Persephone Secret Santa

It’s Persephone Secret Santa reveal day! That means that all around the blogosphere, participants are sharing their presents and just generally spreading the holidays cheer. A few weeks ago I got not one, but two packages from a mysterious sender bearing a lovely Persephone sticker. The sticker said the following:


…but despite that, I couldn’t resist taking a peek in time for the big reveal today. Here’s what my very generous Secret Santa sent me:


Thank you so, so much, Frances! The diary is absolutely gorgeous, and The Mystery of Mrs Blencarrow is perfect for a lover of Victorian literature like me. My lovely gifts are now back in their package, and will be placed under the tree until Christmas as soon as I get home. Thank you also to Claire for hosting the Persephone Secret Santa swap. Don’t forget to drop by her blog to see what everyone else has received.

On a personal note, I’m going home for the holidays very soon, and I couldn’t be more excited about it. I’m seeing my family, the cats and dogs I left in their care, and even my bookshelves (if I’m not too lazy to remove all the dust sheets) for the first time in months. The last few months were a little difficult on a personal level, so it will be nice to feel at home again for the first time in some time. I plan to make the very most of the season this year (let us ignore the four assignments I need to have finished by early January for now), and that will hopefully include plenty of comfort reading.

All this to say: I keep telling my myself that as soon as I get through whatever it is I have to do next, I’ll be able to blog properly again, to quit neglecting all my blogging friends, and to catch up with e-mail – but of course, it never quite works out as planned. If I disappear for a few more days, it’ll be because I’m stuck in an airport or a snowy train track somewhere. But hopefully all will go well, and I’ll be able to catch up with everything soon.