Bookish links

• The Little, Brown blog is running an Advent calendar in which they claim to "bring you a series of goodies right up until Christmas". Random House is also running an Advent calendar competition, with bookish prizes being given away every day.

• I've been eyeing up these Penguin Sets. Unfortunately the £100 George Orwell one, which includes two limited edition posters, has sold out.

• The Guardian has published a piece about the best books of the year as named by a selection of writers and politicians. Molly Fox's Birthday by Deidre Madden is the only novel to be name-checked twice. Must get hold of a copy...

• The New York Times has selected its 100 Notable Books of 2008 [note, you have to be registered to view it online]. I have only read one of the fiction and poetry titles -- Rose Tremain's The Road Home -- but interestingly there are four Australians on the list -- JM Coetzee (I always feel it's slightly cheating to claim him as an Aussie, but I believe he has taken out citizenship), Peter Carey, Tim Winton and Clive James. Meanwhile, Germaine Greer's Shakespeare's Wife makes the non-fiction cut.

• Celebrities recommend books to read this Christmas in The Times. Please note all those celebrities taking part have books to flog. Hmm... The fiction list, chosen by the newspaper's Kate Saunders, appears to offer some much better suggestions.

• The Sunday Times names its fiction books of the year and selects Toni Morrison's A Mercy as its "novel of the year". I'm pleased to see Helen Garner's The Spare Room makes the cut -- and there are two other Aussie books on the list, Peter Carey's His Illegal Self and Tim Winton's Breath.