The Jólabókaflóð, or Yule Book Flood, is a heartwarming Icelandic tradition that stems from the era of World War II, when, with strict currency and import restrictions, the already literary country turned to books for a popular Christmas gift. With paper being easy and cheap to import, the Icelandic publishers started a tradition of releasing most of the year’s new books in the months before Christmas and, in November, they would send a catalog of all the new releases to every household, encouraging the giving of books to friends and family as gifts. In Iceland, Christmas is celebrated with your immediate family on December 24th and usually consists of opening your gifts (often a book), having a festive dinner, and then spending a cozy evening together, reading new books and enjoying some chocolate - in any one of its many forms. This tradition evokes such a cozy, family oriented feeling, it inspired us to start our own Good Gray Yule Book Flood to try to bring this peaceful tradition to our shop and our friends.
