The Sweetest Birthday Present Ever!

A year ago my good wife turned 30. Some very clever friends of hers arranged for 30 different people to drop off a gift anonymously for the 30 days leading up to her actual birthday. What a treat it was for her to get something every day for a month. The gifts in this case were books. My wife is a voracious reader and has polished off all of the books that she was really interested in, and is still saving a couple for a rainy day.

I thought the gift was so cool/practical that I’ve been dropping hints for the last year. I am nearly a whole year younger than Shana (361 days, but who’s counting). When the first day arrived (30 days before February 7th) a book was in the mail box. I love reading, and I love the idea that people would be giving books that a) they found to be an interesting read or b) they thought I would find it to be an interesting read. I got a wide variety of books, and some tremendous titles. It’s been nearly two months and I’ve read 6 of the books – not a tremendous pace I agree, but one that I should be able to maintain for the entire year.

I kept a list of which books I received on which day, and then compared that to the list of people that had me for each day. I think I’ve come up with a list that shows who gave what and when. My goal is to read each book, send a card to the giver of the gift, and write a review of the book on my blog. So far I’m one down, and 29 to go. The list of fantastic books and their fantastic givers follows:

Title                                                          

Next by Micheal Crichton   FROM: Fischer, Pierson and Spencer

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown   FROM: Avery

Cell  by Stephen King   FROM: Jim/Michelle Driedger

How Soccer Explains the World  by Franklin Foer  FROM:Kendall Kloss

Geez Magazine subscription   FROM: Andrew

The Pursuit of Happyness  by Chris Gardner   FROM: Dad

Freakonomics  by Stephen Levitt   FROM: Mom

The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau   FROM: David Savage

Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures by Vincent Lam  FROM: Matthew

A Whole New Mind  by Daniel H. Pink   FROM: Yvonne/Shane Dubois

The Road Less Travelled  by M. Scott Peck  FROM: Sylvia Hausauer

The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach  FROM: Connie Kloss

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Marquez FROM: Janine Siebenga

Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman  FROM: Danny

The Rules of Wealth  by Richard Templar

The Everyday Activist  by Micheal Norton  FROM: Joel K.

Why do Men fall asleep after Sex? by Mark Leyner FROM: L/J Veuger

The Gift of Asher Lev  by Chaim Potok  FROM: Mom S.

The Notebooks of da Vinci  by Leo   FROM: Dad S.

Flicka  by Mary O’Hara FROM: Dave

The Sudoku Mega Pack    FROM: Uncle Brian/Aunt Wendy

The Count of Monte Cristo  by Alexandre Dumas FROM: Grandma

Children of my heart  by Gabrielle Roy FROM:Auntie Liz/Uncle Rob

Darwin’s black Box  by Michael Behe FROM: Luke

The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccomatio by Yann Martel FROM: Stolte

Responses

  1. You are actually 360 days younger, not 361 as I was born on a leap year.

  2. But there are 365 days in a year right?

  3. What a great idea! That makes for a very memorable 30th.

  4. Very cool idea.

    Sweet indeed.

  5. really mind moving job…..headoff

  6. Nice Ideas creative dude!

    the number 30…does it stand for something in the lives of you people?

  7. Hey I just got this idea. You love reading right? Check out my blog : http://www.bookrag.wordpress.com
    I will be updating content soon…


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