Holiday Traditions : Jólabókaflóðið (Iceland)

Jólabókaflóðið means "Christmas Book Flood", and it's a tradition from Iceland that's been getting a lot of attention around the world in the last few years. Iceland has a strong and passionate literary tradition going back hundreds of years. A lot of Icelanders read, and Icelanders read a lot. More books are printed per capita than anywhere else in the world. Because of the country's small population of just 360,000 however, books are not released year-round. There's a book release season, from late September to early December (just in time for Christmas!). Most books are printed in hardback; paperbacks and ebooks are much less popular because Icelanders are just not interested in them. The book is seen as valuable as a physical object as well as for what it contains.

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This strong love of literature came together with another circumstance to make books the most given item at Christmas. During World War 2, most things were rationed and imports were prohibitively expensive, but paper was still widely available, which enabled publishers to continue producing books. Since they were one of the few things available as gifts, giving books became a universal tradition amongst Icelanders.

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While I suppose the Jólabókaflóðið technically begins when the books start to go on sale in late September, the season culminates on 24th December with the giving and receiving of the books. In Iceland, Christmas gifts are traditionally given on Christmas Eve. Since most people give and receive books, a practice has organically grown up of people staying in to read their books, often accompanied by chocolate or a hot chocolate drink. (No-one's quite sure where that last part came from, but I don't think anyone complains about it!) This is one tradition that I can definitely celebrate very happily, and I hope you think so too!

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Note:
* I have also seen it written as Jólabókaflóð.
* Here's an interesting article about some issues in the Icelandic publishing industry.

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_Christmas_book_flood
https://www.npr.org/2012/12/25/167537939/literary-iceland-revels-in-its-annual-christmas-book-flood
https://www.treehugger.com/culture/icelanders-give-books-christmas-eve.html
https://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/2018/12/19/icelands-book-and-chocolate-tradition-perfect-way-spend-christmas-eve