Some wonderful, anonymous (I hope you meant to be anonymous - if not, let me know who you are for a more personal/public thank you), person out there sent me:

Sleeper at Harvest time by Leonid Latynin Almost Transparent Blue by Ryu Murakami and a bonus package of Swedish Fish!

I believe both books were pretty hard-to-come-by so, thank you so much for the effort. I am extraordinarily pleased with them and am racing through the final pages of my current book to get to them (properly - I have, of course, read more than a few pages of each).

Sleeper at Harvest Time

"Writing in an incantatory, magical style, Leonid Latynin evokes the entire history of Russia in the story of Emelya, born of a sorceress and fathered by a bear in the deep pagan past"

This books sounds so awesome, I can't wait to start it. It also represents everything I was hoping to get from this exchange: a book that I had never heard of, never would have come across, but one which the sender truly loved or thought I would love.

Almost Transparent Blue

"A Japanese mix of A Clockwork Orange and L'Etranger"

Well, you can't ask for more than that! Apparently, "A violent book - sharply begun and slammed quickly to a finish." Looks perfect, I am pretty sure I will do this one in a single sitting. And no doubt many times more.

Thanks you so much anonymous gifter!

PS Thank you too for the thoughtful fish - they were very quickly enjoyed.