CanadianContent discussion

Hi all - a space for discussing Secret Sender 2022!

I’m in for participating in 2022!

Yes, please count me in for 2022!

Yes, please count me in for 2022!

Looking forward to it!! Thanks for organizing again!

You guys are quicker than me! Just catching up! Okay - great. Kathleen, Susan, Sarah, Wanda, you're in.

Here's the usual message for new people and as a reminder for everyone:

Here is my annual message about getting involved in the 4x/year Secret Sender book exchange. For newly interested folks, it's pretty simple. Over the course of one year, you will send someone from this group 4 books, the last of which should arrive sometime around Christmas.

Please "sign up" here. I have a many-years-long spreadsheet to try to keep people from giving and receiving to/from the same person, but I must say, every year that gets a little tougher! So please realize that there's a risk you might get paired up with someone you've already been paired with if you've been doing this for years -- although I'll do my best to avoid this!

Also, please let me know if you don't want to have an international address, as shipping costs can be a little higher. We do have a couple of friends outside Canada.

We all generally try to keep our identities secret and have a little guessing/outing game between Christmas and New Year's. Other than that, it is pretty straightforward!

Looking forward to another year of it! It's been a real source of joy for many people over the years. Hope you'll join us! Please indicate by Dec 20 in this thread if you'd like to be involved for 2021. Pairings will be sent by the first week of Jan.

Count me in please!

Great, Allison! Hoping to get some more people... spread the word! :)

Count me in. 😊

You’re in Rainey!!

Hi folks - I think we have eleven in for the next year's exchange. I'll do the lists up (and send half to Allison) somewhere between Dec 22-24. I'll also post this on the other thread to remind folks to join.

I'm in, too, if it's not too late.

Not too late! Great Petra!

That's wonderful. Thanks, Allison!

I was trying to declutter this week and I came across the little card Allison’s sister dropped off with my secret Santa book who knows how many years ago. I have held on to this for years and had completely forgotten about it. It didn’t go in the throw away pile and brought a big smile to my face.

@Alan, such a good, heartfelt memory from Secret Sender of years past. ♥

@Alan! That was me!! Wonderful to hear this brought a smile to your face, this has now brought a smile to my face remembering this moment in time. I soon after joined this Canadian Content book group and so glad I did. If my memory serves me it was the book Still Alice? I still have not read that book but did watch the film. A very sad reality Alzheimer’s disease is!

I love that story about Alan. For those of you who weren't involved then, Alan received a book but thought he'd ordered it for himself. At that time, we were only doing one book for a December exchange, so he thought he'd been forgotten! In a haste, my sister-in-law Sarah wrapped up a new book from her shelf and delivered to Alan's house (was it Christmas Eve??) as she was going to Toronto. She made a beautiful card to go with it. Yes, Sarah, it was Still Alice! Sarah wasn't even a part of the group then! She did it as a big favour as my brother and their kids waited in the car - very heart-warming.

Turns out, days later, Alan realized that one of the books he received was the Secret Sender book and he hadn't actually ordered it for himself! It was a really funny, really warm moment with this group. Susan, you were the Secret Sender, weren't you??

This has been a beautiful tradition with folks across the country, most of whom have not met in person. People can't believe it when I tell the story. I have SEVEN years of records of sender/recipient lists, dating back to 2015! 2022 will be the 8th year of this tradition.

I seem to have a typo above for 2022 - so far I have 8 people signed up, not eleven. I was thinking of doing matches today (including sending half the list to Allison to help). If anyone else wants in, please let me know today. And to note - we're pretty much at the point that it's almost impossible to get someone to send to or receive from someone else they haven't been paired up with before!

I've been working hard this afternoon trying to get two lists of participants with the least amount of overlap from previous years! My husband even had a brainwave about how to graph it out - haha.

I hope to send out notifications tonight or tomorrow to three people, and Allison Hikes the Bookwoods will be sent her list of four people and will send her notifications in the not too distant future, I'm sure.

If you have changed your address since Dec 2020, please let me know asap!

Thank you for doing this Allison x2. It adds so much pleasure and brings so many smiles, not to mention great reading, to those of us who participate in Secret Sender.

Agreed. Thank you Allison x2. I love this secret gift giving and regardless of the match up, it’ll be fun in receiving a book that someone else has picked for me! Here’s to 2022 Secret Senders!!

Half the notices are out! Have fun folks! If you haven't heard yet, you can expect to hear from Allison Hikes the Bookwoods in the next little bit... (No rush, Allison!)

I believe by now everyone should have the name of their recipient for Secret Sender 2022. If you haven’t heard, please let me know.

Some people like to support independent book shops. I think if you have one as an option for your Secret Sender to use, let’s post them here so they know. There’s no pressure to use them, but if it’s your thing, it’s good to know.

The local Indy bookstore in my town is called Novel Idea on Princess Street in Kingston. 😊

Great idea Allison! The closest Indie bookstore to me is a few hours down the road at McNally Robinson in Winnipeg. Shout out to a wonderful store!

The local independent bookstore nearest to me is The Inside Story in Greenwood, Nova Scotia. 😊

The local independent bookstore in my town is Western Sky Books. Tamara and her staff are so helpful and friendly. Their website has a wonderful selection of books and I've found that their used books are in excellent condition. They offer home delivery a few times a week as well, as a courtesy. A top quality store.

The local independent bookstore I use here in Bermuda is the Bermuda Bookstore - 3 Queen Street Hamilton. They are very familiar with our group, - and me, and have yet to divulge the name of a secret sender.

Petra wrote: "The local independent bookstore in my town is Western Sky Books. Tamara and her staff are so helpful and friendly. Their website has a wonderful selection of books and I've found that their used bo..."

Yes. I used to place the order online then follow up with a call, explaining about the group. They loved it.

Great, this is helpful. The indy bookstore in my area is also Novel Idea in Kingston. Happy snooping all!

Sadly there is no independent bookstore near me that does mail order, and none close enough for delivery or pick up to be an option. I will be happy no matter how my secret sender chooses to send my books.

Gail wrote: "Sadly there is no independent bookstore near me that does mail order, and none close enough for delivery or pick up to be an option. I will be happy no matter how my secret sender chooses to send m..."

I am in the same boat 😞

It might be helpful to give your Secret Sender a few pointers about how you organize your bookshelves, and what your likes/dislikes are. I know some of us already own a lot of the books on our virtual shelves, and some of us don't.

So, for my secret sender...I am not a book buyer, so I own very few of the books on my to-read shelf (except the ones my previous secret sender gave me that I haven't managed to read yet). I have very diverse interests, and you can get an idea of what I like by what I have read, and what's on my to-read shelf, especially the more recent additions. I am open to reading anything you think I might like, as I like to go a bit out of my comfort zone from time to time. I read a lot of history and historical fiction. My only real dislikes are true crime, horror and science fiction, and even these are ok sometimes. And I'm not really a fan of poetry. I look forward to seeing what you choose for me!!

Definitely @Gail!

I have a shelf with all my owned books called la bibliothèque chez moi. I also keep track of the ebooks and audiobooks that I have, but have not read. These shelves are called audiobook unread and ebook unread.

I have a folder called 19-want to buy-own-wish list. Everything else I own.

I too also want to note: I also appreciate and enjoy any books my Secret Sender wants to send to me.

I read a wide variety of genres and topics.

The books on my 2 Wish Lists are current and I do not own them. Neither do I own any from the Cookbook or Graphic Novel shelves. I have read any books with a rating. I have not read any without a rating.

Rest assured, Secret Sender, that I will appreciate and enjoy any book you send me.

hi all -

we don't have an independent book store in our town other than a second hand store which has a very limited Canadian section.

I try to have a "wish list" section as many of the books on my TBR list are on my shelves (I have a lot of reading to do). I love to read CanLit and also be surprised with books not on my list. I am open to reading almost everything and my secret senders have introduced me to some amazing books over the years!!

I have a wide range of reading interests and always happy to read most anything (except romance). I have a rather overflowing book collection, so there is a "books I own shelf". I keep a Canadian TBR list, books I'd like to someday acquire. I can't wait to snoop on my recipient's shelf!

I edited my comment to add that if there is a rating on my graphic novel shelf, I have read the book.

Anything you see on my Want to Read shelf gives you an embarrassing window into all the books I own but haven’t yet read!

Lol - Allison. When I looked at my want to read shelf, I was shocked with how many books that I own and am yet to read!!!

LOL....Allison, it can be daunting to see the Want To Read list. There are just so many good sounding books out there. That list just keeps on growing.

I also own many of the books on my Want To Read shelf. It's not a reliable shelf to browse for books I do not own. It's a reason why I started the Wish Lists, so that I can easily find the books I'd like but don't own.

I also own many books on my Want To Read shelf. Last year I started Books I Own, and Kindle Books I Own shelves, but there were way too many books and I didn't finish adding to those shelves. 📚
I enjoy reading most genres, but try to avoid true crime and horror. Canadian Literature seems to a favourite of mine.

@Kathleen,
Batch Edit is a great tool on Goodreads if you want to move a whole bunch of books to a new shelf (and still leave them on the shelf where they currenlty sit). Feel free to email me if you are interested and have questions or would like some assistance getting started.

My Want to Read books that I don’t yet own are found under “need to get my hands on”. I just noticed the number on that shelf, wow. And it’ll be a number that only grows haha. To my secret sender, anything you send will be wonderful, I look forward to the surprise!

It has begun!! I received a parcel from my secret sender!!! I received Welcome Home: A Guide to Building a Home for Your Soul, which I have heard a great deal about lately, and The Wars, which I have been wanting to read for a very long time. Thank you for spoiling me! And you have discovered the lovely Audrey's Books in Edmonton. I didn't know they did mail order. They even included a lovely little handwritten note in the parcel.

Yay! Gail, you are the first! The gates are open!

Very cool choices. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Timothy Findley. Never grows old.

Gail, how wonderful! You've kicked the year of giving off for us. How cool!

Ditto on what Allison says. Timothy Findley is a wonderful author. He's not as read today as he perhaps should be. Love his work, including The Wars.

Enjoy this wonderful surprise.

Wow Gail! How exciting! I haven't read either book, but have looked them up and they both sound like good reading.
A few years ago I read a book of short stories by Timothy Findley and enjoyed his writing.

Dust to Dust is a book of short stories by Timothy Findley that I have signed on my shelf - and it's a great read! I was working at Bolen Books in Victoria, and he visited for a signing. He wrote a really personalized, lovely note, and it's one book on the shelf I really cherish.

Another of his I've loved and read more than once is You Went Away: A Novella which takes place near Trenton, Ontario, which isn't too far from where I grew up.

Great way to get us started Gail! I echo everyone on Timothy Findley, The Wars is a book that I cannot forget, so impactful. Enjoy your new books (so glad to hear they arrived from and Indie store!)