Eli the Good by Silas House

This was a book club book for this month, but also one that has been on my TBR list for a while, so it fits the Take Control of Your TBR challenge for this month. This is the first House book I have read.

Candlewick Press

The summer of Eli's tenth year proves to be his coming of age year. His aunt comes home hiding a secret, his sister seems to do everything she can to test his mom, and his best friend Edie's parents are getting a divorce. It is also the summer of 76, the bicentennial and his father, a Vietnam vet, is suffering from PTSD, but refuses to get help. Eli as a child of Vietnam is faced with his father's horrible flashbacks and he and his sister resent their parents for loving each other more than their children. As both of them try to figure out their place in the world, they inflict pain on their parents and friends, and both parents must learn it is best to deal with problems rather than ignore them and think that you are appearing strong.

I couldn't really tell that this book was set in Kentucky and he uses a fictitious town. This was told from the perspective of grown Eli remembering being young and often Eli's young thoughts seem to be too wise for his years. The storyline was intriguing and it was interesting to see how Vietnam affected the children of veterans. Both Eli and his sister Josie are as damaged by the war as their parents and it affects both of their actions and their relationship with others. Overall I enjoyed the book and House's descriptive writing style. 3 cups of cocoa.

The Outsider by Ann Gabhart

This was a book club for this month and will also be my Kentucky book for the Reading Road Trip Challenge.

Fleming H Revell Company

Gabrielle is content with her life with the Shaker community. She has the special gifts of song and the gift of seeing the future. Unfortunately her gift of seeing the future is often the gift of seeing death when it is coming. She misses her mother some, but gets to see her at the meetings and she believes her father is dead, so there is nothing to draw her to the outside world, until Dr. Scott comes to the aid of another Believer, Nathan. Dr. Scott feels an attraction to Gabrielle as does Nathan and both see her as a thing of beauty. Gabrielle fights their advances and feels only brotherly love for Nathan, but her attraction to the doctor is more. When he forces her to kiss him, she knows that she loves him, but tries to stay with the Shakers. Gabrielle is censored by her community, but most still want her to stay, but with Dr. Scott pulling on her heart, she has a difficult choice. When war draws him away, will he return and if he does will Gabrielle want to leave with him?

I think Gabhart researched the time period very well and she attempts to be unbiased toward the Shakers, but she does show them as very controlling and not sympathetic. The Shaker life was difficult and very secretive and they faced prejudice in their own time, which Gabhart presents well. The story starts with the barn burning, showing this prejudice. I think she did fairly well trying to present their way of life as both good and bad, but ultimately the Shakers are the "bad guys" of the story. The romance for me was okay, Dr. Scott is neither a good or bad man, but he did force her to kiss him, so that left me a bit soured toward him. Gabrielle was a very innocent character and that was dishonorable of him, no matter what his motives. He wrecks havoc in her life, when it may not have been necessary and in the end I am not for sure which decision would have been best for her. However after certain events, I think she would have come to the same conclusion in the end, so it was good that she had him as an option.

This was a bit of a slow read, because most of the time the characters are just thinking, but it was a good historical fiction and the first Christian fiction romance book I have read. I may try the genre again and I might try Gabhart's other series later. 3 cups of cocoa.

COYER Winter Wrapup

Obviously this should have been up a little more than a week ago and less obviously I was a bit embarrassed that I only read one book for this challenge. :( Winter at the library was wild and I basically only read my book club books and even dnf'ed a few of those. I also missed all the Twitter chats and read-a-thons, because I forgot about them until they were over. However I did chat on Facebook a bit and did finish The Rising, so there is that. I am hoping for a stronger performance in the summer. Thanks to Berls and Michelle for hosting!

My To-Be Read list: The Votes are In!

This is hosted by Michelle @ Because Reading.
And the winner is...

Walker Ltd, Inc

 Again this month's winner was decided by a single vote! Hopefully I can finish this by the end of the month! I am over half-way done with my two book club books, but I know I will be slow reading this one. I am excited about finishing the series and I do like the characters. Thanks everyone for voting!

March To Be Read List

This is hosted by Michelle @ Because Reading.
Michelle created this meme as a monthly meme and I enjoyed participating last month, so hopefully I can finish this month's choice too. Each month you chose three books for people to vote on and then you read and review that book. Here is the link to March's signup. For more detailed instructions click on Michelle's blog name.

I am still working on series books this month, so I am going to pick three more books from series I need to finish. I really have to work on finishing series rather than avoiding endings.

Up first, Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare.

Walker Books, LTD

I loved the other two in the series and bought this one on the day it came out and I still haven't read it. It has a steampunk supernatural feel to it.

Speaking of steampunk supernatural, I have for my second choice, The Girl with the Windup Heart by Kady Cross.

Harlequin Teen

This series has some of my favorite characters, but I still haven't read the final book. I love the attitudes of the female characters.

My final choice is not the last book in the series, but it is another series I enjoy, The Unwanteds. The particular book is Island of Fire by Lisa McMann.

Aladdin

It does remind me of Harry Potter, but not really of the Hunger Games. I love how the characters use magic to create.

So there are my three choices, help me with my reading problem. To provide intervention, vote for your favorite. Thanks! :) Thanks to Michelle for hosting!

Take Control of Your TBR Pile: March

Take Control of Your TBR Pile is hosted by Kimberly at Caffeinated Book Reviewer and here is the signup link. The goal is to clean some books off of your TBR list, books published before March 1, 2015. I am going to aim for finishing three books, since I am just not reading fast. I hope to finish Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan, my TBR book for March, and one other to be determined book. I also have to finish three book club books this month, so I did not want to be too overwhelmed.

Thanks to Kimberly for hosting!

Bookish Resolutions Challenge February Update

This is hosted by Michelle at Because Reading is Better Than Real Life and Laura at Trips Down Imagination Road and you can sign up at this link. 
My resolutions:
1. Read at least 6 Classics this year.
2. Finish at least half of the challenges that I signed up for this year.
3. Finish at least 4 series this year, particularly ones where I have only the last book in the series left to read.
4. Try to blog more, like at least 10 posts a month.
5. Get healthy!

Thanks to Michelle and Laura for hosting!

Update:
No progress on the first one, I really need to pick up a classic soon.
I finished one book for COYER, Prequels and Sequels challenge, and this book also completed the To Be Read Monthly challenge, so a little progress on item number 2.  I also finished one book for the Read it Again Sam challenge.
I finished The Rising, which helped me to finish a series, so one down on item number 3!
Fail on number 4, I only wrote 8 blog posts. :( I really need to work on blogging more.
Number 5, I am keeping my calories under 1200 now and am doing better on portion control. I still haven't had any sodas, so 5 is going great.

How are you doing with this challenge? I keep telling myself February was a short month, so I can make everything up in March!