Tsundoku. This new Japanese buzzword has bookstagramming circles ironically boasting about their habit of buying books and letting them pile up in their homes, but not actually reading them. On the other hand, is a silent community of book lovers that does not believe in hoarding, but reading just for the joy of it. For these groups, the central reason for meet-ups is the exchange of not just opinions and experiences, but also — and mainly — books.
One such community, SwapBook! meets on the second Sunday of every month at Chennai’s Untangle, a centre dedicated to solving puzzles.
Harini Subramani and about 20 others, attend a recent meet-up, each carrying in their hands a book they had finished reading, and simultaneously, eyeing the books in the others’ hands. One by one, the participants discuss why they liked their books. This is more than an innocent discussion; it is a sales pitch as to why you should swap your book with theirs.
- Sip and Swap - Facebook group
- SwapBook! - Facebook group
- Book-Exchange Club of Mumbai - Facebook group
- Infireads - app, available on Playstore
An app-t solution
SwapBook! is one of many such communities around the country. One of the latest entrants to this market is Bengaluru-based app, Infireads, co-founded by Disha Gupta and Ankit Mundada. Having met at a book club themselves, the duo started this app three months ago.
On Infireads, you can put up a profile of yourself and list the books you own. Visible to you are other bibliophiles in your area, and their collections. You can connect with them, and request them to swap with you.
“We have also integrated third-party delivery systems so that the books you want can be delivered to your doorstep,” says Disha. “We believe it’s a good idea, but the app is still new, and we want to make it better before we expand.”
Though its operations are mainly based in Bengaluru, people from other cities can download the app too. The app’s newest feature is offering books on rent, for ₹49 per month. “We have collaborated with vendors, and the app calls out to readers willing to rent their books out.” Disha feels that renting might prove popular, because of lower trepidation of having to interact with others, who are in essence strangers.
No to urban loneliness
But meeting strangers is the whole point of Priyesh Thakker’s Sip and Swap. The idea of the group is speed dating — but for books. You go around a table, introducing yourself and the book you brought with you. If both of you like each other’s books, it’s a match and you swap.
“We are digitally hyper connected, but we are missing out on actual human relationships,” says Priyesh, who started the group in 2018 in Mumbai. So far, they have organised 25 events across India: Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Nashik, and Kurukshetra.
Building an offline network of readers is important to Priyesh, who will be launching an app by the end of this month, which encourages people to stay away from their phones.
“Every 20 minutes that you stay away from your phone, you will be rewarded with points and discounts that you can redeem to buy tickets and even books.”
At their events, they also invite authors, founders of platforms such as Terribly Tiny Tales, and others, to share their experiences in publishing.
It is more than just about the literature: these meet-ups generally end with people getting to know each other over a couple of drinks and good food. Over the years, says Priyesh, there have been many who met during Sip and Swap parties and stayed friends. “We meet people through Instagram and Tinder, so why not through books?”
Stayin’ alive
The Chennai chapter of SwapBook! came to the city in May 2019, thanks to Harini.
However, the original group that Harini was part of, was founded by Pravin Subramanian in Mumbai way back in 2011.
“SwapBook! started as a community for readers to discuss whatever book they are reading. Unlike regular book clubs, where there is a precondition that everyone has to read and talk about one book,” says Pravin.
So the concept of book swapping is not new — what is unusual, however, is the ability for a group to sustain itself through the years. Book exchange groups populate Goodreads and Facebook. But most of them are now graveyards, where but a few lonely souls roam, trying their luck to no response.
Yet Pravin perseveres, “For me, the attempt has always been about learning things and meeting interesting people. Through SwapBook!, I have met administrative officers, information security analysts, architects, lawyers…”
Their conversations, says Harini, “move from books, to topical issues, the self-publishing industry, how bookstores are faring and so on.”
This sense of communal bonding keeps SwapBook! running, with or without Pravin’s presence. Its chapters have spread across Mumbai, Chennai, Nagpur, Delhi and even Amsterdam. “A friend of mine went to Amsterdam and organised it there a couple of times, before handing it over to a local.”
Equally well established is the Book Exchange Club of Mumbai, set up in 2012. Though the outfit has stuck to one city, it has over 3,000 members. “In a city like Mumbai, with small living spaces, there is no place to hoard books!” says founder Deepak G.
This club, apart from hosting meetings at different venues, has also put up bookshelves in corporate offices where people can ‘leave one, take one’. It is a concept that SwapBook! Chennai is also exploring at Untangle.
Says Harini, “Senthil (Untangle co-founder) has been very nice to help us out with that. They too, have a repository of all books, from which you can take a book and leave your own. So even if someone misses the meeting, they can go and browse through the shelf, and swap.”
So check out your nearest book swap club. Come in with Bill Bryson, and wade through Chetan Bhagats and Dan Browns — there will be multiple — until you go home with Neil Gaiman.
