Spicy

I wouldn’t call myself an avid reader, but I go through seasons where my appetite for fiction is ferocious. I love reading purely for escapism. I find a good book takes me out of my head, out of my busy brain and plants me firmly in another world. Bedtime is booktime. Non-negotiable.

My appetite for the genre of books also changes with the seasons. Darker themes,  mysteries and twisted plots are best in the darker months. Makes sense. Summer reads are best with lighter plots, amusing characters and happy endings.

Yes, it’s true, I’ve succumbed to reading – this is hard for me to admit – romance novels. Don’t judge. I wish we had another name for this genre so it didn’t sound so desperate. How about “literary lust” which gives it an academic bent, or  “as if.” Maybe, “unlikely, but here’s hoping.” Good working titles. For now, I’ll bookmark this genre as spicy.

For the month of July, as part of my patriotic celebrations, I only read Canadian authors. It’s a rule, even for spicy titles, which are a series on the New York Times Best Sellers list. They aren’t any steamier than what you’d see on a Netflix show. The romance is less chili spice, more cayenne pepper, but certainly not ghost pepper material.

My favourite place in town is my local library. I’m deadline driven by nature, so I get three books at a time and challenge myself to read them before their due date. True to my deadline nature, I turn the last page at the last minute. 

I know, you’re thinking; wow, that Kelly leads a wild, exciting life. I wonder if that’s what my librarian friend Kathy thought when I slid my stack of diverse books across the counter. We’ve known each other for years. She’s a gem of a human.

As Kathy flipped over each book to scan them into the Wellington County library system, I kid you not, I broke into a sweat. Do I really want her to know that my summer reading list goes from humour writing about politics to a spicy romance about a brooding masculine character who unexpectedly meets his match in a strong heroine who has sworn off men until they meet in an airport/horse ranch/roadside with car trouble/unrequited emotional reunion setting that leads them on an unpredictable (yet totally predictable) course of true love? (So like, basically the backstory of the Carpenter and me. Snort. Now that’s funny.) 

We discussed our mutual appreciation for the humour writer and books in his series. When she got to the spicy purple-covered book, she commented with genuine interest, “I don’t know this author. Is she good?” 

“It’s my trash novel,” I responded entirely too quickly. “Surely not something you’d ever read. It’s shameless, really.” Did my cheeks just get hot? Is it hot in here? It’s hot. To her credit, she smiled as she flipped the book over to scan it and said, “We don’t judge. I’m sure it’s a great book. Looks like it’s a popular one.”

This is kindness in action, guys. Think about it. Librarians know that part of our brain that absorbs content. Your cable box does not. Librarians could literally blackmail us.  They have all our books on file. Be good to your librarians. Gems, all.