Jolabokaflod

Christmas Book Flood • Reading for Pleasure

World history

Please visit the Jolabokaflod Google Form to add more personal book recommendation choices for us to include in the Book Bulletin catalogue.

Angelina Jolie – Vlad the Impaler, In Search of the Real Dracula – M.J. Trow

This is my favourite book

American actress, filmmaker and humanitarian

  • Humanitarian Work & Refugee Rights: Since 2001, Jolie has conducted over 60 field missions to countries including Cambodia, Pakistan, Syria, and Ecuador to support displaced people. She has advocated at the UN and other high-level forums for refugee rights
  • Book: Know Your Rights and Claim Them
  • Latest project: Angelina Jolie’s latest project is the film “Couture” (released April 17, 2026), a meta-narrative drama set in Paris Fashion Week where she stars as a director facing breast cancer. She is also leading the sustainable fashion collective Atelier Jolie and has a busy 2026-2027 film slate, including the action thriller “Sunny” and the espionage film “The Initiative”

     

Takashi Murakami – Showa: A History of Japan – Shigeru Mizuki

His works are a formative influence on my psyche and artistic style. I love the artistic contrast in the book: he uses a realistic, detailed style for historical events (such as World War II) and a more cartoonish, humorous style for his personal story

Japanese contemporary artist

Latest project: Takashi Murakami has several active projects spanning fashion, apparel, and high-end art exhibitions. Ohana Hatake Full-Bloom: Launched on April 21, 2026, this project features a new, vibrant multicolor collection utilizing his signature flower motif

Louis Vuitton: His most famous collaboration involved redesigning the luxury brand’s monogram, placing his colorful designs on handbags and accessories for over a decade

Book: Murakami: Unfamiliar People—Swelling of Monsterized Human Ego (2023): Focuses on his recent work regarding digital anxiety and consumerism

Scarlett Johansson – The Art of War – Sun Tzu

I’m interested in interest in strategy, discipline and philosophical texts

American actress

  • AI Ethics and Digital Rights Advocacy: Johansson is a prominent voice in the fight against the misuse of artificial intelligence. She has publicly advocated for stricter regulations to protect artists’ voices and likenesses from being replicated by AI without consent
  • Audiobooks Narrated: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
  • Book: “The Dive From Clausen’s Pier” by Ann Packer: While not about her, Johansson recorded the audio version of this novel, making it a key part of her professional contribution to literature
  • Latest project: Scarlett Johansson is filming a new, untitled The Exorcist horror movie directed by Mike Flanagan in New York City. She stars alongside Sasha Calle and Chiwetel Ejiofor in this “radical new take” on the franchise, expected in theaters on March 12, 2027. She is also starring in the upcoming film Paper Tiger

Yuval Noah Harari – Guns, Germs and Steel – Jared Diamond
This book has been influential in shaping my historical thinking. A book of big questions and big answers.

Israeli medievalist, military historian, public intellectual and popular science writer

  • Meditation and Silence: Harari practices meditation for two hours daily and takes long, silent meditation retreats to “distance himself from his cognitive biases and the stories he tells himself”. He is a proponent of Vipassana meditation, which he has practiced for over two decades to “see reality more clearly” without the stories the mind constantly creates.
  • Book: Nexus
  • Latest project: Public Discourse: As of early 2026, he is actively lecturing and participating in debates, such as at the World Economic Forum 2026, regarding the two major crises AI will create: an identity crisis (as AI outperforms human thinking) and an immigration/cultural disruption crisis

PewDiePie – Sapiens – Yuval Noah Harari

It’s a fascinating way to understand humanity

Swedish YouTuber

  • Charity: Water Campaigns: PewDiePie has led multiple, highly successful campaigns for Charity: Water, raising over  in a single campaign to provide clean drinking water, exceeding his initial goal.
  • Book: This Book Loves You (2015): A parody of self-help books filled with simple, humorous, and ironic quotes designed for entertainment
  • Latest project: PewDiePie’s (Felix Kjellberg) latest major project, documented in early 2026, involves building a high-end, $20,000 personal AI lab at his home in Japan. Instead of traditional gaming, he has focused on self-hosting and training large language models (LLMs)