Recently a good friend of mine, Gisela Sherman, enjoyed a great triumph: the publication of a project that I had watched grow from research and through workshops. This book, The Farmerettes, recently launched at Second Story’s “Stories from the Shoa” event. (It will launch again in Burlington at A Different Drummer Books on May 24) I wanted to get her a small token to celebrate the event, I’d already bought a book, but then decided that the best gift to give her was to buy another copy.

It is not so bizarre to own two copies of a book I treasure, one for the bedroom, one for the living room or one to keep in the car or a purse in case of sudden bursts of waiting. But in this case I remembered another friend, an exercise pal, remarking that she enjoyed historical fiction and she was bored by recent long, depressing bookclub picks.

Enter The Random Booking.

I asked Gisela to autograph the novel to my friend and put it in one of those recyclable little bags which I tucked in her mailbox while she was away at work.

At Aquafit last night, the second friend told me about the terrible day at work she had that began at 7 am and how she wanted to quit and then when she returned home at 7 pm, how she slumped at the dining room table too exhausted to move.

Then she spotted the bag on the table; her husband had taken it in for her.

She discovered her new book! Her day turned around. The Farmerettes is an emotional yet hopeful WWII novel that celebrates the contribution of women in agriculture on our local farms.  By the back blurb, she knows she will enjoy it and looks forward to reading it.

Go on.  Try Random Booking a friend.  It doesn’t have to be in their usual genre of reading choice.  Make it a local author whom you enjoy.

As for the next launch of this story–guess I’ll pick up my purse copy.