Hello all!

Welcome to a shiny and snowy new Spell the Month in Books, this time for December.

Last month I did my first one but wasn’t sure if I would do it more often. It is fun, but some months are just long and not that easy as I rely a lot on what I can get from my library (as that is where most of my books come from). But then I spotted a December Spell the Month in Books over at one of the bloggers I follow and I just had to do one myself as well. Since this is the second time I am doing it, I am considering it a new feature! Something that you can expect monthly, or at least see popping up when I can find the books. 😛 That means I made a new category and gave it a, in my eyes very appropriate, new GIF!

This month I have 3 books that I already read as I just couldn’t find an E’s in my TBR collection. The other books DCMBR are books that I hope to read. Soon. Hopefully. 😛

First up I will show you guys a picture of my stack and after that I will show the book covers + blurb (for the Dutch-Dutch books I translated the blurb for you , for the English>Dutch translated books or English books I picked the original blurb).

The original creator of this tag is Reviews From The Stacks!

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Kell is one of the last travellers–magicians with a rare ability to travel between parallel universes connected by one magical city.
There’s Grey London, without magic and ruled by the mad King George III. Red London–where magic is revered, and where Kell was raised alongside the heir to the empire. White London–where people fight to control the remaining magic and magic fights back.
And once there was Black London…

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My disease is as rare as it is famous. It’s a form of Severe Combined Immunodeficiency, but basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in fifteen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives. New next door neighbors. I look out the window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black t-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly. I want to learn everything about him, and I do. I learn that he is funny and fierce. I learn that his eyes are Atlantic Ocean-blue and that his vice is stealing silverware. I learn that when I talk to him, my whole world opens up, and I feel myself starting to change—starting to want things. To want out of my bubble. To want everything, everything the world has to offer.
Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

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The Style Tiger goes to Tokyo! Coco is going to Japan to participate in The Big Kawaii Show! In this tv-show 5 candidates compete on who can make the cutest outfit!
Together with her new fashion friend Colette, Coco dives into the world of kimonos, unicorns, Harajuku Girls, and of course SUSHI. Quite soon she’s got a crush on the Japanese Yuki. But is Yuki as cute as he looks? Or will Bruno stay Coco’s biggest love?
NEW: Now with diary fragments from Bruno! Juicy~

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Dear Reader,
If you have just picked up this book, then it is not too late to put it back down. Like the previous books in A Series of Unfortunate Events, there is nothing to be found in these pages but misery, despair, and discomfort, and you still have time to choose something else to read.
Within the chapters of this story, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire encounter a darkened staircase, a red herring, some friends in a dire situation, three mysterious initials, a liar with an evil scheme, a secret passageway, and parsley soda.
I have sworn to write down these tales of the Baudelaire orphans so the general public will know each terrible thing that has happened to them, but if you decide to read something else instead, you will save yourself from a helpful of horror and woe.
With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket

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With the epic sweep of Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko or Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing and the lyrical beauty of Vaddey Ratner’s In the Shadow of the Banyan, The Mountains Sing tells an enveloping, multigenerational tale of the Tran family, set against the backdrop of the Viet Nam War. Tran Dieu Lan, who was born in 1920, was forced to flee her family farm with her six children during the Land Reform as the Communist government rose in the North. Years later in Hà Noi, her young granddaughter, Hương, comes of age as her parents and uncles head off down the Ho Chí Minh Trail to fight in a conflict that will tear not just her beloved country but her family apart.
Vivid, gripping, and steeped in the language and traditions of Viet Nam, The Mountains Sing brings to life the human costs of this conflict from the point of view of the Vietnamese people themselves, while showing us the true power of kindness and hope. This is celebrated Vietnamese poet Nguyen Phan Que Mai’s first novel in English.

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Raf and Robbie, two brothers aged 9 and 5, move with their parents from a busy city to their grandparents farm. Their mom and dad are a bit too busy with their own business, and so there is no one that watches the boys. Or grandpa. Who is building a tower in the woods behind the farm. And when grandma get sicks it is going to be Raf and Robbie who have to keep an eye on their grandpa. And have to save him, if needed.

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At Coral Tree Prep in Los Angeles, who your parents are can make or break you. Case in point:
– As the son of Hollywood royalty, Derek Edwards is pretty much prince of the school–not that he deigns to acknowledge many of his loyal subjects.
– As the daughter of the new principal, Elise Benton isn’t exactly on everyone’s must-sit-next-to-at-lunch list.
When Elise’s beautiful sister catches the eye of the prince’s best friend, Elise gets to spend a lot of time with Derek, making her the envy of every girl on campus. Except she refuses to fall for any of his rare smiles and instead warms up to his enemy, the surprisingly charming social outcast Webster Grant. But in this hilarious tale of fitting in and flirting, not all snubs are undeserved, not all celebrity brats are bratty, and pride and prejudice can get in the way of true love for only so long.

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Russia is enormous and the stories that come from it are just as big and diverse as the country itself. Thé Tjong-Khing collected 14 gorgeous stories to be retold in his own way. In clear language and with his recognisable illustrations, Thé Tjong-King will tell us 14 gorgeous fairy tales. Each one more recognisable than the next. I am sure you heard about Baba Yaga, but do you know about the story called Forest King Och, or The criminal who became a minister? Let yourself be carried away to the wondrous Russian world of fairytales in this perfect book full of exciting illustrations.