For the holidays, here's an Icelandic tradition of book-giving

Dec 22, 2022

jolabokaflod or the Christmas book flood is the Icelandic Christmas eve book tradition. Image: Unsplash/Nick Fewings

Douglas Broom

Senior Writer, Forum Agenda

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A book at bedtime on Christmas Eve: The origins of Jólabókaflóð are a little more recent, dating from the wartime years of the 1940s. Image: Unsplash/Mark Zamora.

A book cover of 'Bókatíðindi' with a father Christmas cartoon. Jólabókaflóð

An edition of the Bókatíðindi, an annual catalogue of all the books published in Iceland that year, which is sent to every household. Image: Association of Icelandic Book Publishers.

Apart from the annual Jólabókaflóð, Icelanders are spending more and more on books and reading materials. Image: Statista.

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