Page Against the Machine Book Group (July 2025 Theme)

Check out this space for suggested titles of Page Against the Machine book group's current month's theme!

For July 2025, we're reading any book dealing with or about animals of any and all kinds.

For a complete list, visit here to view the winners and finalists from all time.

Updated June 12, 2025
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Biloxi : a novel
Miller, Mary
Paper Book
Building on her critically acclaimed novel The Last Days of California and her biting collection Always Happy Hour, Miller transports readers to this delightfully wry, unapologetic corner of the south--Biloxi, Mississippi, home to sixty-three-year-old Louis McDonald, Jr. ...
Bird life : a novel
Smaill, Anna
Paper Book
The second novel by Booker Prize-longlisted author Anna Smaill. A lyrical and ambitious exploration of madness and what it is like to experience the world differently. In Ueno Park, Tokyo, as workers and tourists gather for lunch, the pollen blows, a fountain erupts, pigeons scatter, and...
The bitch
Quintana, Pilar
Paper Book
2020 NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS TRANSLATED LITERATURE FINALIST In Colombia's brutal jungle, childless Damaris develops an intense and ultimately doomed relationship with an orphaned puppy. "The magic of this sparse novel is its ability to talk about many things, all of them...
Blood memory : the tragic decline and improbable resurrection of the American Buffalo
Duncan, Dayton
Paper Book
The epic story of the buffalo in America, from prehistoric times to today--a moving and beautifully illustrated work of natural history inspired by the PBS series "American Buffalo" The American buffalo--our nation's official mammal--is an improbable, shaggy beast that has found...
The book of animal secrets : nature's lessons for a long and happy life
Agus, David B.
Paper Book
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The End of Illness comes an ingenious guide to what our fellow animals can teach us about living longer, healthier, happier lives. Mother nature has a lot to teach us, if only we open our eyes. Pigeons and dolphins...
The boy, the mole, the fox and the horse
Mackesy, Charlie
Paper Book
Charlie Mackesy's beloved The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse has been adapted into an Academy Award® winning animated short film, now available to stream on Apple TV+ #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER · WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER  ·...
The bright spot : a novel
Shalvis, Jill
Paper Book
New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis returns to Sunrise Cove with a heartwarming story about the choices we make and the love we let into our lives... Luna Wright is a lot of things, but sweet and trusting isn't on the list. However, she's a sucker for the underdog and a hard...
Chouette : a novel
Oshetsky, Claire
Paper Book
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2022 PEN/FAULKNER AWARD FOR FICTION "Claire Oshetsky's novel is a marvel: its language a joy, its imagination dizzying." --Rumaan Alam, New York Times bestselling author of Leave the World Behind An exhilarating, provocative novel of motherhood in extremis ...
Elephant Company : the inspiring story of an unlikely hero and the animals who helped him save lives in World War II
Croke, Vicki.
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK The remarkable story of James Howard "Billy" Williams, whose uncanny rapport with the world's largest land animals transformed him from a carefree young man into the charismatic war hero known as Elephant Bill<...
Fathomfolk
Chan, Eliza
Paper Book
AN INTERNATIONAL #1 BESTSELLER This gloriously imaginative debut fantasy, inspired by East Asian mythology and ocean folk tales, is a novel of magic, rebellion and change. "An unforgettable, must-read fantasy,"--Shelley Parker-Chan<...
The friend
Nunez, Sigrid
Paper Book
When a woman unexpectedly loses her lifelong best friend and mentor, she finds herself burdened with the unwanted dog he has left behind. Her own battle against grief is intensified by the mute suffering of the dog, a huge Great Dane traumatised by the inexplicable disappearance of its master, and...
Fuzz : when nature breaks the law
Roach, Mary
Paper Book
What's to be done about a jaywalking moose? A bear caught breaking and entering? A murderous tree? Three hundred years ago, animals that broke the law would be assigned legal representation and put on trial. These days, as New York Times best-selling author Mary Roach discovers, the answers...
Have you seen Marie?
Cisneros, Sandra.
Paper Book
The internationally acclaimed author of The House on Mango Street and winner of the PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature gives us a deeply moving tale of loss, grief, and healing: a lyrically told, richly illustrated fable for grown-ups about a woman's search...
A history of the world in 100 animals
Barnes, Simon
Paper Book
 Fully illustrated in color, a fascinating exploration of the one hundred animals that have had the most profound influence on humanity throughout the ages. We are not alone. We are not alone on the planet. We are not alone in the countryside. We are not alone in...
The horse : a novel
Vlautin, Willy.
Paper Book
Winner of the Joyce Carol Oates Prize Finalist for the 2025 Oregon Book Award "Willy Vlautin writes about people overlooked by society and overlooked by literature. In The Horse, he tells the story of a tenderhearted man who has a steady talent and a crushing addiction. It is...
An immense world : how animal senses reveal the hidden realms around us
Yong, Ed
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A "thrilling" (The New York Times), "dazzling" (The Wall Street Journal) tour of the radically different ways that animals perceive the world that will fill you with wonder and forever alter your perspective, by Pulitzer Prize-winning science...
Just after midnight : a novel
Hyde, Catherine Ryan
Paper Book
From New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde comes an uplifting and poignant novel about friendship, trust, and facing your fears. No longer tolerating her husband's borderline abuse, Faith escapes to her parents' California beach house to plan her next move....
The Kaiju Preservation Society
Scalzi, John
Paper Book
The Kaiju Preservation Society is John Scalzi's first standalone adventure since the conclusion of his New York Times bestselling Interdependency trilogy. When COVID-19 sweeps through New York City, Jamie Gray is stuck as a dead-end driver for food delivery apps....
The longest story : how humans have loved, hated and misunderstood other species
Girling, Richard
Paper Book
'Lucid, informed and persuasive' Evening Standard 'Thought-provoking' Daily Mail 'An extraordinary book' Nicholas Evans, author of The Horse Whisperer The history of humanity's relationship with other species is baffling. Without animals there would be...
Meet the neighbors : animal minds and life in a more-than-human world
Keim, Brandon
Paper Book
Honeybees deliberate democratically. Rats reflect on the past. Snakes have friends. In recent decades, our understanding of animal cognition has exploded, making it indisputably clear that the cities and landscapes around us are filled with thinking, feeling individuals besides ourselves. But the...
Memoirs of a polar bear
Tawada, Y¿ko
Paper Book
The Memoirs of a Polar Bear has in spades what Rivka Galchen hailed in the New Yorker as "Yoko Tawada's magnificent strangeness"--Tawada is an author like no other. Three generations (grandmother, mother, son) of polar bears are famous as both circus performers and writers in East...
Mimi Lee gets a clue
Chow, Jennifer J.
Paper Book
Mimi Lee hoped to give Los Angeles animal lovers something to talk about with her pet grooming shop, Hollywoof. She never imagined that the first cat she said hello to would talk back. Or be quite so, well, catty. When Marshmallow exposes local breeder Russ Nolan for mistreating Chihuahuas, Mimi...
On animals
Orlean, Susan
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER "Magnificent." --The New York Times * "Beguiling, observant, and howlingly funny." --San Francisco Chronicle * "Spectacular." --Star Tribune (Minneapolis) * "Full of astonishments." --The Boston Globe
Once there were wolves
McConaghy, Charlotte
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Blazing...Visceral" (Los Angeles Times) · "Exceptional" (Newsweek) · "Bold...Heartfelt" (New York Times Book Review) · "Thought-provoking and thrilling" (GMA) · "Suspenseful and poignant" (...
The penguin lessons
Michell, Tom.
Paper Book
NOW A MAJOR FILM STARRING STEVE COOGAN AND JONATHAN PRYCE THIS IS THE TRUE STORY OF THE UNLIKELY FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN A FLIGHTLTESS BIRD AND A TEACHER OUT OF HIS DEPTH . . . 'I can't remember the last time I read a book that made me smile so continuously'<...
Remarkably bright creatures : a novel
Van Pelt, Shelby
Paper Book
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Soon to be a Netflix Film A Read With Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick! NAMED A BEST BOOK OF SUMMER by: Chicago Tribune * The View * Southern Living * USA Today "Remarkably Bright Creatures [is] an ultimately...
Seabiscuit : an American legend
Hillenbrand, Laura.
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the author of the runaway phenomenon Unbroken comes a universal underdog story about the horse who came out of nowhere to become a legend. "Fascinating . . . Vivid . . . A first-rate piece of storytelling, leaving us not only...
Talk to me : a novel
Boyle, T. Coraghessan
Paper Book
From bestselling and award-winning author T.C. Boyle, a lively, thought-provoking novel that asks us what it would be like if we could really talk to the animals When animal behaviorist Guy Schermerhorn demonstrates on a TV game show that he has taught Sam,...
Veniss underground
VanderMeer, Jeff
Paper Book
From the New York Times bestselling author of Annihilation, Jeff VanderMeer's first novel, Veniss Underground, takes readers on a journey to a labyrinthine city of tunnels, and the dangers lurking behind each turn. This special hardcover edition features five bonus...
What an owl knows : the new science of the world's most enigmatic birds
Ackerman, Jennifer
Paper Book
An instant New York Times bestseller! A New York Times Notable Book of 2023 Named a Best Book of 2023 by Publishers Weekly From the author of The Genius of Birds and The Bird Way, a brilliant scientific investigation into...
Why animals talk : the new science of animal communication
Kershenbaum, Arik
Paper Book
"Animal communication doesn't need to resemble human language to be full of meaning and nuance. Arik Kershenbaum delivers an expert overview of the astonishing discoveries made in the last few decades" --Frans de Waal From leading zoologist Arik Kershenbaum, a delightful and...
World of wonders : in praise of whale sharks, fireflies, and other astonishments
Nezhukumatathil, Aimee
Ebook
"Hands-down one of the most beautiful books of the year." --NPR From beloved, award-winning poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil comes a debut work of nonfiction--a collection of essays about the natural world, and the way its inhabitants can teach, support, and inspire us. As a child,...

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