What's a book swap?  It's a party where guests trade their books for those of the other guests.  With paperbacks costing upwards of $8, it’s easy to wonder, "do I really want to read this?"  We say, recycle those books by swapping them out for your friends’.  Besides, hosting a book swap creates a social occasion to catch up with girlfriends and get personal reviews on the books everyone is talking about (or at least seeing the movie it was made into).

Happy summer reading!

Timeline

Two Weeks Before Your Book Swap

Use Evite or simply send out an email to your girlfriends inviting them to your first annual summer book swap.  Explain that each guest should bring as many books as she would like to swap, and suggest they write their name and contact information inside the book if they would like the swappee to return it to them.  Also ask each guest to bring either an appetizer, dessert, or a bottle of wine, and to let you know which.  Now your party planning is nearly complete!

Three Days Before Your Book Swap

Send out an email reminder.  Make sure you know what everyone is bringing so you can round out the menu.  For a group of ten women or less, strive for four appetizers, two desserts, and four bottles of wine.  Multiply this formula for each group of ten, but realize that trying to swap books with more than twenty women can be chaotic.  The recipes for Brooksie's lobster artichoke dip appetizer and Morgan's Grand Oreo Surprise are below.

Day of Your Book Swap

In the morning, purchase any pre-made food items or the ingredients to make the dishes to round out the menu. 

Pull out the books you personally plan to swap.  Don't forget to write your name and contact information in the ones you wish to have returned to you.  Create a space, such as the coffee table or an end table, where guests can deposit the books they plan to swap.

At the Book Swap

Devote the first hour to noshing and conversation.  This also ensures you have the maximum amount of books available to swap as it gives stragglers time to arrive and get settled.  After about an hour, start swapping.

Brooksie’s Lobster Artichoke Dip Appetizer

(Serves 10)

1 8-oz package of Louis Kemp Lobster Delights

1 4-oz can of quartered artichoke hearts
1 8-oz tub reduced fat cream cheese

½ cup of shredded cheese (the Parmesan, asiago, Romano blend works best)

½ cup fat free mayonnaise
1 tsp of fresh chopped garlic
1 tsp of Vodka
1 TBL of ground mustard
1 TBL of paprika

Combine the ingredients above, except the paprika, in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Mix for two minutes; scrape down the sides of mixing bowl and mix for another minute.  Spread the mixture into a casserole dish.  Sprinkle the paprika on top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, until lightly browned and bubbling. Serve with the thinly sliced French bread. 

Morgan’s Grand Oreo Surprise

(Serves 10)

1 box standard chocolate cake mix

1 Oreo cookie crumb pre-made pie crust

1 box Jell-O Pudding, cookies and cream flavor

2 cups fat-free milk

1 12-ounce tub of fat-free whipped topping

Two 9-inch round cake pans

Mix chocolate cake according to the directions on the package. Grease and prepare your cake pans. Open pie crust. Carefully cut the center bottom away from the edges and transfer the circle to the bottom center of one of the cake pans. Take leftover edges and crumble. Fill in the space between the edge of the pan and the solid center with an even layer of the crumbled edges. Fill cake pans and bake according to the directions on the package. Let cakes cool thoroughly.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together pudding mix and fat-free milk. Place pudding in refrigerator to set. Once set, remove from refrigerator and slowly add the fat-free whipped topping. Mix thoroughly.

Once the layers of cake have cooled, remove from the pans and place the layer with the Oreo crust on the bottom. "Ice" the bottom layer with the pudding/topping mixture, place the second layer on top of the first and ice it as well, leaving a nice thick pudding layer on the top. Refrigerate until ready to serve.