Jolabokaflod

[UtterlyUnimaginativeUsername]

Anyone else planning to do Jolabokaflod? DS asked me the other day to alert the Jolabokaflod fairy (DH, and I don't think there's supposed to be a fairy, that's just in our house!) about a couple of books he'd like, so the message has been relayed and DH is going to go to our local bookshop and order them in (the Jolabokaflod books always come from there).

It's funny, we had never come across it as a tradition (being Irish rather than Icelandic), but we did it three years ago and it immediately became a huge part of our family Christmas routine. It's a lovely piece of cosy peace and calm on Christmas Eve. I highly recommend it.

A what now?!

The last thing I need to do is buy more books!

Never heard of this before but I think it sounds lovely! Thank you for sharing 😊

Our Christmas Eve is usually board games and/or a Christmas film so I might do it on another evening in the run-up to Christmas though.

Is this not just part of the origin of the Xmas eve box.

Lots of us had the xmas eve book as a tradition (my mam did in the 60s/70s and me in the 80s/90s) as kids and still lot of us do xmas eve boxes (in fact I think even people without the tradition have started).

I do this every year for mum, aunt and brother. However we're happy to do used books. So I bought mine in the world of books buy 3 get one free section.

I'll add a small box of chocs and a mini bottle of wine/beer to each small gift bag as well.

Dd always gets a book on Xmas eve as well, and new pjs.

I'm so glad this is gaining traction in the uk, we are huge fans after discovering this on a festive trip to Iceland about 10 years ago and we instantly adopted it. It's a lovely cosy feeling sharing books and reading in our new festive pjs.

Absolutely love this too.

Jólabókaflóð just means that a load of books are published in the run up to Christmas - Christmas book flood. Isn't it the same in most countries? It's a good time to publish because people are buying presents.

Are you publishing a book?

Or you're just giving books as Christmas presents? Aren't books normal Christmas everywhere?

I don't get how you 'do' the Christmas publishing rush?

Of course there are books at Christmas anyway, it's just nice to have a part of it that's just about the books, you know? Especially on Christmas eve, when we're all a bit wound up and in need of some quiet time.

We added it as one of our christmas traditions a few years ago too and I really love it - it sets the tone of the evening in a really nice way - no stress, no hassle, just some nice quiet time to delve into a book. Loved the previous posters idea about including chocolates and wine too.

I was just asking what you mean by the word? Because I live in Iceland and I know the word jólabókaflóð and it means that a lot of books are published and bought around Christmas. What exactly are you doing??

The 24th in Iceland is the main event so there's no such thing as a 'Christmas Eve box' or 'Christmas Eve book' because that evening is when you dress up in your fancy clothes and have the big meal and open all your presents and socialise with family. Books are common presents just as they are anywhere, but you get all your presents that evening. It's very different to Christmas Eve in countries where the 25th is the main day.

I think you might have misunderstood something?

It's described in various places online as a tradition of giving each other books on Christmas Eve, and sitting around reading them together, probably with hot chocolate. If it's being misrepresented, I like what they've made it into and I'm going to keep doing whatever it is In our family, DH buys everyone a book or two from our local bookshop. He goes out on Christmas Eve and delivers my parents' books to them, and my sister comes to our house (in her pyjamas!) and we all curl up in front of the fire and read and eat chocolate with some gentle christmas piano music on in the background.

Sounds lovely. I would just call it something in English because that's not what the word means but it does sound very cosy and relaxing. I'm sure some Icelandic families do read their new books after Christmas dinner, though.

I've done it for the last 10 years, it is my children's fave Christmas tradition!

Anyone got a fancy name/label for my Christmas tradition of making ds come out on a long dog walk with me on Christmas eve then trying to get rid of the eau de wet dog smell before the madness of Christmas decends? 🤣