Treat yourself to an hour of laughs, gasps, hilarity, and drama at the Huntsville Book Review Club. You can savor this delightful event six times a year in the Community Room of the Huntsville Public Library, located at 1219 13th Street near downtown Huntsville.
The Huntsville Book Review Club, established in 1972 and now in its fifty-third year, has enjoyed a growing membership and is open to the public. Guests can attend the first review at no charge, after which a $35 annual membership fee is due in order to attend the remaining events of the year. It’s a nominal fee to pay for the joy of watching and listening to professional storytellers, historians, and authors as they bring good literature to life.
Huntsville is home to several book clubs, with each club having its own format for book review presentation. HBRC contracts with many world-class professional reviewers through the Dallas Book Reviewers Association and the DFW Book Reviewers, Storytellers, and Entertainers Association. Genres and topics include historical events, biographies, poetry, drama, comedy, fiction, fantasy, music, and more. Programs for the remainder of this membership year are listed below including a bio submitted by each presenter.
Kathleen Cunningham has had a lifetime involvement in dance and performing that she now uses to present book reviews and talks about show-biz personalities.
She began studying ballet at the age of four. Over the years, she studied with the Houston Ballet as a teenager under Madame Tatiana Semenova, and later with the first Dallas Ballet Company under George Skibine.
Kathleen began to acquire her speaking skills as part of her job in Governmental Affairs for the Texas Credit Union League in Dallas. She spoke to credit union groups all over Texas. At the same time, she continued to take adult ballet classes.
After raising her two sons, Kathleen found time to become a volunteer at the Dallas Arboretum as a docent, giving tours in the DeGolyer mansion. Because of her speaking background, it wasn’t long before she created the Speakers Bureau for the Arboretum. She and the eight volunteers she trained gave about 100 presentations annually across the Dallas Metroplex. Kathleen also served on the Arboretum’s Board of Directors for six years. As an extension of her ballet career, Kathleen became involved in the world of competitive ballroom dancing with her husband, Randy Willis. After competing nationally for eight years, they performed professional floor shows for another 20 years. Since Randy was also a professional speaker on the national lecture circuit, he and Kathleen combined their dancing talent with their speaking skills to present a program called, The History of Ballroom Dancing, telling the origins of the dances and demonstrating them at the same time.
After Kathleen had been Director of the Arboretum Speakers Bureau for ten years, she moved on to devote her time to giving book reviews all over Texas and has been doing them for nearly 15 years. The Dallas Professional Book Reviewers Association invited her to become a member.
“I love doing book reviews because I’m using the talents that God gave me. I feel that I’m giving the audience a gift by taking them out of the present into the life of the performer I’m doing. It’s more than a book review. I use techniques of oral interpretation, acting, dancing, singing—it’s a whole one-hour show.”
She was first asked to speak for the Huntsville Book Review Club in 2019 and has been invited back 6 times. She’s already booked to come back in 2026. Kathleen says, “I always have a great audience when I come to the Huntsville Club. They’re so welcoming and appreciative. I remember one time I came to speak, and it was thundering and pouring rain—but I had a big turnout, and that’s a huge compliment for a speaker. Another time, it was announced that over 80 ladies packed the Library Community Room to hear me, their biggest turnout ever. One lady called out, “When we know Kathleen is coming, we all show up.” I really love the wonderful ladies of the Huntsville Book Review Club.”
This year, Kathleen will review the biography of Goldie Hawn. We all remember giggly Goldie from the TV show Laugh-In in the 1960s and from her movies. But her life was so much more. With a career of almost three dozen movies behind her, this Oscarwinning movie star took 15 years off to create a curriculum for schools to help children cope with their emotions and reduce stress. The Goldie Hawn Foundation helps kids around the world live better lives.
I have been reading and telling stories since I was a little girl. Because I am the daughter of a schoolteacher…maybe I inherited the love of reading from Mom? Because I am also the daughter of a soldier, I have traveled a great deal. I have been in 46 of the 50 states, lived in 9 of them, and spent a year in Japan….but Texas was always home! I have a BS from Hardin-Simmons University and a Masters of Education from Texas Women’s University. As librarian for 30 years, I was lucky enough to have a job I thought was heavenly…I was surrounded by books.
If your club is looking for a program centered on books, but with a twist, I might have just what you are looking for. Like the T-shirt says, “So many books….so little time” I found it hard to settle on just one book, so for my program I have compiled a “BOOK BAG” with 10-12 books. I will try to tempt the reader by telling about the setting, the problem, and the main characters, but I don’t tell the solution. My purpose is to open the window on many fun reading possibilities. Knowing I will be speaking to diverse groups of readers, I search the libraries and bookstores for biographies, historical fiction, mysteries, romance, adventure, non-fiction, and comedy. It’s not necessary that you try to read all of the suggestions, but I have several ladies that tell me that is exactly what they do. There will be a bookmark available for each member with the titles and authors listed.
To the delight of club members, several favorite presenters are asked to return year after year, which is the case for the two reviewers scheduled in March and April.
When asked to share her thoughts on being a member of the book club, Carolyn Goodwin mentioned this in her summary:
When I was about to retire, I wanted to find something fun to do with my “free” time. Best Bets in The Huntsville Item had two items that piqued my interest. A book club at the public library and Huntsville Book Review Club, meeting there as well. I went the first time just before Covid19 shut everything down. I was surprised to see several ladies I knew and some I have now been friends with since then. I sat in the back, because the room was filling up and I didn’t want to take someone else’s place. That first day, there were over 100 women in the room! The reviewer was 90-year-old Rose-Mary Rumbley, a former television actress and theater performer. If you get a chance, check out some of her reviews on YouTube. She had my attention from her first word! Another favorite of mine is Kathleen Cunningham. She is a former professional ballroom dancer. Her reviews of Mary Tyler Moore and Lawrence Welk were fantastic. She dances during her reviews!
Join us at one of the Huntsville Book Review Club meetings, and you will be entertained and amazed. Going to lunch with friends and the reviewer is an added bonus. Hope to see you there!
Savoring six book reviews each year presented by highly skilled artisans, spending time with friends, and having the opportunity to make new and lasting friendships are all features of being a member of the Huntsville Book Review Club. Knowledge is increased, delightful memories are made, and spending time with friends is priceless. At the close of each event, members are invited to enjoy lunch with the guest reviewer at a local restaurant to get acquainted and to reflect on the rich experience.
Officers for the current year are President, Gayla Lawson; Vice President, Linda York; Treasurer, Karen Mermis; Secretary, Becky Kelly; Historian/Past President, Mary Wessels; and Facebook Manager/Past Secretary, Carolyn Goodwin. For more information, check out the Best Bets section of The Huntsville Item or visit the Huntsville Book Review Club on their Facebook Page. And then, join in the fun and fellowship while you feast on fascinating facts presented by first-class reviewers! An experience to relish and to remember!
Postcards Magazine
936-293-1188
PO Box 690
Huntsville, TX 77342
