Book Holidays: Jólabókaflóð (aka the Christmas Book Flood)

Now, this is a Book Blog, so here's another book holiday. This time I'm talking about Jólabókaflóð, aka the Christmas Book Flood in Iceland.

Jólabókaflóð History

Jólabókaflóð started during World War II when there were many restrictions and rations on imports, paper was cheap. However, Iceland wasn't large enough to support year-round publishing, so they would flood the market towards the end of the year. Since other types of gifts were in short supply, Icelanders would gift books to their family and friends.

Every year since 1944 (when Jólabókaflóð started), Iceland has published a catalogue - Bókatíðindi (Book Bulletin) - which is sent to every household in the country for free in mid-November. People use this catalogue to order the books they are going to gift for Christmas.

The gifted books are opened on Christmas Eve and, in accordance with tradition, everyone spends the evening reading the books they have been given while drinking hot chocolate or their beverage of choice.

Jólabókaflóð Ideas

Alright, some ideas for ways to celebrate Jólabókaflóð:

Have a Secret Santa exchange of books with your friends and family at your Christmas Eve gathering. Make sure to have plenty of hot beverages and chocolate, and spend the evening reading your new book.

1.  Encourage your friends and family to spend some time making book wish lists; this could include the daunting task of narrowing down their TBR or you could limit it to new releases.
2. Utilize the wish lists to purchase the perfect book for your Secret Santa Exchange.
3. You can choose to include other small gifts such as chocolate or a bookmark, perhaps special mugs or socks.
4. Once the books have been exchanged, settle down for some quiet time to read the new books.
5. If you want to go the extra mile, you can set up some comfy reading nooks or gather around the fire.
6. Hot beverages are a must for Jólabókaflóð, so maybe set up a hot chocolate bar with different flavors and toppings.
7. You might decide you want to share your initial thoughts and impressions on your new book after taking some time to read. You may even end up adding one of the other books to your TBR. 

Or, if you like a little bit more chaos, have a White Elephant exchange of books. I recommend you still have plenty of hot beverages and chocolate.