I just received an email from James Macgowan, books columnist at the Ottawa Citizen, asking me to name the one book I'd love to get for Christmas, and why, and to also name the one book I would give for Christmas, and why (evidently we can't name our own books, dang blast it!). I've decided to steal this rather classic idea and have a festive event on my forum on Saturday, December 1 from 9 to 11 a.m. PST.

I'm asking many of my own favourite authors and a few of my favorite booksellers to join me on this day to name the one book they'd love to get for Christmas, and why, and the one book they'd give for Christmas, and why.

To get to our little kitchen party, go to http://www.gailanderson-dargatz.ca/ and click on 'forums.' Bring a cup of coffee and listen in, or join the conversation by clicking on 'register' on the top of the forum page. Please allow up to a day for activation.

The photo above is the one I'm using on my Christmas cards this year. It's of the old church on Notch Hill Road in the Shuswap, not too far from the real Turtle Valley. Photo credit: Mitch Krupp (http://www.mitchkrupp.com/). Happy holidays, everyone!

Writer and reviewer Robert J. Wiersema will be my guest on my forum (at www.gailanderson-dargatz.ca) on Saturday, November 17 from 9 to 11 a.m. PST. To join our conversation, go to "forums" and click on "register" at the top of the page. Or you can pour yourself a cup of coffee and just listen in. Note that the forum will be down for maintenance until November 14.

We'll talk about Robert's first novel, Before I Wake, which was a national bestseller last year, and is now out in paperback. And we'll touch on the many other aspects of Robert's busy life. In addition to his daily duties as bookseller and event coordinator for Bolen Books in Victoria, Robert J. Wiersema is also a respected writer and critic, whose reviews and articles appear in the Vancouver Sun, the Globe and Mail, National Post, Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen and other newspapers with, as he puts it, "alarming regularity."

For more on Robert and his work, check out his website at: www.robertjwiersema.com