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The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 6th and runs through Sunday, January 12th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 9.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Are you ready for Christmas time? Well, it's high time, it's one week left! Make sure your gifts are wrapped, shirts ironed, bellies empty and books ready.  We've prepared a checklist, just to make sure. 

Have you managed to find gifts for all your loved ones? If you still have no clue what to buy for Christmas, here are several things that can be found on every book lovers' gift list (Spotted on Silver Thistle. See more gifts for book lovers: 20 Gift Giving Ideas for Book Lovers...).

Dear Santa, here's our list: Bookopoly board game (read, play and have fun!), bookish phone charger and bloody good bookmark! (click image to go to blog)

Book-love found some more which could be divided into gifts in modern style: bookish lamp, book-scented perfume and Macbook Book-Case (we're sure it will fit others too), and more romantic with the spirit of the past: Penguin classic-inspired matchboxes, book-scented candle and personalized library embosser. And there's more here: 24 Insanely Clever Gifts For Book Lovers. (click the image to go to blog)

If you still don't feel like it's Christmas, we encourage you to try some craft projects which will put you in Christmas spirit and bring new decorations for your home and Christmas tree. Themis-Athena's Garden of Books found 7 Bookish Craft Projects to Put You in the Christmas Spirit (click images to go to blog).

Don't forget about Christmas Tree. It doesn't have to be huge or real tree, remember to make it look special. Here are some hints from Books2day and Expendable Mudge Muses Aloud how to make it extraordinary (click images to go to blogs).

Christmas time and family dinners require smart style. But don't resign from your individual look. Dress accurately to situation but with bookish touch :-)

Bookish skirt found on Mismatched Bookends blog, and Jane Austen Purse by Silver Thistle (click images to go to blogs).

It's holidays! Make sure you have enough book to fill up your leisure time. Christmas time is free from school, work, professional duties. And this all meas more reading time (after you cope with all Christmas duties)! You can follow December releases spotted by Debbie (see really impressive list of December new books here: December New Releases):

Or discover books matching the season: Snow, Ice and Cold Books listed on Kinga's Books blog:

and Great Wintery Reads presented by Peace ☮ Love ♥ Books blog:

We just couldn't r resist. Those cuties a la reindeer made our day :D

(via Tullia blog)

Do it on your own risk, though. The animals might not see your idea as "super-duper-funny-oh-you-look-so-cute!". Then just run ;-)

P.S. If you don't celebrate Christmas. Just hang in there and survive. We send you warms hugs. Find a peaceful place without jingle bells and all the blinks. Our survival winter kit can be useful as well: blanket, hot tea with raspberry marmalade and a good book in your hand. And enjoy your free time.

Winter Hugs for all ;-)

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

The Teardrop by Lauren Kate

The Eye of the Minds by James Dashner

 Bellman & Black. Diane Setterfield. Publishing on October 8th, 2013 by Emily Bestler Books/Atria Books.

Rating: 8/10

A single moment can affect your entire life. Who knew it would be such an insignificant thing that changed William Bellman’s life so utterly and completely? Killing a rook took everything from him. Agree terms, sell, collaborate. All lead back to one thing: the mysterious man in black and saving the very last precious thing in Bellman’s life through what can only be called a ‘macabre business bargain’. Rooks never forget.

The story follows William Bellman from his 10th birthday into him having his own full-fledged family and business, along with brief intermissions of pages from a ornithology book, teaching you anything you might want to know about rooks and their peculiar mythology. Within a good twelve pages, I was hooked on Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield. With short, staccato chapters of generally 3 to 5 pages, it is a traveling reader’s best friend. I could just about put it down, neatly at the end of any chapter without ever having to really worry about finding just exactly where I left off. For a book that follows a boy from a young age until he is an adult, it is much shorter and fast-paced than you might expect. At a mere 337 pages, Bellman & Black is what most would call a light read. However, it reads heavily and rings out loudly. It gives the air of a slice of life, but once in a great while it reminds you unabashedly that there are more unseemly things to deal with than just William Bellman’s day to day.

It took me awhile to warm up to William Bellman. While I grew attached to him, I hardly noticed it until things started to go wrong for him. He wasn’t someone who clicked in my mind so well for me to immediately say, “I like him.” Nor did I immediately dislike him either. He seems like middle of the road character as far as how much you like him. But then, when things go wrong, you find yourself on the edge of your seat hoping for everything to work out of William. He turns into the character you want to protect from all the bad things that could happen without you even realizing it from one page to the next. Considering he is predominantly the character we hear about, we sympathize very heavily with him. However, there are a good abundance of side characters that you feel for. There’s Paul, William’s uncle, who brings him under his wings. There’s Rose and Dora, who become the staples of William’s home life. Plus a plethora of other characters we hear a good amount about.

There were some character name fudges that were confusing and some slights in grammar and formatting, but nothing that couldn't be handled by a quick once over. All in all, a pretty top read.

A quick word of caution: this book is incredibly good, but it moves at the odd in-between pace of quick and slow that it is hard to pick back up if set down for too long. Still, definitely worth a read - maybe not to buy, but at least check it out at the local library!

 You can buy Bellman and Black here, here, and here.

I received a copy from the publisher through Shelf Awareness.

Rating: 7/10

What extent would you go to to change your life? Meg Banks is about to find out when, while vandalizing her school with a political cartoon, she finds a fox. This extraordinary fox bequeaths upon Meg a gift with his last few moments, thrusting her into a world she never knew existed. A world at war in the shady underground of London. Meg must leave her so-called privileged life behind and fight to bring peace to her new world. Rosie Best debuts with the exciting book Skulk, which is supposedly to be a two-part series.

Meg is immediately likable. She’s spunky but not rude, nice but not sickening. She’s at a good balance of character and just whiny enough to be definitely a teenager but not irritating, like so many other young adult protagonists can easily become. Her home life is horrid, with a mother who berates her for many slight infractions on her public standing and her father is hardly around at all.

The story follows her discovery of the Skulk, shapeshifting foxes, and their legacy. I would give away more, but I fear spoiling even a little bit about this story. It really is something you need to read on your own!

The novel is a fairly quick read - myself having read in if a few quick hours. The pacing is quick and deliberate. The writing is done in a train of thought sort of fashion, all from Meg’s perspective. The most irritating thing about this book is that there is one point where it comes to Best leading you down the path to one of the final conclusions.

All in all, this book left me turning the pages as quickly as I could to find out what what going to happen next. Take a leap into the Skulk and pick this up if you’re looking for a nice fall read! It is going to be published on October 1st from Strange Chemistry.

You have buy it here, here, here, or as a DRM-free ebook from the Robot Trading Company.

I received an E-galley from the publisher through NetGalley.