A few days ago, I took a book I’d finished along with one of my own novels, to a ‘take a book, leave a book’ swap in Belfast. Such a book exchange is something that I wish more literary cafes or artsy establishments would do, as it’s such a great idea for encouraging reading.
Caedmon’s Song by Peter Robinson was a first for me by the author and an earlier one of his, apparently. I thought it was okay; you can read my review on Goodreads, though it has spoilers.
Benefits of take a book, leave a book = money
As a reader who can’t resist book shopping, and admittedly spends more than my budget allows sometimes, book exchanges are a great way to swap books that I know I’m not going to read again, with ones I haven’t read; this satisfies my ‘book splurge urge’.
Benefits of take a book, leave a book = space
I don’t live in a sprawling mansion with its own library (maybe if I win the lottery). Our house really can’t accommodate all the books I’ve been buying over the past year. Lots of books are in boxes or crates, in fact, since we don’t have room for another book shelf at the moment. Exchanging books is a great way to keep reading without having to continually buy.
Take a book, leave a book for authors
Speaking now as an author rather than as a reader, it’s also a great chance to get copies of my own books out there. I have recently updated the cover of The Buddha’s Bone with the series info on the back, in preparation for the sequel, The Wabi-sabi Doll coming out on 15th September, so it was an opportunity to give away a copy I had with the old cover. You can see it next to Caedmon’s Song in the photo above.
Leilanie Stewart 
I need to find more of these book swap places, not too many near me. 😦