Holiday Gift Exchange Gone Wrong

I had the opportunity to take place in my wife’s family’s first annual Christmas book exchange. It’s kind of a cool idea. Instead of spending a bunch more money on adult siblings, the book exchange is a fun and affordable substitute. The premise is this: Grab your favorite book off the shelf or go buy a paper back copy for $8, wrap it up and bring it to the white elephant type book exchange. As the books are opened one at a time and traded/stolen, each adult family member gets to tell why it’s their favorite. The recipient of the book is to read it during the year and in so doing, we all get to know and appreciate each other better. Sounds like a harmless Holiday idea that all can enjoy right?

I thought I might spice the party up just a bit by providing an anonymously gifted book on better sex techniques or something along those lines. Though my wife did not altogether prohibit me from doing so, in the end, I ran out of time and did not make it by my local adult novelty store to make the purchase. I went with a much more responsible choice: Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. (Yes, I really am that boring)

As it turns out, my discretion and/or /laziness was a wise choice. Unbeknownst to me, the event reached beyond just my in-laws. We had an aunt and my wife’s grandfather show up as well. It’s pretty safe to say my wife’s 85 year old grandfather would not have been amused by the annoying son-in-law’s sophomoric practical joke.

These additional family members did indeed lead to a potential year-long conundrum for me though. I had the fortune of receiving Grandpa’s book selection – Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Murder of Lord Darnley. It’s somewhat of a historical novel about a murder mystery in 16th century Britain. It’s about a 600 page read for those scoring at home. I think the last time I read a book like this was my freshman year in college when I decided to take some sort of British Lit class. I must have figured I could sleep in and miss class as long as I read the books and did the necessary reports. That strategy ultimately back fired on me.

Needless to say, my new “gift” is not exactly in my wheel house. My brother-in-law suggested I go the cliff notes route which was not a bad idea. However, I’m mostly a stand up guy. And fortunately, I spend a lot of time sitting down on airplanes with out Internet access so I should be able to get through the book and enjoy a nice conversation with Grandpa by Labor Day. (It should be noted that my wife’s grandpa is a very intelligent man and the book is probably an excellent read for those with a little more sophistication than the writer of this blog)

The ultimate point of this story is to let you know that despite the slight literary hiccup, I did end up buying myself a fantastic sports book for Christmas. This selection will be featured on the first ever official book review on Inter-Mountain Sports this coming week. Check back soon!