Jolabokaflod Advent Calendar 2025
There are many gifts we forget. Some we remember for a season. But a few linger for a lifetime, quietly shaping who we become. More often than not, those are the gifts that came wrapped not just in paper, but in story.
I can still remember the weight of one particular book in my hands as a child—the satisfying density of it, the faint smell of ink and dust, the way my name had been written carefully on the inside cover. I don’t remember what else I received that year. I don’t remember the toys, the clothes, the noise. But I remember that book. I remember where I sat when I opened it. I remember how it felt to realise that something inside those pages now belonged to me.
That is the quiet power of giving a book.
Unlike most gifts, a book does not announce itself all at once. It unfolds slowly. It waits. It meets the reader in private moments—in bed after the lights go out, on the sofa while the house sleeps, in the quiet spaces between the busyness of life. A book becomes more than an object. It becomes a companion. A refuge. Sometimes even a turning point.
When we speak about Jolabokaflod—the Icelandic tradition of gifting books on Christmas Eve—we often talk about culture, community, and reading habits. But at its heart, the tradition is deeply personal. It’s about saying to someone, quietly and with care:
“I chose this story for you.”
Today, I invite you to pause and think about the most memorable book you ever received. Who gave it to you? Where were you? What did it awaken in you? Often, when we trace our reading lives back far enough, we find that everything began with a single, thoughtful gift.
That’s why, on Day 3 of our Advent journey, today’s focus is on books that make unforgettable presents—the kind that live on long after the wrapping paper is gone.
🎁 Today’s Reading Picks: “Most Memorable Book Gifts”
Timeless, emotionally resonant titles that make extraordinary presents:
- The Velveteen Rabbit — Margery Williams
- The Little Prince — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
- A Child’s Christmas in Wales — Dylan Thomas
- Charlotte’s Web — E. B. White
These are the books people return to decades later and still remember who gave them.
You can explore the full Advent Calendar curated shelf here:
👉 Explore the Advent Calendar collection on Bookshop.org
And for even more timeless choices:
👉 Visit the Jolabokaflod Classics Shelf
- A Bear Called Paddington – Michael Bond: Gentle humour, kindness, and quiet charm for readers of all ages
- Heidi – Johanna Spyri: Quiet Alpine life, kindness, nature and emotional warmth
- Anne of Green Gables – L. M. Montgomery: Optimistic, lyrical and deeply comforting for all generations.
- Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame: Peaceful riverbank adventures with timeless charm.
- Little Women – Louisa May Alcott: Family, character, resilience and moral growth in a calm narrative style.
- Things Fall Apart – Chinua Achebe: A calm, powerful classic from Nigeria that opened world literature to many readers.
- The Tale of Genji (abridged versions) – Murasaki Shikibu: Gentle, reflective Japanese court life; the world’s first great novel.
- One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel García Márquez: Lyrical, dreamlike and deeply readable in spirit despite its scope.
- Call Me By Your Name – André Aciman (modern classic): Quiet, emotional, and reflective Mediterranean coming-of-age story.
- The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho: Simple, spiritual, and universally readable across cultures and ages.
- To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee: Calmly written, morally powerful and accessible to teens and adults.
- Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck: Short, gentle in tone and emotionally profound.
- The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett: Healing, nature and transformation for all ages.
- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn – Betty Smith: Tender, hopeful and quietly life-affirming.
- The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway: Spare, calm, and meditative with universal themes of dignity and endurance.
If you’re giving a book this Christmas, you’re not just giving a story.
You’re giving a future memory.
Choose it with care.
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An international panel of book-trade experts will judge the eligible entries. A shortlist of potential winners will be announced on New Year’s Day with the winner revealed on 6 January 2020 (Twelfth Night).
The Spring Bank Holiday Monday is drawing to a close in the UK, traditionally a time when people first venture to the seaside in the knowledge that summer is just around the corner. National days leave in Britain are so called due to the tradition that banks are closed for business on these days, a custom harking back to the late 19th century when clerks needed branch closure time to update accounts and tally bookkeeping. Nowadays bank holidays are retained to give tired workers a decent break to relax and recover from the stress of life over long weekends and the opportunity to enjoy extra leisure time.
The avid-reader Mum
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Jolabokaflod 