This holiday season, like the last, many of us are finding we are weighing risks, canceling events, postponing visits. Much of this is the right thing to do, but it doesn’t feel so good. And, as we hear in this week’s show,"The Power and Pleasure of Joy," we all need a little happiness, maybe now more than ever.
So let me suggest a new holiday tradition (at least new to me – maybe you’ve heard of it) – that has to do with staying home and reading books. We know from many of you that like our TTBOOK staff, you love to read. In Iceland, there is a national holiday on Dec. 24 called Jolabokaflod, "the Christmas book flood." On this day, everyone gives books to friends and family, and in turn, they all read books all Christmas Eve. It started during World War II when paper was less rationed than other gift objects, and it begins when a catalog of new books, the Bokatidindi, from the Icelandic Publishers Association is delivered for free to each home in the country.
You’re getting this note a few days past Dec. 24, and personally, I’m switching my own Jolabokflod to New Year’s Eve, when I don’t like to go out anyway. I’m starting with Lauren Groff’s new novel"Matrix" and Rebecca Solnit’s latest book"Orwell’s Roses." It might also be a time to re-visit the world of sociobiology and E. O. Wilson, who has just died at age 92. Steve talked with Wilson in 2006 about reconciling science and religion. How about you? Let us know what you’re reading — or would like to read — this holiday season at listen@ttbook.org.
–Shannon