Secret Lives of Animals

Updated June 7, 2026
Rochester Public Library RPL Staff
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Secret Lives of Animals

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Raising hare : a memoir
Dalton, Chloe
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * FINALIST FOR THE 2025 WOMEN'S PRIZE * A fascinating meditation on freedom, trust, loss, and our relationship with the natural world, explored through the story of one woman's unlikely friendship with a wild hare.
We should all be birds : (a memoir)
Buckbee, Brian
Paper Book
Longlisted for the 2026 Reading the West Awards A charming and moving debut memoir about how a man with a mystery illness saves a pigeon, and how the pigeon saves the man. "I loved every page of this book: funny, sad, romantic, and full of pigeons."--Sy Montgomery
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...
The backyard bird chronicles
Tan, Amy
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the author of The Joy Luck Club comes a gorgeous and witty exploration of birding and nature. This inspiring work cultivates hope and connection, revealing the rhythms of our world and uncovering its beauty hidden in plain sight. * With a foreword...
The soul of an octopus : a surprising exploration into the wonder of consciousness
Montgomery, Sy
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller from the author of The Good Good Pig, this "fascinating...informative" (The Daily Beast) book dives into the intelligence, behavior, and emotional world of the octopus--one of the ocean's most complex and captivating creatures--and the...
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 are...
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...
The sound of a wild snail eating
Bailey, Elisabeth Tova.
Ebook
Winner of The Saroyan International Prize for Writing, the John Burroughs Medal, and the National Outdoor Book Award in Natural History Literature   "Brilliant." --The New York Review of Books "Exquisite." --The Huffington Post ...
World of wonders : in praise of fireflies, whale sharks, and other astonishments
Nezhukumatathil, Aimee
Paper Book
"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,...
The genius of birds
Ackerman, Jennifer
Paper Book
"Lovely, celebratory. For all the belittling of 'bird brains,' [Ackerman] shows them to be uniquely impressive machines . . ." --New York Times Book Review "A lyrical testimony to the wonders of avian intelligence." --Scientific American An award...
Wild new world : the epic story of animals and people in America
Flores, Dan L.
Paper Book
In 1908, near Folsom, New Mexico, a cowboy discovered the remains of a herd of extinct giant bison. By examining flint points embedded in the bones, archeologists later determined that a band of humans had killed and butchered the animals 12,450 years ago. This discovery vastly expanded America's...
Other minds : the octopus, the sea, and the deep origins of consciousness
Godfrey-Smith, Peter.
Paper Book
Philosopher Peter Godfrey-Smith dons a wet suit and journeys into the depths of consciousness inOther Minds Although mammals and birds are widely regarded as the smartest creatures on earth, it has lately become clear that a very distant branch of the tree of life has...
Eager : the surprising, secret life of beavers and why they matter
Goldfarb, Ben (Environmental journalist)
Ebook
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...
Bitch : on the female of the species
Cooke, Lucy
Paper Book
A zoologist's "compelling and often hilarious" (Science) look at the queens of the animal kingdom Somewhere in the ocean, an orca matriarch leads her pod to better hunting grounds. At the same time, a male clownfish, alone after the death of his mate, changes...
Fox and I : an uncommon friendship
Raven, Catherine
Paper Book
Winner of the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award * 2022 Nautilus Book Awards Gold Winner * Shortlisted for the John Burroughs Medal * Finalist for the Stubbendieck Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize * Shortlisted for a Reading the West Book Award Instant New York Times<...
Running with Sherman : the donkey with the heart of a hero
McDougall, Christopher
Paper Book
"A delight, full of heart and hijinks and humor . . . McDougall is a gifted storyteller who gets to the heart of the human-animal connection." --John Grogan, author of Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog From the best-selling author of Born to Run...
Beaverland : how one weird rodent made America
Philip, Leila
Paper Book
An intimate and revelatory dive into the world of the beaver--the wonderfully weird rodent that has surprisingly shaped American history and may save its ecological future.  From award-winning writer Leila Philip, Beaverland is a masterful work of narrative science writing,...
How far the light reaches : a life in ten sea creatures
Imbler, Sabrina
Paper Book
A fascinating tour of creatures from the surface to the deepest ocean floor: this "miraculous, transcendental book" invites us to envision wilder, grander, and more abundant possibilities for the way we live (Ed Yong, author of An Immense World). A queer, mixed race...
1438925-1001
XX(1438925.1)
Paper Book
FINALIST FOR THE GOTHAM BOOK PRIZE * NATIONAL BESTSELLER * Eye-opening essays about searching for peace in the cacophony of birds and discovering a world of meaning in small moments--from award-winning actor Lili Taylor. "By turns introspective, inquisitive, and funny, the book is a...
American wolf : a true story of survival and obsession in the West
Blakeslee, Nate
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The enthralling true story of the rise and reign of O-Six, the celebrated Yellowstone wolf, and the people who loved or feared her.   Before men ruled the earth, there were wolves. Once abundant in North America, these majestic...
What the chicken knows : a new appreciation of the world's most familiar bird
Montgomery, Sy
Paper Book
A charming and eye-opening exploration of the special relationship between humans and chickens from Sy Montgomery, "one of our finest chroniclers of the natural world" (The New York Times). For more than two decades, Sy Montgomery--whose The Soul of an...
What it's like to be a bird : from flying to nesting, eating to singing -- what birds are doing, and why
Sibley, David
Paper Book
The bird book for birders and nonbirders alike that will excite and inspire by providing a new and deeper understanding of what common, mostly backyard, birds are doing-and why- "Can birds smell?"; "Is this the same cardinal that was at my feeder last year?"; "Do robins 'hear' worms?"
Otherlands : a journey through Earth's extinct worlds
Halliday, Thomas (Paleobiologist)
Paper Book
"Immersive . . . bracingly ambitious . . . rewinds the story of life on Earth--from the mammoth steppe of the last Ice Age to the dawn of multicellular creatures over 500 million years ago."--The Economist LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE * "One of those rare...
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
Secrets of the octopus
Montgomery, Sy
Paper Book
Take an illuminating journey into the life of the octopus, one of nature's most intelligent and complex animals. Come closer than ever to these elusive creatures, thanks to insights from an international bestselling author-working with the founder of Octonation and the world's top...
The mosquito : a human history of our deadliest predator
Winegard, Timothy C.
Paper Book
**The instant New York Times bestseller.** *An international bestseller.* "Hugely impressive, a major work."--NPR A pioneering and groundbreaking work of narrative nonfiction that offers a dramatic new perspective on the history of humankind, showing...
The mind of a bee
Chittka, Lars
Paper Book
A rich and surprising exploration of the intelligence of bees Most of us are aware of the hive mind--the power of bees as an amazing collective. But do we know how uniquely intelligent bees are as individuals? In The Mind of a Bee, Lars Chittka draws from decades of...
The bird way : a new look at how birds talk, work, play, parent, and think
Ackerman, Jennifer
Paper Book
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Genius of Birds, a radical investigation into the bird way of being, and the recent scientific research that is dramatically shifting our understanding of birds -- how they live and how they think. "There is the...
Flight paths : how a passionate and quirky group of pioneering scientists solved the mystery of bird migration
Heisman, Rebecca
Paper Book
"Illuminating. . . . Flight Paths does what only the best science books do: It adds to our knowledge of the world without diminishing its wonder."--Wall Street Journal The captivating, little-known true story of a group of scientists and the methods and technology they developed to...
Owls of the eastern ice : a quest to find and save the world's largest owl
Slaght, Jonathan C.
Paper Book
A New York Times Notable Book of 2020 Longlisted for the National Book Award Winner of the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award and the Minnesota Book Award for General Nonfiction A Finalist for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of...
Are we smart enough to know how smart animals are?
Waal, F. B. M. de
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestseller From world-renowned biologist and primatologist Frans de Waal, a groundbreaking work on animal intelligence destined to become a classic. What separates your mind from an animal's? Maybe you think it's your ability to design tools, your...
Sentient : how animals illuminate the wonder of our human senses
Higgins, Jackie
Paper Book
Perfect for fans of The Soul of an Octopus and The Genius of Birds, this "masterpiece of science and nature writing" (The Washington Post) explores how we process the world around us through the lens of the incredible sensory capabilities of thirteen...
A world on the wing : the global odyssey of migratory birds
Weidensaul, Scott
Paper Book
In the past two decades, our understanding of the navigational and physiological feats that enable birds to cross immense oceans, fly above the highest mountains, or remain in unbroken flight for months at a stretch has exploded. What we've learned of these key migrations--how billions of birds...
The hummingbirds' gift : wonder, beauty, and renewal on wings
Montgomery, Sy
Paper Book
From the beloved New York Times bestselling author of the "fascinating...entertaining" (The Daily Beast) National Book Award finalist The Soul of an Octopus, a charmingly perfect gem of a book about the most exquisite and...
Slither : how nature's most maligned creatures illuminate our world
Hall, Stephen S.
Paper Book
In this "wise and wondrous" (David Quammen) exploration, a science writer reintroduces readers to The Snake, encouraging our initial reaction to the slithery creature to be one of awe rather than disgust. For millennia, depictions of snakes as...
Fathoms : the world in the whale
Giggs, Rebecca
Paper Book
Winner of the 2021 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction * Finalist for the 2020 Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction * Finalist for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award A "delving, haunted, and poetic debut" (The New York Times Book Review) about the...
The secret lives of bats : my adventures with the world's most misunderstood mammals
Tuttle, Merlin D.
Paper Book
Few people realize how sophisticated and intelligent bats are. Merlin Tuttle knows, and he has stopped at nothing to find and protect them on every continent they inhabit. Sharing highlights from a lifetime of adventure and discovery, Tuttle takes us to the frontiers of bat research to show that...
Under the henfluence : inside the world of backyard chickens and the people who love them
Danovich, Tove
Paper Book
An immersive blend of chicken-keeping memoir and culture reporting by a journalist who accidentally became obsessed with her flock. Since first domesticating the chicken thousands of years ago, humans have become exceptionally...
Endless forms : the secret world of wasps
Sumner, Seirian
Paper Book
"A book that draws us in to the strange beauty of what we so often run away from." -- Robin Ince, author of The Importance of Being Interested In this eye-opening and entertaining work of popular science in the spirit of The Mosquito, Entangled Life, and...
Hurricane lizards and plastic squid : the fraught and fascinating biology of climate change
Hanson, Thor
Paper Book
A beloved natural historian and biologist explores how climate change is driving evolution. "Hanson is an affable guide and storyteller., with a knack for analogy, a sense of humor and the natural curiosity of a scientist." ―New York Times <...
The zoologist's guide to the galaxy : what animals on earth reveal about aliens--and ourselves
Kershenbaum, Arik
Paper Book
From a noted Cambridge zoologist, a wildly fun and scientifically sound exploration of what alien life must be like, using universal laws that govern life on Earth and in space. Scientists are confident that life exists elsewhere in the universe. Yet rather than taking a...
The hawk's way : encounters with fierce beauty
Montgomery, Sy
Paper Book
A splendid and luminous celebration of one of nature's most perfect and mysterious creatures--the hawk--from the New York Times bestselling author of the "astoundingly beautiful" (NPR) The Soul of an Octopus. When Sy Montgomery went to spend a day at falconer Nancy...
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...
Supernavigators : exploring the wonders of how animals find their way
Barrie, David
Paper Book
Publisher's note: Supernavigators was published in the UK under the title Incredible Journeys. Animals plainly know where they're going, but how they get there has remained surprisingly mysterious--until now. In...
The bald eagle : the improbable journey of America's bird
Davis, Jack E.
Paper Book
The bald eagle is regal but fearless, a bird you're not inclined to argue with. For centuries, Americans have celebrated it as "majestic" and "noble," yet savaged the living bird behind their national symbol as a malicious predator of livestock and, falsely, a snatcher of babies. Taking us from...
The wise hours : a journey into the wild and secret world of owls
Darlington, Miriam
Paper Book
A People Pick of the Week "Unfailingly precise and lovingly poetic. . . . Nature writing of the first order." ―The Wall Street Journal "A beautiful book; wise and sharp-eared as its subject." ―Robert Macfarlane One minute I was...
Birdgirl : looking to the skies in search of a better future
Craig, Mya-Rose
Paper Book
British-Bangladeshi birder, environmentalist and activist Mya-Rose Craig is an international force. In her moving memoir, Birdgirl, she chronicles her mother's struggle with mental illness, and shares her passion for social justice and fierce dedication to preserving our planet.
Koala : a natural history and an uncertain future
Clode, Danielle
Paper Book
Koalas regularly appeared in Australian biologist Danielle Clode's backyard, but it was only when a bushfire threatened that she truly paid them attention. She soon realized how much she had to learn about these complex and mysterious animals. In vivid, descriptive prose, Clode embarks on...
Of cockroaches and crickets : learning to love creatures that skitter and jump
Nischk, Frank
Paper Book
This deep dive into the wonderful world of insects teaches us to love the tiny, seemingly terrifying creatures all around us. For many people, cockroaches are the most pesky of pests. Not so for entomologist Frank Nischk. In this funny and fascinating book, Frank reveals his love...
Follow the flock : how sheep shaped human civilization
Coulthard, Sally
Audiobook
The Ravenmaster : my life with the ravens at the Tower of London
Skaife, Christopher
Paper Book
The first behind-the-scenes account of life with the legendary ravens at the world's eeriest monument The ravens at the Tower of London are of mighty importance: rumor has it that if a raven from the Tower should ever leave, the city will fall. The title of...
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