It wasn’t specifically for me, so it only sort of applies.

My local book club does a holiday party for our December gathering every year. We do a fun quiz on book-club related things and do a “steal the gift” exchange but with wrapped books.

I fully admit I hate the “steal the gift” things anyway, I don’t like stealing the gifts, I always get skunked even when the stakes are low, and I just never enjoy it. But I participate every year because it’s simple and would be weird to be the only one not participating.

It can be any book- a used one you found, one from your shelf, one you hated, etc. I DESPISE the “one you hated” part. Why would you do that to us? We’re supposed to be at least book club friends if not actual friends outside of this club.

So one year I got One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus, one we’d read in the group.
The book we all collectively despised. The one we said we were against book burning, but might just have to make an exception for.

But it was soooo freaking “funny” to put that in the blind grab bag for the steal the gift exchange.

I’m not freaking laughing.

Of course no one stole that piece of garbage from me, so I was stuck with it for the entire game and didn’t get any second chances.

That was the year I stopped trying at all when selecting my book for the exchange. Previously I’d put a lot o f thought into it and had my selection get lukewarm at best reactions, but this was the icing on the cake, I was done. And it’s coming up again in a few weeks. I half put thought in to mine. A book in my give away pile already, but it’s a collection of Victorian ghost stories. The Victorian tradition of telling ghost stories at Christmas, so it fits. But they’re all hit or miss on old stuff, so I fully expect it to be a lukewarm at best reception. Oh well. I liked it, just won’t read it again, hence why it’s in my giveaway pile. It’s going to be out of my house, which is the goal, regardless, so I’m satisfied.