June Wrap Up 2016

   Hi everyone! 

   First of all, I'm really sorry that Ohana Reads had nothing new for most of June. After returning from BEA 2016, back in mid May, everything was a mess for me. I had missed a ton of school work, so I was playing catch up, and then final exams started happening. Between exams and prepping for

my graduation at the end of June, I had no time for blogging. So in the next little while, definitely look forward to seeing those last few posts about my BEA trip, as well as a blog tour and a few book reviews.
   At the beginning of June, my lovely local blogger friend, Joy from Joyousreads invited a bunch of us other locals to her house to pick a bunch of books from her stacks that she didn't want anymore to take home. "A bunch" being 50ish books, and holy she still had more for us to take. Besides getting a whole bunch of new books to take home, it was lovely seeing Kristie (Lost in Ever After), and Mari (The Autumn Bookshelf) again, as well as finally meeting Joy and Sara (Just Another Story)!

   The last week of June was all about me graduating, yup I graduated High School. Finally. With the

My date, Riley and I.

27th being my school's garden party, basically we dressed up in our grad attires and walked down a carpet, and our grad dinner. That day started with me getting my hair done, then coming home to do make up and get dressed. From there the party began at my school, my friends and I walked down the Kodiak blue carpet then took MANY photos outside. When we were finally done that we headed to Sweet Tops, our local ice cream place where we ate in style.

   Dinner was in the evening, our school had rented a place in our local convention centre for us to

My rather large friend group.

have our party. We had a bar, a casino section, a photo booth and a silent raffle. The whole evening was a blast, especially when I had won 60 free slurps in the raffle.
   My friend was hosting our after party at his house, but with such  long day I ended up hitting the hay earlier then the rest if my friends.
   Wednesday the 29th was our convocation, where were saw all of our graduating class together for the last time. It was great, and amazing to see as all graduating together.

   And that was my grad. From the way I described it, it probably seemed like a boring thing, but I had a phenomenal time. I'm glad I was able to share High School with my friends, I'll definitely miss the ones that are leaving the city for school.

   That is my monthly wrap up! And now for the stats!

Books Read:

My girls, Tia and Cynthia.

And I Darken by Kiersten White
The Crown by Kiera Cass
The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead

Book Haul:

White Cat by Holly Black (UK Paperback)
The Vicious Deep by Zoraida Cordova (Hardcover)
Stone Cold Touch by Jennifer L. Armentrout (ARC)
In A Handful of Dust by Mindy McGinnis (Hardcover)
Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis (Hardcover)
Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Paperback)
The Selection by Kiera Cass (Hardcover)
Nocturne by Christine Johnson (Hardcover)
Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff (ARC)
Origin by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Paperback)
Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout ( First Edition Paperback)
Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Paperback)
Cursed by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Hardcover)
Succubus on Top by Richelle Mead (Paperback)
Succubus Dreams by Richelle Mead (Paperback)
Succubus Heat by Richelle Mead (Paperback)
Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder (Paperback)
And I Darken by Kiersten White (ARC)
Dragonswood by Janet Lee Carey (Hardcover)
Pride by Rachel Vincent (Mass Bound Paperback)
Inbetween by Tara A. Fuller (Paperback)

Some of my nerds, Cynthia and Justin.

Of Metal and Wishes by Sarah Fine (Signed ARC)
Unite Me by Tahereh Mafi (Paperback)
Wither by Lauren DeStefano (Hardcover)
Between the Sea and the Sky by Jaclyn Dolamore (Hardcover)
Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma (ARC)
Feed by Mira Grant (Mass Bound Paperback)
The Witch Hunter by Virginia Boecker (ARC)
The Nine Lives of Chloe King by Liz Bramwell (Paperback)
Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch (Hardcover)
Siren by Tricia Rayburn (Hardcover)
Undercurrent by Tricia Rayburn (Hardcover)
Sublime by Christina Lauren (Hardcover)
My Soul to Save by Rachel Vincent (Paperback)
My Soul to Keep by Rachel Vincent (Paperback)
My Soul to Steal by Rachel Vincent(Paperback)
The Summer of Chasing Mermaids by Sarah Ockler (Hardcover)
Nightshade by Andrea Cremer (Hardcover)
Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer (Hardcover)
Bloodrose by Andrea Cremer (Hardcover)
Snakeroot by Andrea Cremer (Hardcover)
Heir to the Sky by Amanda Sun (Hardover)
My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows (Hardcover)

A huge thank you to Joy from Joyousreads, Brittany from Brittany's Book Rambles, and OwlCrate for this fabulous book haul this month!

Books Reviewed:

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas
Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken

July Releases That I'm Excited For:

The Savage Song by Victoria Schwab (5th)
A World Without You by Beth Revis (19th)
Invincible by Dawn Metcalf (26th)
How to Hang A Witch by Adriana Mather (26th)


   That's my month! I'm already starting to get into my bookish feel again, so expect a lot of stuff come July!

Book Review: A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis

Release Date: October 6th, 2015
Read: October 23rd-28th, 2015
Publisher: Katherine Tegen
Series: N/A
Format: ARC, 384 pages
Source: Traded

Description from GoodReads:

   Grace Mae knows madness.

   She keeps it locked away, along with her voice, trapped deep inside a brilliant mind that cannot forget horrific family secrets. Those secrets, along with the bulge in her belly, land her in a Boston insane asylum.

   When her voice returns in a burst of violence, Grace is banished to the dark cellars, where her mind is discovered by a visiting doctor who dabbles in the new study of criminal psychology. With her keen eyes and sharp memory, Grace will make the perfect assistant at crime scenes. Escaping from Boston to the safety of an ethical Ohio asylum, Grace finds friendship and hope, hints of a life she should have had. But gruesome nights bring Grace and the doctor into the circle of a killer who stalks young women. Grace, continuing to operate under the cloak of madness, must hunt a murderer while she confronts the demons in her own past.

Review:

Contains Spoilers:

   Dear child, do you even know all the rage that is inside you?
   I knew I'd love this book since the moment I saw the cover, there was an eeriness to it that just could not be ignored. But by not loving Not a Drop to Drink, I was a bit sceptical about A Madness So Discreet, but I can happily say I had nothing to be worried about.
   A Madness So Discreet is a book full of triggers, from the rape, to mental illnesses, the book brought you to realize many things about our world. The one thing that stood out the most for me was  that one you are labeled insane, because once you are there is no going back. But as we saw from the book, some of the people who were labeled insane, were normal functioning members of society, or to the best of their abilities they were. Elizabeth being a good example, though she talked to 'string' or an imaginary friend, she was sane otherwise. I felt like McGinnis wanted us to see the consequences we cause when we are quick to label people.
   My favourite thing from the book had to be Thornhollow's way of solving mysteries and crimes. Instead of the Who? When? Why? How? Like he mentioned, he would look at the other evidence that could have lead up to the nature of the murder. By studying the human nature and faults, he was able to determine almost the exact reason for the kill. I understand that people do that now a days, but to see it in the light that McGinnis put it was utterly fascinating.
   I found A Madness So Discreet to be highly informational and intriguing, and would love to see how McGinnis depicts other topics and such, later in the future with hopefully more books to come.
   Not a Drop to Drink was not a lively book for me, but A Madness So Discreet was the total opposite, I'm glad to have given the book a chance and can't wait to see what else McGinnis has in store for us in the future! 

Rating:

Favourite Quote:

" It's all blood and darkness, with your throat closed so tight your own death is choking you."

"Sometimes the loveliest places harbour the worst monsters."

"The dead know nothing.
 And the living have secrets."

Recommend to People Who Enjoy:

Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Asylums, Insane People

Blog Tour: A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis

   Hello and welcome to the A Madness So Discreet Blog Tour! I'm super excited to be your host for today, I've been dying to get my hands on this book since ARCs were sent out. I may not have read it yet but that doesn't mean I won't ASAP. 

   Today Mindy McGinnis will be answering my question about her research for A Madness So Discreet, as well as a giveaway to go along with it! I hope you enjoy!

A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis

Release Date: October 6th, 2015

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Series: N/A

Format: Hardcover, 384 pages

Description from GoodReads:

   Grace Mae knows madness.

   She keeps it locked away, along with her voice, trapped deep inside a brilliant mind that cannot forget horrific family secrets. Those secrets, along with the bulge in her belly, land her in a Boston insane asylum.

   When her voice returns in a burst of violence, Grace is banished to the dark cellars, where her mind is discovered by a visiting doctor who dabbles in the new study of criminal psychology. With her keen eyes and sharp memory, Grace will make the perfect assistant at crime scenes. Escaping from Boston to the safety of an ethical Ohio asylum, Grace finds friendship and hope, hints of a life she should have had. But gruesome nights bring Grace and the doctor into the circle of a killer who stalks young women. Grace, continuing to operate under the cloak of madness, must hunt a murderer while she confronts the demons in her own past.

   Research! What kind of research went into making A Madness So Discreet? Did you have to do a lot of looking into Asylums and Criminal Psychology?

   I researched for an entire year before writing a word of this book. There was much to learn – the beginnings of criminal psychology, the history of asylum medicine (both the good and the bad), and of course historical details in general. What kind of lighting would be in a room in 1890? What would an asylum inmate be wearing? I’m very particular, and there were days when I couldn’t finish a sentence without doing half an hour of research in order to make sure I got it (hopefully) right.
The specific setting – the Athens Lunatic Asylum in Ohio – has an amazing history. You can do a quick Google and learn about how it’s one of the most haunted places in the world and hear horror stories about the graveyard. And while I’m a fan of the supernatural, I’m also a fan of data. That type of history doesn’t interest me, because most of it quite frankly, just isn’t true.
The Athens asylum was actually an amazing model of humane treatment for the insane. If you were crazy (or just unlucky enough to be deemed so) in 1890, it was a good place to land. One of my best resources for the history of the asylum was Asylum On The Hill: History of A Healing Landscape, by Katherine Ziff. If you’d like to learn more about the actual history of the Athens Lunatic Asylum give it a shot.


   I also toured the buildings, which are now part of the Ohio University campus. You can’t go into the patient wards for safety reasons (they are literally crumbling), but some parts of the building are currently in use as staff offices as well as an art gallery. The gallery is open to the public, and when you visit you can see original floors, staircases and woodwork from the insane asylum years. Definitely hit up my Pinterest board if you want to see some pics from my tour!

   Mindy McGinnis is an assistant YA librarian who lives in Ohio and cans her own food. She

graduated from Otterbein University magna cum laude with a BA in English Literature and Religion. Mindy has a pond in her back yard but has never shot anyone, as her morals tend to cloud her vision.

1 winner will receive a signed finished copy of A MADNESS SO DISCREET. US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

   Thanks for stopping by! I can't wait to give it a read, and I hope you feel the same!

Week One:

9/28/2015- Such a Novel Idea- Review

9/29/2015- Once Upon a Twilight- Interview

9/30/2015- Ohana Reads- Guest Post

10/1/2015- IceyBooks- Review

10/2/2015- Adventures of a Book Junkie- Interview

Week Two:

10/5/2015- Moonlight Gleam Reviews- Review

10/6/2015- One Night Book Stand- Guest Post

10/7/2015- Oh, the Books!- Review

10/8/2015- Chapter by Chapter- Interview

10/9/2015- A Dream Within A Dream- Review

Cover Reveal: February Bind Up!

   In the last two weeks new book covers have been revealed left, right, and centre. It's been so overwhelming! With so many covers being revealed I thought I'd round them all up for you guys to see! So here they are! I'm probably missing a few, but I tried my best.

The List from Above:

Sweet Temptation by Wendy Higgins
Storm by Amanda Sun
Never Sometimes Always by Adi Alsaid
Nowwhere But Here by Katie McGarry
Persuasion by Martina Boone
A Madness so Discreet by Mindi McGinnis
End of Days by Susan Ee
Gabriel by Nikki Kelly
Hello, Goodbye and Everything in Between by Jennifer E. Smith
Lock & Mori by Heather W. Petty
P.S I Still Love You by Jenny Han
Romancing the Dark in the City of Light by Ann Jacobus
Ten Thousand Skys Above You by Claudia Gray
Ungodly by Kendare Blake
Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman
Ice Like Fire by Sara Raasch



   Now that's what I call good company! I'm out of my mind excited for a bunch of the ones above to be released! I hope you are too!