April’s Book Club meeting was held on a perfect Spring afternoon, overlooking our beautiful Matagorda Bay, and was a fun and entertaining event! Hostesses Connie Britton, Jeanette Henke, Kathleen Simmons, and Sandra Pustka went all out in portraying April’s book, Bet Your Bottom Dollar, by Karin Gillespie.

All the delicacies served came straight from the pages of the book, spun from the streets of the one-horse town of Cayboo Creek, South Carolina! The Hostesses delighted the Ladies with homemade meat loaf, baby corn on the cob, a beautiful bowl of fruit, hummus and pimento cheese served on crackers, coleslaw, jalapeno corn muffins, Funions, Pork Skins, a can of Vienna Sausages for fun, and various candies, all sold in Cayboo Creek’s “Bottom Dollar Emporium”- Baby Ruths, Milky Ways, Red Hots, and Swizzle Sticks. Tea, bottled water, and wine accompanied the yummy food, and dessert was Vanila Ice Cream served with a side of candy bars!

The book discussion began with the hostesses handing out $1.00 bills (with a song attached) to select members of the audience who were expected to “actively participate”!! The Hostesses read excerpts and quotes from the book, and asked thought-provoking questions about the various characters and episodes in the book, to which the Ladies responded. In a repeat performance, Cindy Boone danced around the room, and belted her heart out in a rambunctious karaoke rendition of “You Can Bet Your Bottom Dollar” by Canadian singer, Jack Scott, and all the “Active Participants” jumped in and sang!
It was a fun, lively, loud, and laughter-filled afternoon, and all agreed the book was a fun account of life in small town America, where the residents rise up to fight against big box stores running little guys out of business, and long kept family secrets are uprooted and exposed, interlocking the lives of the book’s characters in shocking and surprising ways.

Everyone thanked the Hostesses for their hard work in making it such a fun and wonderful afternoon!

Our next Book Club meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 9, 2023, 2:00 p.m. The book is Crowded In The Middle of Nowhere by Dr. Bo Brock, a Texas Veterinarian. If you are interested in joining “Hooked On Books”, please email your contact information to alanehaardt@yahoo.com.
Submitted by Alane Haardt

At the “Hooked on Books” meeting