Wednesday, September 30, 2015

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

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Tuesday, September 29, 2015

September Wrap Up 2015!

   Finally September is done! And with that I only have 9 more months of school then I graduate. Woohoooooo! Anyhow, besides that I purchased a whole ton of books this month, and I mean a lot.
Online orders, pre-orders, bookstores and used bookstores. I did a lot of book hunting!
Woah, look a selfie.
   I went to my first book signing in over a year, since YALLFest 2014 to be specific. It felt great, I hope we get visited more often in the future because I really missed the feeling of being at a signing! You can read more about the signing I went to here.
   I finally started Queen of Shadows and I'm dying because how awesome it is! I've been kind of out of it at school around my friends because of it! Oops!     OOH! Halloween is next month so I'm trying my best to pick a bookish costume, but knowing me it probably won't happen. But we'll see!
   Besides the signing and buying a ton of books nothing new has happened this month! I've gotten a update on my trip to San Francisco in March, so that's excited but like I said nothing new.

   That wraps up this month. Time for the bookish stats!


Books Reads:

Book Haul:


Deceptions by Kelley Armstrong (Canadian Hardcover)

   A Big thank you to McNally Robinson, St. Marten's Griffin, Razorbill, and Spencer Hill Press for sending me some go these fabulous books!


Books Reviewed:

October Books I'm Looking Forward To:



    That's it for this month! Thanks for sticking around!




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Sunday, September 27, 2015

Maureen Fergus' Buddy and Earl Book Launch Event


   Yesterday I went to my first book signing in a year! I was able to go to the launch event of Buddy and Earl by Maureen Fergus and Carey Sookocheff located at McNally Robinson, though it was a picture book and not a YA I really enjoyed myself! My father actually grew up with Maureen's husband, and so when I was younger we did some camping trips together. We had actually lost touch till recently, so it was great seeing them again!
Me, and Maureen.
   Besides meeting some old friends, I actually went to get my book, The Gypsy King signed by Maureen because alongside a few picture books she has also written a YA series! I've only read the first book but I really enjoyed it, so it felt good to get it signed!

   Anyhow the signing went as follows, we started off learning a bit about the lovely authors then went onto reading the book! It was all so adorable. After the reading and answering a few questions, Carey offered to have some of the little kids in the audience pick an adventure for Buddy and Earl to go on! The kids had some good ideas, Buddy and Earl ended up in the Jungle and in a Desert! Once again it was all so cute.

Carey drawing Buddy and Earl in the Jungle.
   After that we went onto signing some books! I ended up waiting till the line died down just a bit, but it was a perfect wait time so we could grab some cookies and drinks!

   In all it was a fabulous event and I can not wait to read the rest of Maureen's Gypsy King series!

   Maureen Fergus was born in Regina, Saskatchewan and grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba. When she was sixteen her family moved east; while there, she received an Honours Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Western Ontario and a Master of Business Administration from McGill University. Upon graduating, she moved back to Winnipeg to embark upon her business career. She has worked in the aerospace, biopharmaceutical and financial services industries. She has also taught at the college level.
   When she was growing up, the idea of becoming a fiction writer never even crossed her mind. Then, six weeks after her first daughter was born, her husband Nick suggested that she give it a try. Thinking that it might be a good way to keep her brain stimulated in between diaper changes, she decided to do so. That first time she reached her fingers toward the keyboard to write a story it felt as though she was slipping her hands into a pair of gloves that had been waiting for her, her whole life. It was the first step on the long, challenging path that led to her becoming a published author.

   These days, her life is busy. She went back to work in the business world as the part-time Managing Director of a Financial Services company five years ago when her youngest child started grade one, so two days a week she lives in the fast-paced corporate world, three days a week (plus whatever other time she can manage!) She works on her writing. In between, she shops for groceries, makes lunches, does laundry, cleans the house, coaches soccer, runs twelve miles a week, studies karate and hangs out with her husband, her three kids and the family dog! 




Buddy and Earl by Maureen Fergus and Carey Sookocheff


Release Date: August 1st, 2015
Publisher: Groundwood Books
Series: Buddy and Earl, #1
Format: Hardcover, 32 pages


Description from GoodReads:


   Buddy does not know what is in the box that Meredith carries into the living room. But when the small, prickly creature says he is a pirate — and that Buddy is a pirate too — the two mismatched friends are off on a grand adventure.

   In this first book in the Buddy and Earl series, a dog who likes to play by the rules meets a hedgehog who knows no limits. Their friendship is tender and loyal, and their adventures are funny and imaginative. Maureen Fergus’s text is witty and understated, and Carey Sookocheff’s art emphasizes both the humor and the warmth of this odd and loveable animal couple.



The Gypsy King by Maureen Fergus


Release Date: January 22nd, 2013
Publisher: Razorbill Canada
Series: The Gypsy King, #1
Format: Hardcover, 434 pages


Description from GoodReads:


   A runaway slave with a shadowy past, sixteen-year-old Persephone has spent four long years toiling beneath the leering gaze of her despised owner and dreaming of a life where she is free to shape her own destiny. Then, one night, a chance encounter with a handsome chicken thief named Azriel changes her life forever.

   Sold to him for a small bag of gold coins, Persephone soon discovers what she already suspected: namely, that Azriel is not what he seems. And when she realizes that he believes Persephone has a special destiny—she is determined to escape him and his impossibly broad shoulders.

   But things are no longer as simple as they once were. Torn between her longing for freedom and her undeniable feelings for the handsome thief with the fast hands and the slow smile, Persephone faces the hardest choice she will ever have to make. And no one least of all her—could have imagined the shocking truth her decision will reveal.


   Thanks for stopping by! How does the Gypsy King sound? You interested in giving her a try? Definitely let me know if you do! I'd love to discuss it!


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Thursday, September 24, 2015

Ohana Talks: Top 5 Favourite Love Triangles

   Love them or hate them, everyone has read a book with a love triangle in it. Whether it was the famous trio in Twilight or if it was some other. 

   Over the past years I've grown to love a select few of triangles, and I can say for a few of them I wouldn't be where I am today without them! So today I'm going to be telling you them! Here are my top 5 favourite love triangles!


Warning: Post will contain spoilers varying on the book series.


Four, Sarah & Six

   When I first read I Am Number Four, I loved Four and Sarah together. He risked everything to be with her, but when Four and Sam go back to Paradise and "Sarah" turns them in to the Mogadorians I kind of lost it. I know we realize later that it wasn't actually Sarah, but it kind of stuck with me. Plus with Six being so bad ass, how could one not ship them.



Evie, Death & Jack

   I was always iffy with Jack, so when Death came along I automatically fell in love. I've still only read the first two books, but with still 2 more books to go, I can't wait to see where Kresley Cole takes us!



America, Aspen & Maxon

   What can I say, I'm still Team Aspen even after The Heir.



Kelsey, Kishan & Ren

   I have so many tears for this series, I think this was the only series that I was constantly back and fourth between the guys. I still don't even think I have a team, I miss Kishan but with the ending we got, I can't say I don't love Ren. *SIGH* 


Tessa, Jem & Will


   I SHIP IT ALL, ALL OF THEM. I NEED MORE OF THEM I TELL YOU, MORE.



   aha, well those are my Top 5 Love Triangles! Who are your favourites? Let me know, I'm always looking for more ships.




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