Jolabokaflod Advent Calendar 2025

There’s a particular kind of happiness that arrives not in grand gestures, but in the quiet rearranging of a corner of your home. A lamp moved a little closer. A blanket folded just so. A mug placed within easy reach. And suddenly, what was once simply a chair becomes something far more powerful: an invitation to read.

For me, the discovery of hygge years ago didn’t come from a book or an article—it came from a moment. A dreary December afternoon, the kind where the sky hangs low and everything feels slightly unfinished. I lit a small lamp, wrapped a blanket around my shoulders, and sat down “just for a minute”. That minute became an hour. That hour became the start of a ritual that has stayed with me every winter since.

Because here’s the truth we often forget:
Adults don’t just need more time to read. They need more reasons to begin.
And nothing encourages beginning quite like a cosy, welcoming nook.

The beauty of a reading nook is that it doesn’t need to be elaborate. You don’t need a fireplace or a bay window or a perfectly curated stack of Pinterest-worthy décor. All you need are three things:

1. A comfortable seat
2. A forgiving light source
3. A sense of shelter

The shelter is the secret ingredient. It might be the way a blanket drapes over your knees. Or how the chair angles away from the busyness of the room. Or even the presence of a cat who is absolutely convinced this nook was created for them.

Today, for Day Two of our Jolabokaflod Advent Calendar, I invite you to join the Hygge Reading Nook Challenge:

Create—or reclaim—one small corner of your home that whispers, “Stay a while.”

And once you’ve done that, you’ll need the right book: something warm, atmospheric, and comforting enough to justify staying put for just one chapter more.

☕ Today’s Reading Picks: “Hygge Nook Essentials”

Books that pair beautifully with soft light, blankets, and unhurried evenings:

• The Little Book of Hygge — Meik Wiking
• Wintering — Katherine May
• The Hygge Holiday — Rosie Blake
• Homebody — Rupi Kaur (for cosy, reflective moments)

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

And if you want even more comforting choices:
👉 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

Whether your nook is humble or heavenly, minimal or magical, let it become your daily December refuge.

May it bring you warmth, rest, and many beautiful pages.