Holiday Book Recs, Day 2: Holiday Swap!

Want to start a rocking new holiday tradition with your friends? How about a book swap? Some folks have holiday cookie swaps or clothing swaps, but for those always on the hunt for the next great read, a book swap is the way to go.

Here's how it works:

• Invite a group of about 6-10 friends.
• Provide book-based snacks like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory hot chocolate or a bowl of blue M&Ms from Chasing Vermeer.
• Everyone brings at least one great read to swap – it can be new, used, dog-eared, whatever, as long as all the pages are there. Feel free to bring more than one title because the ultimate goal is to match every swapper up with a fabulous fit for them.

Get creative with how to match up friends with books. Here are a few ideas:

• Have each swapper create a short “personality quiz” (like in magazines) to see who's best suited to the book.
• Try a “Yankee Swap.” Draw numbers out of a bag. Person 1 gets first pick, but Person 2 can choose from the pile OR grab Person 1's pick – and so on.
• Another way to i.d. who belongs with which book is to make connections with other books your guests have already read and loved. Here are some pairings to get you started:

	If you liked the suspense of Twilight by Stephanie Meyer Try Daughters of Eve by Lois Duncan
	If you liked the alternate reality of Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Try Feed by M. T. Anderson
	If you liked sinking into all seven Harry Potter books Try The Dark Is Rising series by Susan Cooper
	If you liked going to England with The Calder Game by Blue Balliett Try The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
	If you liked the characters with amazing abilities in Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke Try The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
	If you liked the quirky twists in A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket Try The 39 Clues series

Cap off your book swap festivities with crafty fun like bookmark-making (you supply the thick paper, stickers, and glitter glue). Or pop in a book-based movie like The Chronicles of Narnia or The Neverending Story, pop some corn and settle in.

Are you planning a holiday swap? Be sure to post here and let us know how it goes.

— Amy, Scholastic.com Editor

Comments

[Comment #1]

My brother has been bugging me to read THE HUNGER GAMES.

[Comment #2]

Read all the Harry Potter books. Loved them all. Especilly the seventh.