Bex @ Kindle Fever and I discussed this and decided we don’t really have “traditional” things that we’ve done in “real life” offline with events – like book signings, etc. Hey, we’re doing ArmchairBEA for a reason! Her living in Sweden, and me, well not being the type to love crowds and tons of people haven’t really been big in going to huge events either! But I have had some pretty awesome experiences that I’ll treasure forever.

I think one of the most special gifts I’ve ever gotten was my nook. It was a gift from a close friend and it was completely unexpected – it literally showed up in the mail one day and I’ve never been more shocked and excited to open a package in my life! My friend knows how much books mean to me – I have even convinced him to read a few with me. [mwuahah] And currently I’m living without much space to put books so being able to download books and store them on the nook has been invaluable. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten more use out of anything, it’s something I use nearly every single day! It’s gotten to a point where I’m so sentimental that I don’t even really consider upgrading to a newer nook (I have the original) even though there are lighter models, etc. I just love mine so much!

There’s my baby (Firefly) all skinned out

I’ve also been incredibly lucky to have gotten great response whenever I’ve sent letters to authors in school or on my free time when I was younger. In response to a letter I sent Bruce Coville in 6th grade, he sent me several pages of a manuscript of the book I was pining for, (I’m talking at least 10+ pages), and was kind enough to explain WHY the book was delayed  - his publisher was pushing him to work on other projects before this one. The book was Into the Land of the Unicorns and I was such a huge fan, I’ve read nearly all of his books (that he had written up to that point) and I desperately wanted to know what else he had in store for Cara.

I also sent a letter to at least one other author and got a really nice handwritten letter back to me. I was so touched, although sadly I can’t remember who the author was now! I want to say Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.. but I’m not positive.

How about you? Have you had any awesome bookish experiences?