On day 12, we hinted that we’d have some more bookmarks for a few lucky readers. It just so happens that I have TWO of these fun Castle bookmarks (these bookmarks are full color and laminated) and will send one to the first two people who comment on this post!

For everyone else who doesn’t happen to be one of the first two commentor’s, you can still have your very own copy of this lovely bookmark by printing out the artwork provided below.

All you have to do is right click save the following jpeg file to your computer, and then print it out on card stock and cut it out. For those of you who are so inclined, laminating them is an excellent way to make them last!

Happy Holidays from With a Good Book!

Today’s Advent item is a lovely FREE ebook of Christmas carols!

This ebook contains the lyrics to over 30 holiday favorites, with festive illustrations. Just click the link below to save your very own copy!

Christmas Carol Lyrics.pdf

Happy Holidays from With A Good Book!

10 days and counting! Hopefully we can help with some last minute Bookish Gift Suggestions!

Today’s Bookish Gift Suggestion is a great way for readers to not only show their book love, but also to support a good cause! As many of you probably know, Banned Books Week is celebrated in the fall.

Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment.  Held during the last week of September, BBW highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books.

I know we all agree that books should never be banned. So why not show your support and check an item off your gift list with these awesome “I Read Banned Books” bracelets and necklaces?

The bracelets come in both adult and teen title choices, so they make a great gift for any book lover on your list!

Happy Holidays from With a Good Book!

With all the stress and pressures involved in getting ready for the holiday’s, we all need something a little magical from time to time. So for today’s Advent post we’ll take you on a trip to Ollivander’s Wand Shop made famous by the Harry Potter books, and brought to life by Universal Studios.

Rae and I stood in line for over an hour for the honor of entering the wand shop to be among a small group of muggles who got to watch Ollivander himself* help one lucky potential wizard select their wand. After you’ve finished with the wand selection, keep scrolling because we’ve found some great Harry Potter wallpapers to brighten up your desktop!

Ollivander’s – A Magical Experience!

(*Not actually Ollivander himself.)

Now, as promised here’s a few awesome HP7 wallpapers!  Head on over to the Warner Brothers Harry Potter site (under Downloads) for more selection, as well as a variety of posters and a screensaver.

Happy Holidays from With a Good Book!

We have more Bookish Decorating suggestions for you today!  Continuing with the book-themed tree, we have another great (and very affordable!) way to display your book love on your Christmas tree. In addition to the book-based ornaments we featured on Day 9, you can add a lot of colour and a big bookish impact by hanging bookmarks on the tree!

And it’s SO simple! Most bookmarks come with a loop of some sort already attached so they’re literally ready to hang, but if you happen to be like me and have a lot of book marks without a tassel, you can just tape or tie a loop of colored thread to your bookmarks and voila! A beautiful book themed tree!

Check back later in the week for your chance to win a great bookmark from WAGB!

Happy Holidays from With a Good Book!

We’re down to just two weeks to find just the right gift for everyone on your list! Hopefully we can help out a little by passing along some fun Bookish Gift Suggestions!

This next Bookish Gift Suggestion, is really only for the true Book-a-holic on your list, but I know many of us in the book blogging community could get a lot of use out of a Book Journal! When you read as many books a year as we do, having somewhere to keep track of what you’ve read, bought, loaned or borrowed, and would like to recommend can be very helpful!

There are a wide variety of book journals to choose from, but this one: Read, Remember, Recommend: A Reading Journal for Book Lovers by Rachelle Rogers Knight seems to be a favorite.

If this one doesn’t work for you, Amazon has quite a selection to choose from! Maybe the book lover on your list could use a shiny new book journal?

Happy Holidays from With A Good Book!

In keeping with our traditional Friday Freebie, today’s Advent Calendar item is another great holiday giveaway!

This week we have one paperback copy of Ex-mas by Kate Brian to giveaway to one lucky reader!

Here’s a little about the book:

Seventeen-year-old Lila Beckwith’s parents just left for vacation, and Lila’s all set to throw the holiday party of the season. But when her Christmas-obsessed little brother, Cooper, discovers that global warming is melting the North Pole, he and his best friend, Tyler, take off on a runaway mission to save Santa.

Lila has to get Cooper safely home before her parents get back on Christmas Eve. But the only person who can help her is Tyler’s older brother, Beau — a.k.a. Lila’s musician, anti-everything ex-boyfriend.

It’ll take more than a Christmas miracle for Lila and Beau to overcome their differences and find their fugitive brothers. But could a journey destined for disaster help these polar opposites fall in love…all over again?

Today’s Advent post is all about how to decorate for the holidays like a true book lover! For our first Bookish Decorating suggestion we’ll start with the tree.  (For those of you who don’t put up a tree, the same ornaments can be placed on a mantel or table for a little literary holiday sparkle.)

Theme trees get more and more popular every year, so why not pick a theme that you love? And of course anyone reading this probably loves BOOKS, so we’ve tracked down a variety of lovely book related ornaments.

One of the more obvious choices for bookish decorations is Dr. Suess’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! I found a variety of Grinch tree ornaments at both Amazon and The Ornament Shop.

The Wizard of Oz also seems to be a popular choice for book-related ornaments, and The Ornament Shop has a stunning collection!

Of course we can’t leave out the ever popular Twilight. I’m actually surprised how much harder these are to find than other book related decorations, but I did manage to track down a few. Amazon has a small selection of Twilight themed ornaments, and of course ebay has some as well (but they seem to be mostly of the homemade variety).

And of course you know there had to be some Harry Potter in a WAGB holiday decorating post! I was lucky enough to snag a gorgeous ceramic Harry Potter ornament at Wizarding World, which I unfortunately can’t find anywhere else, but there are many others to choose from! Hallmark has an gorgeous collection, Amazon has a variety as well, but for the best selection, I think ebay wins.

Some other popular choices: Winnie the Pooh, A Christmas Carol, comic books, and check out MAW Books “Literary Themed Christmas Trees” post for more inspiration!

Now, I look forward to seeing some book themed Christmas pictures! If you have other favorite Bookish holiday ornaments, please share in the comments below.

Happy Holidays from With a Good Book!

You may remember sometime back in the summer, we shared the news that a Vampire Diaries prequel called Stefan’s Diaries was in the works?

The first book in the trilogy came out last month, and we’ve discovered that Harper Teen is offering up a special preview of the first 7 chapters on their Browse Inside website! So, for today’s Advent treat we’d like to share this little Vampire Diaries gift with you!

Just head on over to Harper Teen to Browse Inside Stefan’s Diaries #1, the newest Vampire Diaries book!

There’s just 17 days left to find just the right gift for everyone on your list! We’re continuing to help out by passing along some fun Bookish Gift Suggestions!

If this wasn’t something that I got for myself every year, I know I’d LOVE to receive a Bookstore Membership as a gift! Most of the major book retailers offer some sort of reward program when you sign up for a membership with them.

Chapters/Indigo here in Canada offers 10-40% off book prices, along with a valuable coupon book when you sign up for a 1 year membership in their irewards program. ($25)

Borders offers substantial savings (10-40%), free shipping on online orders and a gift on your birthday when you sign up for their Borders Plus Rewards Program. ($20)

Barnes & Noble also offers 10-40% savings on book purchases, along with free shipping and over $50 in bonus coupons when you sign up for their B&N Membership Program. ($25)

I believe some of the smaller bookstores may offer their own membership/rewards programs as well.If you know of other book store reward programs, please let us know in the comments below.

Find out where your book-loving friends love to shop and treat them to a year of discounts!

Happy Holidays from With A Good Book!