Books to Exchange for Your Own Jólabókaflód

Jólabókaflód first caught my eye while I was scrolling through Pinterest. I found this gem all about the Icelandic tradition translating to “flood of books,” and my brain started whirring about a thousand miles a minute dreaming of my own celebration of this tradition.  

The tradition started in 1944 when paper was one of the few items not rationed due to the war. So, on Christmas, books were exchanged that Christmas Eve with extra love since most other gifts were in short supply, and this moment in history began a tradition that persists to this day. The thing that makes it even better? Not only are books exchanged, but along with the books, chocolate is exchanged to enjoy while reading. 

With a tradition simply designed for bibliophiles, I am thrilled to get to talk about several spectacular books that are great for families to exchange and enjoy on Christmas Eve. This year has been glorious for us book lovers, full of all kinds of releases that will make any kind of reader happy. So, go ahead and order some Godiva chocolate to be picked up along with these books and celebrate this Icelandic tradition wherever you reside! 

Picture Books

If you have little ones in your family, we have some wonderful picture books to add to your story time libraries. For touching stories full of love and a celebration of sports and play, these books are ones your kids will be wanting you to read over and over again – and ones you won’t even mind re-reading time and time again.  

Young Readers 

These books have something for every young reader to keep their minds busy on Christmas Eve (maybe they’ll even refrain from asking you a bazillion questions about presents with their nose in these reads). With a group of fairy tale loving friends learning the power of friendship and belonging, an action-packed tale of survival with notes of climate change and its effects, and a story about a rider and his fierce unicorn taking on grave danger, these stories have a little something for every reader! 

Young Adult Fantasy 

Fantasy lovers will be thrilled with any of these three books full of magic and mayhem. Encounter a bloodthirsty forest and a poisonous lake, continue The Legendborn Cycle with this second book reimagining the Arthurian Legend, and pick up the first book in a Mexican-inspired duology full of a series of trials with high stakes. How will you ever just choose one of them to give your fantasy fan? Oh, I know! Just get them all! 

Young Adult Fiction 

If your reader isn’t looking to escape this world and instead wants to dive deeper into it, then we have just the books for them! Bachelor fans will adore a reality-show romcom with revenge and a sapphic romance, Swifties will rejoice in a Valentine’s Day gone-wrong with a groundhog’s day treatment full of lyrical references, and anyone looking for a little mystery will be entirely enveloped by a story of the way racial violence trickles down from generation to generation.  

Romance 

You can deliver the swoons to the hopeless romantic in your life with these hard-hitting love stories that will sweep any reader off their feet. Big names are returning with these romances, and readers will be delighted to escape into the next book in a vampire fantasy romance series, a book for the book lovers about a reluctant bookseller, and the sequel to a #booktok darling that will break readers hearts and then put them back together again. 

Fiction 

Our Book of the Year is in great company with these two books, and we believe these books are perfect for any reader. Travel back in time for a cooking show with a scientist’s twist, enchant yourself in an illumination of changes we’d rather not face told in four parts, and rewind to the 1850s Californian Gold Rush to try to solve a mystery of missing girls. These books will keep readers enthralled and are perfect to lose yourself in right before Christmas. 

Sci-Fi/Fantasy 

Maybe the reader in your life just wants to escape for a bit and experience a new world. These three books have you covered. Get ready because fans of the Witcher will be thrilled with this illustrated edition of a beloved book, our speculative fiction book of the year has taken the world by storm in a dark academia standalone, and this cozy fantasy is perfect to curl up by the fire and get lost in a world of high fantasy and low stakes.  

Mystery/Thriller 

For readers looking for twists and turns that will keep their hearts pounding, we have a few mystery/thrillers that will keep their eyes glued to the book as they try to figure out what happened. Readers will get to adventure behind the Iron Curtain with Tom Clancy’s previously untold Jack Ryan story, lose themselves in a new mystery of a family enshrouded in scandal and an impossible-to-solve (or is it???) cold case, and be utterly entranced by a debut of doppelgangers and death. 

Nonfiction 

Maybe the reader in your life is looking to learn about real people and events. Well, get ready because we have just the books for them! Fans of Gilmore Girls will love the newest collection of essays from Lauren Graham, history buffs will be delighted by this page-turning narrative full of drama during the Indian War, and literary fans will love to pick up this book of essays that will entertain while exploring ideas like art and creativity among the great creators of Charles Dickens and Prince.  

Looking for more options to gift? 

If you’re looking for more specific recommendations based off major genres, we highly recommend checking our best books of the year for each genre! Our buyers for each category highlighted some of their favorites for the year in each post, and we can’t recommend gifting them to your family and friends enough! 

If you’re looking to stick with a holiday theme, we’ve got you covered in that department as well. Check out the posts below to find holiday themed books to exchange and keep you and your loved ones in the holiday spirit!