Operation Summer Book Swap!

At the end of July, I found out about this Summer Book Swap that Debbi from the Christiansen Chronicles was hosting. Basically, you have a small budget and you can either buy books from the bookstore, a used bookstore or just send old books you have read and are done with to your assigned swap buddy.

At the beginning of the swap, you write a small bio about yourself so the person who gets you has an idea of your interests. Debbi, the swap hostess, assigns everyone a swap partner; except the person who you get isn't the person who gets you, so everyone has someone different.

When I received my assignment, I was so excited because I've never done a swap before of any kind, but I love nothing more than to shop for and buy books! My assigned person was Kim Scadlock from Beckham & Co. Here was the bio I received:

"I'm a wife to 1 male nurse, and a mother to two crazy kiddos! I spend most of my days indoor because my youngest had a heart transplant (and other medical issues) and has to stay away from others so that he does not catch anything. Don't worry though, because I love it and it's worth every second of being in seclusion. I love to read, exercise, cook, play with my kiddos, watch HGTV, take my kids for walks outside, etc. "

After reading her blog, Beckham & Co. before going out book shopping, I felt completely uprooted. I knew immediately I had to make her package special. So that's what I tried to do.

After a lot of thought and a little bit of money, I sent her six books in a special package:

The package included:

• Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
• A cute animal book about having bad days
• The Real Sex Kitten's Handbook by Val Sampson
• The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve
• Abode A La Mode: 44 Projects for the Hip Home Decorator by Jeanee Ledoux
• Waiter Rant: Thanks for the tip, confessions of a cynical waiter by Steve Dublanica

When you enter into things like this, you kind of do it blindly. There is no guarantee that you'll get anything back at all. Or if you do get something, it may not match the quality or quantity of what you sent out. I had heard stories about people who had been in swaps and been forgotten about by their partner. It was a risk I was willing to take. Here was the bio I sent:

"I just bought a house with my boyfriend of three years. We have two dachshunds. I love the Twilight series although currently I'm reading a book called The 19th Wife. I do PR for a living. I am very athletic; I played volleyball competitively in college. I live in the city, but I am a southerner to the core. I could spend, literally, all day in a Barnes & Noble."

MUCH to my surprise, last Thursday I received a package in the mail! In that big package were a bunch of books and notes from Auprielle Ellis; and man, did she do a beautiful job!

Talk about an impressive package! She hit everything in my bio: a do-it-herself book for the new homeowner and even two young adult series books!

The following books were in my package:

• Do-it-Herself Guide
• The Gaurdian by Nicholas Sparks
• The Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
• The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
• She even sent me a picture of the book, Charly by Jack Weyland, and said because she wanted to include it but couldn't get it in time, she had Amazon ship it directly to my house! (HOW SWEET!)

I am so very thankful that someone put as much thought and care into a package for me as I did for someone else. All in all, Operation Summer Book Swap was a huge success! And I encourage all my fellow bloggers and non-bloggers to try one if you haven't before!

Yes it's a risk, but you have to give to get.
Happy swapping and thank you Debbi for hosting such a wonderful book swap!
Bridget Marie