Recommendation Fridays: The Lady Janies by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows and Brodi Ashton

I discovered My Lady Jane when I received a hardcover in OwlCrate's Royalty box for June 2016. I had read at least one book from each of the authors previously, I took My Lady Jane on a camping trip with me and the rest is history.

The series plays with history and adds a comedic and slight paranormal twist to those stories. My Lady Jane is the story of Jane Grey, with a hint of shapeshifters. My Plain Jane is the story of Jane Eyre, with a hint of ghosts. And the upcoming release, My Calamity Jane, is the story of Calamity Jane, with a hint of garou. Or in other words, a werewolf.

These stories area ton of fun and are perfect for fans of the original tales. I have yet to read My Calamity Jane, but I know it's going to be the best one yet.

I would recommend the series for fans of the following books and genres:

Historical Fiction, Comedy, Paranormal, Retellings, Jane Eyre, Jane Grey, Calamity Jane

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows

Release Date: June 7, 2016

Publisher: HarperTeen

Series: The Lady Janies, #1

Format: Hardcover, 512 pages

Description from GoodReads:

Edward (long live the king) is the King of England. He’s also dying, which is inconvenient, as he’s only sixteen and he’d much rather be planning for his first kiss than considering who will inherit his crown…

Jane (reads too many books) is Edward’s cousin, and far more interested in books than romance. Unfortunately for Jane, Edward has arranged to marry her off to secure the line of succession. And there’s something a little odd about her intended…

Gifford (call him G) is a horse. That is, he’s an Eðian (eth-y-un, for the uninitiated). Every day at dawn he becomes a noble chestnut steed—but then he wakes at dusk with a mouthful of hay. It’s all very undignified.

The plot thickens as Edward, Jane, and G are drawn into a dangerous conspiracy. With the fate of the kingdom at stake, our heroes will have to engage in some conspiring of their own. But can they pull off their plan before it’s off with their heads?

Read Ohana Reads' Review of My Lady Jane

My Plain Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows

Release Date: June 26, 2018

Publisher: HarperTeen

Series: My Lady Janies, #2

Format: Hardcover, 447 pages

Description from GoodReads:

You may think you know the story. After a miserable childhood, penniless orphan Jane Eyre embarks on a new life as a governess at Thornfield Hall. There, she meets one dark, brooding Mr. Rochester. Despite their significant age gap (!) and his uneven temper (!!), they fall in love—and, Reader, she marries him. (!!!)

Or does she?

Prepare for an adventure of Gothic proportions, in which all is not as it seems, a certain gentleman is hiding more than skeletons in his closets, and one orphan Jane Eyre, aspiring author Charlotte Brontë, and supernatural investigator Alexander Blackwood are about to be drawn together on the most epic ghost hunt this side of Wuthering Heights.

Read Ohana Reads' Review of My Plain Jane

My Calamity Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows

Release Date: June 2, 2020

Publisher: HarperTeen

Series: My Lady Janies, #3

Format: Hardcover, 516

Description from GoodReads:

Welcome ​to 1876 and a rootin’-tootin’ America bursting with gunslingers, outlaws, and garou.

JANE (a genuine hero-eene)

Calamity’s her name, and garou hunting’s her game—when she’s not starring in Wild Bill’s Traveling Show, that is. She reckons that if a girl wants to be a legend, she should just go ahead and be one.

FRANK (*wolf whistle*)

Frank “the Pistol Prince” Butler is the Wild West’s #1 bachelor. He’s also the best sharpshooter on

both sides of the Mississippi, but he’s about to meet his match. . . .

ANNIE (get your gun!)

Annie Oakley (yep, that Annie) is lookin’ for a job, not a romance, but she can’t deny there’s something about Frank she likes. Really likes. Still, she’s pretty sure that anything he can do,

she can do better.

A HAIRY SITUATION

After a garou hunt goes south and Jane finds a suspicious-like bite on her arm, she turns tail for Deadwood, where there’s been talk of a garou cure. But things ain’t always what they seem—meaning the gang better hightail it after her before they’re a day late and a Jane short.

   And that's The Lady Janies by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows. The series is filled with cute and hilarious scenes, I hope you guys enjoy the series as much as I do.

Bookstagram Mondays: (2)

There is something fancy about lining up book spines and seeing them all from the same publisher. To me, it just goes to show you how many different kinds of styles of books are being published.

For my Bookstagram photo for today, I'm focusing on the HarperTeen imprint with some of my past favourites and some new books that I'm anticipating.

Are there any publishers that you just gravitate towards, or any imprint logos that you just can't help but like looking at?

Top 10 Most Anticipated Reads of the First Half of 2020

A new year, a lot of new books. And with every new year, comes a bunch that you're dying to read. Below are 10 of my most anticipated reads of the first half of 2020. Because, of course, there will be 10 more that I'm dying read come fall.

  

And those are them. What are some of your anticipated reads for 2020? Are you excited for any of these titles?

Ohana Reads' 6th Blogiversary!

Hello friends! I'm sorry I've been neglecting you. Like my previous years excuses, it has been a busy year and one that I have not been able to get myself into a routine of things. 

I'm always trying my best to post when I can, so hopefully I post more this year.

As always, I am very active on Twitter and in the book community. So if you ever want to chat, do not be afraid to hit me up!

Break Down of the Year:

Over 226, 469 Total Page Views

247 Published Comments

488 Published Posts

My Top Series Enders of 2013 being my most viewed post...at 47, 349 views

The Ohana Reads' 5th Blogiversary Post being my most viewed post of 2019... at 232 views

33 GFC Followers

1, 470 Twitter Followers

562 Instagram Followers

Like every year, I wouldn't have been able to survive the year without the help of some amazing friends and people in my life. Here are the people that made my year amazing.

People Who Made 2019 Great:

The Brothelsprouts 

This insanely talent group of people are who helped me stay sane throughout the year. Even though they are constantly nagging me to visit them at BEA, and sometimes to rob banks, I do not know what I would do without them.

So please give them a follow: Jessica, Amber, Ellie, Taylor, Katie, Rose, Angel, Cody, Mou, Kitty, Camille, Chloe, Lili, Caro, Darnell, Ben, and Kayla.

Sabrina from Behind the Book Reviews

Sabrina is one of my favourite booknerds, but she is also my best friend. Honestly, there is nothing I can say on here that she does not already know or that she will not groan at if she reads it. 

Highlights of Ohana Reads 2019:

1. I have been at McNally Robinson Booksellers for 2.5 years now. Even though it's a job, it's almost like it's become a second home to me. I love everyone that I work with and can not imagine what it would be like if they were not there with me. 

2. In January, I became a liaison for MYRCA. Basically, I became a librarian for the committee. It's been a lot of fun organizing and requesting books for the committee. I've been apart of the committee for, I believe, almost 4 years now and couldn't be happier to bee apart of something so important to my community. 

Goals for 2020:

1. Blog. Blog. Blog. I just want to force myself to blog more. Even if it's just a review here and there. 

2. I want to get in the habit of immediately posting my reviews on GoodReads and book outlets, right as I've posted them on Ohana Reads. It's one thing I always forget and I want to get in the habit of correcting that. 

3. I literally just want to complete my GoodReads Reading Challenge. Since 2014, when I first started the challenge, I've never completed it. My goal is 75 books, I'm hoping that this year will be the year. 

Giveaway

- Ohana Reads Giveaway Policies apply. (Check out the policies page)

- Open to any country that can receive books from Book Depository!

- Price of book limited to $25 CAD.

- Winner gets to choose from any book pictured or any book from one of the series pictured.

- Must have followed @OhanaReads on Twitter, and had Retweeted the Tweet. (I will be checking)

-Giveaway closes February 27th, 2020!

To enter the giveaway click the link below.

ENTER GIVEAWAY.

 And finally, a huge thank you to all of you for supporting Ohana Reads and I. It really means a lot to know that people are actually reading my content. 

Here's to 2020!

Book Review: The How & the Why by Cynthia Hand

Release Date: November 5, 2019
Read: October 11-18th, 2019
Publisher: HarperTeen
Series: Standalone
Format: ARC, 464 pages
Source: Publisher in exchange for honest review

Description from GoodReads:

Today Melly had us writing letters to our babies…

Cassandra McMurtrey has the best parents a girl could ask for. They’ve given Cass a life she wouldn’t trade for the world. She has everything she needs—except maybe the one thing she wants. Like, to know who she is. Where she came from. Questions her adoptive parents can’t answer, no matter how much they love her.

But eighteen years ago, someone wrote Cass a series of letters. And they may just hold the answers Cass has been searching for.

Alternating between Cass’s search for answers and letters from the pregnant teen who gave her up for adoption, this voice-driven narrative is the perfect read for fans of Nina LaCour and Jandy Nelson.

Waiting on Wednesday: (63)

My Calamity Jane

Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton & Jodi Meadows

The Lady Janies, #3

Harper Teen

Expected: June 2nd, 2020

Description from GoodReads:

Welcome ​to 1876 and a rootin’-tootin’ America bursting with gunslingers, outlaws, and garou.

JANE (a genuine hero-eene)

Calamity’s her name, and garou hunting’s her game—when she’s not starring in Wild Bill’s Traveling Show, that is. She reckons that if a girl wants to be a legend, she should just go ahead and be one.

FRANK (*wolf whistle*)

Frank “the Pistol Prince” Butler is the Wild West’s #1 bachelor. He’s also the best sharpshooter on

both sides of the Mississippi, but he’s about to meet his match. . . .

ANNIE (get your gun!)

Annie Oakley (yep, that Annie) is lookin’ for a job, not a romance, but she can’t deny there’s something about Frank she likes. Really likes. Still, she’s pretty sure that anything he can do,

she can do better.

A HAIRY SITUATION

After a garou hunt goes south and Jane finds a suspicious-like bite on her arm, she turns tail for Deadwood, where there’s been talk of a garou cure. But things ain’t always what they seem—meaning the gang better hightail it after her before they’re a day late and a Jane short.

Why I Want It:

I'm absolutely obsessed with My Lady Jane and My Plain Jane. The Lady Janies do a retelling of sorts with the Janie books, retelling the original story but making it hilarious and adding a hint of fantasy. 

Having already known the history of Jane Grey and having read Jane Eyre, it made the stories all that more amazing. It's going to be the same with The Calamity Jane. Being already familiar with the original story, I CAN NOT WAIT to read the Janies version.

That's my Waiting on Wednesday this week! Will you be picking up My Calamity Jane? What are you waiting on this week?

Book Review: My Plain Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows

Release Date: June 26th, 2018
Read: December 29th 2017- January 1st, 2018
Publisher: HarperTeen
Series: My Lady Janies, #2
Format: ARC, 464 pages
Source: Publisher in exchange for honest review

Description from GoodReads:

   You may think you know the story. After a miserable childhood, penniless orphan Jane Eyre embarks on a new life as a governess at Thornfield Hall. There, she meets one dark, brooding Mr. Rochester. Despite their significant age gap (!) and his uneven temper (!!), they fall in love—and, Reader, she marries him. (!!!)

   Or does she?

   Prepare for an adventure of Gothic proportions, in which all is not as it seems, a certain gentleman is hiding more than skeletons in his closets, and one orphan Jane Eyre, aspiring author Charlotte Brontë, and supernatural investigator Alexander Blackwood are about to be drawn together on the most epic ghost hunt this side of Wuthering Heights.

Review:

 
 I feel like we're getting a bit off topic.
   It's been almost two years since I first read the hilarious and exceptionally cute book My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows. It was one of my favourite reads of 2016, and I couldn't have been happier to hear that the publisher had purchased two more books in the series. Flash forward to a month or two ago, when I was finally able to get my hands on a copy of it's sequel My Plain Jane.

   With both books, I knew the history of the original story of both Janes going into the books. Unlike My Lady Jane, I never enjoyed the original Jane Eyre story. So it was exciting to go into My Plain Jane and expect a comical twist to the originally bland story.

   Of course with a trio of such fabulous authors working together, I couldn't have expected anything less than perfection. My Plain Jane turned out exactly as I'd imagined, and more. The humour from their first novel was back and even stronger than before.

   With My Plain Jane you had the perspectives of Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brönte and the supernatural ghost hunter, Alexander Blackwood. What made this book all that more intriguing was that while having the perspective of Charlotte Brönte, the original writer of Jane Eyre story, the authors made Jane Eyre a real life friend of Charlotte, and that she was the object of Charlotte's novel that she continues to write throughout the book.

     Like the first book, you did not need to know Jane Eyre's story to understand My Plain Jane. I found in this case that if you had read it before picking up this book, then you would have noticed a few head nods in it's direction. But otherwise you will find that you will be rather pleased with the book no matter what your situation was before reading the book.

   One of my favourite parts of the book was when we got a bit of a peak at a few of the characters from My Lady Jane, confirming that the stories take place in the same world but rather at a different place in time.
   

   My Plain Jane was a absolute hit with me, written with the perfect amount of wit and romance. I can not wait for it to release for everyone else to read it, and I look forward to the next in the series, My Calamity Jane. 

Rating:

Favourite Quote:

"Let's start with the girl.
 Her name was Jane."

Recommend to People Who Enjoy:

Young Adult, Paranormal, Humour, Jane Eyre, Ghosts, Retellings

Ohana Talks: Top 10 Favourite Reads of 2016

   I had many favourite reads of 2016, and even though we're already 22 days into 2017, I still want to  share them with you! So these are the books that I continue to find myself thinking of, every now and then, even when I had read some of them last January. Some were published in 2016, some in 2017, and some in 2015! So without further ado! 

Top 10 Favourite Reads of 2016

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

Like a River Glorious by Rae Carson

The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye

A Shadow Bright and Burning by Jessica Cluess

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

Freeks by Amanda Hocking

Winter by Marissa Meyer

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, & Jodi Meadows

The Masked Truth by Kelley Armstrong

The Witch Hunter by Virginia Boecker

   And those are them! Did you guys love these guys too? Which were your favourites of 2016? I'd love to hear what those were!

Ohana Reads 3rd Blogiversary!

   It's been another year already, holy crap, oh how time flies when you're having fun. In the past year, so much has happened, for better or worst. I've started University, wither I like it or not, I joined more bookish things, and I overall got a lot of things done. I didn't let 2016 break me, that's for sure.

   Although a lot was accomplished, I didn't stick to some of my goals like I said I would. I didn't host any giveaways, I didn't really advertise my posts, but I did talk to bloggers and my online friends more! This year, things will definitely be different than last year, although I'm not sure if that's for the best yet.

This is my Break Down of the Year:

Over 140, 950 Total page views

208 Published Comments

384 Published Posts

My Top Series Enders of 2013 being my most viewed post...at 47, 310 views

The Ohana Reads 2nd Blogiversary Post being my most viewed post of 2016... at 731 views

59 Bloglovin Followers

14 GFC Followers

53 People have me in their Circles

895 Twitter Followers

86 Facebook likes

381 Instagram Followers

   Like every year, I say I only ever focus on a few sites in particular, and this year is no different. Twitter was definitely a priority this year, and in my mind GFC is as well, even if I don't boost it often. 

   Although it varies everyday, I'm really satisfied with my average number of pageviews per day, this year. I find that I get around 250 pageviews, roughly each day. To think that 250 people visit my blog a day, honestly just amazes me. That number sure has grown since I first started out. 

   I know I said this last year as well, but this year I think I'm really going to drop Facebook. I don't even check my blogs Facebook page anymore, and so I think that it's really time to go. I guess we'll see, what happens with that.

   Like always, the year wouldn't have been anything with out amazing friends and amazing people in general. Here are the people that made my year great. (Definitely give them a follow)

People Who Made 2016 Great:

Joy from Joyousreads

Kristie from Lost in Ever After

Sara from Just Another Story

Sabrina from Behind the Book Reviews

Mari, Ola and Lauren from The Autumn Bookshelf

Nori from Read Write Love 28

Brittany from Brittany's Book Rambles

and

Steph from Doodle's Book Reviews

   Like usual, Stephanie was a huge part of my year, I even got to meet her for the first time. It was the best feeling, finally being able to meet one of your best friends for the first time. Lots of tears were shed, but I honestly had the best time being able to spend a whole week with her. I love this girl, with all my heart and I can't wait to see her again soon. I love you lots girl. 

Highlights of Ohana Reads 2016:

   1. Since I first started blogging, I've encountered a few Winnipeg Bloggers to talk with online. For the first time this year I've actually had the chance to meet them all in person, and become super close with them. This group consists of Joy from Joyousreads, Kristie from Lost in Ever After, Sara from Just Another Story, Sabrina from Behind the Book Reviews, and Mari, Old and Lauren from The Autumn Bookshelf. We try to hang out at least once every month, and its become something that I look forward to. I love hanging out with these girls, and I can't wait to hang out with them more this year!

   2. This year, I was asked to become a member of MYRCA, the Manitoba Young Readers Choice Award. I couldn't be more excited to be apart of something that encourages young readers to read, and honestly, I get to read as a job. MYRCA has already made my life all that more fun, with getting to meet Kenneth Oppel, to just getting to meet every month and discuss Canadian Books that we love. I've only been apart of MYRCA for half a year, but I'm super excited to see where else it takes me. 

   3. In 2016, I was able to go to my second book convention. I was able to go to BEA 2016, with one of my best friends, Stephanie from Doodle's Book Review. It was sort of a last minute decision on our part, but in the end it was the best decision. Besides meeting Stephanie in person for the first time, I was also able to meet so many other book friends that I had been able to befriend online in the past few years. Obviously bringing home 80+ books was also another highlight, but just making so many memories to look back on was a favourite. Just looking back at that trip, always brings a smile to my face. Although I probably won't be able to do BEA again, anytime soon, I look forward to seeing more friends and attending more signings and conventions in the future! 

Goals for 2017:

   1.  With the end of 2016 being a little iffy for me blog wise, one of my goals for 2017 is to actually make time to plan and write posts for the blog. I love running this blog, and I don't want to give it up or let it die, so I gotta keep up with posts.

   2. I've only ever seen Ohana Reads as my own, but it's always nice to switch things up and have other people bring their ideas to the blog. For 2017, I'm going to try to have multiple guest posts on the blog. So if you're interested in maybe having a post or two on Ohana Reads, shoot me an email and I'll try to work something out!

   3.  It's not really a goal for Ohana Reads, but I want to actually write a book. I've plotted out a few already, and started little things but I'd like to actually write it this year. I'm one of the biggest procrastinators I know, so we'll see how that turns out. 

Giveaway

To celebrate another year passing, I have a giveaway for you all. The giveaway features my favourite 2016 releases that I read in 2016! Good luck!

- Ohana Reads Giveaway Policies apply. (Check out the policies page)

- Open to any country that can receive books from Book Depository!
-Price of book limited to $25 Canadian.

- Winner gets to choose from any book pictured or any book from one of the series pictured.

- Must have followed @OhanaReads on Twitter, and had Retweeted the Tweet. (I will be checking)

- Giveaway runs until February 6th, 2016.

To enter the giveaway click the link below.

ENTER GIVEAWAY.

   Thank you guys so much for all your support in the last year, I wouldn't have done it without you all! Hopefully 2017 will take it easy on us all, we sure as heck need it!