Not that you really have to choose! Tomorrow night at Ukazoo, Santa will host a fireside reading of A Visit from St. Nicholas, followed by a group reading of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Throw in some carols, cookies and hot chocolate for all, with a gift for the kids, and they're just overflowing with holiday spirit.

If you've got more love for the city than the jolly old elf, you can meet the authors of Spirit of Place, Sarah Achenbach and Bill McAllen at Red Canoe the same evening. Spirit of Place is a gorgeous book featuring interviews of Baltimoreans in their favorite parts of Mobtown.

Saturday at 12:30 p.m., Michael Phelps will be at the Barnes & Noble downtown. He'll be signing his new memoir, No Limits: The Will to Succeed, and who knows, maybe just being in the same room as him will help your backstroke.

And Wednesday night, bring out your inner storyteller at Baltimore Chop Books, where Eight-Stone Press will hold open-mic "auditions" for inclusion in the latest Smile, Hon, You're in Baltimore zine.