For December 2025, I decided to recommend books that would make great gifts in the tradition of Jólabókaflód, the Christmas book flood, in Iceland. It’s such a fun tradition!
On Christmas Eve, you are gifted a book from your family, and you find a cozy spot in your home, grab a mug of cocoa (you can substitute tea, or coffee, or cider if you’re not a cocoa fan), and spend the rest of the evening reading.
It’s a quiet and relaxing way to spend the evening before the Christmas. If you celebrate Hanukkah, it’s still a lovely tradition you can incorporate into one of the eight nights of gift giving.
Books make wonderful gifts, but a book from the library is also an excellent choice. Take a family trip to the library to pick out books for each other. You can even go through your books at home and donate books you’ll never read again to a shelter or local charity. Libraries also collect used books for resale to fund special projects, and in some cases to help keep the lights on and the doors open.
We hope you enjoy these suggestions. Happy Holidays!
The Bovadium Fragments by J.R.R. Tolkien – This previously unknown short satirical fantasy written by Tolkien was edited by his son, Christopher Tolkien. Tolkien wrote it in light=hearted protest of the rise of motor transportation which was destroying the beauty and tranquility of his beloved city, Oxford.
The Woodsmoke Women’s Book of Spells by Rachel Greenlaw – The Morgan women cast spells and curses through the power of the mountain, but they can’t escape the old tale in Woodsmoke of tragic love that begins with the first snowfall and ends with the coming of spring leaving a broken heart. Carrie leaves Woodsmoke only to return after her grandmother’s death. She intends to renovate the home she inherited and leave. Matthieu, a newcomer in town agrees to help, but when spring arrives he disappears leaving her broken-hearted. Is it the curse or is Matthieu in danger?
12 Ways to Kill Your Family at Christmas by Natasha Bache – A little dark humor and murder in time for Christmas. Olivia is spending one last Christmas with her horrible in-laws before she moves to Australia, but this year there’s a murder at the country house and the snow has them cut off from the rest of the world. Trapped, one by one family members are being murdered . Who is doing this and will Olivia be next?
Honeymoon Phase by Amy Davies – What happens when you propose to your best friend so she can inherit the family business?
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi – Theo arrives in the small town of Golden and begins buying the 92 pencil portraits of its residents hanging in the local coffee shop. Then, he does something extraordinary, he returns them to the people in the sketches. This act of kindness spreads through the community like wildfire with surprising results.
Pivotal Moments That Shaped America: History of the U.S. from the Boston Tea Party to the War on Terror by Tony Valerino – History is created by choices not fate. Valerino traces these choices these decisions from their origins in meeting rooms, battlefields, and rallies to their consequences with precision and accuracy. Discover history as it was meant to be preserved.
The Christmas Movie Cookbook by Julia Rutland – Have some family fun this holiday season by bringing a different element of your favorite Christmas movies into your kitchen. Make 65 recipes inspired by these films like old-fashioned meatloaf from A Christmas Story or Christmas Pudding from A Christmas Carol.
107 Days by Kamala Harris- Imagine finding out you’re the candidate for U.S. president with only 107 days before the election. Kamala Harris was thrust into an impossible situation when Joe Biden decided under pressure from the DNC not to run for reelection. What was her role in his decision? Was America ready for a Black woman to take the reins? Who would be her vice president? What should her platform be? How should she combat the vitriol coming from her opponent? So many questions and only 107 days to find the answers.
Daydream by Hannah Grace – (Book 3 of the Maple Street Series) Henry and a bookish fellow student must come together and devise a plan to overcome the challenges of a difficult year.
The Greatest Sentence Ever Written by Walter Isaacson – “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Libert, and the pursuit of Happiness.” What do these words from the Declaration of Independence really mean and why are they so important? Written by Thomas Jefferson and edited by Benjamin Franklin and John Adams these words lay the foundation for the American Dream and define the common ground we are supposed to share as a nation.
Midnight Flyboys by Bruce Henderson – A celebration and remembrance of the American Bomber Crews and Allied Secret Agents who aided the French Resistance during World War II.
Point Blank by Bob Dylan – the first major publication of Bob Dylan’s artwork in over a decade consisting of almost 100 never before seen drawings.