Have you heard of 'Jolabokaflod'? This is an Icelandic tradition, roughly translating as 'Christmas Book Flood', and sounds heavenly to us!
During the Second World War Iceland didn't suffer rationing on paper, and this, together with Iceland's long literary history, meant that books became a particularly popular present at Christmas while other gifts were scarce.
Beginning in 1944 the Icelandic publishing trade issue a catalogue of newly published books which is distributed to all Icelandic households. This has come to signal the start of the festive season which culminates on Christmas Eve, the biggest gift-giving day of the year. Purchases are pored over, and books remain one of the most popular gifts at Christmas. The tradition extends to the evening of Christmas Eve, when the books are read late into the night, accompanied by a steaming mug of hot chocolate.
As lovers of both books and hot chocolate this is a custom that all of us at The Willoughby Book Club thoroughly endorse! It can be challenging to carve out time with a book on Christmas Eve, but we'll all be treating ourselves to a new book and a little bit of time and space to site, read and reflect on the year past.
Why not join us and make this gorgeous tradition part of your own festive celebrations?
