I read a lot, of Everything. I love the heavy novels, the dramatic memoirs and a little non fiction too keep it all balanced. But come summer and the dead of winter I want Fluff. All Fluff, all the time. I want saccharine and tears all rolled into one. I just looked towards my bookcase to give you examples of my kind of fluff but I came up blank. I seem to always give those away in yard sales or spring cleanings. We are severely judged by our bookcases. In the past I was ashamed if anyone knew I loved the Shopaholic series, until she had the baby, then it just got stupid. I had an Emily Griffin phase, Something Blue and Something Borrowed were gobbled up on the beach in Cuba. Eat, Pray, Love got a double showing one hot, lonely summer. Oooh, anything by Candace Bushnell, except the Carrie Diaries, I couldn't sully my image of the ladies of NYC with teenagers which is what makes this summer's reading choice so odd to me. I have fallen in love with a series about teenagers killing one another. And I am not the only 30-ish woman out there. There are millions of us, men too! I'm just really late hopping on this particular bandwagon.
My friend Laura hoisted The Hunger Games upon me this winter, along with Game of Thrones, which honestly, just give me time folks, it's a slippery slope. So, THG sat in my bathroom bookcase untouched for a few months. Too much information? Shrug. When the movie came out I decided that I needed to see it so maybe I should take a peek past the first page of the book. I did remove it from the bathroom and found myself completely absorbed and drawn in to Katniss' world. I was done in a couple of days and found myself needing to know what was going to happen next. I knew I couldn't pay full price for the second book, that would just be silly. I ventured into a used bookstore, went up to an employee and quietly, discreetly, asked her if she had the second book in The Hunger Games trilogy. "Oh, you mean Catching Fire!", She burst out at top volume. "Yes, that's the one", I whispered. "Nope", she yelled back. By then everyone is looking at me, or maybe at her and her incredible projection. Which made me realize: no one really cares that I want to read Catching Fire, no judgement here in this store. Here, I was among friends. My people. Seeking out their own guilty pleasures at a steep discount in silence, save for the bellowing employee. I learned that we were all there to find our next escape and who really gives a shit if anyone else thinks its silly. I proudly walked up to the front counter at another location, asked for Catching Fire using my full voice and got it for 8 bucks! I also purchased a copy of Annie Proulx's short story collection Close Range for balance. The third and final book in the trilogy, sigh, arrived via Amazon last week. I was ordering a pot filler for my kitchen and I got free shipping! Not that I need to justify my actions but the funny thing is, somehow I ordered the Large Print version, which is HUGE. I will be a loud and proud fan of The Hunger Games at the beach this weekend!
Fluff Cookie Sandwich
Serves 2
**A little beach weekend recipe that is so unhealthy and full of sugar that I just couldnt resist.
Ingredients:
Any soft chocolate chip cookie (maybe my version from here) x 4
1 tbsp Fluff (marshmallows in a jar)
Directions:
1. Slather the flat side of one cookie with Fluff.
2. Top it with the other cookie.
3. Repeat with the other 2 cookies.
4. Grab your favorite beach book and enjoy.
**this pic is from a weekend trip biking and wine-ing in the Niagara region. The cookie on the left actually has a nanimo bar on top of the fluff. My companions were experimenting :)
Happy Long weekend everyone, and thanks for reading
tbxo
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