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50 Interesting Business Books Released in 2011

December 17, 2011 By Antonio Cangiano Leave a Comment

The following is a list of 50 interesting business books that were released in 2011.

As some of you know, I run a service called Any New Books?, which emails you a list of new books that are related to the categories of your choice each week. For the most part I pulled this list from the weekly staff picks there throughout this past year, just in time for your Christmas shopping. 😉

The books are ordered by their current sale rank on Amazon (from the most popular to the least popular at the moment, with hardcovers first). I hope this page will help you discover a few titles you may have not have noticed yet.

[Programming Books | Math Books]

Steve Jobs
Stores: USA | Canada | Kindle

By Walter Isaacson
ISBN: 1451648537
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication date: October 24, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $15.00
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The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses
Stores: USA | Canada | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Eric Ries
ISBN: 0307887898
Publisher: Crown Business
Publication date: September 13, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $12.49
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How: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything
Stores: USA | UK | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Dov Seidman
ISBN: 1118106377
Publisher: Wiley
Publication date: September 21, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $15.98
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Screw Business As Usual
Stores: USA | Canada | Kindle

By Richard Branson
ISBN: 1591844347
Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover
Publication date: December 8, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $13.65
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Poke the Box
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Seth Godin
ISBN: 1936719002
Publisher: The Domino Project
Publication date: March 1, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $5.00
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Scorecasting: The Hidden Influences Behind How Sports Are Played and Games Are Won
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Tobias J. Moskowitz, L. Jon Wertheim
ISBN: 0307591794
Publisher: Crown Archetype
Publication date: January 25, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $15.50
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The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation
Stores: USA | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Matthew Dixon, Brent Adamson
ISBN: 1591844355
Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover
Publication date: November 10, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $16.08
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Car Guys vs. Bean Counters: The Battle for the Soul of American Business
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Bob Lutz
ISBN: 1591844002
Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover
Publication date: June 9, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $12.99
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40 Years of Chez Panisse: The Power of Gathering
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Italy

By Alice Waters
ISBN: 0307718263
Publisher: Clarkson Potter
Publication date: August 23, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $25.75
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The Compound Effect
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Kindle

By Darren Hardy
ISBN: 1593157134
Publisher: Vanguard Press
Publication date: November 1, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $12.36
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Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Brad Feld, Jason Mendelson
ISBN: 0470929820
Publisher: Wiley
Publication date: August 2, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $28.97
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Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success
Stores: USA | Canada | Kindle

By Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler
ISBN: 0446573914
Publisher: Business Plus
Publication date: April 11, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $14.45
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Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries
Stores: USA | Canada | Italy | Kindle

By Peter Sims
ISBN: 1439170428
Publisher: Free Press
Publication date: April 19, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $10.00
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The Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant at a Moment’s Notice
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Todd Henry
ISBN: 1591844010
Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover
Publication date: July 7, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $12.25
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The Innovator’s DNA: Mastering the Five Skills of Disruptive Innovators
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Jeff Dyer, Hal Gregersen, Clayton M. Christensen
ISBN: 1422134814
Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
Publication date: July 19, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $18.84
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The Thank You Economy
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Gary Vaynerchuk
ISBN: 0061914185
Publisher: HarperBusiness
Publication date: March 8, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $8.99
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Disciplined Dreaming: A Proven System to Drive Breakthrough Creativity
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Josh Linkner
ISBN: 0470922222
Publisher: Jossey-Bass
Publication date: February 22, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $12.25
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I Am John Galt: Today’s Heroic Innovators Building the World and the Villainous Parasites Destroying It
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Donald Luskin, Andrew Greta
ISBN: 1118013786
Publisher: Wiley
Publication date: May 24, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $15.55
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Nothing to Lose, Everything to Gain: How I Went from Gang Member to Multimillionaire Entrepreneur
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Ryan Blair
ISBN: 1591844037
Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover
Publication date: August 4, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $12.38
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The Wizard of Lies
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Italy | Kindle

By Diana B. Henriques
ISBN: 0805091343
Publisher: Times Books
Publication date: April 26, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $11.00
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How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age
Stores: USA | Canada | Kindle

By Dale Carnegie & Associates
ISBN: 1451612575
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication date: October 4, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $9.95
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Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul
Stores: USA | Canada | Italy | Kindle

By Howard Schultz, Joanne Gordon
ISBN: 1605292885
Publisher: Rodale Books
Publication date: March 29, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $4.99
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Get Rich Click!: The Ultimate Guide to Making Money on the Internet
Stores: USA | UK | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Marc Ostrofsky
ISBN: 0982769601
Publisher: The Razor Media Group
Publication date: May 2, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $9.80
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The Startup Game: Inside the Partnership between Venture Capitalists and Entrepreneurs
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By William H. Draper
ISBN: 023010486X
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Publication date: January 4, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $13.75
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The Two-Second Advantage: How We Succeed by Anticipating the Future–Just Enough
Stores: USA | Canada | Italy | Kindle

By Vivek Ranadive, Kevin Maney
ISBN: 0307887650
Publisher: Crown Business
Publication date: September 6, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $11.66
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Shine: Using Brain Science to Get the Best from Your People
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Edward M. Hallowell
ISBN: 1591399238
Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
Publication date: January 13, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $8.00
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Brainfluence: 100 Ways to Persuade and Convince Consumers with Neuromarketing
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Roger Dooley
ISBN: 1118113365
Publisher: Wiley
Publication date: November 22, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $15.56
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Laughing at Wall Street: How I Beat the Pros at Investing (by Reading Tabloids, Shopping at the Mall, and Connecting on Facebook) and How You Can, Too
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Kindle

By Chris Camillo
ISBN: 0312657854
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication date: November 8, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $11.21
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Economics of Good and Evil: The Quest for Economic Meaning from Gilgamesh to Wall Street
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Tomas Sedlacek
ISBN: 0199767203
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Publication date: July 1, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $16.22
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The Big Enough Company: Creating a Business That Works for You
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Adelaide Lancaster, Amy Abrams
ISBN: 1591844215
Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover
Publication date: September 15, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $7.95
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The Third Screen: Marketing to Your Customers in a World Gone Mobile
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Chuck Martin
ISBN: 1857885643
Publisher: Nicholas Brealey Publishing
Publication date: May 16, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $14.45
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The Intuitive Compass: Why the Best Decisions Balance Reason and Instinct
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Francis Cholle
ISBN: 1118077547
Publisher: Jossey-Bass
Publication date: October 18, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $5.06
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Unthinking: The Surprising Forces Behind What We Buy
Stores: USA | Canada | Kindle

By Harry Beckwith
ISBN: 0446564141
Publisher: Business Plus
Publication date: January 26, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $6.84
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The Entrepreneur Equation: Evaluating the Realities, Risks, and Rewards of Having Your Own Business
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Carol Roth
ISBN: 193561844X
Publisher: BenBella Books
Publication date: March 22, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $9.45
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How the West Was Lost: Fifty Years of Economic Folly–and the Stark Choices Ahead
Stores: USA | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Dambisa Moyo
ISBN: 0374173257
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date: February 15, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $4.90
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Rush: Why You Need and Love the Rat Race
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Todd G. Buchholz
ISBN: 1594630771
Publisher: Hudson Street Press
Publication date: May 5, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $0.79
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Digital Impact: The Two Secrets to Online Marketing Success
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Vipin Mayar, Geoff Ramsey
ISBN: 0470905727
Publisher: Wiley
Publication date: June 28, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $14.40
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It’s Your Biz: The Complete Guide to Becoming Your Own Boss
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Susan Wilson Solovic, Ellen R. Kadin
ISBN: 0814416713
Publisher: AMACOM
Publication date: October 11, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $7.99
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Brilliant, Crazy, Cocky: How the Top 1% of Entrepreneurs Profit from Global Chaos
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Sarah Lacy
ISBN: 0470580097
Publisher: Wiley
Publication date: February 8, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $6.00
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The Handbook of Market Intelligence: Understand, Compete and Grow in Global Markets
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Hans Hedin, Irmeli Hirvensalo, Markko Vaarnas
ISBN: 1119993644
Publisher: Wiley
Publication date: December 6, 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Estimated price: $39.99
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Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Dave Kerpen
ISBN: 0071762345
Publisher: McGraw-Hill
Publication date: May 17, 2011
Binding: Paperback
Estimated price: $10.49
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How’s That Underling Thing Working Out for You?
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Scott Adams
ISBN: 1449408192
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Publication date: November 29, 2011
Binding: Paperback
Estimated price: $7.45
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The New Rules of Marketing & PR: How to Use Social Media, Online Video, Mobile Applications, Blogs, News Releases, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By David Meerman Scott
ISBN: 1118026985
Publisher: Wiley
Publication date: August 30, 2011
Binding: Paperback
Estimated price: $11.19
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101 Weird Ways to Make Money: Cricket Farming, Repossessing Cars, and Other Jobs With Big Upside and Not Much Competition
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Steve Gillman
ISBN: 1118014189
Publisher: Wiley
Publication date: July 26, 2011
Binding: Paperback
Estimated price: $11.94
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Engage, Revised and Updated: The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Brian Solis
ISBN: 1118003764
Publisher: Wiley
Publication date: March 15, 2011
Binding: Paperback
Estimated price: $10.00
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Management 3.0: Leading Agile Developers, Developing Agile Leaders
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Jurgen Appelo
ISBN: 0321712471
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Publication date: January 7, 2011
Binding: Paperback
Estimated price: $29.50
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Making the World Work Better: The Ideas That Shaped a Century and a Company
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Kevin Maney, Steve Hamm, Jeffrey O’Brien
ISBN: 0132755106
Publisher: IBM Press
Publication date: June 20, 2011
Binding: Paperback
Estimated price: $7.59
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Put Your Mindset to Work: The One Asset You Really Need to Win and Keep the Job You Love
Stores: USA | Canada | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By James Reed, Paul G. Stoltz
ISBN: 1591844088
Publisher: Portfolio Trade
Publication date: May 31, 2011
Binding: Paperback
Estimated price: $1.83
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Act Like a Sales Pro: How to Command the Business Stage and Dramatically Increase Your Sales with Proven Acting Techniques
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Italy | Kindle | UK Kindle

By Julie Hansen
ISBN: 1601631677
Publisher: Career Press
Publication date: August 15, 2011
Binding: Paperback
Estimated price: $9.25
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The Best Business Books Ever: The Most Influential Management Books You’ll Never Have Time To Read
Stores: USA | UK | Canada | Italy | Kindle

By Basic Books
ISBN: 0465022367
Publisher: Basic Books
Publication date: April 5, 2011
Binding: Paperback
Estimated price: $2.56
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Filed Under: Business, Reviews Tagged With: books, business, reading, recommendations

Yes, Virginia, There Is a Secret Santa

December 15, 2009 By Antonio Cangiano 7 Comments

The mainstream media has a tendency to portray online communities in a negative light. When a crime involving Facebook, MySpace or YouTube occurs, there is a strong emphasis on these social networks, as opposed to the people perpetrating the crime.

What is not often reported is that online communities, groups of (quasi) anonymous people, have the potential to accomplish astonishing feats. Wikipedia is a prime example, but there are copious amounts of smaller, yet still remarkable efforts.

This year I had the chance to participate in one such initiative that was spontaneously organized by a subgroup of users from the social news site Reddit (a community that I’ve followed since its earliest days). The idea was rather straightforward, a Secret Santa held amongst strangers who frequent the site (also known as, redditors).

Reddit Gifts

Dan McComas (kickme444 on Reddit) quickly came up with a website to collect signups, and put forward a few ground rules for participants. For instance, to cut down on the number of ill-intentioned users (the so called trolls), only users who were already registered with Reddit before November 10, 2009 were allowed to signup for the gift exchange.

Upon signing up, each user could choose whether they’d be willing to ship abroad or only within their own country, how many people they wanted to send gifts to (three “giftees” maximum), as well as optional preferences about their interests to help guide their Secret Santa(s). Registration closed on December 1st and matches were revealed to each participant that same day. For example, I was randomly matched with three people located, incidentally, in Ontario, Canada (where I live). Likewise, I was assigned to three random people (my Secret Santas).

What started as the idea of a few redditors, quickly ballooned into a project with almost five thousand participants. According to the Guinness World Records, this is over three times the size of the current record holder for the largest Secret Santa in the world. An unprecedented initiative!

As packages started arriving, many gift recipients uploaded pictures and descriptions in the site’s gallery, showcasing what their Secret Santa has sent them. Despite the $15 guideline (inclusive of shipping), most redditors went above and beyond to make a complete stranger’s Christmas a little brighter, whether they actually celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or simply the spirit of giving that’s typical of the holiday season.

Reddit Gifts Stats

There are a few statistical outliers at both ends of the spectrum. We had a prankster who only sent four paperclips in a rather grinch-like move, a Secret Santa delivering a brand new electric guitar and amplifier in person, and an anonymous participant who spent (or has sent a gift for the value of) more than $2000.

Reddit Gifts Guitar

Over $150,000 have been spent so far and the declared average per gift (including shipping) is currently $35. A quick browse through the gallery reveals how much thought was put into most of the gifts, some of which were handmade and personalized creations, and some that were store bought (from ThinkGeek in particular). In fact, this massive Secret Santa led to a lot of benign stalking, in an online hunt for the perfect gift for a stranger, having only their Reddit comment history and/or their name to go off of.

Reddit Gifts Money

One of the most touching stories to come out of this fountain of good will, originates with a simple request made by one of the participants. She asked not to receive a material gift, but instead a small donation for her partner, in order to create a veterinary emergency fund for the service dog that has been assigned to this person. Her Secret Santa decided to do more than just that. He involved other participants, inviting them to donate too, and offered to match donations up to a total of $1000. In a few hours, I and other people from all over the world had made donations to this cause, leaving the beneficiary blown away by the generosity of this community.

Truth be told, there were a few hundred people who were running a little late with their gifts (which were supposed to be shipped by the 10th), and about twenty or so people who didn’t retrieve the address of their giftees at all. But with more than five thousand shipments expected, this small percentage of procrastinators is inevitable. While running a bit late, most folks have clearly opted to uphold their end of the deal nevertheless.

Some drama ensued from those few who were disappointed by their gifts or who were impatient about their Secret Santa not having shipped their gift yet, but such things have mostly been overshadowed by those who gave without the expectation of necessarily receiving anything in return. Numerous people signed up for an extra round as well, to send gifts to those few who may have ended up without a gift, because their santa didn’t send one or sent paperclips.

I’m personally glad I was able to take part in this, mostly selfless, experience. It helped reinstate for me how much fun it is to give. I enjoyed searching for the perfect presents for my three giftees and trying hard to predict what they might like.

Reddit Gifts

Two of my giftees loved my gifts and posted them in the gallery (jorisb and scorpielle).

Reddit Gifts

Reddit Gifts

Unfortunately I don’t know what the third giftee’s reaction was yet. And this is probably the least pleasant aspect of the whole experience yet. All I know is that my gift was delivered last week and I can only hope that she likes it and will post in the gallery sometime in the future.

Today, I received my first gift, the highly acclaimed novel ‘House of Leaves‘ and a particularly thoughtful letter from my Santa in Georgia. I’m looking forward to receiving the other two, mostly because I’m curious about what my remaining two Secret Santas picked for me.

Reddit Gifts

In conclusion, I’d like to quote what I wrote at the beginning of my own letter to one of my giftees, and take the chance to thank Dan, his wife (5days), and all the helpers who made this event possible.

There is something extremely appealing about being assigned the task of finding a present for someone who is a total stranger. The usual dynamics of exchanging gifts are overhauled by removing a sense of awareness when it comes to what the receiver expects, their known likes and dislikes, and the expectation of getting something back in return.

In a way it’s a novel, purer form of gift giving that I enthusiastically embraced for the first time in my life (I’m from Italy where Secret Santa initiatives are not customary). I subscribe to the theory that strangers are friends we haven’t met yet, and I feel that showing generosity towards, and interest in, strangers is one small way to improve this world.

Filed Under: Reviews, Sites Tagged With: books, christmas, gifts, giving, reddit, secret santa

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Copyright © 2011 - 2018 Antonio Cangiano. My other sites: Self-Improvement Blog | Programming Blog | Technical Blogging | Any New Books