Sunday Scribblings #206: How to Celebrate a Most Delightful Bookmas

The Most Delightful Nights of Bookmas
It’s beginning to look a lot like Bookmas, everywhere I look,
I’m buried in my latest read, while he’s glued to a reel (or maybe the reel’s cook!)
My son flips pages, here and there, makes my heart swell with delight,
As diva daughter strikes a pose—her book selfies end up stealing the night!
~ Vidya Tiru @ LadyInReadWrites

That was my Poetic Sundays for this week – my bookmas take on the popular Christmas song 🙂 And for scribblings, I bring you ways to celebrate bookmas. I have loved the idea of the Icelandic ritual of Jólabókaflóð from the first time I heard of it, and in a way, have been celebrating my own version of it every day. Today, I bring you some fun ways to celebrate your very own bookmas.

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How to Celebrate a Most Delightful Bookmas

Iceland: Jólabókaflóð (Book Flood)

In Iceland, Christmas isn’t complete without the Jólabókaflóð, or “Yule Book Flood.” On Christmas Eve, families exchange books and spend the night reading, wrapped in blankets with mugs of hot cocoa. It’s a heartwarming tradition that turns the quiet hours into a literary wonderland, where stories bridge generations and kindle joy.

We can celebrate something similar as well in our own ways. Here are some fun ideas to enjoy the days and nights of Bookmas:

Fun Ways to Enjoy Bookmas

Setting Up

Hot Cocoa Bar

Set up a DIY hot cocoa station with toppings like whipped cream, marshmallows, sprinkles, and syrups. Add some themed decor to it to give it the right vibes. This cozy drink pairing will enhance the warm, hygge ambience as you settle into your Bookmas celebration.

Literary Snacks

Prepare snacks inspired by the books you’re reading. For example, make butterbeer for a Harry Potter read or cookies shaped like books (use these cookie cutters). These themed treats add flavor to your Bookmas experience! You can check out books for more ideas, a couple of recommendations from me include A Literary Tea Party and Fairytale Baking

Themed Pajamas & Reading Nooks

Have everyone wear pajamas matching their book’s theme. Create mini “reading forts” with blankets, fairy lights, and pillows to transform your space into the perfect reading nook for the ultimate cozy experience.

The Books Themselves

Book Exchange with a Twist

Instead of choosing books for yourself, have each person pick a book they think someone else will love. Wrap it in brown paper or newspaper to keep it a mystery. Add a clue or challenge, like “This book will take you on an adventure you’ll never forget!” or “It’s full of secrets to uncover.” Whether it’s a book from your shelves or a fresh find, the guessing game adds excitement to the exchange.

You can also mystery books for the whole fam from local thrift stores (my local friends of the library always has a few ready to pick up, all wrapped up in brown so we don’t know which book we are buying from them!) or elsewhere, like here on Etsy

Book Scavenger Hunt

Hide books around your home, leaving riddles or clues for each family member to find their special book. The hunt adds an exciting twist before settling down to read and makes the experience even more fun.

Extra, Extra!

Bookish Challenges

Set a timer and challenge each other with literary games. Who can come up with the best alternative ending for their book in five minutes, or think of a different title for it? It’s a fun way to get creative with the stories you’re reading.

Bookish Bingo Night

Create a Bookmas Bingo card with reading-related challenges like “Read under a blanket,” “Find a book with a blue cover,” or “Read a chapter out loud to someone.” As you open your new books, check off the challenges. For more ideas to add to your bingo card, here is a helpful list I made that you can print out

You can use this bingo card I made below as inspiration and if you want to print it out, here is the printable. The first to complete their card wins a cozy prize like a booklight or personalized bookmarks… or you could make your own bookmarks to include as prizes (see in the next section)..

Custom Bookmarks

Make your own personalized bookmarks with craft supplies, photos, or quotes from your favorite books. These can be given as gifts with the books or kept as mementos to carry the Bookmas spirit throughout the year.

Here are some I created earlier as printables.

A quick tutorial to make your own bookmarks

Choose suitable paper (for example, this heavy cardstock).
Cut the paper to your desired size.
Add decorative details, like stickers, or glue your fav little thingamajigs onto the cardstock. Of course, you can always use your artistic talents and draw/paint things on too!
Cover the bookmark with a protective layer (e.g., laminate it).

Alternatively, check out this festive set of clear acrylic bookmarks and stickers to decorate them or this booklover set too

Interactive Storytelling Night

After an hour of reading, take turns sharing a favorite sentence or paragraph from your book. It’s a fun way to spark curiosity and conversation about everyone’s choices.

Story Continuation Game

For a twist on the typical reading experience, after each person reads a page or passage from their book, they make up the next part of the story. This blend of spontaneous creativity and book-loving fun brings the whole family together in a unique way.

Which of these ideas feels right for your family’s Bookmas celebration?

Recently

On My Blog

My recent posts since and including my last Sunday Scribblings:

And At Home

We took our very first cruise ever, and loved it. Our first thought was, “Why didn’t we do this earlier? Especially when our kids were little?!” Well, better late than never, and I know we will go cruising again in the future for sure.

What about you? Have you been on a cruise? How did you like it? Would you go again? Your fav cruises/tips for cruise?

With both our kids wanting to spend time at home this winter break (my daughter was even more eager to be home after her first whole quarter at college and away from home the whole three months), I thought that a short cruise might be the best trip for us. And it worked perfectly – timing wise and every other way as well.

Our cruise was a four-day Baja Mexico Carnival cruise out of Long Beach, California. More details to follow on a future post.

Upcoming

On My Blog and Home Front

On the home front, going to be a chill week taking it easy and relaxing at home. And on the blog, a post or two might make an appearance (or not!)

This Week’s Celebrations

Literary Celebrations (close-to-it also!)

Literary birthdays this week include: Carol Ann Duffy on the 23rd; Mary Higgins Clark and Stephanie Meyer on Dec 24; David Sedaris and Henry Miller on 26th Dec; Dec 27th is to celebrate Elizabeth Smart; the 28th of December is Mortimer J. Adler ;Jenny Lawson is 29th December
The 25th is A’Phabet Day or No “L” Day

Foodie Celebrations

Dec 23rd celebrates National Pfeffernusse Day
followed by National Eggnog Day on the 24th of December
Then the 25th is National Pumpkin Pie Day
While Dec 27th is National Fruitcake Day
National Chocolate Candy Day is on the 28th of December
And the 29th is National Pepper Pot Day

Other Celebrations

Festivus on the 23rd of December.. (Thanks Kramer!)
Of course, the 24th is Christmas Eve and also apparently Last-Minute Shopper’s Day!
National Whiner’s Day is on the 26th along with Day of Goodwill
It is time to celebrate National Make Cut-Out Snowflakes Day on the 27th
National Short Film Day, National Card Playing Day, and Pledge of Allegiance Day on the 28th
Tick Tock Day on 29th reminds us to check on any unfinished tasks we might need to complete for the calendar year

Wrapping up my Sunday Scribblings

So dear reader, you have reached the end of this Sunday Scribblings! As always, I welcome your thoughts, comments, and suggestions about this post. And do let me know if you plan to celebrate any of these mentioned celebrations this coming week/month?

Linking this to the Sunday Post over at the Caffeinated Reviewer and the Sunday Salon

Happy Holidays!!

Lady In Read Writes

A Blog(ful) Of Niches