Our favorite (bookish) holiday traditions
Christmas is almost upon us and the holiday season is in full swing. For many, this time of year is made extra special by indulging in holiday traditions both new and old to add an extra dose of merry.
We asked the Old Town Books team to share their favorite bookish holiday traditions – and they did not disappoint. Read on to see what we’re up to this holiday season.
“Do new traditions count? Because I’m all in this year on Jolabokaflod. This Swedish tradition involves gifting large quantities of books on Christmas Eve, then everyone cozies up with hot cocoa and reads by the tree. Could there be a more perfect evening?” - Ally
“My sister and I would always get to unwrap a Christmas book on Christmas Eve and then we would all get in Christmas jammies and read the book together before bed, and then when we were older, my sister and I started giving our parents a Christmas book to continue the tradition” - Cate
“In our family, we always leave a wrapped book – usually a graphic novel or a fun nonfiction title with visual interest – at the foot of each child's bed while they're sleeping. When they wake bright and early, it's the first thing they see and they get to enjoy exploring the book while staying cozy (and quiet!) in bed until the more reasonable wake-up hour designated by the grown-ups. A win-win for everyone!” - Melissa
“We always received books as gifts from our two librarian aunts so we’re spoiled for choice of Christmas stories. An audiobook tradition our family had was on the way back from Thanksgiving at my grandparents we would play a cassette of Christmas short stories like A Christmas Carol and The Gift of the Magi - a cozy way to start the season.” - Adela
“We have saved all of the kids’ favorite holiday picture books from the earliest days of childhood onward. On the day after Thanksgiving, I get the books out of storage (I keep them with all of the Christmas decorations), and I leave the stack out in the family room on the coffee table and end tables throughout the holiday season. Even though my girls are 21 and 18 now, they look forward to cozying up together and reading these cherished picture books, reliving all of our happy holiday read-aloud memories. I get just as much joy from this as they do. You never outgrow the magic of picture books!” - Sarah
“In our house, my partner Jordan and I exchange books on Christmas Eve and spend the evening quietly reading in front of the Christmas tree with our cat, Izzy, a bottle of wine and fancy chocolate. We look forward to it each year and make sure that no matter what else we do on Christmas Eve, we’re home early enough to have plenty of time to spend together with our books.” - Robyn
“My favorite is our winter family read-aloud, which is how I met Melissa years ago! I love her blog post on Winterfrost that got us started. I use one of her picks or choose something seasonal that we snuggle up and read together.” - Kathryn
“Reading under the tree lights after we put the tree up, usually the weekend after Thanksgiving. We did it almost by accident a couple years ago and I loved it so much that I’m now trying to make it a standing tradition. It really made the transition into holidays much more complete.” - Anna
Do you have any favorite holiday traditions that revolve around books? We want to hear all about them!