Secret Lives of Animals

Updated June 7, 2026
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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.
If Nietzsche were a narwhal : what animal intelligence reveals about human stupidity
Gregg, Justin
Paper Book
This funny, "extraordinary and thought-provoking" (The Wall Street Journal) book asks whether we are in fact the superior species. As it turns out, the truth is stranger--and far more interesting--than we have been led to believe. If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal...
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
Finalist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction * New York Times Bestseller * A Huffington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of the Year * One of the Best Books of the Month on Goodreads * Library Journal Best Sci-Tech Book of the Year * An American Library Association Notable...
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...
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,...
How to be a good creature : a memoir in thirteen animals
Montgomery, Sy
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller! National Book Award finalist Sy Montgomery reflects on the personalities and quirks of 13 animals--her friends--who have profoundly affected her in this stunning, poetic, and life-affirming animal memoir featuring illustrations by Rebecca Green.<...
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...
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...
Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know
Horowitz, Alexandra
Paper Book
The bestselling book that asks what dogs know and how they think. The answers will surprise and delight you as Alexandra Horowitz, a cognitive scientist, explains how dogs perceive their daily worlds, each other, and that other quirky animal, the human. Temple Grandin meets Stephen...
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...
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,...
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...
The book of eels : our enduring fascination with the most mysterious creature in the natural world
Svensson, Patrik
Paper Book
Part H Is for Hawk, part The Soul of an Octopus, The Book of Eels is a captivating work of narrative nonfiction that is both a meditation on the world's most elusive fish--the eel--and a reflection on the human condition Remarkably little is...
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...
Animals make us human : creating the best life for animals
Grandin, Temple.
Paper Book
The best-selling animal advocate Temple Grandin offers the most exciting exploration of how animals feel since The Hidden Life of Dogs. In her groundbreaking and best-selling book Animals in Translation, Temple Grandin drew on her own experience with autism as well as her...
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?"
Of time and turtles : mending the world, shell by shattered shell
Montgomery, Sy
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NATIONAL BESTSELLER * AMAZON EDITOR'S PICK and BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR * INDIE BESTSELLER * A SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE'S BEST SCIENCE BOOK OF THE YEAR * THE WASHINGTON POST'S BEST NONFICTION OF THE YEAR PICK * A NEW SCIENTIST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR *THE PERFECT...
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...
1438886-1001
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Paper Book
"[A] wonderful book." --Nature "A mind-opening adventure." --Natural History An awe-inspiring tour of bat world by the world's leading expert With nearly 1500 species, bats account for more than twenty percent of...
Cat sense : how the new feline science can make you a better friend to your pet
Bradshaw, John
Paper Book
Cats have been popular household pets for thousands of years, and their numbers only continue to rise. Today there are three cats for every dog on the planet, and yet cats remain more mysterious, even to their most adoring owners. Unlike dogs, cats evolved as solitary hunters, and, while many...
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...
The truth about animals : stoned sloths, lovelorn hippos, and other tales from the wild side of wildlife
Cooke, Lucy
Paper Book
Mary Roach meets Bill Bryson in this "surefire summer winner" (Janet Maslin, New York Times), an uproarious tour of the basest instincts and biggest mysteries of the animal world Humans have gone to the Moon and discovered the Higgs boson, but when it comes to...
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...
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...
Metazoa : animal life and the birth of the mind
Godfrey-Smith, Peter
Paper Book
"Enthralling . . . breathtaking . . . Metazoa brings an extraordinary and astute look at our own mind's essential link to the animal world." --The New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice) "A great book . . . [Godfrey-Smith is] brilliant at describing just...
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 <...
Do unto animals : a friendly guide to how animals live, and how we can make their lives better
Stewart, Tracey (Organizational consultant)
Paper Book
#1 New York Times bestseller and USA Today bestseller The more we know about the animals in our world and the better we care for them, the better our lives will be. Former veterinary technician and animal advocate Tracey Stewart understands this...
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...
Beyond words : what animals think and feel
Safina, Carl
Paper Book
I wanted to know what they were experiencing, and why to us they feel so compelling, and so-close. This time I allowed myself to ask them the question that for a scientist was forbidden fruit: Who are you? Weaving decades of field observations with exciting new...
What the bears know : how I found truth and magic in America's most misunderstood creatures
Searles, Steve
Paper Book
The incredible story of how one man went from a hired hunter to becoming one of America's top champions for this iconic animal. **A Los Angeles Times and USA Today Bestseller** In this wondrous and eye-opening exploration, Steve Searles, the...
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...
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...
Monarch and milkweed
Frost, Helen
Paper Book
One of nature's most perfect relationships Every spring the monarch butterfly migrates thousands of miles in search of the ideal milkweed plant. When she finds it, she lays her eggs on the plant, so when each egg hatches, the baby caterpillar can feed on the milkweed leaves. The...

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