left me thinking like, okay, so he might be alive. He no one actually saw him get buried. Also, the fact that pod knew about Maya's baby I loved, I was like he just knows her better than she knows himself, or yeah, yeah, she knows herself.
Speaker 1:And also the only part about the book that I didn't like, love, and I'm sure we'll get confirmation of this in the second, but I just wish. I mean, it was very apparent to me that Paul Salt is the little boy who was the impoverished kid who comes across like Dowsey's, like studio, and they take him in.
Speaker 2:That's what I thought. Oh, you think. Yeah, I think I might've had that thought too.
Speaker 1:I just was like what's the connection otherwise? Why would he choose her? And there's this little boy that's keeping that keeps getting mentioned. It would have been probably like somewhat the same age, I think, and I was looking for confirmation of that and it never came. So that was like the only only piece. But that was my theory.
Speaker 3:I just got chills you saying that oh.
Speaker 2:I know, though, but I don't, but I don't, I can't imagine that he's like connected to one of them and not the rest.
Speaker 1:Well, I had that thought too and I was like, because one of the questions that was like kind of in the book club was like what do you think about Pasal's decision to adopt the daughters? And like do you think it's morally right or wrong? And in my mind it's morally right, like he gave them a good life. It wasn't like you know he, they didn't have a great upbringing. But I was thinking about that, like why would he have adopted all of these people? And my thought is like maybe it's. They're all related to people that throughout his life those people helped him. So like Lendowski and Laurent helped him, took him in, gave him shelter, you know gave him a craft whatever.
Speaker 1:So he was looking out for Laurent's family and then like maybe when he's in his twenties, like there's a family that gives him something and so he's looking out for them. So that's kind of like what my early day hypothesis is.
Speaker 2:I could see that the last book I think is about him.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's a great yeah, heard it here first. No, it actually is oh the last book's about him.
Speaker 3:That is, oh, the last book's about him. That would be cool, like I just can't believe that, like they knew nothing about him and like no one I know one I did not get. I don't know what her name is maria marina. Is that their mom? Like I know it's not their mom, but like were they together romantically? Like what? No, she was. Yeah, it's weird like a house, like a nanny like.
Speaker 2:I didn't think she was like their housekeeper. Yeah, yeah, they called her ma so like a nanny, like I think she was, like their housekeeper, yeah, yeah they called her ma, so I was getting so confused. I was like and they, they act like she is, like their mom. But yeah, it's weird because there's no like relationship yeah, okay, yeah well, what overall then?
Speaker 1:like? What do we think, though do we would, we would recommend yes, definitely definitely recommend, loved it it was good.
Speaker 3:And for historical fiction, I feel like I've never read a book set in brazil.
Speaker 2:Same I didn't know that much about brazil, and it's great because all of them are about like different areas. Like the second one's a lot about norway, um which is interesting and like it's about, like the symphony and the orchestra there, which I guess it's a big deal, and then, like I said, the third one's like Downton Abbey. I don't know about the fourth one yet yeah, I love that.
Speaker 1:I like how they're all set in different places.
Speaker 2:We're learning so much about different cities around the world yeah, just becoming so worldly and cultural, oh my god we're so cultured sammy.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for coming on.
Speaker 3:This was so much fun yay, we could have talked for like another hour girl yeah, so much to talk about. I'm so glad we got to do this I know same.
Speaker 2:I'm glad we had our first one with the ultimate bookworm, samantha nolte martin yes, so many good takes.
Speaker 1:Well, we hope everyone has a great weekend. Next week actually, we have sammy's husband coming on kyle and we're going to talk all things. Baby k making an appearance on the pod. We can't wait, so definitely tune in for that and remember to like us, comment.
Speaker 2:Follow us on social tiktok and instagram. We also have just found out we have comments on YouTube which we're so excited about. So sorry if we've ignored you, but we'll get back to you. Yeah, and keep commenting.
Speaker 1:Yeah, keep commenting. Sorry for like two months late on some of those, but we are just figuring out how, to you know, work the internet.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and tell everyone you know about us, and that's all we have for today. Thanks, Sammy. Thank you guys for having me Anytime.
Speaker 1:Can't wait to have you back. Bye, everybody, bye.