The Yule Book Flood

RHYS BOWEN: I recently read an article about the happiest places on Earth. And at the top of the list were the Scandinavian countries. They have great social welfare programs. They pay high taxes but they know they will never be without healthcare, homeless, hungry or neglected when they are old. They have the right idea about how to enjoy life and it's not acquiring more things. My friend visited Denmark this summer and the family always ate together, spending the evening talking and laughing. They went everywhere by bicycle, took picnics, enjoyed the outdoors.

Okay, you say, but some of those countries spend half the year in darkness.  Ah, I reply. But Iceland has the Jólabókaflóð.

Yes, it's The yule book flood! On Christmas Eve everyone gives and receives a book, and they spend the night reading them. What a brilliant idea, and hooray for Iceland! What a wonderful country that values books and reading. Can you picture curling up with a rug in an armchair by the fire, a mug of hot chocolate or spiced cider and a plate of cookies beside you and reading all night? Big sigh of content.

So I’m trying to think what books I would want to give my nearest and dearest on Christmas Eve.

Daughters Clare, Anne and Jane would be easy to please because they read a lot and enjoy the same sort of books I do. So Kate Morton, or historical WW1 or 2. Then we would pass them around after we’d read them.  Of course Clare is brilliant and might enjoy a book on Quantum Physics. (yes, she reads things like that for pleasure) And Anne is an activist and dog lover. A funny book of dogs might go down well on Christmas Eve. 

Granddaughter Lizzie is going off to college so a book on

surviving alone might be good. Granddaughter Meghan loves art and design. Clare's kids love dystopian novels.(eek). A few years ago when I gave them the Hunger Games they hugged the books and jumped up and down. Tim would want something on theology, Sam on robots.

Years ago I gave son-in-law Tom a Daniel Silva and he rushed out to buy everything else Silva had written. So he’d be easy too. Dominic and Meredith are into house renovation, inspirational self-help and healthy cooking. Plenty of choice there.  I’m not sure about John. When he loves a book he has to read it straight through, not pausing to eat, sleep or visit the bathroom. But he doesn’t always love books I think he will.  One of mine would be good, but he’s proof-read them all.

And now I’m writing this I’m thinking that half the fun would be choosing the books, lying in bed and thinking which book would be perfect for which person.  I think I’d want to share the book I’d been given with those around me that night, so I’d choose a book to receive that could be read out loud. One of my favorites and perfect for the occasion would be the POEMS OF ROBERT FROST.  His poetry is so evocative and so right for cold winter evenings. What’s more his world is one of simplicity, of peace, and safe havens that so many of us crave right now. I once visited his farm with friends and we did the poetry walk, each taking turns to read the appropriate poem at the site about which it was written. One of the most memorable things I have ever done. And I am now inspired to do this myself this year: so picture me sitting by the fire and reading “The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep….”

So, dear Red family, what books would you give and which would you like to receive?

HALLIE EPHRON: I'm especially looking for books for my 4-year-old granddaughter and 1-year-old  grandson. The problem is they already have SO MANY books (and toys and clothes and...) and we saved the keepers that belonged to our daughters. So finding just one special book, that's the challenge. I just bought myself a copy of Saturday Evening Girls Club by Jane Healey and I'm looking forward to curling up with it.

INGRID THOFT: Help!  I need a book suggestion for an eight-year-old!  Any thoughts?  I love to get people hooked on series, and one of the series that I find pleases just about everyone is C.J. Box’s Joe Pickett books.  Men and women, city mice and country mice alike seem to enjoy these books.  There are a couple of people on my list who would enjoy “Obama: An Intimate Portrait,” the coffee table book by Pete Souza, the official White House photographer during the Obama years.  I’d love to get a dessert cookbook that isn’t too complicated, but full of yummy options.  Any favorites all of you can recommend?

RHYS: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Everyone loves that series. If the child is an advanced reader she can tackle the first Harry Potter at 8.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: OH, there's great YA mystery called SUMMERLOST,  about a young girl who gets a summer job at a local theater that does Shakespeare.  And Peter Abrahams' Echo Falls Mysteries. I think they're okay for an eight-year old...oh! The main character in the Echo Falls books is named Ingrid!  So that solves that. 

And all the Edward Eager books--like HALF MAGIC (where you only get half your wish so you have to figure that out) and KNIGHTS CASTLE (where the main characters take part in Ivanhoe). SO great.

Ben Mezrich (of the Facebook movie fame) has a new YA called Charlie Numbers--it looks adorable.

Hallie, the one year old should have Chicka-Chicka Boom Boom. I got the new book on RFK for my step son and his sons. And the Stephen Kinzer book on Teddy Roosevelt and Mark Twain (so fascinating--there was "fake news" back then, too, of course) for Jonathan's brother. 

For me? Sadly, I just want my own book to be finished. But I have miles to go before I sleep.

LUCY BURDETTE: A couple kids books that I recommend are Me… Jane by Patrick McDonnell and Some Writer! The story of EB White by Melissa Wweet. Both are gorgeously illustrated and good for both boys and girls. I bought the first one for 18 month old Dorothea but I think it’s probably skews older than that. The second one would definitely be for a 4 to 7-year-old and her parents to read. And if you are a huge fan of Mr. White as I am, this is a great book. 

If you have someone on your list who loves food and Paris, David Lebovitz has a new memoir out called L'APPART about his travails buying and renovating his apartment in Paris. Absolutely chilling, I have assured John that I no longer want a French pied a terre for my birthday!

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Ingrid, I'm going to add to everyone's suggestions: anything my Dav Pilkey for a boy (the Captain Underpants series and the Ricky Riccota's Mighty Robot series are huge at our local library. For a girl, try the Ivy and Bean series by Annie Barrows. 

For me, one of my cherished personal Christmas traditions is to snuggle down in the comfy reading chair in front of the fire after all my dinner guests have left, and to crack open a book I received that morning (or have been saving for the occasion.) It's lovely to get into my flannel pajamas after a long, long day and read late into the night. (Because I don't have to get up early for anything on St. Stephen's day!)

What would I gift for Jólabókaflóð? For my sister who likes to travel, National Geographic's DESTINATIONS OF A LIFETIME. For her husband, the Trekkie, THESE ARE THE VOYAGES: The Original Series, Season One. For my brother the history buff, Ron Chernow's magisterial biography GRANT. And for my sister-in-law, who loves to cook,
Poole’s: Recipes and Stories from a Modern Diner by
Ashley Christensen.

As for my fiction-loving mother, there's only one novel she wants to read... my next one! Better get cranking.

JENN MCKINLAY: How funny. I just wrote a post about Jólabókaflóð for my publisher's newsletter. They wanted me to choose the one book I would gift to a book lover for the "flood of books"? For me, it's THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak. I love that book on so many levels. Now, if we're talking kids, I am all over the Junie B. Jones books by Barbara Parks. June B is the sassiest first grader whoever was! I love her and most kids do, too, even boys! For me, I collect knitting books. I don't have time to knit as much as I'd like but I love reading the patterns. I recently found a book of Japanese knitting patterns by Hitomi Shida that reshaped my brain like fingers in Play-Doh. It's my latest favorite. 

RHYS: Jenn, I had to write that same post for our joint publisher--which is what gave me the idea for this! And I also love knitting patterns. When I'm next in Arizona I'll gift you a book of impossibly fabulous but difficult patterns.

So now it's your turn, everyone. What books would you like to give and receive for the  Jólabókaflóð.?