Valentine Book Swap

About a year and a half ago, I started hosting Book Swap & Chat nights. At the time, I had been to too many book clubs where there was never enough time to hear from all attendees, many felt the need to talk over everyone else (guilty: it’s a teacher habit), and not everyone enjoyed the same books. Additionally, I looked around my house and realized I had too many books. And, last but most relevant, it was mid-July at the time and my son had been gone to visit his father’s family for over a week. To put it mildly, I was lonely. I needed to be around my people. I decided to try hosting an event where like-minded book lovers got together to share books instead of all reading the same one. Alas, Book Swap was born.

Now a group of ladies (as we’ve only ever had one male attendee) meets once a month at my home. We started out meeting at a local coffee shop, but our meetings often ran until closing time and we decided we’d like to serve food. Abracadabra! Now we meet at my house! I very much enjoy hosting, so it’s rather fun for me to do.

Next month, I’ve decided I’d like to do a Valentine Book Swap, akin to Secret Santa, to celebrate our love of literacy. In case others would like to partake in a similar event or process, I’m sharing it here as well. Since we already meet once a month, the following will be addressed at our January meeting.

Happy book swapping, loving, and reading to all during this and every season!

-A

Every person will fill out a card with the following items*:

• What is your favorite food to snack on while reading?
• What is your favorite drink to sip while reading?
• What is your favorite scent?
• Who is your favorite author?
• What is your favorite genre?
• Do you like to write in your books?
• Do you like to put post-it notes in your books?
• Do you collect or enjoy book marks? If so, what kind?
• What type of book are you interested in but haven’t read before?
• Is there a book you’ve been wanting to read but don’t have?

*Obviously these questions can be catered to your group for your own purposes. I selected these questions since they go along with our love: reading. Also, not all attendees need participate. After the holidays, everyone has different money situations.

Each person will draw the name of a valentine from the cards that have been filled out.

The person who drew the name will look for items on their valentine’s card (under $10, max.) and include a book from her collection to give to her valentine based on her preferences.

The idea here is to keep one’s valentine a secret!!

Note: Keep in mind, the book needn’t be in mint condition. One can peruse his/her own shelves, ask a fellow book swapper, or even check Little Free Libraries around town (even our little town has three).

Once one’s valentine has been put together, at the actual meeting, have everyone put their gifts in a separate room as they show up to the event. That way, there’s still some surprise as to which valentine belonged to each person. Once all have arrived, valentines can be brought out and enjoyed!

For a free copy of the PDF questionnaire, please click here.