SOH’s Seasonal Swap: Fall Book Swap

I hosted my very first seasonal swap – a book swap! It was a hit! You could technically have a book swap any time of the year, but I thought fall was the perfect time so that everyone would have new reading material as we settle into these cooler days of fall.

And there’s still plenty of time for you to throw your own book swap party this fall (or even winter – ooo it’d make a great christmas party!), so check out below how to throw the perfect book swap party!

The Books

I had everyone bring two books: 1 fiction book + 1 non-fiction book that they had read and loved.

This worked great because some people preferred fiction and some people preferred non-fiction but you got to leave with one of each – something in your comfort zone and something to stretch you a bit out of your comfort zone.

We all enjoyed this combo of one fiction and one non-fiction, but afterwards I thought about so many other categories and themes that you could choose your book swap party around…. memoirs, the first book of a series, self-help, historical fiction, mythical, female author books, a book that changed your life ….the possibilities are ENDLESS and basically I see lots more book swap parties in the future!

How We Swapped

I had people hide their books as they came in. Then they went to my nook and packaged their books up with supplies I provided.

They tucked their books into brown paper bags and labeled the bags with tags. I had leaf tags (for fiction) and pumpkin tags (for non-fiction) to label the bags so we could tell the difference between the two books. Then they drew a number and wrote that number on the back side of their tags that way they wouldn’t accidentally draw their own bags.

Then once they were all packaged, we swapped!!

Side note: If you were having a book swap around Christmas time, everyone could bring their book wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper. It would be cute and would still serve the function of keeping the books a secret of who brought which book, but also keep the person from accidentally drawing their own book. I went with the bag and label method for fall, because I figured people didn’t have fall wrapping paper lying around.

The Best Part

After the swap, we all guessed on paper who brought each book – I had a small seasonally themed prize for whoever got the most correct. Then after guessing, we each fessed up what books we brought and briefly described them and why we loved them.

I originally thought we might keep who brought what book a secret, but I’m glad we didn’t because this was one of everyones favorite part. Hearing people who already love the book explain a quick synopsis and why they loved it made everyone super excited to read the books they received. And in addition, everyone made mental notes of all the other books in the swap for future reading.

I’m so excited to read books that I know already have a thumbs up from a friend. And I’m also looking forward to the convos to follow as we all begin reading our new books.

So, that’s how we did it! And if you really want to make it the ultimate fall party – make up a batch of my spiced wine to sip while you swap. Mmmm, cozy.

And if you need some book inspo – take a look at my seasonal book clubs here and here.