Spring 2026 Book Swap Scores

 This past weekend was the semi annual book swap that my friend started back in the Spring of 2023. Other than that inaugural one (which happened to be the same day as K2's funeral), I have attended them all.  My daughters, until now, have been interested in going but not fit the swaps into their calendar.  This time, they both were able to go along with me.

They were blown away by the magnitude of the swap, and by how well run it is.  We did have to wait in line a bit to get in, but, as I had told them, there were 'book swap fairies' who came with boxes and carts to relieve us of the books we were swapping so that our arms didn't get tired while we waited.  Really, the wait was very short, less than 10 minutes (we had arrived five minutes before the doors opened for the general admission--VIPS paid $10 and had access from 9-10 a.m., Early Birds paid $5 and had access at 10 a.m. and us cheap people got in free with a minimum of one book to donate starting at 11 a.m.).

I'm pretty sure both of them will prioritize the Fall Swap and be back again, most likely with friends.  It was entertaining to hear them exclaim "Oh!  I should have told so-and-so about this, she'd love it!" with numerous different names as the so-and-so each time we'd move to a table with yet another genre of books arrayed on it. Friends, co-workers, in-laws.

While all of our mission was to clear out books we had all ready read (or realized we would never get around to reading) in order to make space in our homes, each of us also found numerous books we wanted to read and thus took home with us.  DD1 had donated a bulging grocery sack of books, but insisted she did not want a bag to carry her finds in, rather having the mantra of 'if it doesn't fit in my arms I don't need it'.  She did keep to that mantra, although her arms got rather full.  DD2, who is moving again this summer when the lease is up on the house she's been sharing with friends, I think managed to only take home three books. I'm betting that if she goes to the Fall Swap, she will take home many more books as she'll be settled into her new space by then.

I took 22 books to swap, and managed to return home with 16 'new' ones.  Number-wise, I did good on the decrease possessions aspect.  Although I think I returned with more hard-backs than I donated, so they take up just as much shelf-space as I'd emptied, if not a little more.

One of the books will be gifted to either Lucky or Octavia later this year, so that one doesn't really count as taking up shelf-space, LOL.  Another isn't pictured above because I immediately started reading it once I got home and it was on the end table by the living room couch when I unloaded the rest of the books for photographing.