Last Sunday I attended another meet up with other readers that I’ve met on Litsy. Some of us are book bloggers, and others are librarians or teachers. Some hold jobs in unrelated areas. We’re a diverse group of 13—lucky 13, right? A few people came from New Jersey, or as one said “made a reverse George Washington” and crossed the Delaware River from East to West. A few of us came from Central PA, like myself. Everyone else was from the city of Philadelphia or its suburbs. Umm, except our friend who lives in Israel and was the impetus for this meet up. She’s originally from Philly and has been here visiting, so she wanted to gather a group together.

What a visit we had! I’m sure everyone in the Barnes & Noble cafe was annoyed at how loud we were. Tough! We laughed, chatted, hugged, took selfies, and generally enjoyed ourselves. We talked about our current reads, and what we’re looking forward to next. I’m frankly amazed at how much we had to say to each other, considering we’d never met. But this is the power of the wonderful Litsy social medial community. There is no nicer place online today!

We also did a book swap. Everyone went home with a new book, which is always a treat. Here’s me with the two books I was given in the swap!

Over fifteen years ago, I worked in Center City Philly. I rode the train 3-4 days a week and worked at home the other days. This is the first time I’ve taken the train into the city in a long time, and it felt like old times. I made friends on the train then. Know how? We talked about the books we were reading. Then we’d swap sometimes. Sure feels like what’s old is new again. I like it!

Of course, I did a little shopping while I was in the bookstore. I had coupons to use, and even shared one with another Litsy friend. Here’s the book haul from the day. As usual, I have no idea which one I’ll read first! Happy reading to you, and may you make many friends over the discussion of books.

The Bibliophage after a Book SwapMy Bookhaul from our First Philly Litsy Meetup