While Costco and WalMart have shopping carts of 75% OFF Halloween Clearance, and Christmas music is already playing on 2 of our local radios stations….
… the Bokatidindi has come out in Iceland (Pause here for screams of excitment!!!)
The Bokatidindi is the catalog of EVERY new book published in Iceland. And it is a BIG deal. I’m going to repeat that…..
The Icelandic Publisher’s Association sends a free catalog about books to EVERY home in Iceland.
This is SOOOOOOOO much better than the old Sears (and Roebuck) Christmas catalog we 
used to moon about and spend hours folding down corners of pages.
Iceland publishes more books per capita than any country in the world…but the majority of the books are sold during 3 months of the year: Sept-Nov.
Thus begins the preparations for the Yule Book Flood where Icelanders exchange books on Christmas eve, then snug up in their favorite homey niche with chocolate and spend the rest of the evening reading.
Dallas Cowboy Fan and I are adopting the tradition. I’ve already started on the chocolates.
Visit with your friends and relatives over Thanksgiving about starting a new tradition. A sane one…Jolabokaflod.
Pronounced: yo-la-bok-a-flot.
What book would you like to read?
(And Happy Thanksgiving!)
HUGS!!! ❤
Photo by Daria Shevtsova on Unsplash
Photo by Lilly Rum on Unsplash
Before Morning Breaks 
It sounds like just the best way to spend Christmas Eve… and Christmas Day and every day until New Years!
… and Thanksgiving too, come to think of it.
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Great Blog, Barb. Thanks for taking the taking the icicles off the glasses to learn about a custom from another country. If Iceland wasn’t so cold I’d move there. Also, interested in reading Independent People.
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I love it. Icicles on my glasses. Doesn’t Independent People sound good?
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Would LOVE to be a part of such tradition, and I will take advantage of those recommendations.
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It sort of makes Christmas shopping more fun, doesn’t it? Figuring out what type of book another person would enjoy. A gift with thought behind it.
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Now THERE’S a tradition I could get behind. 🙂
Then again, I already read darned near every evening of the year as it is, so I don’t know if I could read any MORE… but I’d sure love to get that kind of catalog.
It’s good to hear from you again. Happy Thanksgiving!
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Happy Turkey day back to you. I’d love to hear some book recommendations from you.
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This is a great idea! Those writers are sooo lucky to be in that book. The readers are lucky too as a book is always my favorite gift.
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Maybe it would be too expensive to publish such a catalog in the U.S., but what a treasure trove.
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I have never heard of this. Amazing, Barb. I’d be one to read the entire magazine.
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Are you thinking about doing it? I’m making a list and leaving it for Mr. Dallas Cowboy to see.
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Well it all makes sense. What else are you going to do in Iceland in the winter? Oh yeah, there is that……..
So good to hear from you again, Barb.
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HaHa Al, I bet there’s lots of ice-scraping, skiing, skating, events. Not to mention hooking up cars to heater blocks.
Thanks for the gracious welcome back. You’re too kind.
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I am planning on visiting a local used book and yarn store (Backstory Books on Hawthorne Ave.) for Small Store Saturday. She is very good about carrying local authors and might be willing to do a book signing with you.
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I LOVE Small STore Saturday. Thanks for the heads up. I like to visit local pizza shops and breweries that day, too.
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I want to read GOOD NIGHT OREGON.
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You’re a sweetie. Thanks. Amazon finally got them back in after the first sell-through. I feel strangely surprised.
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What a great idea. I heard there’s a new book out by Barb Froman. Perhaps we could start there… Happy holidays!
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Thanks, Don. And I love this idea of exchanging books on Christmas eve. A book lives on for a long time. You can pass it around. Start conversations about it. Use it as a doorstop. It’s like a multipurpose tool. And can you imagine the Christmas Eve arguments that wouldn’t happen because everyone’s reading instead of drinking or arguing with Uncle Ned about politics or something that happened 20 years ago?
Bring on the reading!!
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Now that is a tradition I could get behind. Indeed in my small scale (and greedy) way I am already behind it.
So many books, so little time. I will die trying though.
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Don’t forget the chocolate.
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Iceland has always promoted the arts in a big way. The Iceland Airwaves music festival just ended last week and if you haven’t read Halldor Laxness’ translated works, especially the Pulitzer prize winning Independent People, you might be in for a treat. The cold, dark winters lend themselves to creative activities and young and old Icelanders are highly encouraged to try their best at anything they choose.
My grandfather was from Northern Iceland and it is an awesome place to see!
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OOOOOHHHH! Book recommendations. I LOVE IT. I’m always on the hunt for a good book. Thank you. Thank you.
I’m so impressed you know that the Iceland Airwaves Music Festival just ended. And also that you quote temperatures (on your blog) in BOTH centigrade and Fahrenheit.
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