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From today, February 14, we celebrate World Book Giving Day. At Kaktus.media, this has become our tradition, and this year we are celebrating it for the seventh time.
How does this day unfold in our team? A month before the holiday, each employee draws lots to choose a colleague to whom they will give a book. On the day of the celebration, February 14, the chosen employee receives a book selected based on their interests or tastes.
Natalia Timirbaeva, Editor-in-Chief
– I consider myself a professional reader and always try to choose books for the future owner. When I found out that my colleague was Tancholpon, I immediately knew that I would give her Jonathan Coe’s novel.
His work is characterized by irony and humor, and he constantly surprises the reader with new facets of his literature. I chose the novel “The Winshaw Legacy: An Elegy for the Death of the British Novel,” which I haven’t read myself yet. I can’t wait for the moment when I can read it myself.
In the book’s annotation, it says that “Coe creates vibrant social prose, intertwining autofiction with elements of dark academia and classic detective fiction; and it is truly wonderful. And for those who prefer light detective stories, there is a crime to solve, an English castle with portraits, and a billionaire’s yacht — a multitude of interesting details makes this book a true event.”
Beremet Ulanova, Journalist
– This year, my colleague to whom I am giving a book is Temir, our operator-editor. He is very talented and attentive to detail, and he also loves to read. So I was a bit worried about whether I would choose something to his taste.
The first book I chose based on his literary preferences. It is a collection of short stories by Somerset Maugham, including “Pies and Beer, or A Skeleton in the Closet” and “The Small Corner.” In his texts, irony harmoniously combines with a deep understanding of human nature, making them captivating to read.
The second book is “Paradise” by Abdulrazak Gurnah, a Nobel Prize laureate, which has recently been translated into Russian. This novel tells the story of the colonization of East Africa through the eyes of a 13-year-old boy. Here, paradise becomes a metaphor for a lost past and hope for a better future, while the process of growing up is connected with the understanding of painful reality.
Dilya Yusupova, Journalist
– When choosing a book, I thought about what interesting things I could find in stores. I stumbled upon many amazing options, as well as quotes from the great Faina Ranevskaya on social media. In the end, I decided to order her biography online. And it was the right decision — the book contains memories from Ranevskaya herself, in which the tragedy of a brilliant actress, who never learned to appreciate her talent, is hidden.
This book is not just memoirs, but rather the voice of the real, deep Ranevskaya, whose witty phrases always sound like laughter through tears.
After reading this book, you will likely want to rewatch her films and recall one of her wise quotes: “The main thing is to live a real life, not to wander through the alleys of memory.”
Tatyana Kudryavtseva, Journalist
– I searched for a suitable book for a long time, as my mentee is an avid reader. I was worried that I would choose something she already knows. I visited bookstores several times but couldn’t decide. The last time, I decided that I wouldn’t leave until I bought a book. In the end, my gaze fell on “Atomic Habits” by James Clear, and I realized that this was a sign since I am currently reading it myself.
This book is considered one of the best on the topic of habit formation.
It is no wonder that it became a bestseller in the New York Times and USA Today, and was also recognized as the best business book of 2018 by Fast Company. I hope Dilya will like it.
Tancholpon Bakytbek kyzy, Operator-Editor
– I chose Ian McEwan’s book “Machines Like Me” for Ksenia. This work is smart but easy to read. It tells not about technology, but about people and their mistakes, about how we justify ourselves and try to appear better than we really are. Paradoxically, it is the machine in this novel that turns out to be more honest than the human.
Aidana Abduvaitova, Journalist
– My colleague helped me choose a book by creating a wishlist and indicating which option interested him the most. It was “Atomic Habits,” which he had wanted to read for a long time. But within the framework of “Book Santa,” I decided to choose something unexpected. So I will give him the book “The New Tipping Point” by Canadian journalist and sociologist Malcolm Gladwell. I managed to get a little acquainted with it, and it explores how small events can lead to significant changes. I hope this book will be interesting and useful to him.
Check out other books that colleagues chose as gifts:
