I joined a book club a few months ago, and I’m thoroughly enjoying it.  Great books, great food, great conversation, and a glass or two of wine with some fantastic ladies; I can’t think of a more perfect way to spend an evening.

When it was my turn to host, I suggested we incorporate a book swap so we could all come away with a few good reads to keep us busy during our summer hiatus.  I pulled up my Pinterest account and selected a few recipes that I wanted to try, and a book club/book swap/Mexican fiesta was born!

Here are a few pictures from our little book bash. The menu was a little labor-intensive, but it was really fresh and yummy.  Can’t wait to make these recipes again:

Tomato Salsa and Avocado Salsa

salsa!

Mexican Shrimp Cocktail

Mexican Shrimp Cocktail

Toppings for Grilled Fish Tacos with Cream Lime Guacamole and Cabbage Slaw.  I also grilled some chicken tenderloins tossed in a little fajita seasoning, just in case there were those who didn’t care for fish.

Fish and Chicken Soft Tacos

 

Applebee’s Red Apple Sangria – so tasty!  I used the serving calculator on food.com to figure out the ingredients needed for 24 generous glasses.

Red Apple Sangria

Red Apple Sangria - the finished product

Brownie Assortment from Sam’s Club – took the easy way out on this one, but they were really good!

Brownies

 

The Book Swap – everyone brings at least 10 books and sorts them by categories:

book swap - mystery

book swap - self-help

book swap - romance

book swap - other fiction

book swap - devotionals

book swap - other non-fiction

Every 3-5 minutes, a new round begins.  In each round, participants select one book they didn’t bring. If they select a set of three books, they must wait two more rounds before jumping in again.

book swap

Once everyone has the books they want, the swap is over, and any remaining books are donated to a charity of your choice. The swap idea can be adapted to almost anything – next time I think I’ll suggest an accessory swap (jewelry, scarves, handbags.)

If this information was useful to you, please take a moment to pin or share this link with others – thank you!

Need the basics? Begin here.

Planning a Book Swap
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