CanadianContent discussion

A place for chit chat about all the fun around the Secret Sender 2025 event! We have nine people participating for our 10th year of doing this! Ah-mazing.

Addresses for your Secret Recipient are found on Elfster. Follow the link you received in your email and click on the person's name - there you will find their mailing address. Please send them 3 new books throughout 2025, the final one arriving around Christmastime. If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message and I'll be happy to help and/or share messages with your recipient (unless you have me, in which case, we have a bit of a challenge in terms of the "secret" part! :))

Thank you so much for arranging again!!! This has brought mystery, joy, fun and has brought us together in our love of books!!! The world needs more readers!!!

You are so welcome, Susan! I love doing this. I am not as active on this group as I wish I was (and I don't read as much as I wish I could - which would be all day every day!) so this is my one little corner to contribute. I'm glad it's been so beloved to all of us. Who knew when we started so long ago!?

Quick note - everyone arranges their shelves differently in their profile. If yours aren't obvious, feel free to use this space to explain where your sneaky Secret Sender should go looking for clues.

Also - if you have an independent bookstore that you love nearby, please let us know about it. Those of us in Kingston are so lucky to have The Novel Idea - and they get a real kick out of our Secret Sender exchange! And now there are three of us here in this exchange! That said, any service for any delivery works just fine too, for any of us and especially for rural friends.

reposting as I had it in the wrong year :-)

Good Morning,

Hi there - Yes, I added the local bookstore - called the Bermuda Bookstore -https://bookstore.bm/

The address is on Elfster that's easiest to use. Miriam and Hannah love our secret exchange.

With Amazon, shipping directly to Bermuda or to the US via my US forwarder's address requires the shipper to have: 1. my Trader ID and 2. an Invoice for Customs. Books are duty free but the paperwork is still required.

Hints on my shelves: these 2 are the best to browse from as a start

1-waiting-4-price-drop ‎
19-wish-list-want-to-buy ‎

so excited for 2025

Hi all,

Thanks again, Allison, for setting this up. And thank you everyone for having me this year.

Regarding local/indie bookstores: If you're looking for a local bookstore, there is Volume One in Duncan BC, https://volumeone.ca/. I don't believe that Volume One delivers, so if you go this route, I'm sorry to volunteer Allison, but please ask her to get my phone number for you and Volume One will call me to pick up the book. This option would save you a pretty penny on shipping, and the staff are some of the nicest people you'll meet.

Another option is an Indigenous-owned bookstore, Massy books. It isn't local to me, but they ship, it's 100% Indigenous-owned, part of the Stó:lō business association, and have donated over $100,000 to local-to-them charities.

Hopefully, it goes without saying that I'm grateful no matter where the books are purchased from because a generous person took the time and effort to find a book, but if your shopping habits are reflected in either of those options (or you simply want to save on shipping), they're ready for your consideration.

Regarding shelves: If it's on my to-read list and isn't shelved under "on-my-to-read-shelf" or "have-copy-available" I'm interested and don't have a copy as of the last time I updated my goodreads. I'm a trashcan of a reader so my to-read list is huge so I should probably try to break it out into more digestible chunks or something.

Elinor, thank you for the very special Christmas surprise! And thank you for spoiling me all year with fabulous books! Some I have read and enjoyed, and I look forward to reading the others.
Best wishes for 2025.

Let the fun begin!!! I have received my first package from my secret sender and with thanks have already started to enjoy the essays within Burning Questions: Essays and Occasional Pieces, 2004-2021. I admire the brilliant writing and feistiness of Margaret Atwood each time I pick up one of her works!!

I also received The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus which was on my Libby hold list and am looking forward to reading this novel.

Thank you secret sender!!!

Do have fun, Susan! I read The Life Cycle of The Common Octopus in January and thought it was very good for a debut novel. I liked her descriptive writing and am intrigued by Scotland and the castles there.
Margaret Atwood is rare gem. I have loved her for decades.

Thanks @Kathleen... I have been reading a couple of essays each day and will dig into the Octopus after I finish a couple on my kobo.

@Susan, your Secret Sender book gifts are perfectly suited for you! I am not getting the notifications on the thread, sorry for my lateness to your post! enjoy your new books!

I’m also not getting notifications! I’m so glad to see the first deliveries arriving. Such fun!

I received my first package, and my local bookstore was so pleased by the concept. Thank you secret sender for Dandelion and Greenwood!

Cool, Julia! Welcome, officially, to the fun! I love that a new indie bookstore has been introduced to our fun.

I haven't read Dandelion, but I LOVED Greenwood!

Have fun reading the books, Julia! Dandelion is one of the contenders for Canada Reads 2025!
I loved Greenwood, too!

@ Julia- I hope you enjoy your new books! Greenwood is a special book to me as well!

it is getting exciting on here... those are both such amazing books, Julia!! Greenwood is one of my favourites and I really enjoyed Dandelion this Canada Reads season.

Thanks, folks!

I don't usually follow Canada reads too closely, but I might have to this year. It sounds like these have been enjoyed by good company, so I look forward to digging in.

I'm intrigued by the idea of Greenwood being "structured like the nested growth rings of a tree", and Dandelion made its way to me as I'm working through conflicting feelings about motherhood, so I'm not sure where to start! What a good choice to be faced with.

Arsenal Press, who published Dandelion, included a land acknowledgement on the copyright page. I don't think I'd ever seen that, so I might have to go through my other Canadian books and see if any other publishers are doing that.

Well it's my turn to share my fun news! I returned from a March Break getaway to find two books waiting for me! My mother had been watering my plants, so she found the bag from our local indie on my doorstep and brought them inside.

Thank you, Secret Sender, for sending me two very intriguing choices! I love Thomas King, so was very excited to find The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative, which is a CBC Massey Lecture. I'm super excited to get to this one.

The other is Celia's Song. This book has been on my radar for years, because this is my middle name! :) I've never read it though, but I know that Lee Maracle is/was a beloved Canadian author, so I am excited to get to this one too.

Thank you so much!

Allison- A wonderful book treat to return to after your vacation!

Both books sound like good choices for you (and me for my list). Enjoy!!

I also received book mail yesterday. There was an Indigo package and inside I found two books from my Goodreads wish list, which my Secret Sender has clearly been scoping out!

Stars Around My Scars: The Annotated Poetry of Taylor Swift and Black Woods Blue Sky - neither of these are Canadian but they are both new books that I’ve been eyeing! Thank you Secret Sender!

Ooh those all sound lovely. And what a nice time to get books, as the weather starts to turn!

What a great package to return to! I enjoyed Celia's song and feel privileged to have met Lee Maracle at an event at the Toronto reference library. she shared such a love of reading and spoke to some of her family members never learning to read in relation to their residential school experiences.

Awesome @AllisonHikes! Nice for you to receive such curated gifts!

Allison and Allison Hikes, wonderful surprises! Your books sound lovely!

Allison ༻hikes the bookwoods༺ wrote: "I also received book mail yesterday. There was an Indigo package and inside I found two books from my Goodreads wish list, which my Secret Sender has clearly been scoping out!

Stars Around My Sca..."

Glad to hear you have a few new books for your shelf off of your TBR list! Enjoy Allison!

What a great package to come home to! I was home for a few days from Toronto, then had to fly off the island for work, and got back last night. While I was away, I received a message from my favorite bookstore that I had some books.

Picked them up today - Every Summer After and The Whispers.

They look like great choices - thank you

@Rainey- good to hear that you were in Toronto for a visit along with some work travel. Enjoy your new books- I have not read either- I did read The Push by the author Ashley Audrain, in one sitting I believe- it was fast paced. Carley Fortune's books I have never read but they seem to be quite popular!

Enjoy Rainey! I haven’t read either of those books.

A lovely delivery surprise today on this sunny spring day! Thank you to my secret sender for Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don't Know by Malcolm Gladwell and Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. Looking forward to both :)

Fun deliveries! I haven’t read most of those mentioned, but Sarah I have read Talking to Strangers and it’s very good! I actually think of it often at work and in my personal life. Spoiler alert: you can basically never really know anyone! 😳

Enjoy everyone!

Sounds like everyone has some great reading ahead of them!

@Sarah, Malcolm Gladwell books are great, keeps you thinking well after the story ends! Enjoy your new books!

Rainey and Sarah, enjoy your books!

I received a lovely surprise package on my doorstep! Thank you to my Secret reader for West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge and The Circle
by Katherena Vermette.I am really looking forward to reading these books. My address is changing and I have notified Canada Post of my new address.

@Kathleen- great to hear about your new books! I am not familiar with the first author, but Katherena Vermette is a wonderful story teller from my home province of MB. I have enjoyed all of her books, with her sharing of stark truth, complex relationships and humor. Enjoy your new books!

Thank you secret sender! I found in my mailbox ADHD for smart Ass Women by Tracy Otsuka, When We Lost Our Heads by Heather O’Neill, and Secrets of the Speakkar by Eliza Reid! Wow!! What a stack. Thank you 🫶🏼

Hello everyone- I was lucky to come home tonight to a new book in my mailbox- My Friends a signed copy by the author! I have read several of his books and have loved all of them- this looks like a gem. Thank you Secret Sender! Side note- I have a wee holiday coming up end of May (to see AC/DC in Cleveland Ohio!!! not that I am overly excited lol) This will be the perfect book to take on my trip for airplanes and airport layovers. I am a lucky gal today!

Sarah wrote: "Thank you secret sender! I found in my mailbox ADHD for smart Ass Women by Tracy Otsuka, When We Lost Our Heads by Heather O’Neill, and Secrets of the Speakkar by Eliza Reid! Wow!! What a stack. Th..."

Sarah- that is an awesome book haul! I love Heather O'Neill and this book When We lost Our Heads is one of the best- her writing is unique and I immerse myself in her words- she is uber intelligent and I love her humor. The ADHD book sounds fabulous! Eliza Reid's book is on my bookshelf too! Enjoy!

I loved Secrets of the Sprakkar: Iceland's Extraordinary Women and How They Are Changing the World - She is Canadian - and was Iceland's First Lady. She has a new book coming out this month - Death on the Island - She will also be one of the authors at Iceland Noir this year, which I am sadly going to miss since they changed the dates. Iceland is my fav country - been 5 times.

LOL... I have missed a lot of these posts!

It looks like Rainey, Sarah, Kathleen and Wanda have received some great reading!!

I didn't know that Eliza Reid was venturing into fiction. I also love Secrets of the Sprakkar and Fredrik Backman never disappoints.

Enjoy ACDC Wanda!!

❀ Susan wrote: "LOL... I have missed a lot of these posts!

It looks like Rainey, Sarah, Kathleen and Wanda have received some great reading!!

I didn't know that Eliza Reid was venturing into fiction. I also love..."

Death on the Island comes out tomorrow.

All of this is super fun! Great posts! I was in Vancouver mid April and AC/DC was playing there! I did not go - but seems like everyone else in the city did! Have fun, Wanda! And I hope everyone else enjoys their new surprise books!

I am most lucky yet again, having received a copy of Elinor Florence's Finding Flora in my mailbox this week! Lucky to have a great historical fiction book to read by an awesome author who just happens to be part of our online group! I'm looking forward to sharing this books with all my bookish friends in celebration of Elinor and all the wonderful Canadian Authors !

I meant to add a huge thank you to my Secret Sender for gifting this book to me!

Wanda, I totally agree that having Elinor in our group is super cool! I hope you enjoy her book!

In other news…. Kathleen has a new address. When we use Elfster, I don’t get to see the pairings, so I don’t know who to pass this info onto. (It’s clearly not me that has Kathleen - and you all know now! Haha).

Can the person who is sending to Kathleen this year please DM me? I’ll then give you her new address. Thanks!

That is awesome Wanda... I see that Elinor has been a "heather's pick" and is making the rounds at author events with Indigo in the West... I hope she makes her way to Ontario!! I picked up her book the last time I was at Indigo... when I was meeting Max Kerman of the Arkells who was promoting his book!!

Hi folks - no response from Kathleen’s sender. Could the person sending books to Kathleen please contact me privately? Thanks!

I was surprised to find a parcel on our front doorstep. It contained two books - Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall and A Million Things by Emily Spurr. I am looking forward to reading these books. A huge thank you to my Secret Sender!

That’s so great, Kathleen. Book mail is the best!

Got a call from my local bookstore - and just picked up 2 books - The Safekeep and Death of the Author. Both of these are on my BDA bookclubs reading this (we are celebrating 10 years this September)

I am looking forward to reading these - Thank You

Kathleen wrote: "I was surprised to find a parcel on our front doorstep. It contained two books - Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall and A Million Things by Emily Spurr. I am looki..."

Kathleen- I hope you enjoy your new books! And that you have had a wonderful summer! (with some reading too!)