Ooo, only 1 more day and 2 more nights until it’s (officially) Sinterklaas!  We don’t have a fireplace, but I do always put my shoe out by the balcony door, hoping the cat-flap will be big enough again this year.  And it always is!  I love it.    (If you’re stumped for what to give, have a look at our never-ending list of Gift Ideas.)

My colleagues have upped the ante as far as supplying me with Bookbits links go, so I’m going to put a special little spotlight on them now.  And remember, if you have fun and interesting links of your own, mail blog@abc.nl!

• Steven insists you look at these 10 books, so you understand the history of earth; he also wants you to get the Game of Thrones app, read about the everlasting appeal of physically published books, and make sure you know the BBC are adapting the fabulous Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke (to which I can add that they are also planning to serialise J. K. Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy).
• JeroenW wants you to read about the odd subgenres in the Romance section.  Bear in mind that he is the buyer of the SF/Fantasy section in The Hague, though, so it’s a bit “pot calling the kettle black” in my opinion…
• Simone spotted that a vulcano used in the LotR movies (and possibly The Hobbit?) erupted (article in Dutch).
• And Sigrid spotted a link to make us all feel old and useless: Nine-year-old blogger releases her first book.

And now back to our regularly programmed fare:

• Just a teeeeeeny bit late, but if you’re a fan you can’t miss this year’s QI Advent Calendar.  And Diana Gabaldon has one, too, with excerpts of her next Outlander book, Written In My Own Heart’s Blood (no set publication date yet, but it will be somewhere towards the end of 2013).

• Interview! The Guardian speaks with Jeff Kinney, of Diary of a Wimpy Kid fame (and yes, the latest installment’s cover is brown, and brown only).  They also feature Nobel Prize Winner Hertha Müller in their A Life in Books series.

• Because who doesn’t like cracking codes: Roger Williams Code Is Finally Cracked.  Try Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, too, for a story about century-old code-cracking.

• Awards! The Guardian First Book Award went to Kevin Powers for The Yellow Birds (podcast here).  Tyler Hamilton’s Pandora’s box The Secret Race won the William Hill Sports Book of the Year.  The Royal Society Prize for Science Books went to James Gleick’s The Information.

• Of course, we’re not the only ones with Favorite Reads of 2012… The Guardian/Observer writers have picked their top 10s in sport, photography, science, art, graphic novels, biography, architecture and psychology.  And the NY Times has a wee list, too.  Which Flavorwire immediately countered with 25 Notable Books Unfairly Overlooked By The NY Times.

• Lists! Because it has to be invented sometime: Michael Brooks (Can We Travel Through Time?) picks the Top 10 Time Travel Books.  If you need still more Gift Ideas, Flavorwire has 10 New Must-Reads For December.

• And finally, Scotland’s Mystery Book Sculptor has struck again!  Simply gorgeous (via the Guardian):

Have tips for the Bookbits? Mail blog@abc.nl!