Member-only story
This Is Us
Humanity Needs Cookbooks, Now More Than Ever
Cookbook authors can help heal the many, many things that ail us this year
In any given year, by the time December rolls around, I find myself in a weird place — simultaneously full of heightened anticipation and totally done with everything. Buzzing with energy, but also… ugh… over it already. Is it just me?
That’s during an average year. This year… let’s just say my emotional state is a bit more dysregulated. My annual solution for the December ebbs and flows — ignoring the demands of reality and hiding out under a pile of books instead — isn’t working its usual magic. The fictional worlds and characters that typically keep me suspended between joy and disbelief refuse to hold my attention long enough to make a difference, no matter how hard I try. Thanks for nothing, law of diminishing returns.
Luckily though, I’ve discovered the perfect antidote to my troubles, and it’s easy to replicate. If you find yourself in a reading rut, flailing for an alternate coping strategy to make it to the end of 2020, take my hand. Let’s do this together. First, put down that much-hyped bestseller you’ve tried to start five times. It’s not going to happen, and we both know it. Back away, slowly at first so you don’t risk offending the higher…
