Bupper: Spring Fever by Mary Kay Andrews
If any curious minds have explored our site and clicked on “Table Talk” you probably read the drop down menu and wondered what the heck “Bupper” was… It’s a valid question since you can’t find this term in the English dictionary. (I made it up!) Bupper is something I schemed up because A) I wasn’t seeing my friends enough, B) I LOVE to read, C) I love to discuss what I am reading, and D) I love a good meal. So, I did what any normal girl would do- I started Bupper Club, named myself president (Every cool club has a president!), and the rest is history. Bupper is the combination of a book/supper club. Here’s how it works – First, we set up a rotation so we know who is hosting each month. The host is in charge of picking out a book, coming up with discussion questions, and most importantly, planning a meal that goes along with her book! The next host will announce her book at the end of each Bupper Club meeting. We always make sure to set a date so we know exactly how long we have to finish our new book. I speak for all of us when I say Bupper has been a great success! We have had some fantastic reads, enjoyed some great meals, managed to squeeze in a couple field trips, and of course had quality time together! We’d like to extend you an official invitation to join our Bupper Club!
Check out the books we’ve read together since we started our Bupper Club almost two years ago!
January was my turn to host Bupper and I knew it had to be good…Bupper was making its blog debut! (Very fitting since I’m the president. It’s a tough job but somebody has to do it.) The pressure was on when Cason discovered that Mary Kay Andrews was having a book signing in Peachtree City. I LOVE me some MK! She is an Atlanta based author who writes the BEST beach reads. It was the perfect opportunity to spotlight a local author and introduce Bupper to the world, so I ran with it! I have many favorite Mary Kay Andrews books but I decided on Spring Fever.
If you’re wondering why Mrs. Andrews is sporting festive Christmas attire, she was promoting the December release of her latest novel, Christmas Bliss.
The Meal:
One of the most fun parts about Bupper is planning a meal to go along with your book. The novel, Spring Fever, is based on a family who owns Quixie, a cherry soda company in North Carolina. Obviously I had to base my entire menu off of cherry soda…duh! With a North Carolina setting and Atlanta making several cameos, I also decided to include some southern touches to my meal. My menu included Cherry Coke marinated ribs, Cherry Coke baked beans, macaroni and cheese, jalapeño cornbread AND for dessert I served Quixie floats…it was INCREDIBLE! (I will share recipes in upcoming foodie posts!) Side note- when is the last time you had a Coke float? I forgot how good they were!
Discussion Questions for Spring Fever:
I got my discussion questions from Mary Kay Andrews’ website. She provides book guides to a lot of her novels!
There you have it! I have fulfilled my presidential duties and officially introduced you to Bupper Club. It looks like fun, right? The baton has been passed to Joanna who will be hosting our next gathering. We’ll be reading Divergent by Veronica Roth. Our next Bupper post will be March 13th so start reading along with us! Start your own Bupper Club in your area, steal our ideas, or share new ones, we are always looking for great book recommendations!