The Island of Dr. Moreau

Maybe not your ideal holiday reading, but I got an ereader for Christmas and this was preloaded on it :o)

It's a fantastic read. Our main character, Prendick, comes upon an island where a doctor (Moreau) has been using vivisection to create animal/human chimerae. I've been a fan of Wells for a long time, but had never read this one, favouring his better-known works (War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, etc). It's an interesting look and critique at Victorian social mores (specifically the idea that civilization exists as a tool for us to subsume and control our “animal” instincts, and the difficulties therein), while also being a statement on religion as a tool for control of social classes, and a political statement against the then-popular practice of vivisection. That's a lot of content for a short novel, but the result is crafted well enough that it never feels dense. A must-read for those with an interest in science fiction.