Scandinavian Advent Calendar Day 1
Welcome back, dear friends, to what has become one of the year’s most cherished traditions: our Advent Calendar. After journeying through Christmas classics and exploring various cultural landscapes, this year we turn northward to Scandinavia—a region whose mastery of winter living has captivated me for longer than I can say.
The reasons to celebrate Nordic culture are indeed infinite. Denmark’s enviable happiness indices, Finland’s revolutionary approach to education, Norway’s pristine fjords and legendary salmon, Sweden’s comforting culinary traditions—each country offers its own compelling invitation. Yet my inspiration for this year’s journey came from the most distant of the five nations we’ll explore together: Iceland, that remarkable island where ancient sagas meet modern literary culture in the most enchanting way.
At the heart of this choice lies Jólabókaflóð—a word that rolls off the tongue like a winter wind and translates beautifully as “the Christmas book flood.” This tradition, born from necessity during World War II, has evolved into something rather profound. When Iceland gained independence from Denmark in 1944, the country found itself in wartime scarcity, yet paper remained unrationed. From this accident of history emerged a cultural phenomenon: Icelanders, already devoted readers, channeled their gift-giving entirely into books.
The tradition has refined itself into an elegant ritual. Each November, during the Reykjavik Book Fair, the Bókabúð (Book Bulletin)—a comprehensive catalogue of the year’s publications—arrives in every Icelandic household. Families pore over its pages, selecting volumes for one another with the care others might reserve for choosing jewelry. Then, on Christmas Eve, these carefully chosen books are opened, and the long winter night unfolds in reading, often accompanied by hot chocolate and the quiet pleasure of new stories discovered by firelight.
This marriage of literature and festivity, of gift-giving and solitary absorption, struck me as the perfect gateway into Scandinavian winter culture. And so, in homage to Jólabókaflóð, we shall gather each evening from now until Christmas Eve, exploring the books, customs, flavors, and domestic arts of five countries that have transformed winter’s darkness into an invitation rather than an obstacle.
I should confess from the outset: I am not a native expert in Nordic culture. Everything I share springs from curiosity and careful research rather than lived experience. The novels I’ve selected lean toward warmth and illumination rather than the darker psychological thrillers for which Scandinavian writers are justly famous—that simply wasn’t the journey I envisioned for these December evenings. I’ll do my utmost to honor pronunciations and respect each country’s distinct traditions, though I ask your forbearance for any stumbles along the way.
In the spirit of hygge—that untranslatable Danish concept that has somehow captured the world’s imagination—I invite you to savor this December alongside me. As daylight retreats and temperatures fall, we’ll rediscover the particular pleasures of life indoors: the flicker of candlelight, the comfort of warm drinks, the sanctuary of a well-chosen book. Each evening’s reflection will be brief, a small invitation to pause before you settle into your own rituals, your own corner of warmth against the winter night.
Until tomorrow, dear friends—may your reading be deep and your rituals restorative.
Merry Advent !
Written by Alexandra Poppy
Writer, reader & curator of The Ritual of Reading
I’m Alexandra, the voice behind The Ritual of Reading. Somewhere between a stack of novels and a half-finished pot of tea, I keep finding traces of the life I want to live—slower, richer, filled with stories. The Ritual of Reading is where I gather what I love: books that linger, places with a past, and rituals that make ordinary days feel a little more meaningful. I write from Paris, where elegant bookshops and old-fashioned cafés offer endless inspiration—and I share it here, hoping it brings a spark to your own days, too.
