Yes, that's possible - by default your shortcut has to link to one of the following (dependent on your system (32 bit/64 bit):

"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\thunderbird.exe" -addressbook

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Thunderbird\thunderbird.exe" -addressbook

In short, you have to add

-addressbook

at the end of the path.

Thanks Pollti. Your solution seems logical, but I get a message that the address is not valid. I added -addressbook at the end of the path, both with and without the " mark. Neither worked. I also tried with and without the space before the hyphen. What am I doing wrong?

Make a copy of your Tbird icon and rename it Addressbook then add -addressbook in the target-field (leave a blank in between) Just as Pollti said

Thanks Gnospen, but I still cannot make it work. Instead of renaming the TB bird icon, I changed the icon to the address book "book" icon, and then added -addressbook". Anyway I do not now need to create the shortcut. I found that if I create a regular TB shortcut on the start menu, then highlighting the short cut gives me an address book option.