"I love giving books as presents. I rarely give anything else. I strongly approve of the Icelandic tradition of the Jolabokafloi (Yule book flood), whereby books are given (and, crucially, read) on Christmas Eve. Nan Shepherd's The Living Mountain is the one I've given more often than any other; so much so that I keep a stack of four or five to hand, ready to give at Christmas or any other time of the year."
"It's a slender masterpiece a meditation on Shepherd's lifelong relationship with the Cairngorm mountains, which was written in the 1940s but not published until 1977. It's about the Cairngorms in the sense that Mrs Dalloway is about London; which is to say, it is both intensely engaged with its specific setting, and gyring outwards to vaster questions of knowledge, existence and a word Shepherd uses sparingly but tellingly love."
"These short but dense books may not exactly be cheerful, Christmassy reads, but they make excellent companions for anyone interested in thinking about thinking in a digital world of noise and distraction; for anyone concerned about the future of humanity."
An individual prefers giving books as presents and follows the Icelandic Jolabokafloi tradition of exchanging and reading books on Christmas Eve. Nan Shepherd's The Living Mountain is repeatedly gifted; it is a slender meditation on a lifelong relationship with the Cairngorm mountains, written in the 1940s and published in 1977. The book engages intensely with place while expanding into questions of knowledge, existence and love. Alternatives considered for gifting include Marcus Aurelius's Meditations and Byung-Chul Han's short, dense books such as The Burnout Society and The Spirit of Hope. Han blends Eastern and Western traditions and addresses thinking amid digital noise and concerns for humanity's future. Colm Toibin purchases Ford Madox Ford's The Good Soldier for its surprising plot and unreliable narration.
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