Lucy's Buzz : Book Swap!

I’ve prepared for it. Cruised through my books and picked out five that I can live without; James Ellroy’s novel, Destination: Morgue!, Tokyo Cancelled; a book I bought at the Galle Literary Festival. I got through 2/3 of it and finally gave up. Jeffrey Eugenides’ The Virgin Suicides. The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd. I adored that one! And finally Lost Dog by Michelle de Kretser, which I haven’t read in three years. You know what they say, If you haven’t worn it in six months, get rid of it. Goes for books, too.

We’ll see if anyone wants to swap for these five.

The book swap is at Charcoal Gallery Café at 75 Hotel Road in Mount Lavinia, at 6PM. I’ve never been to the café so it’ll be two new experiences for me tonight.

As usual, I arrived early before anyone else. Since it was my dinnertime, I ordered from the charming 5-table café and had a toastie with their homemade pesto. Yummy.

A small crowd gathered in the room next to the café. Sometimes there’s a group of 15-20 people, tonight there was seven. People were super friendly. We talked about books, books, books, specific authors, a good workout video on YouTube; refit revolution, an all-night party at the Happy Banana in Unawatuna and Tom Cruise’s acting ability. This group was dialed in.

I bought the book Ghost Stories from Nadeesha Paulis, the author (can’t wait to read it!), and took away a chick lit book for some light, entertaining, no-brainer reading.

Two of my books went. My favorite; The Mermaid Chair and The Virgin Suicides. Yeah! They’ll love them! The others, I left for next time.

There’s a rooftop gallery and sitting area, where the café has music on Saturday nights. The owners, Pricilla and Ian, said the group could hold the next Book Swap there. I look forward to it. I’m hooked!

You can check out the Book Swap at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/colombobook/