Books That Caught Our Eye

At Mailbox Monday we encourage participants to not only share the books they received, but to check out the books others have received.

Every Wednesday we will each share one or two books that caught our eye from that week’s Mailbox Monday.

We encourage you to share the books that caught your eye in the comments.

SERENA:
You Bring the Distant Near by Mitali Perkins at Read With Katie.

Five girls. Three generations. One great American love story. You Bring the Distant Near explores sisterhood, first loves, friendship, and the inheritance of culture–for better or worse. Ranee, worried that her children are losing their Indian culture; Sonia, wrapped up in a forbidden biracial love affair; Tara, seeking the limelight to hide her true self; Shanti, desperately trying to make peace in the family; Anna, fighting to preserve Bengal tigers and her Bengali identity–award-winning author Mitali Perkins weaves together a sweeping story of five women at once intimately relatable and yet entirely new.

“I love stories about women and first loves and friendship, and this has all those things and more.”

LESLIE:
Displaced by Stephan Abarbanell at Book Dilettante.

British-occupied Palestine, 1946: Elderly writer Elias Lind isn’t convinced by reports that his scientist brother, Raphael, died in a concentration camp. Too frail to search for Raphael himself, Elias persuades a contact in the Jewish resistance to send someone in his place.

However, Lilya joined the resistance movement to help form a new state, not to waste her time on a fruitless chase across a war-ravaged continent at the request of a frail, most likely delusional, old man. As her comrades make their final preparations for a major operation, a bitter Lilya must accept her orders and embark on her journey to Europe. She is traveling as a member of the American-Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, one of the largest aid organizations for Jewish survivors—many of whom survived the Nazis only to find themselves with no family or home to return to. If Raphael is alive, odds are she will find him in among the refugees trapped in displaced persons camps and prevented from immigrating to Palestine by the British.

Lilya’s search leads her from the hushed corridors of London’s Whitehall, home to the British Secret Intelligence Service, to the haunted, rubble-strewn strasses of Munich and Berlin. Visiting Föhrenwald, an overcrowded and underfunded DP camp, she makes a breakthrough. But Lilya isn’t the only person pursuing the missing man. Someone has been mirroring her every move—a dangerous adversary who will go to drastic lengths to find Raphael first.

MARTHA:
Not a Creature Was Purring (Paws and Claws Mystery #5) by Krista Davis found at Book Dilettante.

Santa Claws is coming to town and checking his list for a murderer–as the New York Times bestselling Paws & Claws Mysteries continue…

Inn owner Holly Miller finds it ruff staying cheerful over the holidays when the dead body of a beloved businessman turns up in the pet-friendly town of Wagtail, Virginia.

Inspired by her German heritage, Holly’s grandmother has arranged for Wagtail to have a Christkindl Market packed with goodies and decorations for the howliday tourists. But Holly’s mood takes an unseasonable turn when she learns that her old flame and childhood friend Holmes Richardson has brought his fiancee home–and she’ll be staying at the Sugar Maple Inn…

A love triangle becomes the last thing on Holly’s mind when her Jack Russell Trixie’s nose for trouble leads her to the corpse of a pet clothing tycoon. Now Holly and her dedicated detectives–Trixie and Twinkletoes the cat–must sniff out the killer to keep Christmas from going to the dogs…

“I like the cover and title, plus I’ve listened to another fun book in this series so this caught my eye.”

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Why Dinosaurs Matter by Kenneth Lacovara found at Under My Appletree.

World-renowned paleontologist Kenneth Lacovara reveals how understanding dinosaurs can help us better understand our own biology—and our future.

Dinosaurs captivate people. Men and women, young and old, have a deep fascination with the species that roamed Earth before us. In this book, paleontologist Dr. Kenneth Lacovara takes readers on a journey––back to when dinosaurs roamed the Earth––to reveal how dinosaurs achieved feats unparalleled by any other group of animals.

Lacovara shows why these sublimely adaptable, remarkable creatures deserve our awe and respect. Lacovara blends exploration in remote locations across the globe with the latest imaging and modeling techniques from engineering to medicine. This eye-opening look into the strange and calamitous event that wiped out the dinosaurs weaves together the story of their existence on Earth with our own. Why Dinosaurs Matter is compelling and engaging, and a great reminder that our place on this planet is precarious and potentially fleeting. We must look to the past to protect our future.

“I find dinosaurs interesting and this book sounds engaging.”

What books caught your eye this week? Share in the comments.