There is something quite special about curling up on a winter’s night with a good book to read but due to our jam packed schedules it’s unfortunately not something that we all get to do very often. This week I have come across an article about a lovely tradition in Iceland where books are star of the show on Christmas Eve and I think it is just wonderful…
Iceland is a beautifully literary country where people love to read and write. According to various studies, the country has “more writers, more books published and more books read per head than anywhere else in the world”. With this in mind, books are one of the most popular gifts given at Christmas and Iceland sees its highest sales between September and December in the run up to the festive holiday period – so much so that this season has its own name and is called “Jolabokaflod” or the “Christmas Book Flood”.
The tradition began in 1944 during World War II when paper was one of the few commodities which was not rationed and a love of books was easy to share as other types of gift were short in supply. Over the years, the tradition has continued to grow in popularity and has reinforced Iceland’s culture as a nation of bookaholics with a catalogue of new publications called “Bokatidindi” sent out to every household across the country in November during the Reykjavik Book Fair. Once received, this list is then pored over by hundreds of thousands of people and used to order books for their nearest and dearest.
And now for the fun part…with their carefully selected gift titles in tow, Icelanders traditionally give books to each other on Christmas Eve and then spend the night tucked up reading them whilst drinking hot chocolate and nibbling on tasty treats!
We all have our own traditions at Christmas but I think this one is fantastic…a good book, blanket and an evening dedicated to nothing but reading – sounds like absolute heaven!