How to host a book swap

I’ve dreamed of gathering fellow bookworms for a book swap for years. The fact that my friend and favorite book blogger, Janssen Bradshaw from Everyday Reading, was willing to co-host with me was a dream come true. People came from all over the state to join us. We had such a good time!

I highly recommend using Paperless Post to invite your bookworm friends to your book swap. I’ve been using it for about ten years and I love it. (More on why I love it and how it works here)

What we ate:

Some highlights from the food table were Janssen’s famous artichoke dip, cowboy salsa and chips, a beautiful veggie spread by Chef Heber, salted chocolate caramels from Mrs. Call’s (the best I have ever had), and sugar cookies from Swig.

How it worked:

Everyone wrote a few sentences about why they love the book they brought, without revealing its title. They put their wrapped books in the middle of the floor, and we we went around the circle and introduced ourselves. Then we went around again and each person chose a book. We allowed one steal, so when it was a person’s turn to pick, they could choose a book from the pile or steal one that had already been unwrapped. I brought “The Rent Collector” and stole “Better Than Before” by Gretchen Rubin, and I feel very good about it.

The books we swapped:

Anne of Green Gables (Sterling Unabridged Classics) by Lucy Maud Montgomery (Author), Scott McKowen (Illustrator)

Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin

The Rent Collector by Camron Wright

Seven Daughters and Seven Sons by Barbara Cohen

Carry On, Warrior: Thoughts on Life Unarmed by Glennon Doyle Melton

How Will You Measure Your Life by Clayton M. Christenson, James Allworth and Karen Dillon (two people brought this one!)

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Jane Austen: Four Classic Novels (Fall River Classics)

These Is My Words by Nancy Turner

The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt (two people brought this one!)

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (my review here)

Anne of Green Gables (Rifle Paper Co) by L.M. Montgomery

Home Body: A Guide to Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave by Joanna Gaines

Everybody Always by Bob Goff

Elwood Bigfoot: Wanted: Birdie Friends! by Jill Esbaum and (Illustrator) Nate Wragg

Fanny’s Dream by Caralyn Buehner and Mark Buehner

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes: And Other Lessons by Crematory by Caitlin Doughty

Briar Rose: A Novel of the Holocaust (Fairy Tales) by Jane Yolen

Our Sweet Basil Kitchen: Fresh Twists on Family Favorites With Recipe Mashups and Unique Flavor Combinations by Cade Cheney and Carrian Cheney

The Three Bears Rhyme Book by Jane Yolen

The people who made it possible:

Michelle: her beautiful home in Utah Valley made the perfect base for our book swap.

Chef Heber: He’s an incredible chef who makes healthy dishes, and he was so kind to create a beautiful, massive tray with a rainbow of vegetables, homemade hummus, and gluten-free bread.

Mixbook: They created the cutest book plate stickers for us.

Shine Cosmetics: They gave everyone a fun bright lipstick.

Mrs. Call’s Chocolates: I know it’s borderline lunacy, but I’m not normally a huge chocolate person. But Mrs. Call’s salted caramel chocolates make me weak in the knees.

LitJoy: They gave everyone a luxurious eye mask and book-inspired candles.

Modern Mrs. Darcy: One lucky winner got a free copy of Ann Bogel’s book, I’d Rather Be Reading.

Bookroo: Another lucky duck got a free three-month subscription.

Thank you!