Jolabokaflod -the Icelandic Tradition of Gifting Books

Submitted: 12th December 2025

Jolabokaflod – Christmas Book Flood

An odd-sounding tradition but the best one I have ever heard of. Well, just as good as the Spanish tradition of gifting books on St Jordi, Mind you girls are supposed to get flowers and boys and men get books so not sure where that went wrong.

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Still, back to Iceland and where EVERYONE gets a book as a gift on Christmas Eve and then spend a cosy time reading their book as they sit in companionable silence….

iceland and books

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The Christmas book flood or Yule book flood (Icelandic: Jólabókaflóðið) is a term used in Iceland for the annual release of new books occurring in the months before Christmas.

This tradition makes books the most popular Christmas gift in the country. I mean, imagine!!! What joy!! Even better, that night, people will often read their new books and drink hot chocolate. I mean could this GET ANY BETTER????

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And the magic does not stop there. Every household is given a catalogue – a journal of books if you will – delivered to their house for free. The joy and somewhat tense moments where you have to decide….where you circle and mark what you want to read during the holidays and then prepare yourself to go out and buy the lot.

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The tradition comes from both Iceland’s centuries-long literary history and the state of the economy during WWII, when strict currency restrictions limited the amount of imported giftware. Restrictions on imported paper were more lenient than on other products, and so books became and stayed the Christmas gift of choice.

Just in case you don’t believe in Christmas magic…..

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