Jolabokaflod Advent Calendar 2025

Christmas Eve carries a particular kind of energy.

It’s quieter than the days before it, but fuller than the days that follow. The rush has largely passed. The waiting is nearly over. And somewhere in between, a small pocket of calm opens — if we choose to notice it.

In Iceland, Jolabokaflod Eve is not about doing more.

It’s about settling in.

Books are exchanged. Pyjamas appear early. Chocolate is unwrapped without ceremony. The world narrows to the simple, generous idea that tonight is for reading — not achieving, not preparing, not performing.

Over the years, I’ve come to think of Christmas Eve reading not as an activity, but as a kit. A few carefully chosen elements that make the evening feel held and complete. When these are in place, the rest tends to follow naturally.

So today, on Day 23 of our Jolabokaflod Advent Calendar, I invite you to assemble your own Reading Survival Kit — not as a checklist, but as a gentle ritual.

🎄 The Jolabokaflod Eve Reading Survival Kit

One Book
Not a decision to agonise over. Choose something that feels right for tonight. Comforting, absorbing, or quietly beautiful.

Something Sweet
Chocolate, biscuits, fruit, or a favourite treat. Reading pairs well with a little indulgence.

Warm Layers
Socks, a blanket, pyjamas — anything that signals the day is done.

Soft Light
A lamp, a candle, fairy lights. Enough to read without pulling the room back into daytime.

Permission to Stop
This may be the most important item. Permission to read only a few pages — or many. Permission to sleep early. Permission to enjoy the moment without documenting it.

I remember one Christmas Eve when everything else fell away unexpectedly. The house was still. The book was good. The night passed quietly — and it remains one of the most peaceful Christmas memories I have.

That’s the gift of Jolabokaflod Eve:

It gives the season somewhere to land.

📚 Today’s Reading Picks — “Jolabokaflod Eve Books”

Perfect companions for the night before Christmas:

• Notes from a Small Island — Bill Bryson
• The Secret History — Donna Tartt
• The Dictionary of Lost Words — Pip Williams
• The Moving Finger — Agatha Christie

You can explore the full Advent Calendar titles here:
👉 Explore the Advent Calendar collection on Bookshop.org

And if you’re still choosing:
👉 Visit the Cosy Winter Fiction Shelf

• The Undesired — Yrsa Sigurðardóttir: You might want to sleep with the light on after reading this book.
• Home Before Dark — Eva Bjorg Ægisdottir: Ppsychological thriller that is dark, chilling and atmospheric.
• Murder on the Orient Express — Agatha Christie: The world’s greatest detective, Hercule Poirot, must identify the prime suspects from among the small but disparate group of remaining passengers– before the murderer decides to strike again.
• Wolf Winter — Cecilia Ekback: Exquisitely suspenseful, beautifully written and highly recommended mystery.
• Snowblind — Ragnar Jónasson: Chilling, thrilling slice of Icelandic Noir.
• In the Midst of Winter — Isabel Allende: Beautifully crafted, multi-generational novel of struggle, endurance and friendship against the odds.
• Beartown — Fredrik Backman: Surefooted insight into the absurdity, beauty and ache of life.
• The Winter People – Jennifer McMahon: Simmering psychological thriller about ghostly secrets, dark choices and the unbreakable bond between mothers and daughters.
• The Great Alone — Kristin Hannah: Unforgettable portrait of human frailty, resilience and American pioneering spirit.
• One by One — Ruth Ware: Sense of dread deepens as the snow falls in tensely plotted and deliciously cast alpine thriller.
• The Land in Winter — Andrew Miller: Novel of dazzling humanity and captivating, crystalline prose.
• City of Thieves — David Benioff: Captivating novel about war, courage, survival and a remarkable friendship that ripples across a lifetime.
• Snow Falling on Cedars — David Guterson: Murder mystery, sweet love story, tale of predjudice and hardship, and a coming to terms with one’s failings.
• Snow Country — Yasunari Kawabata: Work of beauty and strangeness, one of the most distinguished and moving of Japanese novels.
• The Bear and The Nightingale — Katherine Arden: Atmospheric and enchanting, with an engrossing adventure at its core.

Tonight doesn’t need to be special because it’s perfect.
It becomes special because it’s gentle.

Settle in.
Open your book.
And let Christmas arrive quietly, one page at a time.