This winter term might just have sparked a new annual tradition: the Secret Santa Book Swap.
For this term’s Christmas session, all eight participants selected a book that they have read and wanted somebody else to enjoy, too. The books were brought wrapped in paper, with only written teasers hinting at their contents, genre, and time period.
All books were passed around the table and reactions to the teasers ranged from the confounded “Huh?” to a smirky “I think I know this book…” But of course, it was not easy to decide who would take home which new book. Some teasers were written so masterfully that the whole group became intrigued, other books were shrouded in so much mystery that no club member could stand the wait for its unwrapping. In the end, most book swaps were decided by a draw of “Ho ho ho” versus “No no no” lottery tickets.
As it turned out, the books that were entered into our first Secret Santa Book Swap ranged from literary classics to contemporary best-sellers, from childrens’ books to philosophical essays, from realism to science fiction. And every book club member went home with a new potential book favourite.
No more should be said here—if this intrigued you, make sure to join the next Secret Santa Book Swap!
