Ohana Talks: Top 5 Favourite Authors.

   Since I began my obsession with reading oh so long ago, I've come to read a lot of books over that time, and with those books, I've fallen in love with so many great authors. Today I wanted to show you all, my top favourite authors. The authors that I own almost all of their books, as well as multiple editions of them. Many of them don't need any help getting their books out there, they're already big names, but I wanted to show them off to you anyway.

   I was originally just going to do my top 5, but I found that I had two authors that were tied in 5th place. So now I have 6 total.

Marisa Meyer/ Kiera Cass

   I was lucky enough to have met both Kiera and Marissa, to be completely honest, I've met all the authors on this list, expect one. I met Kiera Cass back in 2014, at YALLfest. She still remains one of the sweetest people I have met in my entire life. She adored how loved my copy of The Selection was, as well as The Selection and The Elite earrings that my sister was wearing. (That I made, hehe) I've loved her book since that one camping trip when I happened to have picked up The Selection at the library to bring along, and finished it in one day.
   I first met Marissa at BEA 2016, when I went through what you could say was A LOT of trouble to get tickets to her Heartless signing/ARC drop. I've adored her books since I first read Cinder, oh so long ago. Her Lunar Chronicles had been instant pre-orders, the minute the next book in the series was announced. 

Richelle Mead

   The Vampire Academy series was one of the first series' that I got into when I first started reading. My mom thought that because I started reading because of Twilight, that it was the vampires that sucked me in. (LOL, excuse my pun.) And so my love of Richelle Mead started. I went from reading and loving her Vampire Academy series, to her Bloodlines series, to eventually reading all her adult series' like the Dark Swan series. As of today, I've read everything but two books that Richelle has published, and I just can't wait to read her latest upcoming book, Midnight Jewel. 

Cassandra Clare

   Cassandra's City of Bones is what got me into her writing. The first trilogy of the series, The Mortal Instruments, was all released when I first picked up the series, and so I was able to read them all as a binge read. But it wasn't until I realized that she had a prequel series out as well, that I really became a fan of hers. I picked up Clockwork Angel, and read it, I believe in a week, although, Clockwork Prince is what really got me hooked. Will and Jem are who won my heart. Since then, I've read everything that connects to the Shadowhunters, and made it my mission to own all of them in hardcover. 

L. J. Smith

   The Night World series was another one of the series that got me into reading, reading it after Twilight but before Vampire Academy. I had picked up the Omnibus of the first three books, and so I was able to read them all at once. Even though the three should have lasted me a while, I had to go to the bookstore twice in the following two weeks to pick up the next two omnibus'. To this day, the series still has a place in my heart. Unfortunately it's been almost 19 years and we still don't have a conclusion to the series, but I still have hope. I even own the originally 1990's editions of the series. 

   I fell in love with the original few seasons of her Vampire Diaries TV show as well, even though it's totally different from the books. I still love them just the same. 

   She is the only one of my top five authors that I have yet to meet, I hope to change that one day.

Sarah J Maas

   I met Sarah J. Maas back at YALLfest 2014, along with Kiera Cass. At the time I had only read her Throne of Glass, which I hadn't really enjoyed. It wasn't until after that festival that I received the first ARC for her new book/series, A Court of Thorns and Roses, that she finally had me obsessed. I couldn't wait for the sequel, but since it was an ARC, I knew I had a long wait ahead. So I finally picked up the rest of the Throne of Glass series. Today, the A Court of Thorns and Roses series remains my all time favourite, and her Throne of Glass series is just a little bit below on that list.

   For her A Court of Mist and Fury tour, I was able to meet her again, but as a true fan. I was a blubbering mess, but at least I was able to see her and have my prized books signed for my collection.

   Those were my top 5,(6) all time favourite authors. Who are your favourites? What stories do you have behind those authors? What do they mean to you? I'd love to hear about your favourites!

Book Review: The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead

Release Date: April 5th, 2016
Read: June 29th-July 2nd, 2016
Publisher: Razorbill
Series: The Glittering Court, #1
Format: Signed Hardcover, 400 pages
Source: Bought

Description from GoodReads:

   Big and sweeping, spanning from the refined palaces of Osfrid to the gold dust and untamed forests of Adoria, The Glittering Court tells the story of Adelaide, an Osfridian countess who poses as her servant to escape an arranged marriage and start a new life in Adoria, the New World. But to do that, she must join the Glittering Court.

   Both a school and a business venture, the Glittering Court is designed to transform impoverished girls into upper-class ladies who appear destined for powerful and wealthy marriages in the New World. Adelaide naturally excels in her training, and even makes a few friends: the fiery former laundress Tamsin and the beautiful Sirminican refugee Mira. She manages to keep her true identity hidden from all but one: the intriguing Cedric Thorn, son of the wealthy proprietor of the Glittering Court.

   When Adelaide discovers that Cedric is hiding a dangerous secret of his own, together they hatch a scheme to make the best of Adelaide’s deception. Complications soon arise—first as they cross the treacherous seas from Osfrid to Adoria, and then when Adelaide catches the attention of a powerful governor.


   But no complication will prove quite as daunting as the potent attraction simmering between Adelaide and Cedric. An attraction that, if acted on, would scandalize the Glittering Court and make them both outcasts in wild, vastly uncharted lands…

Review:

   I will walk by your side for so long as the sun continues to rise.
   Whatever I expected when going into The Glittering Court, it was not what I got. After reading practically everything Mead has ever written, I was sure I'd know what to expect when going into the story but apparently I was wrong.
   First thing's first, the cover for the book does not do it justice and it gives you a complete wrong impression of what it under it. Even when the cover was revealed I found it bland, and now that I've read it I can still say the same. People say don't judge a book by it's cover, but people are way more likely to pick up a book because its cover attracted them then anything else. The jewels and dress I can understand, but unless I completely missed something, why are there a bunch of flowers on the cover?
   Going into the book, I assumed that it was to take place in a somewhat distant future. Whether it was because from reading the summery I got a futuristic impression, I don't know. What I do know is that going into the book you should expect a more western feel, but from the perspective of the upper class. It was a western adventure I didn't realize I wanted.
   I really enjoyed the idea that even if the girls were getting "purchased" from the people of the Glittering Court, that they were still given the option of choosing who they wanted to wed instead of just going to the highest bidder.
   The only problem that I really had with the book was the somewhat slow beginning of the novel, I found the beginning to be slow because we got a bunch of unnecessary background information on characters that weren't really a part of the book after the first 50 pages.
   I was aslo a bit confused on why we never learnt "Adelaide's" real name in the first place, she was either Adelaide or Lady, until roughly the final 50 pages of the book. Was this just a mess up? Or did I just miss it? Either way, with the small insider jokes that happened throughout the book, I wasn't able to understand them until the very end when we finally learnt her name.
   The Glittering Court was written phenomenally, with a plot that kept you holding on for the ride. With everything that occurred in the end of the book, you just know that I'll be picking up it's sequel when it releases.

Rating:

Favourite Quote:

"Sometimes, at the right time of day, they can catch a glimpse of each other across the sky. Nothing more."

Recommend to People Who Enjoy: 

Young Adult, Historical Fantasy, Romance, Exploration, Settlers, Finishing School

BookCon 2016

   According to all the other bloggers that I've spoken to, BookCon is a horror show. After having gone to BookCon, I can say that they were definitely not wrong. 

   Stephanie and I tried our best to get everything that we needed done while at BEA, just so that we wouldn't have to experience the horror show, but it couldn't be worse than the first Heartless ticket drop right? I was wrong.

   In the end I only had four things left on my list to do at BookCon. Signings for Cassandra Clare, Richelle Mead, the Amie Kaufman/Jay Kristoff signing and visiting the OwlCrate booth. And from the moment I got there I didn't even think I would get even get to two of them.

(Look at the skywalk.)

   The line to just enter the floor was OUTRAGEOUS, it went across two buildings, a skywalk and three floors.  Because we didn't have anything we needed in a dire need, we didn't even rush to get there, (We got there at 6:30am), but by god, if you even wanted more than one ticket to a signing you'd have had to be there super early. To get tickets, you had to go into different chutes and were only allowed one ticket per chute, and even those lines were outrageous. The two I wanted tickets for were in one chute, I knew I had a decision to make. 

   While waiting in line, it seemed like I would at least get one. So I decided that I would go for Cassandra Clare first then Richelle Mead. In the end it didn't matter because Cassandra Clare ran out before I got to the front. So I got a ticket to Richelle, where I was a little disappointed at not having gotten a ticket to Cassandra, I was still super excited at being able to meet Richelle Mead. The two of them are in my top 5 favourite authors, so getting the chance to even met one of them was phenomenal. 

   Having gotten my ticket I was good to go to the floor, unfortunately with some poorly given directions I had left admittance area and had to go to the veeeeerrry back of the line. Well that was a huge nope for me, having missed breakfast that was the first thing I got. I went back when I the line was completely gone.

   One point five hours later, I was finally on the floor exploring. My first stop was the OwlCrate booth! Having met Korrina a few days before, one of the main faces behind OwlCrate, I was super excited to see her again, especially her booth!

Corrina and I!

   They were packed! I was so happy to see them so busy! They were definitely one of the greatest hits of BookCon 2016!

My version of the shot.

   Then wandering took me to the Random House/Penguin booth again where when I was about to leave, ran into both Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, together. I knew that the afternoon signing wouldn't allow you to pose for photos, so I texted Stephanie. I was to stall them while she ran, and apparently she actually did! With her heart condition she isn't really allowed to do that, her mom told me later that she thought Stephanie ran the fastest she ever did in her entire life. While I waited for her to arrive, I stalled with the two by asking for a photo, when I noticed them going to leave. If you look at the photos that were taken of me and them, then you'd probably laugh because I look so stressed out hoping that my stalling was working so that Steph would make it in time. In the end everything worked out nicely and that photo is probably Steph's favourite from the entire trip.

   From there it was lunch time! So I headed up to the food court with Stephanie and her mom. We spent a good while up there just looking out over all the booths. Compared to BEA, the floor was half the size but filled with 2x as many people as BEA. It was crazy. 

   Then finally at 2:00pm, I had enough of just waiting around and knowing the lines from BEA, I headed to the Richelle Mead signing line. I was apparently so early that I was the tenth person in line. It was pretty great, it also meant that I was guaranteed whatever book I wanted when it came to start time. A majority of the ticketed lines required you to make a book purchase, and so I planned on buying The Glittering Court, which is Richelle's latest release. Along with The Glittering Court, I also brought my ARC of Soundless and one of her adult books, Storm Born to get signed! 

 

Cassandra Clare, (Red/Blue hair)

   As I waited in line, and we slowly made our way up in line, the authors came out to get started. Besides noticing Richelle come out to the signing table, I also got a clear view of Cassandra Clare who was right next to us.  I couldn't help but think that that would be the closest I'd ever get to her. So I took way too many pictures to count.

Richelle Mead

   Then finally it was my turn to meet Richelle. I was just as big of a mess as I was meeting Marissa Meyer, maybe even a bit bigger. She was so kind, you could clearly see that she was tired already but that didn't stop her from interacting with you. The minute she saw my ARC of Soundless, she got excited and asked if I was a blogger, that's when the blabbering mess came out. It stayed out until after pictures were taken and everything. I just couldn't believe that I met Richelle Mead, I still can't.

Kaufman/Kristoff, Jay smiling yet
again at Steph's nickname "Doodle"

   From there I walked star-y eyed towards the Random House/Penguin booth, where the line for the Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff signing had begun. Of course I met Stephanie and her mom there, who had almost two copies of everything for them to sign. Both the hardcover and paperback ARCS of Illuminae, the finished copy and the ARC of Gemina from the day before. Unfortunately I didn't realize that the event would be ticketed as well, this was because they had more ARCs of Gemina to give away. Fortunately because I already had a copy of Gemina they let me get my book signed without a ticket.

   Then the two had one more stop that they wanted to check out before we left, (We had to leave BookCon a bit early so that we could make it in time for the Sarah J. Maas signing at Andersons.) So while they wandered off, I headed towards the Cassandra Clare signing to see if they had finished already, and see if I could by chance sneak in.

   When I got to the signing line I found a girl about my age already waiting outside of the line, I asked her if she was hoping to sneak into the signing line too. She told me that her friend was currently in line "only to buy a Cassandra Clare book", and that the security guard let her. When the girl continued to walk in the line and reach the spot that was right next to us, she looked to the guard, who happened to be right next to us, and said" I've been a good human being and listened to you, may I please sneak into the signing line?" The guard had such a big smirk, and said go ahead! So being right there, I asked if I could sneak in too, being that that was what I was trying to do as well, and he said yes, too! In the end the two friends, myself and one other girl and her mom snuck into the line. The new girl was dressed in complete Isabelle Lightwood attire, so it was really cute to see.

   I was probably just as excited and nervous as I was to meet Richelle Mead and Marissa Meyer, maybe even more so. The closer I got to the the front the more I realized who was taking photos for people, it was Ursula from @Urs_Uriarte. I'm a huge fan of her bookish photography, so meeting her was almost just as exciting as seeing Cassandra!

Cassandra Clare

   Then the moment arrived, and it was time to meet Cassandra Clare. Because all of my Cassandra Clare books are hardcover, and they would weight a ton to fly down, I had originally planned on just bringing my tarot cards to get signed and buying the new edition of Clockwork Princess, but some things changed. Stephanie, as a early, early Christmas Present had gotten me the History of Notable Shadowhunters and Denizens of the Downworld by Cassandra Clare and Cassandra Jean. So I had that on me, as well as my cards, and because I snuck in line I didn't have to buy a copy of anything. Then I also had the cover flap of Clockwork Princess for my friend to have signed.

   The minute I handed Cassandra my copy of HoNSaDotD we started talking about Cassandra Jean, and what a phenomenal illustrator she is. With her being one of my favourite illustrators, we had a bunch to talk about and really besides talking about The Infernal Devices for a bit, that's all we talked about.

   I left that line feeling over the moon, and just staggered to the BookCon entrance looking for Steph feeling at bliss. When I said tearing up on the spot, that was nothing compared to my crying when I found Stephanie.

   Having met Cassandra Clare was the perfect ending to BookCon, and BEA, it was the perfect ending to my trip.

   And that concludes my BEA and BookCon posts, stayed tuned for my Sarah J Maas signing post!

 If you haven't seen my other posts from BEA you can see those here:

Maggie Stiefvater Signing

BEA: Day 1

BEA: Day 2

BEA: Day 3
Sarah J. Maas Signing

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 Blitz: The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead

   Hello world!

   Today I'm excited to be able to celebrate The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead's release with Rockstar Book Tours! I have been such a huge fan of Richelle's work since before Last Sacrifice's release! 

   So today I have for you an exclusive excerpt from the book, and a lovely giveaway supplied by the author and publisher! I hope you all enjoy!

The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead

Release Date: April 5th, 2016

Publisher: Razorbill

Series: The Glittering Court, #1

Format: Hardcover, 416 pages

Description from GoodReads:

   For a select group of girls, the Glittering Court offers a shot at a life they’ve only ever dreamed of, one of luxury, glamour, and leisure. To high-born Adelaide, whose wealthy family is forcing her into a loveless marriage, the Glittering Court represents something else: the chance to chart her own destiny, and adventure in an unspoiled, prosperous new land across the sea.

   After a chance meeting with the dazzling Cedric Thorn, Adelaide poses as a servant to join the crop of impoverished girls he promises to transform into proper ladies. But her familiarity with upper class life comes with a price: she must hide her identity from her new friends, mysterious refugee Mira and fiery former laundress Tamsin, and most importantly, from Cedric himself—even though she’s falling in love with him. 

   Everything begins to crumble when Cedric discovers Adelaide’s ruse, and she catches the eye of a powerful young governor, who wants her for a wife. She didn’t leave the gilded cage of her old life behind just to become someone else's property. But nothing is as daunting—or as wonderful—as the potent, forbidden attraction simmering between Adelaide and Cedric. One that, if acted on, would make them both outcasts in a wild, dangerous, uncharted world, and possibly lead them to their deaths.

   

   Richelle Mead has written over twenty-five novels for teens and adults. She is the author of the international #1 bestselling Vampire Academy series and its spinoff series, Bloodlines. Her recent standalone novel, Soundless, draws upon Chinese mythology and history, and her forthcoming series, The Glittering Court, follows the adventures of girls destined for arranged marriages in a fantasy world inspired by colonial America. A lifelong reader, Richelle has always had a particular fascination with mythology and folklore. When she can actually tear herself away from books (either reading or writing them), she enjoys bad reality TV, traveling, trying interesting cocktails, and shopping for dresses to wear on tour. She is a self-professed coffee addict, works in her pajamas, and has a passion for all things wacky and humorous. Originally from Michigan, Richelle now lives in Seattle, Washington, where she is hard at work on her next novel.

1 winner will receive a hardcover of THE GLITTERING COURT & a $25 Sephora Gift Card. US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

   Thanks for stopping by! Definitely let me know if you pick up a copy of The Glittering Court! I'd love to hear what you think of it!