A Book Lovers Dream Giveaway!!!

Hello!
As some of you know, My Mom and I have a company called AttachaPack. In the next month we will be getting ready to Launch and to kick that off, we have combined my love for reading and our backpacks, for one heck of a giveaway!

The BOOKS!

- 13 Little Blue Envelopes By Maureen Johnson
- Heist Society By Ally Carter
- Holes By Louis Sachar
- Meant To Be By Lauren Morrill
- Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children By Ransom Riggs
- Nantucket Blue By Leila Howland
- Paper Towns By John Green
- Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief By Rick Riordan
- Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
- The Alchemyst : The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel By Michael Scott
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
- Vampire Academy By Richelle Mead

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The Indigo Spell (Bloodlines, #3)

Summary:

"In the aftermath of a forbidden moment that rocked Sydney to her core, she finds herself struggling to draw the line between her Alchemist teachings and what her heart is urging her to do. Then she meets alluring, rebellious Marcus Finch--a former Alchemist who escaped against all odds, and is now on the run. Marcus wants to teach Sydney the secrets he claims the Alchemists are hiding from her. But as he pushes her to rebel against the people who raised her, Sydney finds that breaking free is harder than she thought. There is an old and mysterious magic rooted deeply within her. And as she searches for an evil magic user targeting powerful young witches, she realizes that her only hope is to embrace her magical blood--or else she might be next."

Plot: Oh, how the plot thickens! Mead lays the romance, mystery and action on thick in The Indigo Spell. I really could feel Sydney's struggle in this book, between being who she was raised to be and the loyalty she feels she needs to uphold and between being herself and how she personally feels. I also, love that Mead didn't make this predictable for me. Minor things were predictable but all the major plot lines, I didn't see coming! As usual for Richelle Mead, well done.

Characters: Normally Mead, writes her books around all characters but Indigo Spell was really based on Sydney and Adrian. With Marcus and the teacher coming in a close second. There isn't a lot of Jill or Eddie in this book. The growth both Sydney and Adrian made as characters was amazing and will give readers a huge sigh of relief!

Final Thoughts:  Oh La La! I didn't want to put the book down, I badly wanted to know what was going on, mainly with Sydney and Adrian but even with Marcus Finch. I am dying to know more! I enjoyed getting to see some of my favorites for the VA series in this book as well. Just to give a little glimpse into how they are doing. Overall, Indigo Spell is by far my favorite of the Bloodlines Series, so far.

Meeting Richelle Mead

Last Wednesday, I was pretty stoked for the opportunity to meet Richelle Mead. I LOVE her books, I was almost done reading Gameboard of the Gods and she wasn't doing many appearances. The signing was at the Barnes and Noble in Santa Monica. It was a wrist banded event, so it was quite full and I sat towards the back, but that is okay.

A cool little surprise is Margaret Stohl was at the event and even introduced Richelle, she stayed for the whole thing and even most of the signing. I saw a couple people go up and talk to her and take pictures with her and she seemed to be a super nice and relaxed person. I did not go up to her, but maybe that is just because I am kind of weird and feel like I am bothering them. 

Richelle started talking about Gameboard of the Gods and how the book had been in the works for 10 years and was almost her ideal world. She talked about how she thought it was in interesting concept about a world where religion was banned, but where people in general are spiritual and how would they handle not having religion.  She told how Justin March was based on a colleague in college who basically they would always lose on nights out and who all the girls in other departments hated because of his womanizing ways.

After that they moved on to talking about Vampire Academy and the development of the movie. Which wasn't anything too different then want we already know about it. Besides that Richelle did say she has fangirled over some of the movie scenes, that she has seen.

Through meeting her and listening to her, I learned that she is a very quite and reserved person with a dry sense of humor. She is really sweet and we didn't talk much but she did say she respected book bloggers/reviews and they fact that they have to be honest about their opinions. Although, I assured her I hadn't wrote a negative review of her books (I don't think I have at least!)  She signed 3 of my books and then my Vampire Academy box set. With that being said I had a great time and met quite a few other FanGirls at the signing. 

Top Ten Tuesday: Beach Reads

Hosted By The Broke and The Bookish

1.

Everything about this book says beach read, mainly because it is set in Nantucket during summer.

2.

Lay out on the sand and listen to the waves as this memoir takes you through a roller coaster of emotions

3.

Wasn't a huge fan of this book, however it does have all the makings of a great beach read!

4.

Summer in the Hamptons... CHECK!

5.

Chick Lit Made for the beach

6.

If you are looking for a little darker beach read, than flesh eating horses of the sea, is right up your alley

7.

Going back to the olden days, in modern time.

8.

Sunny, Fun, LA

9.

Relax and Enjoy

10.

Well, any Nicholas Sparks book will do right?

Gameboard of the Gods (Age of X, #1)

*this is a netgalley review

Summary:

"In a futuristic world nearly destroyed by religious extremists, Justin March lives in exile after failing in his job as an investigator of religious groups and supernatural claims. But Justin is given a second chance when Mae Koskinen comes to bring him back to the Republic of United North America (RUNA). Raised in an aristocratic caste, Mae is now a member of the military’s most elite and terrifying tier, a soldier with enhanced reflexes and skills.
When Justin and Mae are assigned to work together to solve a string of ritualistic murders, they soon realize that their discoveries have exposed them to terrible danger. As their investigation races forward, unknown enemies and powers greater than they can imagine are gathering in the shadows, ready to reclaim the world in which humans are merely game pieces on their board.
Gameboard of the Gods, the first installment of Richelle Mead’s Age of Xseries, will have all the elements that have made her YA Vampire Academy and Bloodlines series such megasuccesses: sexy, irresistible characters; romantic and mythological intrigue; and relentless action and suspense"

Plot: The story line starts off quickly and you are instantly intrigued by all that is happening and than the book hits a lull and kind of it like a roller coaster from there on... you hit an exciting part and then slow down and back and forth. Lots of side stories, that may seem random but I promise they are not. Overall, Mead is really building the RUNA world and Mae and Justin's story lines for the series here.

Characters: I love both the Main Characters Mae and Justin. They each have their faults and their strengths which makes them very relate-able and like-able characters. Yet, they each have that extra umph that makes them special as well.

Pros: For those who are only familiar with Mead's Young Adult work this book is a nice medium for you. Although, it is definitely an adult book.

Cons: Due to the cramming of information it can get a little confusing at times.

Final Thoughts: The beginning and ending are what really sold me on Gameboard of the Gods. I like Mead's concept and take on the Gods and how she uses them. Although, there weren't A LOT of Gods in the story line like I expected. I can tell they will play a bigger role in the series. Mead's adult writing is a tiny bit slower paced than her Young Adult writing but I got used to it. If you are a loyal Mead fan, you can safely add this to your must read list.

Top Ten Tuesday - Books With Travel

Hosted By The Broke and The Bookish

I LOVE to travel and growing up I was very blessed to get to travel A LOT. My Husband and I still "travel" but due to limit funds, we are usually just traveling from Southern California  to Northern California and back. In fact, my husband has yet to even leave California. So, The best solution for me is to read books involving travel, that way I can imagine myself on these journey's.

1.

What a perfect book to subside my Wanderlust and give me an inner-peace.

2.

Traveling around the world, with the help of some envelopes? Sure, Why not?! Gives it a fun twist.

 3.

 Studying abroad in France is always something I wanted to do, and Anna and the French Kiss gives it a realistic approach.

4.

 I said this in my review, everything about this book makes me think of The Lizzie McQuire movie.. which takes me back to how I felt then about Italy and just makes me love the thought more!

5.

An old school Italian family, visiting Italy and South America. This book give a more sensual and romanticized version of traveling abroad.

 6.

Good All American Road Trip.

 7.

An adventurous road trip.

 8.

Walking around London with your MTB. Perfection. 

The Impostor Syndrome

I was reading an interview with Emma Watson and she was talking about how she had the impostor syndrome. Where no matter how much success she has and how much people look up to her she still feels like she is an impostor, that at any moment someone will find her out and realize she isn't that good at what she does. Which for the record, I think she is a great actress. In her auto-biography Sheryl Sandberg (Lean In) talked about this too, that she felt she was a fraud and when I heard Sheryl talk about this and when I read Emma Watson's interview, it hit a chord for me.

I am an IMPOSTOR.
At Least, I always feel this way. Which is odd and may surprise some people that I feel this way, since in general I can be a pretty confident and sometimes cocky person. I mean I AM an only child, it comes with the territory. However, deep down I always feel like I am not good at what I do and I have always been this way.

Even, when I got the part in a play or when I got invited to train is Florida for soccer. I would get excited about these things, but the second I had to get in a group with other talented people. My brain, would instantly say... "You're not good enough, to be here and they know it" and even when people would tell me differently, I would still believe that. I think this also had to do with the fact that once people I knew were watching me, or peers with the same interests were watching me... I would choke. I'd get so nervous, that I would pretty much suck at whatever I was doing.

Then I began this blog, and the feelings came back. I started thinking to myself... "they know, they can tell I am not as funny, or book smart as them. I don't read intense literature, I can barely remember anything I had learned in my english classes! They will know that I am not good enough to be a book blogger." This feeling has gone away a little, but it still creeps up on me.

Do You Ever Feel Like You Are An Impostor? Is there something that you are good at, and that others compliment you on, but no matter what you still feel like you are just faking it through?