A Bookish Midwinter Gift Guide
AKA Jolabokaflod without tears
Over on WhatsApp, I’ll be running a bookish Advent calendar this year - 24 days of readings from my favourite wintery books and poems. Hopefully something restful and undemanding in your busy midwinter days! It’s free for anyone to join - just sign up to my WhatsApp channel.
Let’s start with first principles: books are excellent options in a season of intensive gift-giving. They are portable and compact; they survive well in the post; they are frequently beautiful and possibly even life-changing; when chosen carefully, they allow you to show your beloveds how well you know them.
For all these reasons - and because it’s been a hard year for many parts of the publishing industry, including authors, bookshops and small publishers - I wanted to offer a slightly inside-out gift guide, because it’s not focused on which books to buy (although I do have a few ideas), but rather how to buy them.
A note on Jolabokaflod
Jolabokaflod is the Icelandic tradition of giving books on Christmas Eve - the ‘Christmas book flood’. It is the result of a very successful marketing drive from Icelandic publishers, starting in 1944, which encouraged people to take a moment amid the festive rush to sit with hot drinks and a new book. Every year a catalogue called the Bokatidindi is circulated, listing a vast array of books available under many categories. This has done a great job of supporting Icelandic writers, encouraging reading, and keeping local publishers in business.
A few years ago, I decided to adopt this tradition in my own house, slightly skeptical that it would catch on, given that I’m the only enthusiastic reader among us. I was surprised to find that it worked. A little pool of peace was created - albeit temporary - while my family leafed through their books and sipped cocoa. It felt like a respite, and a shift into Christmas-proper, as opposed to the endless preparatory phase.
If you’re thinking of creating your own Jolabokaflod this year - or maybe you’re just buying books as gifts - here are some ideas for making it work.
Ethical buying
If you have a local independent bookseller, the best thing you can do - above all my advice - is to go into the shop and buy from their displays. These people know their stuff. They can make excellent recommendations, and will almost certainly have books you’ve never heard of and cannot wait to get into your sticky paws. They also need and deserve your support. Bookshops face stiff competition from online retailers and supermarkets, as well as spiralling costs. If you possibly can, walk into an actual shop, buy your books in person, and maybe browse their lovely selection of cards too. Nobody loses here. (P.S. Most bookshops can quickly order in your chosen title if they don’t have it in stock.)
If you don’t have a local palace of literary wonder, then please go anywhere before you go to Amazon, which has so many problematic practices that I can’t even be bothered to list them anymore. I personally prefer Bookshop.org for my online purchases (did you know you can still share the profits to your local bookstore?), but for small publishers or individuals, consider buying direct. The imposition of tariffs have made life hard for lots of small retailers, which means we all have to double-down on buying local.
By the way, second-hand books are great, and can ease your budget and let you find something really special - but please consider the author if the book is relatively new. They deserve to be paid for their work. I only buy second hand for books that are out of print and/or the author is no longer with us.
Planning Jolabokaflod
If you would like to add this extra literary beat into your festive plans, here are some things I’ve learned:
Let people know in advance that it will be happening. They are more likely to engage if they’re ready rather than surprised.
Set the atmosphere: candles, a fire, enough light to read but nothing too bright; tree lights on; a gentle Christmas album in the background. We serve hot chocolate or a little glass of something, and a sweet treat like lebkuchen.
Wrap the books. It adds to the sense of ceremony.
Make sure you have a book too. No hovering around while other people read. You must take part, or else everyone will feel self-conscious.
Don’t get over-ambitious - half an hour is plenty if young folk are involved. Let them have a quick flick and then drift off if they need to; it’s not school. The adults may want to linger longer, and that’s fine.
Choosing the books
If you’re planning for people to read their book right away, make them short, picture-led or easily digestible in small chunks. You need to be able to have a satisfying reading experience in a relatively short amount of time.
Don’t try to improve people with your purchase - particularly young people, who are on their winter break and probably in need of a rest. Meet them where they are, with their interests not yours. Let them just enjoy their book. Don’t buy for the person you want them to be; buy for who they are.
Festive books are great, but then they really must be one-hit reads. No-one wants to read a Christmas book in January, which is the next chance most people will get to actually read.
What books work well
Cookbooks are an excellent choice, but only for people who like cooking (see above). Perennial classics include Nigel Slater’s The Christmas Chronicles and Anja Dunk’s Advent. But do also consider a pick from this year’s crop of cookbooks - there are always so many excellent choices. I loved Yasmin Khan’s Sabzi and Samin Nosrat’s Good Things.
Nice editions of an old favourite, especially if there is a lovely new edition.
Collections of letters from a beloved author - or the Letters or Note anthologies are great. J.R.R. Tolkien’s Letters from Father Christmas is lovely by the way, but might make you feel like an inadequately imaginative parent.
Books led by illustrations, infographics, maps or diagrams. I’ve bought Writers Map by Huw Lewis-Jones a few times - a compilation of maps drawn by fantasy authors. This year, I have my eye on William Rankin’s Radical Cartography.
Books of gentle spiritual wisdom, broken into easy chunks. Anne Lamott, Tricia Hersey, Ross Day and Cole Arthur Riley are surely your friends here. But please - tread carefully, and don’t try to impose ideas on anyone who won’t fully welcome them. This is not a moment to convert people to your way of seeing the universe.
Slim festive novels. The publishing industry seems to find a new lost classic every year, and they make great gifts. This year, Guntar Gunnarsson’s Advent is a lovely choice; I’d also recommend Selma Lagerlof’s A Book for Christmas and Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These.
Collections of short stories. There are lots of festive anthologies, including some very good ghost story collections. I really like The Penguin Book of Christmas Stories, which is packaged beautifully.
Maybe something a little more pagan? Sarah Clegg’s The Dead of Winter is great for exploring the darker traditions of the season, or Nina Maclaughlin’s Winter Solstice is an existential essay on the darkest days.
Poetry. We should all read more. Pass on a personal favourite, or choose a collection that suits the reader. The one I give the most is Penguin Book of Spiritual Verse, exquisitely picked by Kaveh Akbar.
Coffee table books: fashion, architecture, design or art books all make for a contented flick, and it’s a good way to please teens.
Children’s books given to adults: an excellent choice. This is all about a soft landing, and nostalgia is inherent to the season.
For the book-adverse, go geeky: Dungeons & Dragons books of monsters or maps; Star Wars; Stranger Things… glossy deep-dives into the obsessions of your beloveds will elicit gasps of pleasure, even from the most book-averse. Inaki Aliste Lizarralde and Neal E. Fischer’s Behind the Screens contains floorplans of familiar rooms in famous sitcoms and TV shows, and is a fun choice for tweens.
Image credit: Complot
Some books I’m buying this year
St Brigid & Me by Hannah McCann - a hand-drawn zine that explores the figure of St Brigid and the author’s personal relationship with her mythology and meanings.
Cloud Labour by Sabrina Huang, translated by Lin King - a quirky Taiwanese novel that will please Murakami fans, but wonderfully short and sweet.
Letters from Wonderland by Josie George - fun, inspirational and mysterious, this is a great choice for an inquiring child.
Winter’s Song by Angela Harding - an exploration of the iconic printmaker’s worldview, full of gorgeous pictures.
The Strange House by Raymond Briggs - a rediscovered early book by the author of The Snowman - the Manderly Press’s annual subscription would also make a great gift.
A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas - this is a perennial favourite in my house, but these clever little books from Reynard Press serve as Christmas cards, and support Three Peas, a charity supporting those fleeing persecution.
I have a set of these books to give away to a subscriber - to enter the draw, just leave a comment to share a book you’re giving as a gift this year. I’ll draw a name at random on Friday 5th December.
Looking forward to reading your suggestions!
Take care,
Katherine
Check out my books: Enchantment, Wintering & The Electricity of Every Living Thing | If you think a friend or loved one would enjoy The Clearing by Katherine May, gift subscriptions are available here | My website | The Way Through Winter course
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg for my seven year old cousin. It was my favorite as a child and I’m rereading it now ☺️
Well, not to flatter but a truth. I'm giving Wintering for my book club gift exchange.