If I Stay by Gayle Forman (Read 1/27/16)

This was my Feburary NNCC book.  It was so good that I sat down and read it in one sitting.  And then I read it a second time right before our meeting.

This is told from he point of view of Mia, who has been in a tragic accident, she is in coma and having an out of body experience.  She watches her loved ones watch over her and must decide if she wants to stay or if she wants to go.

I don't know why this book was so amazing, but I loved it.  I am seriously considering buying the actual book.  Some of the characters were unrealistic and the story line was a bit flimsy in places, but something about the writing drew me in and made me love it.

The Orphan Train by Christina Barker Klein (Read 1/10/16 to 1/27/16)

This is my January BOTM read.  The tale is told from two points of view.  Molly Ayer, and almost 18 year old foster child.  She is just months from "aging out" of the child welfare system, and close to being kicked out of her foster home, as a last ditch effort she takes on a community service position helping an elderly woman clean out her attic to avoid juvenile detention and homelessness.
Vivian Daly, the elderly lady, has lived a quiet life on the coast of Maine but her attic is full of her memories and her past, which was not always as quiet. As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly and Viviane forma  remarkable friendship.
I really liked the book from the very start.  Viviane had a really rough childhood, and it made me sad hat she was taken advantage of the way she was.  I liked both characters Molly and Vivian, and I found the parallels in their lives fascinating.  Parts of the book made really angry, especially when it came to the treatment Vivian received as a child.
The ending feel a little unfinished.  But I think Kline did that to leave things up the reader's imagination about Molly and Viviane's future.  I like to think it was a happy one, but I would have liked it to end a little more on the tidy side.

The Rancher by Kelli Ann Morgan (Read 1/22/16 to 1/23/16)

This was a quick filler book for me.  A quick romance to fill some space between my book club books.  It was a pretty typical romance, just set in the wild west of Colorado.  There is a girl who can ride and shoot better than any man she’s ever met, but when the threat of losing her ranch forces her to find a husband. What she didn't expect was to find a husband that makes her want to be a lady.
 And there is a man guild ridden over the accident that claimed his best friend, then he discovers there was nothing accidental about it. So he sets out for Colorado, to fulfill his friend’s dying wish and to flush out his killer, the last thing he expected was to find was a bride.
It was a quick read, the writing was good, and it filled a need I had at the time for some romance.  Plus there was the murder mystery portion.  I liked Abby and Cole, they were a little flat, but again its a typical romance and the purpose wasn't to build complicated characters, it was to build the idea that romance and love are possible and for you too like the characters enough to want them to be together and get their happy ending.  Which Kelli Ann did wonderfully.