Jólabókaflóð: Iceland’s Christmas Book Flood

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Iceland is a book wormery, besides boasting a near 100% literacy rate, the nation leads the world in terms of writers, books published, and books read per person. Incredibly about 1 in 10 Icelanders will publish a book in their lifetime, and ⅓ of the Icelandic population reads books daily! 

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But what is this unique book-based Christmas tradition they have?

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Jolabokaflod (literally “Yule book flood”) is a very popular Icelandic tradition that takes place on or around Christmas eve. Here families exchange books and often spend part of the evening reading their new books - often in a cozy atmosphere. These books are often wrapped in traditional Icelandic paper, and finding a book with an insect inside is seen as a stroke of good luck.

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The story of Jólabókaflóð begins during the Second World War. Under wartime economic pressures and strict import restrictions, many common gift items became scarce, but paper was one of the few commodities that was not rationed, making books a popular Christmas present. 

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For the 1944 holiday season, the Icelandic Publishers Association created the first Bókatíðindi (meaning, “book bulletin”), a catalogue listing every book published in Icelandic that year; copies were distributed free to every household in the country so shoppers could select titles for their families and friends. Books weren’t just a wartime holiday hit though, they’ve remained popular in the years and decades since. A new edition of the Bókatíðindi has been printed and distributed every year since 1944. It’s worth noting that this flood of book purchasing and giving is so significant it accounts for 80% of the annual book sales!

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