Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol
Through a series of spectral visions, the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge is allowed to review his life and to change its outcome. The Ghost of Christmas Past reveals vignettes of Scrooge’s early life as a schoolboy, an apprentice, and a young man in love. The Ghost of Christmas Present reveals to Scrooge that joy has little to do with wealth; together they visit the homes of Bob Cratchit, Scrooge’s much-abused clerk, and of his generous nephew Fred, who has married for love. Finally, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come allows Scrooge a vision of what his end will be like if he continues on his present course—he will die despised and unmourned. After witnessing these scenes, Scrooge is a changed man. He immediately sets about mending his ways, becoming generous and thoughtful and thereby finding redemption and joy.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/A-Christmas-Carol-novel
Kim Stanley Robinson: The Ministry for the Future
Established in 2025, the purpose of the new organization was simple: To advocate for the world's future generations and to protect all living creatures, present and future. It soon became known as the Ministry for the Future, and this is its story.
From legendary science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson comes a vision of climate change unlike any ever imagined.
Told entirely through fictional eye-witness accounts, The Ministry for The Future is a masterpiece of the imagination, the story of how climate change will affect us all over the decades to come.
Its setting is not a desolate, post-apocalyptic world, but a future that is almost upon us - and in which we might just overcome the extraordinary challenges we face.
It is a novel both immediate and impactful, desperate and hopeful in equal measure, and it is one of the most powerful and original books on climate change ever written.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50998056-the-ministry-for-the-future
Trine Hahnemann: Scandinavian Christmas
Celebrate Christmas Scandinavian style—where every day from the first Advent Sunday to the end of December is part of the holiday. Trine Hahnemann serves up a cornucopia of festive recipes for brunches, cocktail and tea parties, lunches, and dinners, all filled with traditional goodies and delicious modern dishes. Enjoy regional specialties such as spiced gløgg wine, Slow-Cooked Goose with Apples and Prunes, Kale Salad with Pomegranate, Caramel Potatoes, Meatballs with Pickled Beets, and Chocolate-Dipped Candied Oranges. Skol!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17572979-scandinavian-christmas
Carlo Rovelli: There Are Places in the World Where Rules Are Less Important Than Kindness
In this collection of writings, the logbook of an intelligence always on the move, Carlo Rovelli follows his curiosity and invites us on a voyage through science, history, philosophy and politics.
Written with his usual clarity and wit, these pieces range widely across time and space: from Newton's alchemy to Einstein's mistakes, from Nabokov's butterflies to Dante's cosmology, from travels in Africa to the consciousness of an octopus, from mind-altering psychedelic substances to the meaning of atheism.
Charming, pithy and elegant, this book is the perfect gateway to the universe of one of the most influential scientists of our age.