Woodburn: A flood of books for beach (or tundra) reading Woody Woodburn, Columnist
As a Southern Californian through and through, I love sunshine on my face and a sea breeze in my lungs and sand between my toes, yet on Christmas Eve I will be an honorary Icelander celebrating Jolabokaflod.
Pronounced
yo-la-bok-a-flot, Jolabokaflod translates to “Yule Book Flood” and is the tradition where books are exchanged as gifts on Dec. 24. Everyone spends the rest of the night curled up by fireplaces, drinking hot chocolate and reading.
It’s no small wonder 93% of Icelanders annually read at least one book (only 70% of Americans do) and 50% read eight or more.