Book Club Food Novels & Stories

"From 2019. Have you read it?" "Twice," I said. "The chapter on laminated dough is the best thing written on the subject." He put it back. Pulled out another. We were standing side by side in the food writing aisle of the Court Street bookstore, two people who had been going to this particular store for years doing the Saturday morning thing, and it was unremarkable in all the ways that mattered and entirely remarkable in the ones that didn't. "What have you been reading?" I said. "Novels mostly," he said. "I went through a long period of only reading work-adjacent things and I'm trying to correct it."

I don't see myself getting bored in a really long time with my sharp mouthed Pumpkin. I opened my plates and expected nothing less. Choosing Flames as the club's cook was one of the best decisions I've made for the club. Man was just too good. On my plate was a three-egg omelette loaded with cheese, pepper, onions, mushrooms and bacon. He did the didh serving with fries. "So, what are you guys now?" Ax asked, taking a gulp of his iced tea. "Or, let me rephrase the question. What is she to you?"

She held a book and opened it up. “Oh… “, I looked down at the menu for a while. I still didn't know what to order. “Sorry,” I chuckled. “I just don’t know what to get. What’s your customer's favorite?” “The cheesy chicken pasta can never go wrong,” she smiled. “Okay then, can I also get a cupcake, some brownies, and muffins on the go?” I would need them for my marathon movie night, as I wasn't going to that party anymore.

Then, Adam spoke. "I'm hungry, wanna eat something?" "Sure. How about a pizza?" Taylor grinned. "There's no pizza here, idiot." Ricky retorted, and they went back to staring blankly towards the ceiling. "Ah, right. Apparently the literature club's cafe is getting a lot of costumers. Wanna go check them out?" Adam suggested. He might've gotten the info from one of his agents AKA the 'eyes' and 'ears'. "Cafe, huh? Does it have pizza?" Taylor grinned again.

"You stop reading because it feels like work instead of escape." "Exactly," I said, relieved that he got it without me having to explain. "I keep rereading the same pages and realizing I don't remember anything I just read." He smiled. "That's why book club helps. Other people keep you accountable. I’m part of a book club actually that started out in January. It’s just a dozen people, and we read different genres every week. But it’s so nice, and it helps to keep me accountable because without it, I won’t even read anything."

After and I had a lot in common. “Well, you have a Club of brothers, so it isn’t like you lacking,” I tell her with a wink as Spade walks up to us with a plate of burgers. She smiles and drops flat on the blanket, taking a swig of her beer. “Thanks Spade,” I say as he hands me the two plates of food. There are sweet potato chips and salad on the side of the burger. I notice since staying at the clubhouse that the bikers weren’t a fan of unhealthy food.

It only took thirty minutes before he finally brought some food and placed them on the center table. "It's Almond Butter Curry." "You do know a lot of cuisines, huh?" He smiled as he sat next to me. "I just like reading cookbooks when I'm bored." "You're so fond of reading that you get to read every kind of book." "That's right." he chuckled. We started eating without saying anything. I know even Matthew doesn't know what to say that wouldn't offend me. For sure, he wants to ask me about something, but he's just afraid it might hurt me even more.

Then the server came to take our order. Professor Reed barely looked at the menu before ordering the roasted squash tart, black pepper pasta, lemon-butter trout, and blood orange panna cotta. My fingers stopped against my water glass. I had mentioned all of those. Two months ago, when my thesis had nearly driven me insane, I sent my anonymous boyfriend a screenshot of this faculty club’s seasonal menu. If I survive this thesis, I’m coming here for the trout and that blood orange dessert. He replied almost immediately. Noted. When we meet, I’ll take you there.

The lot for the fast food restaurant was crowded, but they found a space near one of the more dimly lit areas and settled in, he turning down the music as they started to eat. "So when you officially get back into all those classes this fall, can I tag along for all your study sessions and get up to no good with you in the library stacks? I'd love to read some of 'The Perfumed Garden of Sensual Delights' or 'Banquet of Chestnuts' into your ear while you sit on my lap." Jacob managed to ask the question while keeping a straight face. Christie smirked.

“Get some fun, will you?” “I’m already having fun when you called me,” I snorted which made him laugh. “Tell me what’s fun in reading books?” Neveah raised a brow. “It could make your brain less rusty and make you smarter.” Both of them just laughed. They’re making me look like a freaking clown, seriously. We stopped by in Starbucks to eat some snacks. The store was full but we manage to get a seat for the three of us. It’s weekend so it’s expected to be crowded.