It’s Chrissssssssstmaaaaaaaas!
Merry Christmas
and
Happy New Year MMXXV
this special time of Christmas holidays may joy and happiness fill every moment, and may the coming New Year bring prosperity and success
A husband texts his wife on a frosty winter morning in High Tatra Mountains:“Window’s frozen!”
His wife texts back, “Pour lukewarm water over it.”
Five minutes later he replies: “Computer completely messed up now.”
Are adults forgetting how to read?
The Economist – A survey by the OECD suggests so – “Are you smarter than a ten-year-old? New data suggest that a shockingly large portion of adults in the rich world might not be. Roughly one-fifth of people aged 16 to 65 perform no better in tests of maths and reading than would be expected of a pupil coming to the end of their time at primary school, according to a study released on December 10th by the OECD, a club of mostly rich countries. Worse still, adults in many places have grown less literate over the past ten years.”
OECD – Adult skills in literacy and numeracy declining or stagnating in most OECD countries– The latest Survey of Adult Skills highlights a mixed global picture of literacy, numeracy and adaptive problem solving proficiency. Finland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden excel in all these areas, with significant proportions of their adult populations demonstrating advanced abilities. However, on average across OECD countries, 18% of adults do not even have the most basic levels of proficiency in any of the domains.
Literary Hub List of Lists – Best Books 2024
TIME’s 100 Must-Read Books of 2024 and 10 Best Fiction Books of 2024 and 10 Best Nonfiction Books of 2024
• Publishers Weekly’s Best Books of 2024
• Vanity Fair’s 21 Best Books of 2024 to Read Right Now
• The Economist’s Best Books of 2024
• The New York Times’ 100 Notable Books of 2024 and 10 Best Books of 2024
• The Washington Post’s 50 Notable Works of Fiction from 2024 and 50 Notable Works of Nonfiction from 2024 and 10 Best Books of 2024
• Kirkus Reviews’ Best Fiction Books of the Year and Best Nonfiction Books of the Year
• The Globe and Mail’s 100 Best Books of 2024 • The Chicago Tribune’s 10 Best Books of 2024 • Den of Geek’s Best Books of 2024
• The Times’ 18 Best Novels of 2024and 21 Best History Books of 2024 and 8 Best Thought and Ideas Books of 2024 and 9 Best Literary Nonfiction Books of 2024 and 9 Best Politics Books of 2024 and 10 Best Crime Books of 2024 and 10 Best Thrillers of 2024and 10 Best Historical Fiction Books of 2024and 10 Best Biographies and Memoirs of 2024
• BookRiot’s Best Books of 2024
• The NYPL’s Best Books for Adults 2024
• The Telegraph’s 50 Best Books of 2024, Ranked
• The New Statesman’s Books of the Year 2024
• The Chicago Public Library’s Favorite Books of 2024
• NPR’s Books We Love (Staff Picks)
• The Independent’s Best Fiction Books of 2024 and Best Nonfiction Books of 2024
• Amazon Books Editors’ Best Books of 2024 • Hudson Booksellers’ Best Books of 2024
• Barnes & Noble’s Best Fiction of 2024 and Best Mystery and Thrillers of 2024 and Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of 2024 and Best History Books of 2024 and Best Biography and Memoir of 2024 and Best Smart Thinking Books of 2024
• Vulture’s Best Books of 2024
• The Atlantic’s10 Best Books of 2024
• ELLE’s Editors Recommend Their Favorite Books of 2024
• BookPage’s Best Nonfiction of 2024 and Best Fiction of 2024
• Electric Lit’s Best Novels of 2024 and Best Nonfiction of 2024 and Best Poetry Collections of 2024 and Best Short Story Collections of 2024
• Vox’s Best Books of 2024• The Wall Street Journal’s 10 Best Books of 2024
• The New Yorker’s Best Books of 2024 (Essential Reads)
• Library Journal’s Best Nonfiction of 2024 and Best Literary Fiction of 2024 and Best Poetry of 2024 and Best Pop Fiction of 2024 and Best Crime Fiction of 2024and Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2024 and Best Horror of 2024 and Best Graphic Novels of 2024 and Best Romance of 2024
• The Guardian’s Best Books of 2024
• PEOPLE’s 10 Best Books of 2024
• Slate’s 10 Best Books of 2024 (Kois) and 10 Best Books of 2024 (Miller)
• The LA Times’s 15 Best Books of 2024
• OprahDaily’s Best Books of 2024
• and of course, Literary Hub’s Favorite Books of 2024.