Pop Culture Princess

Pop Culture Princess
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Thursday, March 17, 2022

An ebook, a library loan and a BOMC pick walk into my Current Reading bar…


 With everything that’s been going on these days, finding a good read is perhaps a minor concern yet it does bring a good deal of satisfaction that soothes the soul there.

Thanks to a great bargain sale, I was able to download Christina Lauren’s The Soulmate Equation to see if I would like it as much as I did In a Holidaze (which I read in physical form last year).

So far, I may like this book even more. Our leading lady is Jesse, a single mom who is reluctant to get into the dating scene at the moment. Thanks to a coffee shop encounter with River Peña, a brilliant but brusque scientist, Jesse takes part in an experimental program designed to use biology to determine the perfect match.

Much to hers and River’s surprise, the two of them are a near perfect pairing, which excites the company holding this trial run to encourage them to see if the data has real world merit.

While neither one of them is really inclined to go forward with this part of the “experiment “, they are ultimately persuaded to give this a shot. Even more surprising is how much they learn about each other and themselves along the way to potential love.

The collection of characters here are an immensely engaging bunch that you’re willing to follow them anywhere and you know that you won’t be sorry that you did. Plus, Jesse and River are such opposites that watching them start to click together is a real joy to behold:



Meanwhile, I made my first library trip of the year and found a nice trio of books, including a new take on a fairy tale classic.

 All The Ever Afters by Danielle Teller is told from the point of view of Agnes, best known as the infamous stepmother of Cinderella.

Turns out that Agnes lead an even grimmer life than her beloved stepchild as she rose from an overworked laundry girl to the mistress of the manor house in which she once toiled. With her two daughters to provide for long before Ella was on the scene, is so so shocking that Agnes made the best of whatever situation came her way?

This debut novel offers up an unlikely heroine that you do find yourself rooting for and wanting to know what happens to her next. Not an easy trick to pull off yet Teller manages it with truly magical ease:


To round things out, I was pleased to find among the latest Book of the Month selections the new Lucy Foley mystery, The Paris Apartment.

The story starts with Jess, fleeing from the mess she mad in Brighton to stay with her half brother Ben in the title dwelling that he’s borrowing from a friend.

When she arrives, however, Ben is nowhere to be found and from the look of things, he left rather unexpectedly to say the least. Jesse tries asking the neighbors if anyone knows where he might have gone off to but most of them are so entangled in their own set of secrets and lies that no help is preferable to what they do have to offer up.

This is the second Lucy Foley that I’ve read(my first was The Guest List) and her story structure is interesting indeed. Setting up a Jenga style puzzle for the reader to carefully pull apart as well as the main characters in play is crafty there and very Agatha Christie worthy to boot:


As much fun as I’m having with fiction, I’m happy to report that nonfiction is making its way back into my reading rotation.

As part of my morning routine. I tend to take up a classic title and my current choice is a reread of Julia Child’s My Life in France, which chronicles her interest in French cuisine and the start of her culinary journey.

I read this years ago when the Julie & Julia movie came out and now we not only have The Julia Child Challenge on Food Network (saw the first episode and it’s a delicious delight) but later this month HBO Max will be airing a series based on Child’s American TV career.

Julia (beginning on March 31) looks like a real hoot and Sarah Lancashire , from what I saw in the trailer, just brings Child to vivid life on screen. Good books and good food help during the tough times and fortunately, Julia Child has both on hand for all to savor:



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