Rick over at Another Book Blog came up with an excellent idea for those of us with bibliophilic tendencies: A book blog Secret Santa! No buying, no sending, just reading — it’s perfect. Rick drew names out of an interweb hat, and each blogger will (a) choose a book for another blog to read and (b) post about the book suggested to her/him on the suggester’s blog. If that sounds confusing, go check out Rick’s opening salvo.

Here’s who’ll be a-reading during the twelve days of Christmas:

• Rick from Another Book Blog
• Laura from Reading in Bed
• Heather from Between the Covers
• Rory from Fourth Street Review
• CJ from Ebookclassics
• and yours truly.

Rick’s already revealed that I’m his giftee (and I am so psyched to read the book he chose!), and I’m excited to say, with a trumpet fanfare you’ll need to imagine, that I’ve pulled

CJ from Ebookclassics

from the hat!

Now, I don’t “know” CJ that well, but her project (reading one hundred classics in e-book form) is totally rad, and, luckily for me, comes with a built-in list of titles that she’s read and means to read. I skimmed the list — it’s a great list — and was tempted by quite a few. I would love if someone would preview Tess of the D’Urbervilles or Madame Bovary for me, but I thought those were maybe a little weighty for this season of hope and good cheer. Then I was quite tempted by Persuasion, since I’m reading it myself right now, and it’s short, highly underrated (and under-read), and delightful. But then I saw that CJ’s read and blogged about Sense and Sensibility, so I thought she might want a change of pace. And thus, I came around to:

Dubliners is Joyce’s collection of short stories, a volume that ends with the sublime, wonderful, wintry, “The Dead.” I hope CJ thinks it’s the perfect Christmas present. Merry Christmas CJ! Can’t wait to host your review!