Hello and happy holidays from hardcore literature.

Merry Christmas and a very happy new year to you.

Whether you celebrate a holiday or not and indeed however you find yourself

spending the close of the year, I wish you health, joy and love into the new year. Today, as tis the season,

I would like to share an appreciation of Charles Dickens's, a Christmas Carol, with you. I have a

tradition in which I read the story across a few nights around Christmas time. And I have just recently

finished my latest rereading of the tale. I read it every year. I know that many of you partake of

this tradition too. I've heard from so many members of the hardcore literature book club who say that they read a Christmas

Carol each and every year too, and they find that it revives their spirits and renews them

for the year ahead. If you haven't read the tale yet, make some time for yourself. Try to clear

a little bit of space and enjoy. For now, let's dive into the show.

Okay, first things first. A Christmas Carol is one of the most popular stories in any tradition

of all time, but it's still pertinent to say that there will be plot spoilers. Is that even possible today?

I think almost everybody is certain to know the story of a Christmas Carol.

If you haven't read the original story for yourself,

you've almost certainly seen one of the endless adaptations,

film and TV, or we just know the story, don't we? We know the story of Scrooge,

the miserly old man who just wants to work and work and work his employees to death and

has no love in his heart. We know the story of the three ghosts. We know old Marley,

his business partner who died seven years previous to the start of the story. We know old Marley

visits him at the start of the story and says, you will be visited by three ghosts. And they are the

ghosts of Christmas past, Christmas present and Christmas

...