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Book Trade Evening


Athena

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I just read this morning in the local magazine, that in the area nearby here, a group is organising a book trade event, which will take place in a couple of weeks (they have a group on facebook it seems but it's only open for people who live in the area, which I don't, I'm one street over). If I feel up for it, I'd like to go there with some of my older books I no longer want and see if anyone has interesting books for trade (the local magazine said anyone could come).

 

Has anyone ever been to anything like this? I realise there will probably be some social-ness attached to it so I'll only go if I feel up for it (as this will cost me a lot of energy), but I thought it might be nice to go there and see what it's like.

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No, never been to anything like this, or heard of it. It sounds to me like it's more something for a big city. Where I live, I don't think enough people would show up (mind you, my neighbours could all be readers for all I know).

 

It's sounds interesting, but I'm never good with talking with people I don't know, so would probably feel extremely awkward. :blush2:

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  • 4 months later...

So I went to the book trade event nearby here, yesterday.

 

Here's a copy of my post in my book blog, with my experiences.

 

Yesterday evening there was a book trade event nearby here. I saw the notice when I was in the supermarket last week. Last time I didn't go, I couldn't see myself going in the evening, wasn't sure what it would be like and was worried about driving back after, when I would be tired. Then yesterday morning my mum e-mailed me after she had seen the notice on Twitter. So I told her it sounded interesting but that I was a bit worried about going there and having to drive back being tired. She said she would have time to take me, so we went there together.

 

It was a bit chaotic in the beginning as we weren't sure how things worked. It was in the main hall of the building, where there's also a bar and a pool table. In the beginning (the event was scheduled for an hour) there were a few men playing pool etc. and chatting so it was a bit noisy. I felt like leaving again to be honest. But we stayed a bit longer and my mum bought herself a coffee and me some orange juice. There was a book case that you could take a book out of and then put one of your own back. So I got:

 

Judy Baer - Het Miljoenendillemma (Million Dollar Dilemma) (this sounded interesting, so I thought, why not)

Tatiana de Rosnay - Haar Naam Was Sarah (Elle s'Appelait Sarah) (my mum has a copy of this book and she really liked it. I've seen the film and really liked that, and I was very tempted to get my own copy and read it, so my mum said why not. I loved the film so I hope the book will be good too (or maybe even better))

(I put two books back in the book case in return. Most of the books in the book case I wasn't interested in or I already owned.)

 

It worked this way. You could lay out your books on a table, and then walk around and write your name on a piece of sticky paper and then stick it on the books you want. Then later the owner of the books can trade them with you, or give them to you, or if there's multiple people who want it, they can randomly pick which one gets it. There were only about four tables with a few books on them. Once the guys who played pool and sat by the bar, left, it became quieter and there were maybe 8 people or something (all women). The woman who had organised it was friendly and answered my questions. I stuck my name on a couple of books and then sat down.

 

Not that many people were interested, at first, in the books I brought. So I had marked three books on one table, and the lady said I could just have them. Later they had a look and took one of my books. Here are the three I got:

 

Anne Dunlop - Wat Denk Je Wel?: Is Haar TweelingZus te Vertrouwen?(Cinderella's Sister)

Victoria Clayton - Ierse Honing: Als Wespen op de Honing (Moonshine)

Jessica Adams - Hotmail (Dutch translation) (Single, with / White, E-mail)

 

I don't know any of the authors but their synopses sounded like nice chick-lit type stories and they intrigued me. Then on another table, I had two books marked as well. The organiser told me the owner of the books had already left. She said I should just take what I want, because the book case was getting filled up so they didn't have the space to keep it all. So I took:

 

Tonke Dragt - De Brief Voor De Koning 1: De Brief Voor De Koning

Cathy Kelly - Iemand Als Jij (Someone Like You)

 

which I had marked. And I thought, I might as well take:

 

Jeremy Clarkson - Auto's En Zo (Motorworld / Clarkson on Cars / The World According to Clarkson)

as well, if no one wants it.

 

Just as we were going to leave, a woman walked in and she was interested in one of my books, so I gave it to her. My mum said, while she sat there, that she was interested in a few of my books, so I've given those to her now (I guess kind of like a loan, she will give them back once she's finished them).

 

So in the end I gave away 4 books and came home with 8 new ones! I was scared and nervous at first, but the people were friendly and I think this was successful, even if none of the books are books that I'm desperately to read right now and would go to the book shop for to pre-order etc. But I had fun in the end :)! Even if now I'm quite exhausted..

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I would love something like that here. I have a ton of books I'd love to get rid of, and I'd love to get other books in return but the only real way for me to do that at the moment is trade them online, which costs postage - and being in Ireland, shipping abroad it costs basically the same as buying books cheap off Amazon Marketplace, so it's like paying 5 quid and a book, for a new book. :roll: May as well buy the book and keep the old one! Or, as I can't afford loads of postage or new books in general, I just end up stuck with the ones I have. I live in a city though, so I feel like a book trade event could be quite successful here!

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Yeah I thought they would exist in multiple places, but I guess not :(. I found one in Amsterdam via Google but otherwise there don't seem to be a whole lot of them based on my quick search. It's a shame because I think it's a good idea.

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Yeah I thought they would exist in multiple places, but I guess not :(. I found one in Amsterdam via Google but otherwise there don't seem to be a whole lot of them based on my quick search. It's a shame because I think it's a good idea.

 

OMG it seems like every time I go to Amsterdam, there is some sort of book affair going on.  It totally jams the street/ alley.

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