Carpe Librum ~ March Madness Favorite Book Bracket

Welcome to the very first swap I'm ever hosting here at Carpe Librum! March is upon us and here in the United States, that means March Madness! Which, I think, has something to do with basketball? But now it has to do with books!

How many times has this happened to you?

Random Person: Oh, so you read a lot? What's your favorite book?

You: Gah! I love so many! How do I possibly choose just one?

This swap will help you do just that because you'll be creating your very own favorite book bracket. Instead of teams, you'll be filling in each space with a favorite book and narrowing it down, match-up by match-up until you're left with just one book.

Step 1: Write out a list of 16 books you absolutely love. (Or at least a handful you love and the rest you just like a whole lot; I KNOW you can come up with 16)

Step 2: Print out this bracket (note: this is a PDF)

Step 3: Fill in each of the 16 blanks with one of the books on the list you made in Step 1. You can follow the order on your list or mix it up. Just make sure each blank is filled.

Step 4: Start choosing! For the match-up between 1 & 2, write the title of the book you like better on the small blank to the right, above the Q1. Fill out each match-up then keep comparing until you're left with one book that is your favorite. Fill out the blanks at the bottom to determine 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th favorite books.

Step 5: Come up with a creative tournament name & division name and make sure your username is on the page somewhere. OPTIONAL: decorate/doodle/embellish the bracket page if you're so inclined. If you're not the artistic type, you could make little notes in the blank areas about which match-ups were the hardest or how you made choices (coin flip? went with your gut? a more recent reading?)

Step 6: Send to your partner!

You'll get to see your partner's favorite book... and also have 16 good book recommendations as well. Maybe one of those will end up on your March Madness bracket next year?

Group ratings apply. No flaking--only fun! Questions? Ask in the comments!

SPECIAL ADDED BONUS: Because this is my very first swap here, I'm in the mood to celebrate. If you join the swap and send me a swap-bot message with the title of the book that won your book bracket, I'll make you a little bookmark based off that book.