Last year Neil and I started what has become one of our favorite Robinfuns family traditions: Booksgiving. Yes, we’ve only done it once before, but ever since that fateful day last November we’ve been looking forward to the chance to do it all over again. Recap: Booksgiving is the chance for us to push each other out of our reading comfort zones and demonstrate our knowledge of each other’s reading preferences by selecting a book for the other person in the timespan of 30 minutes. Preliminary research is allowed, but if the neighborhood Half Price Books doesn’t have your selection in stock, tough cookies. When the half hour is over, we reveal our books and then have until the end of the year to read the one selected for us – no matter what.

“Booksgiving is lit.” – Neil Robinson

This year we launched Booksgiving on November 1st (yes, we were too excited to wait any longer). We grabbed boba tea at the new location of our favorite teahouse and headed over to HPB in Rice Village. After a good luck hug, we parted ways and ran through the store like two crazy people. Having done an appropriate amount of research, I quickly asked the front desk clerk for assistance and was directed to a part of the store I don’t spend nearly enough time in. I then discovered that only one book on my list of five was in stock, which meant my Booksgiving adventure ended in the remote Travel Essays aisle. (Side note: this is really a genre?) I proceeded to spend the rest of the time allotted mozying around the store trying to avoid Neil.

Neil spent his time in a complete state of panic. Not really. But his level of anxiety was humorous. Torn between two novels, he fretted until two minutes past the deadline. Poor, Neil. Here he is trying to escape my prying eyes.

“Booksgiving has an element of supermarket sweep which is exciting and terrifying all at once.” – Neil Robinson

“Franzen is funny and on the money. This book puts him on the literary map. –Tim Appelo”