Lit Hub Daily: December 13, 2023

• “Fielding questions about Santa seemed like just one more task in my most difficult but essential duty as a parent.” Nell Greenfieldboyce on making sense of Santa as a science reporter and a parent. | Lit Hub Science

• Tobias Becker makes the case for nostalgia as “a source of inspiration rather than a sign of stagnation.” | Lit Hub History

• “Freezing protects things, and solidity has its charms.” Rebecca Solnit considers Megan Riepenhoff’s cyanotype prints made in freezing landscapes. | Lit Hub Art

• “Yes, it’s her world and after reading her book I just wish I could move off-planet.” Feast your eyes on the Most Scathing Book Reviews of 2023. | Book Marks

• Emily Gould wishes the film adaptation of Eileen had “a few more fantasy sequences and a lot more poop.” | The Cut

• “The real issue is that a house with a flag suggests a racist dwells within.” Alexis Coe considers the meaning of patriotism in 2023. | Esquire

• A rediscovered Raymond Chandler poem will appear in print for the first time this week. | The New York Times

• “Solidarity can only do so much. Those who are still reporting from Gaza know what they’re up against.” Nadia Taha on the unimaginable difficulties journalists in Gaza are facing. | The Nation

Also on Lit Hub: Maura Lammers on choosing to do nothing • Phyllis Rose on writing about real people, making your diaries public, and more • The pleasure of writing poems by hand