It’s the Christmas “flood of books” in Iceland. The Icelandair website has a brief history of this very pleasant tradition of reading and book-giving.

It certainly beats the usual stories and traditions of mayhem and terror during the Icelandic Christmas season. Like the Yule Cat, for example, which devours children who did not get new clothes among their presents. There’s usually a large Yule Cat set up in downtown Reykjavik as a reminder.