The Conversation with Susan and Whittney
The Conversation with Susan and Whittney
Novel Ideas: 2023 Summer Reads and Watches
Susan and Whittney discuss what they read and watched this summer.
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Hi Whitney.
Whittney:Hey, Suze.
Susan:Hey, welcome back to another episode of Novel Ideas, and this time we're gonna talk about what we have been reading and enjoying this summer.
Whittney:I'm so excited, Suze. There's been a lot that we haven't talked about that we've read. I.
Susan:I know in speaking of that, at the beginning of the summer season, I. Happy Place By Emily Henry was released. And Emily Henry, for those that don't know, is one of our favorite authors. We really enjoy her books and She came out with her new book, happy Place. So I read it and then I mailed Whitney a copy for her to read on all her work travels. And we have yet to talk about what are our thoughts on this book. So Whitney, what did you think of Happy Place?
Whittney:Well, first off, I'm going to say this book came in very handy on my first travel period, which was 23 days long. so I finished this by the end of my 23 day travel period at the beginning of the summer. So it was a lovely end to a long burst of travel. I also wanna just shout out the colors on the cover, which are pink and there's a lot of yellow, so it's very on brand for us. This book cover,
Susan:I felt like the cover was very joyful.
Whittney:Yes, joyful, happy colors, are some of our favorite colors. I Really loved the setting of this book. I don't know how you felt about the setting, but I'm pretty sure it's basically based on Bar Harbor, Maine, and I went. To Bar Harbor, Maine last summer on a vacation. So it was pretty cool to picture some of the things they were doing in light of what I remember about Bar Harbor, Maine.
Susan:Yeah, no, I think the setting was one of the strong points of the book. And just for some context, for those that haven't read this, it is about a group of friends basically coming together. For their annual summer trip, they do this Bar Harbor trip. They always get together and share this house and so it's kind of like the reunion of the friends, but this time there's a twist because. One of the couples, Harriet and Wyn, they had been a perfect couple since college. They have now broken up but have not told their best friends that they've broken up. So they have to put on this charade during their annual friends weekend that they're still together. And then that kind of comes falling apart. There's other secrets that other friends are keeping from the group as well. So it's really an interesting commentary on friendship and what you choose to share. how people can grow apart or grow together. So for me, the trajectory of the friendships and how that mirrors different things that we all go through in our lives with our friendships, that to me was the most interesting or relatable part of this book.
Whittney:Yes, I agree. And I think for me, one of the things that stood out was, this group of friends, they've all..they all used to live together in New York City when they were like in grad school, even after they had finished their undergrad, which is where the entire group met. It was so relatable to read about a group of friends that then of course, are now dispersed across the country, right? Nobody is living in the same area anymore, and the tensions that that can create and friendships and how when you're not physically with the, group of people all the time, how you can kind of, hide things that you're going through or just, not be as open as You were in the past because you actually have that distance and that ability to kind of keep those things private, right?
Susan:I liked the story. I think for me there was other Emily Henry books that were higher for me on my list. Like last summer Book Lovers was released, favorite one. I loved book lovers. It was so funny. It was so funny and witty. And the between the two main characters. Uh,, it was Nora and Charlie, I believe. I was laughing out loud at various points but,
Whittney:Mm-hmm.
Susan:that to me was my favorite one. That was probably one of my favorite reads last summer. So this one was not up to that level. I still really enjoyed it, which is the beauty of Emily Henry is that even if it's not your favorite book, somehow you're still compelled to turn the pages.
Whittney:Mm-hmm.
Susan:I just didn't feel as connected to this group of friends. Um, she did a great job at building the connection. Like, I think she did it well. I just personally didn't feel as invested as maybe I was with some of the other characters and I, that might have been more of a me thing. Not a fault of Emily Henry. But yeah, love the relationship between Wynn and Harriett. I liked win a lot, and I think that's another strength of Emily Henry as she writes these incredible male characters, almost to a fault where I'm like because they don't actually exist. And so I'm like, this is why we have unrealistic standards for men. And I'm out there trying to find guy who's like in the Emily Henry book and he doesn't exist. So I her on one hand for making this like Ideal guy that you just swoon over while you're reading. But on the other hand, I wanna throw the book because I'm like,, that's not real. upping my expectations. what did you
Whittney:Yeah, Yeah, agreed. I definitely loved Wyn wasn't as into Harriett, and I think that that was one of the reasons I had trouble connecting to the central relationship storyline here. Even even Harriet's friendships. Like I get that they are all close and everything, but because I didn't connect as much to Harriett or I didn't identify as much with her. I, I wasn't rooting for her as much as I was like rooting for Wyn weirdly. So I wanted their relationship to be fixed because I thought Wyn deserved to be happy. that sounds terrible, but So I, yeah. I found that I wasn't really as invested in Harriet. I weirdly was invested in what is, what was the one girl's the artist girl. I was, I felt like I was much more invested in her relationship. It was like Kimmy and Kimmy's girlfriend, I can't remember her name.
Susan:I know I know who you're talking about.
Whittney:I feel like I was a little bit more invested in their, their life
Susan:Yeah. Sabrina and Perth were the other couple, and I felt like I enjoyed their relationship. I mean, again, I did enjoy the friends. Emily Henry's very good at writing conversations between friends, like she weaves in different backstories or inside jokes that they've experienced. You kind of feel like you're. You have a good idea of what their friendship's all about and how they all came together and how they bond. So, again, she's very gifted at that. But yeah, I, for me, this was like, it was a good Read, but it wasn't an amazing read. And I don't know that I would recommend it to everybody, but I, I still enjoyed it.
Whittney:Yeah. if you were to rank the books, I think you and I both agree that book Lovers would rank number one of Emily Henry's books.
Susan:I think Beach read number two, and then people we made on vacation number three, and those are tight because I liked both of them a lot. But I think since Beach Read was the first one that I read of hers, and it pleasant
Whittney:yeah.
Susan:to me. Like I was surprised at how much I really liked that book. That maybe just, you know, the feeling you get the first time you discover a new author or discover.
Whittney:Yes.
Susan:It's something you really like about a story. That's how I feel like a special connection to that book, since it was my first Emily Henry one. But yeah, I would say Book Lovers Beach read. People meet on vacation And now Happy place coming in after that.
Whittney:So according to Goodreads, the average ratings We are, in good company rating. Book lovers number one, but Happy Place has the second highest rating. Just very close behind book lovers. So Book Lovers has a 4.17 average rating and Happy Place has a 4.13 average rating. So it seems like a lot of Emily Henry fans either, either people are picking up her books you know, last summer and this summer more frequently than they were in the past, or, we are an unpopular opinion here potentially. So I think that that's interesting.
Susan:Yeah, that is interesting. It's, it just depends on how much weight you put on book reads or good read stats. Right.
Whittney:Yeah, I mean, beach Read has a 4.03 and then people we meet on vacation has a 3.91, which again, I think you and I both agree, people we meet on vacation was a fantastic book. It's just not, not her best work.
Susan:So Whitney, I'll go through some of the reads that I've enjoyed this summer. First of all, I wanna say that the last time, the last Novel Ideas episode we released, I talked about, I am not your perfect Mexican daughter. I wasn't yet done with that book, and I promised I would come back and give my final review. So I just wanna say that I, I did really enjoy that story. I thought it was worth the read. So I gave that four stars for me. Probably My favorite book this summer, Whitney, is The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne. Have you heard of this?
Whittney:I have not. Please tell me more.
Susan:Okay, so the author, John Boyne, I think he might be most known for his book, the Boy in the Striped Pajamas. But this book, basically, it's hard to give a synopsis without giving away some of the big things. But essentially it's a story that leads you through one man's life from before he was even born up until the very end of his life. So you go through the entire trajectory of his experiences him. he is born in Dublin. Ireland. So a lot of the book takes place in Ireland at one point. There's a setting in the United States, and then it goes back to Ireland. But it's just the ups and downs of someone's life, everything he goes through, there's some really eccentric characters. There are a lot of really sad moments, but also some really hilarious moments. So this book has sort of the perfect combination of. Emotions where anything that's really dark is balanced out by the amazing writing and the hilarious situations that this character finds himself in. I just loved this book and everyone I, I've recommended it to has also loved it. It's five stars for me.
Whittney:Amazing. I'm gonna have to read this.
Susan:It is 582 pages, so it was quite a long read. I did it on audio and I will say I highly recommend, I know you don't really do audio, but for anyone else listening, the audio narrator is so gifted. So just a little plug there for the audio book, but I highly recommend this. It's just such a great story.
Whittney:Amazing. Yes. I'm sure none of our listeners will be surprised to hear you plug an audio book for a read that you really enjoyed. It's very on brand for you.
Susan:No, it was just the characters that you encounter in this story are just so rich. They're such, such quirky characters. again, I don't wanna go into too specific about the things that happened in this character's life, but definitely worth the read. You'll feel like you've just gone on the best kind of journey in this story. loved it.
Whittney:Awesome.
Susan:also, yeah, I also really loved lessons in chemistry. Is that one that you've read?
Whittney:No, I, it's still on my T B R.
Susan:Okay. Well, I read Lessons in Chemistry with my book club and that was unanimously Liked by everyone. My sister also read it in her book club and she said that there was a few people that didn't like it. So it might depend your generation because this story is about a woman chemist in the 1960s, and it's a lot about her experiences as a woman in the workforce and just. coming from the perspective of where we are now, you sort of look back and see how much has changed for women in terms of having a professional career and having equal opportunity in the workplace. But you do see how difficult it was back then for a woman to make her own way. this chemist, Elizabeth Zott, she somehow finds herself in the situation where she's running a television cooking show because cooking is, is really chemistry. The way that she frames it. So as a chemist, she approaches cooking from this very scientific perspective. So, this is a plot that's hard to explain, it's so funny, it's very quirky.
Whittney:Mm-hmm.
Susan:Of the best parts of this book is that one of the narrators is a dog. The dog's name is six 30 and six 30 narrator a character in the book, and you'll love six 30.
Whittney:Interesting that this is the second book this year that you're talking about on this podcast that has an animal narrator because you talked about Marcellus in what was that book called?
Susan:bright creatures. Yes. loved. I loved that book so much. I think I really like an animal narrator because it's just a different perspective. It's a lighter perspective. Just something unique and different. So I really appreciated what this, what Bonnie Garma, the author was trying to do with this story. I feel like she was trying to try out some different techniques. It was so different from anything I've read recently. I know a lot of people have commented that it was hard for them to read about. I. What women dealt with in the 1960s, like sexual harassment in the workplace, not having opportunities the same as men, you know,, not getting paid the same, and it's by no means perfect this day and age. I know that those things still exist, right? It's just that this book does show that we have made progress, but I can see where that would be a. Setting, particularly for people who maybe lived through this time and it hits a little too close to home.
Whittney:Yeah, it's sometimes we need to read about where we've been to see how far we've come,
Susan:And I, I think it's a really important read. So Whitney,, another book that I really enjoyed this summer is called The Cartographers by Pang Shepherd. And obviously as the title indicates, it has a lot to do with maps and there in this story, there is a map that this map is like a portal to a different world. So it's kind of like a fantasy fiction. Mystery thriller. It was fun read and I enjoyed it. And Whitney, My other favorite book of the summer is One Italian Summer by Rebecca Searle.
Whittney:Oh yes.
Susan:yeah. Have you heard of this?
Whittney:Yes, I've read I think one of her books in the past.
Susan:Well, when we went on vacation, my sister brought this book with her she read it in like two days she was raving about it and telling me I had to read it. So I picked it up and also loved it as much as she did. It's just, it's such a touching, delightful, heartfelt story. It's about this woman, Katie. Her mother recently passes away and they had planned a trip to go to Positano together, and she decides, Katie decides to go on this trip by herself as sort of, like she's grieving her mother, but she's still kind of there with her mother in spirit, right? And then when she's in Italy, I don't really wanna give away the surprise twist, but she encounters a really surprising. Character and she finds another character who she has a romantic relationship with.'cause she's also kind of grappling with the status of her marriage.'cause I think when you go through a really traumatic experience of losing a parent, you kind of question the other relationships in your life. Like Everything falls apart. So the story's kind of about Katie being broken going to Positano to rediscover herself and try to figure out her relationships. And then you know how they all end up coming back together. So I just thought It was so delightful. The setting is amazing. You feel like you are just sitting on a balcony in Italy, basking in the sun, sipping Leman cello, looking out over the coast. I mean, it's just, you feel like you're there. I immediately wanted to book tickets to Italy I, I get over how lovely this book was. It was a lovely, delightful, pleasant book.
Whittney:It sounds like it would be a great vacation read or a great staycation read,
Susan:It was, I mean, Devin and I were both reading it on the beach and the morning I finished it, I was sitting in the beach house, like basking in the sunlight, eating an Italian wedding cookie So fitting for the story, I was sipping my coffee and eating my Italian cookie reading this book. And it was just like, That was delightful, right? and I was reading this very just feel good, delightful, lovely book. I kind of felt, I said to Devin, thank you for sharing that with me.'cause I feel like that was such a a special experience just reading that book. Like I, I just really loved it. You feel, you feel good reading that story?
Whittney:do you know what, it made me think of when you were describing the scene when you were reading that book? It reminds me of remnants of a perfect morning.
Susan:Oh yes. Whitney, can you share for listeners what, what are you, what talking about right now?
Whittney:So I remember it still lived in Pennsylvania and you came to stay at our house in Bellefonte and I had put, I think, an Oprah magazine in your room for you because that was back during the time when they actually still, I. Made Oprah magazines and then we had,, you came down in the morning and you had your magazine and we made coffee and you said, these are the remnants of a perfect morning.
Susan:Yes. Well you're right. This book brings back remnants of a perfect Morning. I was having like the most delightful experience and it was just a beautiful story. It was beautiful writing. Also at the end of the book, which was really neat, is the author included emails between herself and. I don't know if it was the owner of the hotel, but so the hotel in the story that Katie stays at is actually based on a real hotel that the author stayed at. She stayed there herself and got the idea to write a story that took place in the setting, and she was emailing back and forth with, maybe it was like the hotel owner or something, the manager, in order to get some background for her story. And she included some of those emails at the end of the book so you could see that it was based on a real experience. And I thought that was really cool too, that you got an insight into What the author experienced and how she came up with the idea for the story. I, I love when books do something like that.
Whittney:That is really cool. I realized that I hadn't had this on my T B R list, but I am putting it on right now. Sounds amazing.
Susan:What have you been reading this summer that you've been loving?
Whittney:One thing that I read this summer, so, we haven't really talked too much about, you know, my work travel in the summer, but, I travel for work to college campuses and we host programs for enlisted veterans who are trying to transition to higher education One of our participants this summer was an English major. And so he and I were talking about reading and writing a little bit, and he recommended a book to me. He's very into reading and military fiction. And so he had recommended a book to me called Redeployment by Phil Clay. It was a really interesting, book for me because I don't read a lot about military stuff, even though I work pretty. Consistently in a military connected field. So redeployment won the National book award for fiction in 2014. And so I'm now potentially looking into are there other military fiction books that I might like. But shout out to Troy Ashcroft, for telling me about redeployment by Phil Clay, because it was a very enjoyable read. I read a whole series this summer. So Susan, are you familiar with the Amazon Prime series? This summer I turned pretty,
Susan:Yes. So actually when I was in New York the other weekend, there was a huge billboard about the summer. I turned pretty, the show but I have not watched it myself, so you'll have to tell me what that's about.
Whittney:So it's a trilogy by Jenny Hahn. It's a young adult book. Trilogy. And so I was really excited because I got, really sucked in. It's about, two families that, the moms have been best friends their whole lives, Susanna and Laurel, were best friends and now their kids. Spend summers together. So Susanna owns a beach house in a fictional Cape cod esque town and is in Massachusetts and every summer Laurel's kids, belly, they call her belly. Her real name is Isabelle or Isabella. But she goes by belly, which I kind of find weird and like Why would you call yourself belly? That just seems like a weird nickname, but she goes by belly. And then her brother Steven and Laurel come every summer and they spend the summer with Susanna and her two sons, Conrad and Jeremiah. And so basically the trilogy is essentially a love triangle between belly and Susanna's sons, Conrad and Jeremiah. Because at one point when her sons were born, Susanna says that she knew and Belly was born. She knew that belly was like meant for her sons. And it's interesting because I was so excited about the series. I think the series is so well done, which Jenny Hahn, I think is a producer on the series, so she's very involved in it. I think the series is incredible. It just really sucks you in. If you have Amazon Prime, I highly recommend it. So I decided to pick up like the books, you know me, I, if I like the, the visual, like the show or movie that a book is based off of, usually I like the book even better, right? I. So for this one, I have to say, this is one of the rare occurrences where I, and I've read all three books now. I flew through them. They were very easy reads. the books I feel are not as rich and, well done as, as the series. I feel like the series just has. Many more layers and many more nuances and like additional characters and subplots. So this is one of those rare occurrences where I didn't like the book better.
Susan:Actually, Whitney, didn't you say the similar or the same thing about Sweet Magnolias?
Whittney:Oh, yes, that's true. But, but again, it's not a common occurrence for me. Normally, if something is based on a book, I will always like the book better, like with a handful of exceptions.
Susan:Right. No, I understand that because you would get more background, maybe some more descriptions, things like that. So obviously it sounds like the series is one to put on the watch list, but the books I could forego.
Whittney:Yes, I think so. Also, there's apparently a phenomenon where, women in their thirties and forties are obsessed with this show, and it's interesting because it's supposed to be made for like teenagers. This is like a coming of age I don't wanna say drama, but a coming of age story and apparently it's the, the demographic that's most often watching it is people our age.
Susan:Well obviously I knew it was popular'cause I saw the billboard in Times Square, which, you know, that's like all the most trending things right now. all right, well, duly noted. Duly noted. What else has been on your T B R this summer that has been worth the read?
Whittney:So I wanna give a shout out to Carly Fortune. I'm currently reading Meet Me At The Lake, which is her newest book, are you familiar with Carly Fortune? Susan?
Susan:I've heard you mention her before, but I have not read anything by her.
Whittney:So last summer, She had released a book called Every Summer After, and so I had put it on my library holds list and I almost had forgotten about it. And then at the end of the summer, I got the hold for every summer after, and I read it and I just Loved it. It was so wonderful and rich and engrossing the story and it was layered and deep. And honestly, I think a lot of people who, like the summer I turn pretty series or the Amazon Prime series or the book series would probably enjoy every summer after, because again, it's like this girl spending a summer by the lake, with these two brothers. And all, everything that comes with that. so shout out to Carly Fortune. That book was amazing. And so I'm reading Meet Me At the Lake, which is a similar book. I will note that both of these books are set in Canada, so some of the references, unless you're familiar with Canada, you might have to look up some of the places to get a feel for the regions that she's writing about, But, I'm just so excited'cause it's it's about a, a woman who, whose mother passes away and she's taking over the, Lakeside resort that her family has owned for 50 years and like unexpectedly, she has to come home and take over it. So It has kind of Emily Henry vibes to it. And it's really good so far and I'm very excited. So I would recommend this newest one for Meet Me at the Lake for fans of Emily Henry. But something cool also is that prince Harry and Meghan Markle actually bought the rights to adapt this book for Netflix So I just found that really interesting. So we'll probably be seeing this on Netflix next year, I imagine.
Susan:Oh, that's great. And this is a case, well, I don't know how that show will turn out, but It sounds like this is definitely a case where the source material is very strong.
Whittney:Yes. Well, I, again, I think I'm maybe 30% of the way through'cause I just got the hold recently. But, I'm savoring it. I'm not like flying through it as fast as I probably could, but, so far it is living up to the hype.
Susan:Oh, that's awesome. think I'll put that on my hold Sounds good.
Whittney:Again, I think it is, this one in particular is more Emily Henry fan, like would, would enjoy it. So try this one first.
Susan:Yeah, definitely. So, what about anything that you've been watching this summer? Did you get to watch Sweet Magnolias yet, or No?
Whittney:I, I have not watched Sweet Magnolias yet.
Susan:I did finish it last weekend. I think I was telling you that when I was dog sitting for my sister, I was watching it and I think the last time I was dog sitting for them, season two had come out. So I feel like every time I'm dog sitting, I'm watching Sweet Magnolias with the pups. So I told them when I talked to them, you know, I was like, this is our show. So we were watching our show together. I finished it. I thought it was really good. I, I think Sweet Magnolias is just, such a nice show.
Whittney:Yes, it's a very accessible feel good. Feel good series. Yeah.
Susan:Yeah, I really enjoy it.
Whittney:So one thing that we watched this summer that I think is really good, but Susan, I can't remember, I think I've talked to you about this before, but I can't remember if you've ever seen The Bear. It's a, an FX show that is on Hulu.
Susan:No, I have not.
Whittney:So season two of the Bear came out, and it was really, really good, completely lived up to the hype. So that's another show that Nate and I watched together and it was just fantastic and I enjoyed it a lot.
Susan:That's great. So Whitney, what's that about?
Whittney:So it's about a Chicago area restaurant and the people who work in it. It's a weirdly like heartwarming show. Like I saw one article about season two recommending it for people who had watched all of Ted Lasso and needed a new show that they should watch The Bear because the bear has like similar themes. And I, it was funny because I've seen, I haven't seen the entire Ted Lasso, like series. But I've seen some episodes and I, I understand the vibes of those and I have watched all of the Bear and I was like, that's an interesting correlation that they're making. But I can kind of see it because despite challenges and Setbacks, the team working at the restaurant, which in the season two they launched the new restaurant and the restaurant is called The Bear. So that's why the show is called The Bear. Also in general, the, I think the process to put the this, to fix the restaurant and put it together in its new format is a bear, so to speak, of a challenge. Also the last name of the family that owns the restaurant. Sounds like bear. So that's why, it's always been, they've always decided that's what they were gonna call the restaurant was the bear. So I highly it.
Susan:That sounds good. I have not seen Ted Lasso, even though I guess you said you don't see the correlation necessarily between the two, but I have not seen that. I've actually heard You mention the bear, but I have not seen it or heard much about it myself, so thanks for putting that on my radar.
Whittney:Yeah. What else were you watching? Other than Sweet Magnolias?
Susan:I actually just started watching the Lincoln Lawyer season two'cause I, I don't know if you remember when the Lincoln Lawyer movie came out years ago. It's based on a book series by Michael Connolly, the movie I loved it had Matthew McConaughey and so when the season came out, the show came out, sorry, last year. I loved that. And then yeah, just started watching season two. I also watched Wednesday this summer. I know I'm late to the game on that one, but I, I watched Wednesday
Whittney:Oh, I love Wednesday.
Susan:yeah, me too. I thought it was really well done. Again, just a fun show. think, honestly, I've been sort of laying low with TV and movies this summer. I've just sort of been other things, so really not too much on my watch schedule. I guess focusing more on reading this summer.
Whittney:Yeah. Nate and I also just, since I've been home from travel started the show Killing It. I don't know if you've heard of that one. It's a peacock show. And it's about a guy who needs some money for, a business idea he has, which is creating a saw Palmetto farm in the Everglades in Florida. And he tries to go through the normal means to secure the investment you know, getting a loan, et cetera. And he ends up, needing to just become a, Burmese python hunter in the Everglades because he, there's a contest and there's prize money for the person who like kills the most Burmese pythons'cause they're an invasive species. That's Wreaking havoc on the Everglades ecosystem, which is actually a true thing that is happening in Florida and it's been happening for many years. I'm not sure if you were aware of that.
Susan:No, I'm not.
Whittney:So, a lot of people in Florida, I 10 ish years ago or more having a Burmese python as a pet was like a thing that people did, but then they buy these snakes as like little tiny snakes and then they, Burmese python just keeps growing and gets bigger and then needs, larger food sources. And so a lot of times I think when people buy a snake as a pet, they don't think about that. And then a snake lives a long time. so, apparently people in Florida particularly were just like releasing their snakes into the wild'cause they just couldn't handle taking care of them anymore. and in the Everglades it was a perfect storm of the right conditions for snakes. And so they were breeding at ridiculous rates in the Everglades, all these pythons, it was a great habitat for them. And so, so This is a real problem. And so this in the state of Florida, I think pretty much anybody is allowed to kill a Burmese python if they see it in the wild, because again, they're messing up the food chain and wreaking havoc on the ecosystem because they don't have any natural predators because they are not a natural species in the Everglades. This, comedy show on Peacock, the whole first season is them killing snakes to win this prize money so that they can start their saw Palmetto Farm And so,
Susan:goodness. What a premise. Yeah, sounds terrifying,
Whittney:That it sounds gory and whatever, but like it, because it's a comedy, because it's a comedy, they like tone down the gore a little bit.
Susan:Right. Well, I will keep that one in mind. that I know the I'm like, I don't know. But I appreciate hearing about something new.'cause I'm really not, my finger's not on the pulse of what's going on with, like shows and movies and, Movies. I'm trying to get on the pulse with movies though. I'm going to see a Barbie movie tomorrow and Oppenheimer is still on my list.
Whittney:So I have seen the Barbie movie and I cannot wait to talk about the Barbie movie with you when you have seen it. Nate and I went to see it. We have not yet seen Oppenheimer, but whenever I was traveling this summer, I. We went to some campuses that had ties to the Oppenheimer story. Two of them were like Columbia University. There were some labs where a lot of the work for the project was done at Columbia.
Susan:I was just thinking about, Einstein's connections with Princeton.
Whittney:Oh yes. In Einstein, yes. In there. Yes, there are. Apparently when we were there for the alumni conference, a lot of people were going to the rooms where the, where Einstein had lectured and things like that. Princeton was one of the filming locations for Oppenheimer,
Susan:What were the locations
Whittney:It looks like it was the East pine courtyard, yes. The East Pine courtyard was a place where they filmed, and they definitely used some of the architecture,
Susan:I can't wait to see it. And then I'll, once I see both movies, I can weigh in and I can really, decide which movie is better. But I have a feeling Oppenheimer, that's the one that I actually really wanna see the most. But anyway, I look forward to us coming back on again in the fall to discuss what we're reading, in a few weeks from now.
Whittney:And I hope you enjoy Barbie and we will chat about that soon.
Susan:Sounds good. All right,