I got my Book Blogger Holiday Swap package and my Secret Santa(s) this year are the lovely bloggers over at Book Nerds.

Wonderful presents from my Secret Santas at booknerds.net
I got some wonderful bookmarks, which are always a delight to get because I collect those promo bookmarks. I have a massive bag of them and love the whole process of adding more to the bag and watching it get fatter. Naturally, I was full of joy when those fell out and I had all new ones to add to my collection.
Also, as you can see, I got an amazing “Agent of Change” silicone bracelet.
But did you see what books I got? I got Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith, and Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow.
Aren’t you amazed? I was. The greatest pleasure of all was in unwrapping those books and looking at the covers to find that I got TWO books that were on my wishlist. Was I giddy? Oh yes, yes I was.
Yeah, so I am pretty spoiled, it’s true. My boyfriend decided to give me my Xmas present early so that I could get some use out of it this year. He got me the cutest little Gateway Netbook in red because I love, love, love everything in red or black. I do currently have both a PC and a laptop, but I wanted a netbook too for the fact that they are smaller and can be carted around easily. My laptop is pretty heavy and is widescreen, so it is quite large. It is what I take with me when I have to travel far away and need something a bit more durable and high powered with lots of stuff– if I am going away for some time. But when I am sitting in archives or in the office, I want something light, something that won’t hinder me. If I am just going on a quick trip, the netbook would be easier to move about.
Want to see it?
Isn’t it a beauty? It has Windows Vista, which is wonderful. I have gone through and slowly begun installing my programs such as Firefox, iTunes, and Trillian. I cannot imagine needing much more because I do not want to rely on it for web surfing. I would rather only use it for typing out papers and taking notes.
Love it!
Thanks, Alfee. <3
One of the things I look forward to after Halloween ends is getting together my Christmas Card list. I absolutely love to exchange Christmas cards in the mail with people around the world! So, I am collecting my Christmas card list now.
The first 20 people also get a tiny gift included with their Christmas card!
All you do is fill out the form below. Add your info and then I will send you mine. It’s that easy. I plan to send my cards out the first week of December, so send me your info soon.
cforms contact form by delicious:days
When I get your email with the info, I will reply to you and send you my mailing address.
Please note that this is an exchange, which means that you will send me a card, as well.
Wow, this is something that I didn’t expect. It’s not that I am new to the blogging scene (I have been blogging for well over a decade and this website is around 8 years old now) or that I’m a poor blogger, it’s just that there are so many other great bloggers out there that I can’t imagine being ranked among them. In fact, I still don’t think that I do!
So imagine my absolute surprise and overwhelming delight when I got the two notifications in my email box that I had been nominated for Best History/Historical Fiction Blog and Best General Review Blog. Wow.
I can’t express enough thanks to those who nominated me, or say in proper words what an honor it is. Though I am sure the other nominees in the categories I have been listed in are much better, I am so very grateful to be included. Thank you to everyone who comes to this blog, reads my posts, and likes to visit. You have made my night, my week, even my month.
I know, I know, another True Blood shirt?
I can’t help myself! I’m addicted and possibly maybe a little obsessed.
I went and reserved my copy of True Blood Season 1 and bought myself this Fangbanger shirt:

Like I said, I reserved my copy. It would have broke even with the price I reserved it for and the Amazon.com price, but now I have a gift certificate for $10… so should I just get my reserved True Blood for $10 more and buy a book with that gift certificate? Or should I buy True Blood from Amazon.com and use the gift certificate to save $10?
Give me some advice!