Top 10 Tuesdays: Things I’d Want at My Bookish Party

This week’s prompt was surprisingly difficult! I’m not that much of a party person, so it was hard to think of what I would want if I was the one hosting. I had to try and think back to some of my favourite things from other parties, both real and fictional, and came up with an ideal wishlist of what I’d love. I had to assume that money wasn’t a factor, since otherwise this would be completely unrealistic! I also realized that in order for this party to be even remotely feasible, it would basically need to be a day-long event, which I guess would end up being a bit like one of the Book Cons. I can’t say for sure, since I’ve never been to one. In any case, these are the ideas for things that I’d ideally love to have if I was hosting a bookish party.

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

1) The typewriter woman from The Starless Sea – I basically want the entire party that Zachary went to in this book, but the thing that stuck out to me the most was the woman sitting at the typewriter who would type out a snippet of description of each person passing by. It seems like such a good conversation starter to ask each other what she had written about them!

2) Themed treats from different books – Food is always one of the most important parts of a party to me, because it always seems like one of the things people find most memorable. I would love to have a buffet of some of the best foods from various books (ie. the Hogwarts feast), and especially a dessert table with lots of treats. There are so many delicious desserts mentioned in books!

3) Read Out Loud stations – I thought of this because I remembered an episode of Arthur (of all things! I have no idea why it came to mind) where Muffy hosted a party where a famous author read her new book to the group. I think it would be a lot of fun to have authors or even volunteers reading books out loud to guests.

4) The Letters Library from Words in Deep Blue – I’m actually surprised how much this one thing from this YA book has stuck with me, but it’s such an awesome idea. The Letters Library is a shelf of books at the main character’s family’s bookstore, which are not sold, but people are invited to write in them or leave notes in them. I thought it might be fun for guests to leave their own notes in these books (as much as I hate writing in books).

5) Adaptation watch party – This one would be pretty challenging since movies and TV series tend to be so long, but I’d love to have a group of people sitting together to watch their favourite movie or TV adaptations of books. Logistically, I think it would have to be a few areas set up around the house so a few groups could watch different things.

6) Caricature artist – In addition to having the typewriter woman, I think it would be fun to have a caricature artist that can draw guests as their favourite character or draw them into their favourite world. It’s a fun thing that could be displayed on the wall throughout the party, and then each person could take theirs home at the end.

7) Costume photo-booths – I always used to hate costume days at school because I never owned very many costume items! I’d love to set up a station with prompts and costumes that people could pose with and take some pictures! It doesn’t have to be a literal photo booth since those can be very claustrophobic, but an area with props and costumes, and a photographer there to take the pictures.

8) Blind Date With a Book – I’ve always thought this idea was fun, but it’s not really offered near me. For those who don’t know, Blind Date With a Book is a table or shelf of books that are wrapped up so you can’t see the cover or title, and you pick one at random. Sometimes, there is a short clue on it about what the book is about so you can try to pick one you might like. I was thinking of this as another party favour that people would be able to take home.

9) Book crafts – I didn’t have anything specific in mind, but maybe something like making your own bookmarks or book sleeves, or maybe giving guests the chance to draw their own illustrations to go with a favourite quote.

10) Book Trivia competition – I don’t really like competitive games at parties, so I’m using the term “competition” pretty loosely, but I thought it would be fun to offer some trivia games about books for guests who want more of a group activity. It could be genre-specific, or about specific books or series (Harry Potter seems to be the obvious one).

 

Advertisement