There is a certain sense of tranquility that comes over me once everyone has eaten the Christmas dinner and unwrapped their presents. All the excitement that has built up over the past weeks suddenly washes away and I feel thankful and happy. I am thankful for my family and happy to be able to spend this precious time with them. What follows is one of my favorite holiday traditions—The Christmas Book Flood (Jólabókaflóð), where we read books and eat chocolate!
I usually receive 3-5 books as Christmas presents and once all of the presents have been opened, we usually start reading our first book of many read over the holidays. The nights become long in Iceland and we successfully manage to sleep during the day and read during the night. For me, who is used to waking up at around 7am every morning, this becomes difficult. If the book is fun and exciting, I sometimes read until 3, 4, 5 o‘clock in the morning and sleep until noon, as does everyone else in the household.
Iceland boosts one of the highest rates of books published per capita, 3.5 books for every 1,000 inhabitants and Icelanders read or listen to an average of 2.4 books a month. A study made in 2013 by the Bifrost University (yes, Bifrost like in the Marvel movies), showed that 50% of Icelanders read at least 8 books a year, and many of them are read over the holidays and into the cold and dark month of January. The same study shows that an impressive 93% of Icelanders read at least one book a year. Every year before Christmas, a catalog is delivered to each house in Iceland highlighting new and existing books for people to buy for their loved ones and give as a Christmas gift. Based on the statistics mentioned earlier we publish on average between 1200 -1300 books per year, and for a nation of 400,000 people, that is very impressive.
"Each tradition is different, but the main point is togetherness. As a family we enjoy being together during this precious time. We are all together, even though we are essentially miles apart, buried in a book taking us to different places, reading different genres, and experiencing different stories."
Books are a big part of us as Icelanders, and we have been extremely fortunate to have preserved many of our original manuscripts and sagas. Our oldest manuscripts were written around the year 1000 AD and with our language being old Norse, a Germanic language that hasn't changed that dramatically over the centuries, we can still read today what was written over a thousand years ago. Stories are our heritage, and we are extremely proud of our old manuscripts and that we have been able to preserve and showcase them today.
But back to holiday traditions. Each tradition is different, but the main point is togetherness. As a family we enjoy being together during this precious time. We are all together, even though we are essentially miles apart, buried in a book taking us to different places, reading different genres, and experiencing different stories. Some are romantic, some are crime or suspense, but all fill our imaginations and expand us. Reading is growing, and growing is not standing still. We live in a world where we have many choices. Sometimes those choices are being spoon fed to us, making us reactive. We are told what cereal to buy, what food to eat and beer to drink. We get this information through tv shows and commercials. We are often buying into a feeling, an emotion that is being created and pushed on us and if we don‘t buy into this, we are made to feel we are missing out.
Books, in my mind are different. I have read some books many times and each time I have a different experience. Books make you proactive. Books push you to analyze and decide how you feel about the specific topic being addressed. That feeling may change, depending on your mood or where you are in life, and that is the beauty of reading. The story is presented to you, but how you interpret that story, and what you do with it is at your own discretion, based on your thoughts and imagination.
I will be the first to admit that I read less today than I have in the past, but every time I grab a book and dive in, I am rewarded with a mental stimulant, similar to the hit of dopamine I get when I exercise. So, for this holiday season, I encourage you to exercise your brain. Challenge yourself and go on a journey created only by the story in the book and your own imagination.
Happy holidays and enjoy your read.
