Mailbox Monday -- August 6th

Welcome to Mailbox Monday which is hosted this month by Jennifer at 5 Minutes for Books.  Below are the books I received recently.  I am sorry that I have no pictures, but I came home from vacation to a bad cold and a sick dog.  Although the cold is still with me (is it true that summer colds are the worst?) my dog Maggie is recovering nicely from her lumpectomy, so I guess one out of two isn't bad.

Thanks for stopping by!

1) Unsaid by Neil Abramson. Publisher's Summary. Unsaid is about the limits (both real and self-imposed) of communication and the healing power of the human-animal bond. It is narrated by Helena, a veterinarian who has died, but cannot move on because she is terrified of confronting the mistakes she believes she has made in her life, the thousands of animals she euthanized over the course of her career, and, perhaps most of all, her growing belief that her thirty-seven years of life were insignificant.

Driven by her need for closure, connection and meaning, Helena haunts — and is haunted by — the life she has been forced to leave behind: her shattered attorney husband, David; her houseful of damaged but beloved animals; and Cindy, a chimpanzee to whom she helped teach sign language, and who may hold the key to unlocking the mysteries of animal consciousness. Helena finally finds her answers when David takes on a legal case to try to save Cindy’s life and, using all of Helena’s past work, must prove what it really means to be “human.”  Unsaid examines the significance of this looming change in very human and emotional terms, using it to explore the power of the human-animal bond.

Personal e-book purchase.

2) Marilyn by Lois Banner. Publisher's Summary. As an academic who has been at the forefront of women’s issues for the last half decade, Banner spent nine years researching the intimate details of Monroe’s life, interviewing more than one hundred people in her inner circle and fan club, and examining confidential papers and ledgers in the final years of her life that has never been fully told. through this meticulous research, Banner refutes much of the mythology surrounding Monroe,offering a depth to her story that has never been fully told, and exposing new facets of her personality and facts surrounding her life.

Thanks to the publicist!