Few things at school got me as excited as the Scholastic book orders. I think we had them maybe once a month or so. We were poor growing up, so we didn't get much, but my mom would (usually) let us pick a book or two out of the book order. That's where my love for "Goosebumps" books -- and probably my love for reading and, eventually, writing -- probably began.
Also: Was there anything worse in grade school than having a book order arrive when you weren't getting anything in that month's order? Ugh. That still hurts just thinking about it...
My kid has aged out of school book orders, but when she had them we made sure she got at least some of the books she wanted, as well as some she didn't think she wanted but I knew she'd love. There were several cases, too, where -- thanks to discount pricing, which made it possible -- I made sure to order a full class-load of certain books so that every kid in her class would get at least something from that month's order.
I did the latter with "Love that Dog" by Sharon Creech, for example, and with "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen. Both are must-reads for all ages.
Anyway. Thank you Scholastic book orders (and book fairs). You made school at least a little bit more bearable growing up.