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