CLAT

CLAT 2018, well, so it is on 13th May 2018, you have around 1-year.
First and foremost a candidate should go through the past year papers of CLAT and analyse each and every section very nicely. The topics of General Knowledge questions, the topics of the question in Legal Aptitude, the different types in each section, the chapters from which questions have been asked in Mathematics, the level and types of questions in Logical Reasoning. And you must note down the results of this analysis somewhere for future references.
Next step is to solve the past year papers exhaustively so that you can understand your initial position, and on this basis, you can understand the rate of your improvement and the margin of your improvement. But, refrain from solving the General Knowledge section as it is more of Current Affairs (in most of the cases) and taking it into account may give a wrong overall picture.
Then do SWOT Analysis. After this, by now you will be knowing your (SWOT) Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Start working and improving on your weaknesses with special care and beware and defend the areas which may turn out to be Threats for you. Along with these, keep a close watch on your strengths, if you loose practice, your strengths may turn out to be your weaknesses.
Make an effective study plan based on SWOT, also aim to complete your preparation within 1 year, make up your mind as if you will take CLAT in the year 2017 and not 2018.
Now I will state the name of the books which you must buy for your guidance -
(For Logic) Analytical Reasoning by MK Pandey
Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning by RS Aggarwal
(After completion of the above two) Puzzles and Teasers by George J Summer (which will take you to the next higher level)
(For Maths) Quantitative Reasoning by RS Aggarwal
Quicker Maths by M Tyra
And any books on elementary mathematics (beware of errors)
(For Legal Aptitude) CLAT Essentials by Abhinav Shrivastava
Constitution of India by Dr. Durga Das
(For GK) CLAT Essentials by Rajneesh Singh (search in google and facebook in case you are not getting)
(For Current Affairs) websites:
Exam Prep: Government, MBA, Engineering, CBSE, GK & Current Affairs for IAS, UPSC, PCS, IBPS & SSC Exams, www.affairscoud.com.
(For English) Word Power made easy by Norman Lewis
Objective English by Pearson publication
Objective English by McGraw-Hill Publication

Yes, you can take admission in 3 years LLB course without having to appear for entrance exam. There are colleges who offer admission on the merit basis.
LLB is a 3 years long course which has started to be replaced by BA LLB course which is 5 years long. Most colleges these days are preferring to offer BA LLB course to the candidates which can be taken after completing 12th standard. It is mandatory to appear for entrance exam for BA LLB course. The name of entrance exam is CLAT.
There is however no such requirement for LLB course. You can seek direct admission based on the merit. You will have to appear for an interview after which you will be given admission for LLB course.
Although not every college follow this procedure and a large number of them prefer to select candidates through entrance exam. The criteria for entrance exam is:
Eligibility
1. A Bachelor degree in any stream.
2. Minimum of 45 percent marks in Bachelor degree.
3. SC/ST need 40 percent marks.
4. Age limit for LLB is 30 years.
5. SC/ST gets 5 years relaxation in upper age limit.
The criteria for admission based on merit is also same. However you will need to have good percentage to make the cut. Below are some colleges that offer admission through merit.
1. Government Law College (Mumbai)
2. Balaji Law College (Pune)
3. ILS Law College (Pune)