Delightful diversion

As if my affinity for sappy Christmas movies isn’t pathetic enough, I’ve moved on to Christmas-themed fiction. Over the last few weeks I’ve zipped through the book on which a favorite sappy Christmas movie is based, the ill-written short story on which another movie is based, a novel revolving around a Christmas train (two love stories in one, the second being the one with Amtrak) and most of a novella about an unexpected birth in a big rig in a snowstorm in Texas…on Christmas Day.

I never said any of this was great literature.

The library sends out handy e-mail reminders when you have items on hold that come available – and sends reminders three days before books are due. An e-mail Saturday morning informed me that two books – which I’d not yet started – are due Tuesday. Apparently, I didn’t notice when I picked them up last Tuesday that they are seven day loans. Since they have holds on them, they are also non-renewable.

As a result, I postponed laundry and cleaning, opting to spend the majority of Saturday afternoon on the couch, coffee and a plate of veggies to hand, reading the first of the two books. This one is several cuts above the previous fare: Holiday Grind by Cleo Coyle. It’s a sign of how little pleasure reading I’ve done over the last few years that I’d never heard of her; this is one in a series of books combining two things near to my heart: mysteries and coffee.

The last sixth of the book is a primer on all things espresso, featuring a short history, definitions for various coffee drinks, syrup and drink recipes and a section of recipes for sweets that pair well with coffee. Apparently, some sort of recipe section is a feature of her series, much like the delightful food recipes in Diane Mott Davidson’s Goldy Bear series. If I hadn’t already been fully caffeinated, I would have pulled out the espresso machine and gone to town.

All in all, it was a wonderful way to spend a cold afternoon. This could become a habit.