The Local Lit Scene

celebrating South African Literature beyond our past

Secret Santa and other book gifts

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This is the first time that I have taken part in a holiday swop and it was great! I really enjoyed shopping as a Secret Santa (though the impatience of waiting for my gift to arrive at its destination was a bit much to handle…) and was very excited to see what my Secret Santa would send me, someone I had never met, in a completely different part of the world.

The wait was long, as long as the wait to Christmas in fact, but I arrived home from my holiday of festivities to find a parcel waiting for me. It had arrived from Santa Barbara (and all I really know of Santa Barbara is that it was the name of one of my favourite soapies when I was a teenager) from a blogger called Helen at Helen’s Book Blog.

I received a lovely recipe book called ‘A Slice of Santa Barbara’ California Riviera Cuisine  with a post card of Santa Barbara itself and a lovely pile of children’s book to send to Bambelela. So, that means a pressie for me and pressies for the little ones. How blessed am I?

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Thank you Helen, it was a lovely surprise!

(And keep an eye out for a post on the results on the Book Rasier- coming soon, just waiting on some photies- we did good! Check out these photos of the books we raised.)

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As for other bookish gifts, I received the book I was hoping for in my stocking: The Angels Game – Carlos Ruiz Zafon

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and this delicious looking book called ‘Bake’ (which I have already tried out- or should I say, about to, as have just made one of the tarts for a late lunch, it looks and smells as good as the book cover!)

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So, go on, spill the beans, what books did you receive this year?

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What books are you wanting to find in your Christmas Stocking?

Im off on holiday for a week, yippeee! And I plan to get some reading done…

Huraki Murakami – Blind Willow, Sleeping Women for The Japanese Literature Challenge 3

Trenton Lee Stewart – The Mysterious Society and the Perilous Journey

are the two books on my To Be Read list. I am hoping to get stuck into my sister and my neices bookshelves too as Im sure the last time I was there, I saw a few books that wanted to be fondled and read by new hands and eyes. One I distinctly remember is Phillip Pullman – Northern Lights and the rest of the series. Lets hope I manage to find the time to read it all.

Here’s hoping that you all manage to get some reading done over the holidays. I would love to know what books you are hoping to find in your Christmas Stocking…

Im hoping for The Angels Game – Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Fingers crossed, Santa hears my wish!

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