My holiday wish to you — assuming you don't already live in Iceland!

by Rick Blechta

By all accounts, Iceland is a very admirable and civilized country. Sadly, I haven’t had the opportunity to visit, but it is definitely on my list.

One of the things that makes Icelandic society stand out to people like us is their tradition of giving books on Christmas Eve. Speaking not as an author here, I feel this is a very lovely thing. There is something wonderful about people spending an evening reading together. Sure, it’s sort of a solitary thing to do, but so is listening to music or watching television. It is also, well, very civilized.

So my holiday wish to all of you is this: may you receive a wonderful book this holiday season and may you enjoy the heck out of reading it!