Snail Mail Collective and the Ninja Book Swap

snail-mail-button-293

As with the my post about the Shine On award earlier this week, this post includes some very belated thank yous. For the Snail Mail Collective Pen Pal exchange in September, I was paired with Victoria who is from the Isle of Man but currently lives and works in the UK. We both love photography and enjoy reading, so we hit it off right away. I also enjoyed her blog, especially her great travel pictures. I was so excited when I saw an international package in the mail! This was only the second international package I’ve received (after the second package I’ll mention in this post) but I don’t think the excitement of receiving a package from so far away will ever get old.

IMG_0010

The contents of the package made me feel the package I’d sent in return was completely inadequate and vow to do better next time. It was just perfect, including all of the things you might wish to have from another country There was some delicious chocolate which I was very much in need of during the busy week when I got the package. Victoria also included some pictures; a very thoughtful description of the Isle of Man; a pound note; and two extremely patriotic pens.

IMG_0022In other fun, pen pal related news, I also participated in The Ninja Book Swap which is a fun Halloween event hosted at Booking in Heels and An Armchair by the Sea. I did the ‘Trick or Treat’ version in which each participant was assigned someone else to send three things: (1) a small present; (2) a surprise book from a genre they wanted to read more of; and (3) optionally, a book off their wishlist as well. I loved the way this event was run, with each participant getting to send books from their favorite genre to people who would like to explore that genre more. I think a lot of us are book bloggers at least in part because we love the feeling of recommending a book to someone in hope they’ll love it as much as we did. I had a lot of fun picking recommendations for Ellie at Curiousity Killed the Bookworm and can’t wait to get started reading the books Katie from Katie’s Book Blog sent me.

IMG_0017I think she did a spectacular job picking books to send me. Chocolat was the wishlist book and I’m especially happy to read it right now because it will work for my book to movie challenge. The surprise book was Neverwhere and will by my first time reading something by Neil Gaiman. I’ve heard such good things about his books, I’m excited to see what I think. For a ‘treat’ she sent me a completely adorable notebook that is just perfect for someone who likes cats as much as I do.

IMG_0015If the idea of swapping packages and letters interests you, current events I would recommend include:

  • Bookish Pen Pals  – hosted by Claire at Bitches with Books, postcard swap, sign-ups end Nov 15th
  • A Bookish Christmas - hosted by Chrys at Oh, Chrys, surprise holiday book exchange, sign-ups end tomorrow!
  • The Snail Mail Collective - hosted by Melyssa at The Nectar Collective, exchange e-mails all month and then mail an under $10 gift, sign-ups at the beginning of each month

Feel free to add other events you know about in the comments :)

 

12 Comments

Filed under Blogger Events

12 Responses to Snail Mail Collective and the Ninja Book Swap

  1. RebeccaScaglione - Love at First Book

    This is awesome! We all love to get mail! I’ve signed up for Claire’s and am so excited for it!

    Reply
    • DoingDewey

      Wonderful! I’m excited for that one too. It will be the first postcard exchange I’ve done and I think it will be a lot of fun :)

      Reply
  2. Victoria

    Hey Katie!

    I totally forgot to mention I’ve changed my blog url (I really need to reply to your email too! Sorry!). It’s now http://www.vampersanda.blogspot.co.uk :-)

    This was a lovely post :-)
    Speak to you soon!
    Vicky

    Reply
    • DoingDewey

      Hey Vicky, thanks for letting me know! I’ll update the link in my post. I look forward to hearing from you whenever you have the time to write :)

      Reply
  3. Masanobu

    I love snail mail but rarely use it anymore, so these events are great! I’ll have a more in-depth look when I get back from work.

    Great books! I really like Neil Gaiman and Chocolat. I don’t remember whether I’ve watched the movie, though.

    Reply
    • DoingDewey

      I agree! It’s so much fun to get and send snail mail but e-mail is so much easier that I’d never use it without these events :)

      Reply
  4. Aylee (@AyleeArgh)

    Oh man, do these swaps ever sound like FUN! I would also be worried that my gift wouldn’t be as good because I am not a very creative person. Neil Gaiman is great – can’t wait to hear what you think!

    Reply
    • DoingDewey

      I’ve been feeling that way about most of my gifts, but I finally put together one that I’m sure is awesome for my next penpal, mostly by stealing ideas from the gift Victoria sent in this post. It’s hard to be disappointed when you get chocolate in the mail! :) I’ve also never had anyone seem disappointed with the gift I sent and I think I’m always just happy to get mail, so if you’re interested, I wouldn’t let that stop you :)

      Reply
  5. Charlene @ Bookish Whimsy

    This is such a great idea! Getting things in the mail is so fun. I’m glad you will be introduced to Neil Gaiman through Neverwhere – I really enjoyed that book and Neil Gaiman is just an awesome writer!

    Reply
    • DoingDewey

      I love that it gives me an excuse to give and get fun things in the mail :) I’m glad to hear that you liked Neverwhere! Gaiman is an author I’ve heard such good things about, I have high hopes that I’ll like it too :)

      Reply
  6. notesoflifeuk

    What wonderful mail to get! I always intend to sign up for these kind of things but tend to come across them too late ;-/ Thanks for the links though :)

    Reply
    • DoingDewey

      Haha, I feel the same way sometimes about always finding sign-ups too late! Fortunately, a couple of the mail things I do are monthly so you can always join in for the next round :)

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes:

CommentLuv badge