Throw a Mind-Blowing Book Bash
A How-To for Social Book-Butterflies
Believe it or not, I’m a party animal. Not just any animal—a party bookworm. I’m in an introvert’s career (the production department of every publishing company is chock-a-block with quiet, shy introverts) and I have introvert hobbies but I love going to parties. I also love throwing parties. I’m very good at the both. I’m actually on party-throwing detox right now because I throw that party so hard my throwing arm hurts for six weeks afterward. I have had several discussions lately with my partner about “overdoing things.” The consensus is that I need to work on under-doing things so I don’t run into the ground. Probably a Shelf Life on that to come.
How does this topic relate to writing: It does not! But the end of the year is upon us and I haven’t mailed our holiday cards yet so I needed a quick and easy topic. It’s writing-related because it has books. Life pro tip: Get New Year’s cards instead of Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa cards and you give yourself till mid-January to mail them. Never say Shelf Life doesn’t deliver life-changing advice.
Anyway the choices for today’s Shelf Life were this or the writer on Twitter who’s trying to sue someone for copyright infringement over a broad and non-unique concept. I just did BookTwt meltdown gossip the other day so today you get this.
Over the summer I threw a very fun and well-received book exchange party and since the readership of Shelf Life is largely a subset of reading- and book-loving people, I thought I would share the recipe for that party here. All you need is a handful of fellow book-loving friends—and they don’t really have to be that book-loving, actually. All kinds of people would probably enjoy this party.
The Concept
The main objective of book exchange party was this: Each guest was asked to bring a book to the party, which they would give to another guest during the event. Each guest would give one book and receive one book—though not as a reciprocal pair.
The book could be new or used, old or new, fiction or nonfiction—but the catch was, it had to be a book they would recommend to anyone. It didn’t have to be the guest’s personal favorite book, but it could be. I put it like this: If you spent two minutes talking with a complete stranger in the Starbucks line and they asked you for a book recommendation—and you had no idea what they usually like to read—what would you recommend?
Guests were sent a bookplate in advance of the party. I mailed printed bookplates (below), but it’s not necessary to be that fancy (remember, we’re trying to move away from overdoing things). You can email guests a template to print, or simply ask them to write the information on a piece of paper and tuck it into the cover of the book. The bookplate was intended to be filled out with the following information by each guest:
Their name
Their email address or phone number (optional)
A brief paragraph about why they chose this book and/or what they like about it
Then, they were instructed to stick their bookplate in the front of a book chosen for this purpose, wrap it like a gift, and write their own name on the outside of the package. Each guest was to arrive with one wrapped book. A few people were overachievers and brought more than one book—no problem. This exchange works no matter how many books anyone brings.
(Side note: This would be a great way for book-hoarding–type bookworms to get rid of old books and pick up some new ones—you could specifically ask guests to bring some books from their personal library that they’d like to rehome.)
In the interest of being a good hostess, I provided some wrapping paper, tape, and scissors in case anyone didn’t have a chance to wrap before they arrived.
As guests arrived to the party, I asked each to take write their name on a slip of paper—one slip, one name, for each book they had brought. If you brought one book you write you name on one slip of paper. If you brought three books you write your name on three slips. The slips were then folded twice and dropped into a hat (yes a real hat, a top hat to be specific).
I used a random picker app with the names of my guests to choose someone to go first. The first guest was instructed to pull a name out of the hat. Whosoever’s name they drew, they received the book that person had brought to the party. The only caveat was that a guest could not receive their own book (obviously) or, if they were attending with their significant other, their significant other’s book. For instance, at random I drew Joy’s name so I tossed that slip back and drew again.
Each guest then opened their book and showed it off to the assembled with much fanfare. After the book was opened and properly appreciated, the guest whose book had just been opened was the next to draw a name from the hat. (That guest’s name being no longer in the hat, if each guest brings only one book, made for a straightforward exchange with no one drawing their own name.)
The host or a designated note-taker should keep track of which books are exchanged and who they are from and go to. I created a poster for this, which I filled out with a sharpie during the exchange, but again there is no reason to be this extra.
After all the books were exchanged and opened, I turned the guests loose to eat, drink, and talk about their new books. I invited a bunch of friends with the common denominator being “they said they like books.” So, I had guests with all different book preferences and tastes. Also, many of my guests did not know each other before the party so I was pleased to observe that the book exchange activity was a tremendous icebreaker that got everybody talking to everyone else.
The optional email address or phone number on the bookplate was to encourage recipients to reach out to their book-benefactor from the party after reading and share their thoughts on it. Personally, I love hearing back from someone to whom I’ve recommended a book that they read and enjoyed it—an opportunity to talk to someone about a book I’ve enjoyed is always a treat.
I offered a copy of The Power by Naomi Alderman to the exchange and received a copy of The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, which I have begun but not yet finished (it’s long!).
Variations
As I was preparing for the party, I thought of a few other ways this could be done—and I hope to use some of these in future book parties. Just food for thought—
White Elephant
Put your guests in some kind of random order. Have the first guest select a book from the table and open it. The next guest may either choose to steal the opened book from the first participant or open a new book from the table. The third guest may choose to steal one of the two opened books or open a third, and so on. Continue until all guests have a new book and all books are taken.
Presentation
These have been a trend over the last few years—a host will throw a party and guests will come prepared to present for a set amount of time (for instance, five minutes) on the random topic of their choice. In this case, guests should be encouraged to prepare a brief presentation for their wrapped book that does not give away the author or title. Guests should be given scratch paper and a pencil to take notes (or they can use their phone).
Each guest should then attempt to sell the “lot” they brought (the book is still wrapped and anonymous) by giving their presentation—without giving away which book it is. For instance, if I went first and brought The Fellowship of the Rings I might say something like:
Lot One is a classic fantasy is packed with memorable characters, magical creatures, action sequences, perilous stakes, stuff you didn’t see in the major motion picture, and an absolutely rad bromance. If you’ve never read fantasy but you’ve always wanted to try, this is the book to start your journey!
Guests can take notes about which lots they’d like to try to get. After all guests have had a chance to present, choose guests in random order (or draw names from the hat) and let them select the book of their choice from those available and unwrap them to reveal the title.
Eating, Drinking, and Merrymaking
As if the exchange itself wasn’t enough to be getting on with, I also created a bookish game to play with my friends. It’s one part trivia, one part bingo. Each guest was given a bingo card with a literary trope or characteristic in each square (see photo) and a marker. I called book titles from a master list I created and players marked off any square that contained a trope or characteristic present in that book title. For instance, if I called out “Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell,” guests with these squares might mark them off: “Number in the Title” “Dystopia” “Enemies to Lovers” “Forbidden Love.” The first player to create a full line of marked squares wins.
I discovered, to my delight, that this trivia bingo also encourages a good bit of bluffing. I let players know that I had created the cards and the master list of titles and I knew each book, but not by heart, and so if they could convince me that a title contained a trope and I didn’t catch them in the lie, they’d get the point. For instance, if I called out “Nineteen Eighty-Four” and someone wanted to lie convincingly that this fulfills “doggos” because there was a dog in Nineteen Eighty-Four—sure there was, Mr. Charrington had an Irish Wolfhound, how do you not remember that?—then that was their prerogative. This unexpected aspect made it even funner.
I haven’t yet but plan to, at some point, release the book trivia bingo game as a printable download, because it’s too fun to keep to myself.
I held my book exchange in the evening after dinner so we didn’t serve a meal, but I made a charcuterie platter and several guests brought desserts and other contributions. We also had plenty of wine and beer because everything’s more fun when those who are amenable have a bit to drink during festivities (I don’t drink, myself, as a rule but I support those who do).
Finally, I sent everyone home with a couple of bookish favors. I gave everyone some reading list bookmarks and I also unloaded upon them some candles I had made but, and I feel it’s important to acknowledge this, making candles is definitely overdoing it.
The party overall was a big success and I’m looking forward to doing it again. Next time, in the interest of under-doing it or at least not overdoing it, I’m planning to pick up pizzas and beer and will definitely not be making candles. But we’ll do it again for sure because everyone had a great time and several people who attended have asked for a sequel. If you have even a handful of reading friends and you like to entertain, I highly recommend you give this a try.
If you have questions that you'd like to see answered in Shelf Life, ideas for topics that you'd like to explore, or feedback on the newsletter, please feel free to contact me. I would love to hear from you.
For more information about who I am, what I do, and, most important, what my dog looks like, please visit my website.
After you have read a few posts, if you find that you're enjoying Shelf Life, please recommend it to your word-oriented friends.
Loving the book bash concept, can't wait to try it!