Thank you, Secret Santa

We went to the post office today to check the PO Box and pick up any mail that accumulated in the week we were out of town. Along with some Christmas cards and bills, there was a parcel for me. I opened up this package from Australia to discover my Book Bloggers Christmas Swap present. I was so tempted to rip it open then and there to discover what was inside, but we had some shopping to go and do after that, then we needed to pick up our cat from the cattery before heading home again. I managed to put it down and we carried on with our jobs.

However, I admit that my restraint didn't last as long as I intended. While Marcus and I were waiting in the car for Dave to check a few things, I succumbed to temptation and opened the package. What lovely things I found inside!


My secret Santa is Sarah from A Devoted Reader. Looking at her blog, she and I have quite different tastes, so she has done an amazing job and sent me a perfect gift. She gave me a beautiful card, some yummy chocolate frogs (I know because I didn't resist that temptation either and I've already eaten one) and a book I had never heard of before, called Finnikin of the Rock by Australian author Melina Marchetta. It looks very fascinating and like it will be just my kind of thing. (And it doesn't hurt that it has such a very pretty cover - I'm a sucker for a pretty cover.) It has already been added to my TBR list and I'm really looking forward to reading it.

The blurb from the author's website:
At the age of nine, Finnikin is warned by the gods that he must sacrifice a pound of flesh in order to save the royal house of his homeland, Lumatere.
And so he stands on the rock of three wonders with his childhood friend Prince Balthazar and the prince's cousin, Lucian, and together they mix their blood. And Lumatere is safe.
Until the 'five days of the unspeakable', when the King and Queen and their children are slaughtered in the palace. And an imposter king takes the throne.
And a curse is put on Lumatere, which traps those caught inside and forces thousands of others to roam the land as exiles, dying of fever and persecution in foreign camps.
But ten years later Finnikin is led to another rock to meet the young novice, Evanjalin. A girl plagued by dark dreams, who holds the key to their return to the Land of light...

Thank you so very, very much, Sarah. I am really looking foward to reading this and after checking out the author's website there's a good chance I may be looking for some of her other books as well. As as for the chocolate frogs, they are totally yummy. Thank you.