The TBR Tag!

The To Be Read Tag was created by Dana @ Danasquare and her co-blogger Rachel @ A Perfect Called Books because they are curious of our TBR lists. As book bloggers, our TBR lists sometimes reach crazy heights. So they want to know how we keep up!

Questions:

How do you keep track of your TBR pile?

   I keep track of my TBR pile by using GoodReads! It's honestly the simplest and easiest way.

Is your TBR mostly print or ebook?

   Print books! I can't stand using an e-reader or e-book app. To me books will always have to be printed, e-books are unnatural. 

How do you determine which book from your TBR to read next?

   It depends on if I have a copy in my possession and if something in particular happens so that the book is automatically sent to the top of my list. Say for example maybe I haven't read The Maze Runner, with the movie coming closer that book would get up higher on my TBR pile. I have to read books before I see the movies.
  

A Book That's Been On Your TBR List The Longest 

   The Siren by Kiera Cass! It's been on my TBR since July 13th, 2012. Self published books tend to be harder to find.

A Book You Recently Added To Your TBR

   The Heir by Kiera Cass! Ahaha another Cass novel! 

A Book In Your TBR Strictly Because Of Its Beautiful Cover

   I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson, guys you have to admit it's a gorgeous cover.

A Book On Your TBR That You Never Plan on Reading

   Rebels: City of Indra: The Story of Lex and Livia by Kendall Jenner & Kylie Jenner *Cough & Maya Sloan. I have no respect for the Jenner's. They payed an author to write a book for them and don't even give her credit on the cover of the book. They thought the best way to get money was to hit a young adult audience, the only problem is book bloggers want nothing to do with them.

An Unpublished Book On Your TBR That You’re Excited For

   Night World: Strange Fate by L. J. Smith. This book was supposed to be out 16 years ago. 16 YEARS AGO. I'm waaay past excited for this book.

A Book On Your TBR That Basically Everyone’s Read But You 

   Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout. HONESTLY EVERYONE HAS READ THIS BOOK ALREADY.

A Book On Your TBR That Everyone Recommends To You

   The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson. All I've heard is good things. I've almost picked it up a few times because so many people have said good things to me!

A Book On Your TBR That You’re Dying To Read

   Silver Shadows by Richelle Mead. I need to find money so I can buy it!

How many books are on your Goodreads TBR shelf?

596 books are on my TBR list, besides ones I've forgotten to add to my GoodReads shelf.

I Tag:

I was tagged by the lovely ladies at  Book Bratz! I tag...

Stephanie @ Doodle's Reviews

Emily @ Tea & Fangirling

Emma @ Awkwordly Emma

Mary @ Mary Had a Little Book Blog

Stacie @ A Wonderland of Reading

Ohana Talks: Going Geek for Greek

   Hey everyone! Today's topic for Ohana Talks is Going Geek for Greek, I've been a huge fan of Greek mythology for years now. It seems as the years go by I've become more and more obsessed can you say? With the stories of the gods. So for today I'm going to give you my top five favourite greek retellings! 

   The listing is in no particular order(:

Wake

Author: Amanda Hocking

The Watersong Trilogy

St. Martins Press

Description from GoodReads:

   Gorgeous. Fearless. Dangerous. They're the kind of girls you envy; the kind of girls you want to hate. Strangers in town for the summer, Penn, Lexi and Thea have caught everyone's attention—but it’s Gemma who’s attracted theirs. She’s the one they’ve chosen to be part of their group.

   Gemma seems to have it all—she’s carefree, pretty, and falling in love with Alex, the boy next door. He’s always been just a friend, but this summer they’ve taken their relationship to the next level, and now there’s no going back. Then one night, Gemma’s ordinary life changes forever. She’s taking a late night swim under the stars when she finds Penn, Lexi and Thea partying on the cove. They invite her to join them, and the next morning she wakes up on the beach feeling groggy and sick, knowing something is different.

   Suddenly Gemma is stronger, faster, and more beautiful than ever. But her new powers come with a terrifying price. And as she uncovers the truth, she’s is forced to choose between staying with those she loves—or entering a new world brimming with dark hungers and unimaginable secrets.

   

A greek twist that involves mermaids!

The Lighting Thief

Author: Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson & The Olympians
Disney Hyperion Books

Description from GoodReads:

   Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school... again. And that's the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus' master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.

   Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus' stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.

   I adored this series and it's prequel series! A Camp for Half Bloods! What an idea! This is the series that started my love for Greek Mythology!

The Goddess Test

Author: Aimee Carter

The Goddess Test Trilogy

Harlequin Teen

Description from GoodReads:

   Every girl who had taken the test has died.

Now it's Kate's turn.

   It's always been just Kate and her mom - and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear that her mother won't live past the fall.

   Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld - and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.

   Kate is sure he's crazy - until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride and a goddess.

   If she fails...

   I loved the idea that she was under a test to see if she was worthy, from all the greek stories you'd think this was actually pretty smart of them. The series was a different sort of Greek Mythology story, I enjoyed it very much and loved the cliffhanger for Goddess Interrupted even more so! The Goddess Test series is a Persephone retelling.

Everneath

Author: Brodi Ashton

Everneath Trilogy

Balzer+Bray

Description from GoodReads:

   Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she’s returned—to her old life, her family, her boyfriend—before she’s banished back to the underworld . . . this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can’t find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

   Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance—and the one person she loves more than anything. But there’s just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he’ll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.

   As Nikki’s time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole’s queen.

   Everneath is a another Persephone retelling, this retelling focuses more on the underworld and being there for the '6 months' rather then the gods. 

The Chaos of Stars

Author: Kierstin White

~

Harper Teen

Description from GoodReads:

   Isadora's family is seriously screwed up—which comes with the territory when you're the human daughter of the ancient Egyptian gods Isis and Osiris. Isadora is tired of living with crazy relatives who think she's only worthy of a passing glance—so when she gets the chance to move to California with her brother, she jumps on it. But her new life comes with plenty of its own dramatic—and dangerous—complications . . . and Isadora quickly learns there's no such thing as a clean break from family.

   (Some what spoilers.)

   This story is mostly about Egyptian mythology, but close to the end Greek mythology is brought in. Making it one of my favourite stories, as well as it having one of my favourite book covers!

   Thanks for stopping by for Ohana Talks today! I hope you'll give these reads a try, let me know if you enjoyed or adored them!

   Until next time!

Waiting on Wednesday (8)

Winterspell

Author: Claire Legrand

Expected: September 30th, 2014

Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers

Description from GoodReads:

   The clock chimes midnight, a curse breaks, and a girl meets a prince . . . but what follows is not all sweetness and sugarplums.

   New York City, 1899. Clara Stole, the mayor's ever-proper daughter, leads a double life. Since her mother's murder, she has secretly trained in self-defense with the mysterious Drosselmeyer.

   Then, on Christmas Eve, disaster strikes.

   Her home is destroyed, her father abducted--by beings distinctly not human. To find him, Clara journeys to the war-ravaged land of Cane. Her only companion is the dethroned prince Nicholas, bound by a wicked curse. If they're to survive, Clara has no choice but to trust him, but his haunted eyes burn with secrets--and a need she can't define. With the dangerous, seductive faery queen Anise hunting them, Clara soon realizes she won't leave Cane unscathed--if she leaves at all.

Why I Want It:

   When I was younger I was a big Barbie fan, the dolls, the movies and the website. Barbie and the Nutcracker was one of my top favourite movies. A YA book adaption featuring the Nutcracker? Yes please.

Why You Should Want It:

   Why wouldn't you want to read about a YA Nutcracker retelling?

    That's my Waiting on Wednesday for this week! Will you be picking up Winterspell? Let me know in the comments!

Movie Review: If I Stay

If I Stay

Contains Spoilers

Movie:

Film Corporation: WarnerBros.

Released to Theatres: August 22nd, 2014 

Audience Rating: PG13

Length of Time: 106 minutes

Director: R.J Cutler

(Movie Trailer)

Book:

Title: If I Stay

Author: Gayle Forman

Publisher: Speak

Release Date: April 6th, 2010

Format: Paperback, 262 pages

(Ohana Reads Book Review)

Movie Review:

   Sometimes you make choices in life, and sometimes they make you.
   I couldn't stand to wait even one week to see this movie after it was released. The trailer had gotten under my skin, I needed to see the perfection that was the movie.
   I adored Jamie Blackley, as well as almost the rest of the cast. The actor's and actress's were nicely chosen, I could definitely see them as my favourite characters from the novel. Unfortunately Chloe Grace Moretz was not my Mia, on screen she just looked so fake to me. Like she had to dye her hair for the film, dying ones hair doesn't bother me. I do that myself, it's the fact that she had to try so hard to look like Mia just to get the part that bothered me. All the other actors looked and were the characters, Mia wasn't supposed to look like her family, she wasn't supposed to fit in with them, but she did. Jamie on the other hand played the perfect Adam, the looks, the act, it was all impeccable. I couldn't or would't be able to find a better Adam.
  The movie was precise when it came to sticking to the book's plot. Any fan of the book would appreciate how well it was close it stayed. The only thing that bothered me was that when it came to Adam and Mia kissing, those scenes tended to be a bit long. As in they would kiss to a point where you as a member of the audience would start to feel awkward.
   My all time favourite experience to the movie was Willamette Stone's music. For the band, Adam is supposed to write and sing all the songs. In real life, Jamie actually created those songs. I found that kind of perfect, the music is spectacular as well! I can't stop listening to it, my favourite song being Today, and a close favourite being Heart Like Ours. But honestly, I loved all the songs for the movie.
   If you were debating on wither or not to see If I Stay, I think you should definitely give it a chance! And while you're at it, take a moment and appreciate Jamie's handy work that is Willamette Stone. I will definitely be seeing this movie again soon! 

Overall Rating:

Favourite Scene:

   My favourite scene would be when Mia's father truly understood his daughters passion for the cello. The scene where he is just sitting outside her door listening to her play for hours. He sacrificed her love for his music as well as his close belongings just to be able to buy Mia a new cello rather then a beat up one. 

Favourite Quote:

   “It’s very inconvenient to fall in love at your age, especially if it’s the real thing.” - Mia's Mom

Recommend to People Who Enjoy:

Drama, Music, Romance, Tragedy, Family

   What did you think of If I Stay the movie? Let me know in the comments!

Book Review: Diamonds in the Rough by Michelle Madow

Release Date: October 28th, 2014

Read: July 25th-29th, 2014

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Series: The Secret Diamond Sisters #2

Format: ARC Paperback, 448 pages

Source: Gift from author

Description from GoodReads:

   The three Diamond sisters survived the summer in style after coming to live with their long-lost billionaire father. But making a place for themselves at their exclusive new Las Vegas private school is throwing them any number of gold-plated curves. Savannah's YouTube stardom turns into a Sweet Sixteen reality show extravaganza—with complimentary enemies on the side. Dangerous flirtations don't keep Peyton from a gamble that will risk far more than she planned to bet. And when Courtney and the sisters' archenemy, Madison, uncover two explosive secrets, it will rock even this town of glittering illusion—and turn their lives upside down all over again.

Review:

   Contains minor spoilers:

All-access doesn't mean no problems. 
   I died when Michelle offered to send me an ARC of Diamonds in the Rough! I adored The Secret Diamond Sisters, so her offering just made my month. To hype myself up even more about the book, my name is actually in it! To have my name in a published book would be a first, you could say this book is special to me.
   Diamonds in the Rough picks up after summer, where The Secret Diamond Sisters takes place and jumps right into the storyline with the Diamond sisters starting school. I loved the private school, it had everything right when it came to education. Small classes, supportive teachers, interesting  classes and finally a good cafeteria. To have a small class with a supportive teacher is an amazing thing, you can get so much more achieved. Michelle knew what she was doing when she designed this school.
   The secrets exploding out of this book was phenomenal. The book's cover definitely does the book justice. I found myself thinking that there would be a new surprise after every corner.
   Michelle is the queen at having hidden meanings, 2 stuck with me after I finished the book. Everyone knows Courtney to be a big book nerd, so to me it wasn't a surprise to me when she was reading in Diamonds in the Rough. What book though? I could't stop giggling when she told us she was reading Remembrance, which was another book which Michelle wrote! The second time I had an uncontrollable giggle fit was when I heard who Samantha's favourite band and singers were! One Connection! Hmm? Does that sound familiar? How about one of the singer's being name Perry Myles? How about now? Does that ring a bell? Well to me it sounded like One Direction and Harry Styles. Michelle you're one sneaky girl!
   Diamonds in the Rough was once again written in four different perspectives of Savannah, Courtney, Peyton, and Madison with each chapter being more fantastic then the last. Michelle has once again brought us all into this fabulous world of teenage girlie fun, and I can't wait to see where she takes us next! I suggest everyone pick up the first book in the series immediately, as long as you can handle book hangovers and cliff hangers! I can't wait to get my hands on the third book!

Rating:

Favourite Quote;

" You're worth the risk." ~ Courtney 

Recommend to People Who Enjoy:

Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Las Vegas, Sisters

Waiting on Wednesday (7)

Illusions of Fate

Author: Kiersten White

Expected: September 9th, 2014

HarperTeen

Description from GoodReads:

   “I did my best to keep you from crossing paths with this world. And I shall do my best to protect you now that you have.”

   Jessamin has been an outcast since she moved from her island home of Melei to the dreary country of Albion. Everything changes when she meets Finn, a gorgeous, enigmatic young lord who introduces her to the secret world of Albion’s nobility, a world that has everything Jessamin doesn’t—power, money, status…and magic. But Finn has secrets of his own, dangerous secrets that the vicious Lord Downpike will do anything to possess. Unless Jessamin, armed only with her wits and her determination, can stop him.

Why I Want It:

   I adored Kiersten's sassy writing in her Paranormalcy Trilogy, as well as her The Chaos of Stars. She is practically a must read author now! Plus who could not want to read this book after reading that description?

Why You Should Want It:

   Sass, perfection and Downtown Abby meets Cassandra Clare are what you await with this book! 

   That's my Waiting on Wednesday for this week! Will you be picking up Illusions of Fate? Let me know in the comments!

August Wind Up!

   This was honestly one of the slowest book months ever. Besides getting a lot of reading done during one of my camping trips I went on a little book adventure with Death by Feelz from Instagram! For our adventure we went to our biggest bookstore in the city as well as see If I Stay! Let's just say I loved it! My review is to come! 

   Now let's check out my bookish stats for this month!

Read in August:

Visions by Kelley Armstrong (ARC, Signed)

Of Neptune by Anna Banks

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

Pawn by Aimee Carter

The Gypsy King by Maureen Fergus

Made For You by Melissa Marr (ARC)

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Randsom Riggs

Tortured Souls by Kimber Leigh Wheaton  (ARC)
The Forever Song by Julie Kagawa

September Releases I'm Excited For:

The Jewel by Amy Ewing ( September 2nd, 2014)
Trial by Fire by Josephine Angelini (September 2nd, 2014)
Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White (September 9th, 2014)
Made for You by Melissa Marr (September 16th, 2014)
I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson (September 16th, 2014)
Remember Me by Romily Bernard (September 23rd, 2014)
The Queen of Zombie Hearts by Gena Showalter (September 30th, 2014)
Invisible by Dawn Metcalf (September 30th, 2014)
Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley (September 30th, 2014)
Winterspell by Clara Legrand (September 30th, 2014)

Book Haul for August:

I Want It That Way by Ann Aguirre (ARC) 

Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid (Sampler)

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Divergent by Veronica Roth (Not pictured) 
The Gemstone by Sarena & Sasha Nanua (Not pitcured)

Library Book Haul:

Of Neptune by Anna Banks
Pawn by Aimee Carter
The Forever Song by Julie Kagawa
A Discovery of Witches by Debroah Harkness

Books Reviewed:

Cress by Marissa Meyer

Oceanborn by Amalie Howard (Signed)

Tortured Souls by Kimber Leigh Wheaton  (ARC)


  That's it for this month! I have so much stuff planned for next month I'm excited, so don't forget to stop by for some fun!