Aaron has a job. YaY!

We are so happy this job came through. He started TR Johnson on Friday. We were struggling to get by each month. Now if we can just catch up on everything maybe we can try to break even. By the way... His step-dad Helder works there 2.

Grave Sight, 'HaRPeR CoNNeLLY Mysteries' by: Charlaine Harris

PLOT: Harper Connelly has what you might call a strange job: she finds dead people. She can sense the final location of a person who's passed, and share their very last moment. The way Harper sees it, she's providing a service to the dead while bringing some closure to the living-but she's used to most people treating her like a blood-sucking leech. Traveling with her step-brother Tolliver as manager and sometime-bodyguard, she's become an expert at getting in, getting paid, and getting out fast. Because for the living it's always urgent-even if the dead can wait forever.

MY OPINION: I wanted to read more Charlaine Harris books. I really love how she tells a story. Harper is no Sookie but she's an interesting girl with a power.

A Touch of Dead - SooKie STaCKHouSe: The Complete Stories

New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris has re-imagined the supernatural world with her "spunky" (Tampa Tribune) Southern Vampire novels starring telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse. Now, for the first time, here is every Sookie Stackhouse short story ever written-together in one volume. > from AMAZON.COM

MY OPINION
Stories include "Fairy Dust," Fairies are awesome. I love the triplets. "One Word Answer," We finally figure out how Hadley dies. "Dracula Night," I'm always excited when Eric plays a big roll in the story. "Lucky," Sookie and Armeila work so well together. and "Gift Wrap." This one is my favorite story. I wasn't expecting that gift from her Grandfather. The plan worked, and everybody was happy.

The Lovely Bones by: Alice Sebold

PLOT: When we first meet Susie Salmon, she is already in heaven. As she looks down from this strange new place, she tells us, in the fresh and spirited voice of a fourteen-year-old girl, a tale that is both haunting and full of hope.

In the weeks following her death, Susie watches life continuing without her-her school friends trading rumors about her disappearance, her family holding out hope that she'll be found, her killer trying to cover his tracks. As months pass without leads, Susie sees her parents' marriage being contorted by loss, her sster hardening herself in an effort to stay strong, and her little brother tying to grasp the meaning of the word gone.

And she explores the place called heaven. It looks a lot like her school playground, with the good kind of swing sets. There are counselors to help newcomers adjust and friends to room with. Everything she ever wanted appears as soon as she thinks of it-except the thing she wants most: to be back with the people she loved on Earth.

With compassion, longing, and a growing understanding, Susie sees her loved ones pass through grief and begin to mend. Her father embarks on a risky quest to ensnare her killer. Her sister undertakes a feat of remarkable daring. And the boy Susie cared for moves on, only to find himself at the center of a miraculous event.

The Lovely Bones is luminous and astonishing, a novel that builds out of grief the most hopeful of stories. On the hands of a brilliant new writer, this story of the worst thing a family can face is transformed into a suspenseful and even funny novel about love, memory, joy, heaven and healing.

MY OPINION: A co-worker of mine was helping me think of suggestions for the next Ladybug Book Club Meeting. She suggested two books - The Lovely Bones and The Road. I then, suggested these two books to the book club and we all voted on three books. The Lovely Bones came in first and The Road a close second. I was so excited when I checked The Lovely Bones out at the library.

This book is one of my favorites. You really fall in love with Susie and you want so bad for them to find her killer. You also see her family and friends try to remember her but also try to move past in some ways also.

From the time I picked up this novel it was so hard to put down and do the things that needed to be done around me. I'm so happy with the ending. It didn't end as planned but it was even better right down to the last page.