Cozy Christmas List
It’s the month before Christmas, and all through the house lay the books I’ve been wanting to read all year!
The countdown to Christmas sparks these two thoughts for me:
A holiday full of joy, and—
The end of the year!
The fleeting sense of time mixes up with the wonderful sweetness of the season turning out a bittersweet sensation. I can’t think about it for too long.
Reading, even though it doesn’t seem like we have two seconds to spare, can actually cheer us when we get the holiday blues. One of my dearest friends turned me on to this after I learned of her family’s tradition on Christmas Eve.
Every year, each person in the family swaps names in a gift exchange drawing. Then, on Christmas Eve, they bring a new book for the person whose name they picked out to gather around for scrumptious snacks and cozy drinks. They spend the winter hours reading together until bedtime.
Doesn’t that sound purely magical!
And in Iceland, this is a very common household tradition called Jólabókaflóð. Also known as the Book Flood. There will only be two of us tucked away in Iowa for Christmas Eve. Instead of a flood, our exchange will be more like a sprinkle. And this month I am looking for more ways like reading before bedtime to slow the pace down. As often as I can in the month of December, I am going to crack the spine of books that spark joy and whisk me away. I hope you will join me with a few of these suggestions that you might enjoy, too.
