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Have you heard of 'Jolabokaflod'? This is an Icelandic tradition, roughly translating as 'Christmas Book Flood', and it 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....

It's that time of year again, when all sorts of 'best of...' lists and round-ups of the year are contemplated and compiled. Here at Willoughby we always read a combination of new releases and backlist, and you'll see as you read on that our list of favourites reflects this quite well. We happened upon some really interesting, illuminating, and enticing reads in 2023, and we're always curious about everyone else's favourites too. Join us on our meander through our favourite reads and let us know if you've read anything outstanding over the last twelve months.   Chloe It’s really difficult...

Can you believe we're drawing to the end of the first Willoughby Book Club Reading Challenge already? We've really enjoyed getting stuck into books we might not have read otherwise, with our (rather daft) selection of prompts. How about you? Did you have a bumper year of books, or a rather slow and sluggish year? Were there any highlights or previously undiscovered gems? Here's how the WBC team found the Reading Challenge:   Chloe I managed to cover quite a lot in the WBC Reading Challenge and I have read a few things I wouldn’t normally have chosen, as well as books...

Here at The Willoughby Book Club, we absolutely love selecting books for our subscribers, and at this time of year, we enjoy channelling our expertise into choosing books that will be perfect presents for our nearest and dearest. After all, what would Christmas be without a book or two under the tree? With their power to transport us to different worlds and ignite our imaginations, they are timeless gifts which can create magical moments of connection between us all. By sharing books during the festive period, we hope to inspire joy, spark meaningful conversations, and build upon a love for reading that extends...