Book Club Food Novels & Stories

"Let's start with appetizers." June's midnight blue orbs scanned one of the hard back books that weren't open yet but laid off to the side of the desk, picking up it's title in the process; FOOD FOR ALL. Written in lowercase alphabets beneath it were the words; well detailed cook book, a must have for every chef. She reached forth and grabbed the book. Almira too lost in the book she had to notice.

I lift a hand to scratch my nose, only to hide my smile. That's so cute. "Am I keeping you from dinner with your mom right now? Because I promise it's cool if you leave, I can bring you with me tomorrow," I say, but Bram starts shaking his head right away, "Seriously." "No, seriously. She has a book club every Wednesday and Friday, so those days I have to eat leftovers because she won't be around. She comes late at night, drunk on wine and gets angry if I ate all the leftovers," he says, giving me an insight into his life that I know most people would pay for. I eat it the fuck up, "So, it's cool if I stay."

My least favorite thing about eating at the cafeteria is having to line up and wait our turn to get food. We enter the queue, and it begins to move. Today is International Food Day. And today is Korean food. They're serving kimchi, bibimbap, bulgogi, japchae, and tteokbokki. We get our food served and walk to our usual table. I poke at my rice as Cortney stares blankly at her tray. She hasn't said much since first period. "Hey." I look up. Cleo is standing there, tray in hand.

It has been a whirlwind, how these guys do it I have no idea, they have stamina made of steel. The restaurant is doing really well, Lukov told me that the bookshop-café is always busy, the kids love the reading sessions of an afternoon when they finish school. It was only going to be a morning opening for this part of the restaurant for moms to meet up and enjoy some down time before they had to go back home to start chores and get ready for the kids coming home. But it was doing so well, and a few people asked if we could run an after school coffee and reading club so that’s what happened.

Sebastian smiled, “You got it. Jamie and I will only be there to back you ladies up.” We walked out of the conference room and I grabbed another blackberry muffin. I started eating it, then pulled off a piece for Sebastian and gave it to him, “My favorite brain food.” He asked, “Why do you call them brain food?” I smiled, “Anything sweet makes your brain work faster and more clearly. Blackberry muffins are just my favorite sweet food. Coconut cake is a solid second on my list.” Sebastian smiled, “See? Just another thing to learn about you. I love coconut cake too.” I smiled, “Sweet! Now let’s go get Remus.”

Isabella handed the menu to Lila, "I've ordered a lot, you can choose the rest." "Tripe, duck intestines, enoki mushrooms... these are all essential for barbecue." Lila listed no less than ten dishes in one breath, without even pausing for air, showing what a seasoned foodie she was. Isabella and Lila had been frequenting various restaurants together since high school. For a while, they even had enough free time to write a post about each restaurant they visited. The posts they wrote were noticed by a food column, and the editor approached them with the idea of giving them their own food column.

Lydia is charming, witty, and had a good fashion sense, which drew Kaitlyn to her. “Kaitlyn, darling, you simply must join our little book club,” Lydia suggested one afternoon as they sipped champagne at an exclusive restaurant. “It’s not really about the books, of course, more of an excuse to gather, gossip, and drink. But it’s a wonderful way to stay connected with everyone.” Kaitlyn smiled, feeling flattered by the invitation. “I’d love that. It sounds like fun.” Lydia leaned in to whisper. “And you mustn’t worry about the gossip. It’s all in good fun. Besides, you’re the most intriguing person in our group right now. Everyone’s dying to know more about you.”

Albert rolled his eyes. “OOoo, you love checking all the taboo trope checkboxes. I’m telling Alex to pick a teacher/student book for our next book club read.” Agustín smiled. “He’s in the book club, too?” Albert asked. “A lot of people connected to the pack are.” I shrugged. “So, how do my friends and I join this book club?” Albert asked. “Also, I’m the only one teaching her this semester. Come January, we’re not in violation of any school rules.”

“Toke and I share a similar taste. We both belong in the same community of-” “Writers,” I quickly cut in, scowling at Chike. “We met in a book club,” “When did you have time to join or go to a book club?” Felicia looks at me with raised eyebrows. “It’s an online book club, like a community of readers,” Chike adds. “Oh, that’s nice,” Felicia expresses. “Toke loves books more than any other thing.” The conversation changes as they bring up another topic which is discussed for some time, and before we know it, two hours was gone.

Beneath were flawless downward-turned lips she knew Sean satisfyingly feasted on now and then. A grim stare in her direction had Gianna turning her face in embarrassment. He caught her staring. Should she call it a miracle that Sean hadn't looked her way all day or gotten two meters close to her? Was it due to the effect of the slap or simply a bite of guilt? Whatever it was, she hoped it lasted a while longer. "We have a book club going on, I believe you must have heard about it." Gianna began. "The book donation thingy?" "Yeah, we campaign for you to join us. If you're interested that is," she offered. "New ideas for improvements are welcome at any time." She added, for effect.