Written by Liz Boccolini
It’s the holiday season! Traditions are in abundance at this time of year, from country-wide to family-specific. If you’re religious, you might go to your place of worship. Or perhaps maybe you stay home drinking hot chocolate and watching holiday movies. Some people volunteer to bring food, drink, and companionship to the less fortunate. In my family, my sisters and I dress in matching pajamas and watch the 24-hour A Christmas Story marathon on TBS.
Like many other countries, Iceland has a holiday tradition of its own. It’s called “Jolabokaflod,” which can be translated as “Christmas Book Flood” or “Yule Book Flood,” and began during World War II. Each year, every Icelandic household receives a catalogue called “Bokatidindi,” or “Book Bulletin,” from which people can order from.
Friends and family then exchange books on Christmas Eve and spend the rest of the night reading and drinking hot chocolate or a non-alcoholic ale called “jolabland.” This is a fitting tradition for a nation that publishes and reads more books than any other Nordic country. In addition, Iceland is the third most literate country in the world (the US is seventh, Canada eleventh, Australia sixteenth, and the UK seventeenth), and Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, was named a UNESCO City of Literature in 2011.
Within this year’s Bokatidindi catalogue, recommendations include:
The Eight Mountains by Paolo Cognetti
“Pietro is a lonely boy living in Milan. With his parents becoming more distant each day, the only thing the family shares is their love for the mountains that surround Italy.
While on vacation at the foot of the Aosta Valley, Pietro meets Bruno, an adventurous, spirited local boy. Together they spend many summers exploring the mountains’ meadows and peaks and discover the similarities and differences in their lives, their backgrounds, and their futures. The two boys come to find the true meaning of friendship and camaraderie, even as their divergent paths in life—Bruno’s in the mountains, Pietro’s across the world—test the strength and meaning of their connection.” (Amazon)
I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid
“In Iain’s first deeply suspenseful and an unnerving novel I’m Thinking of Ending Things, a man and his girlfriend are on their way to a secluded farm. When the two take an unexpected detour, she is left stranded, wondering if there is any escape at all. What follows is a twisted unraveling that will haunt you long after the last page is turned.” (Simon & Schuster)
The Braid by Laetitia Colombani
“Smita, Giulia, Sarah: three lives, three continents, three women with nothing in common, but nevertheless bound by a rare expression of courage . . . like three strands in a braid. Through the story of one woman’s hair, three women’s destinies are drawn together.
India. Smita is an untouchable, married to a ‘rat hunter’, her job to clean with her bare hands the village latrines, just like her mother before her. Her dream is to see her daughter escape this same fate, and learn to read. When this hope is shattered, she decides to run away with the child, despite her husband’s warnings, sacrificing what is most precious to her: her hair.
Sicily. Giulia is a worker in her father’s wig workshop, the last of its kind in Palermo. She classifies, washes, bleaches, and dyes the hair provided by the city’s hairdressers. When her father is the victim of a serious accident, she quickly discovers the family company is bankrupt.
Canada. Sarah is a reputed lawyer. As a twice-divorced mother of three children, she ploughs through cases at breakneck speed. Just as she is about to be promoted, she learns she has breast cancer. Her seemingly perfect existence begins to show its cracks . . . But this is only if one ignores the incredible lust for life that keeps her going.
Laetitia Colombani’s The Braid is the powerfully moving story of three women’s courage in the face of adversity.” (Pan Macmillan)
No Honour in Crime by Lene Wold
“During the past three years, Lene Wold has spent a considerable amount of time in Jordan with a man who has killed both his mother and one of his two daughters in order to restore his family’s honour. Wold has travelled around Jordan and interviewed a number of people about honour killing. The author portrays the man’s upbringing, culture and dilemmas that shaped him as a person and the choices he made. Wold’s other important source is Amina. This daughter spent several years in prison after the failed murder attempt in order to protect her from her own family. In Jordan, it is the women, the survivors of attempted honour killings, who are imprisoned – not the perpetrators.
The author has visited prisons and mosques, searched through newsprints and court archives and contacted imams, village heads and killers. Using a unique source material, Wold illuminates a hitherto unknown aspect of honour killings. The story is told from the perpetrator’s perspective, and Wold shows that honour killings are not about Islam, but about traditions and laws, which must be challenged and changed. No Honour in Crime is a shocking and illuminating tale of how a man chooses inherited culture over the lives of his own children.” (Hagan Agency)
Dancing in Odessa by Ilya Kaminsky
“Despite the fact that he is a non-native speaker, Kaminksy’s sense of rhythm and lyic surpasses that of most contemporary poets in the English language. This magical, musical book of poems draws readers into its unforgettable heart, and Carolyn Forché wrties simply ‘I’m in awe of his gifts.’” (Amazon)
Mortal Engines (Mortal Engines, Book 1) by Philip Reeve
“London is hunting again. Emerging from its hiding place in the hills, the great Traction City is chasing a terrified little town across the wastelands. Soon, London will feed. In the attack, Tom Natsworthy is flung from the speeding city with a murderous scar-faced girl. They must run for their lives through the wreckage — and face a terrifying new weapon that threatens the future of the world.” (Amazon)
These are just recommendations from this year’s 84-page bulletin (swoon). Now excuse me while I add these to my TBR list. If you’re interested in learning more, head to the website, and Happy Holidays!
