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...
Becoming wild : how animal cultures raise families, create beauty, and achieve peace
Safina, Carl
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2020 "In this superbly articulate cri de coeur, Safina gives us a new way of looking at the natural world that is radically different."--The Washington Post New York Times bestselling...
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...
The sound of a wild snail eating
Bailey, Elisabeth Tova.
Paper Book
In a work that beautifully demonstrates the rewards of closely observing nature, Elisabeth Tova Bailey shares an inspiring and intimate story of her encounter with a Neohelix albolabris--a common woodland snail. While an illness keeps her bedridden, Bailey watches a wild snail...
The tiger : a true story of vengeance and survival
Vaillant, John.
Paper Book
It’s December 1997, and a man-eating tiger is on the prowl outside a remote village in Russia’s Far East. The tiger isn’t just killing people, it’s annihilating them, and a team of men and their dogs must hunt it on foot through the forest in the brutal cold. As the trackers...
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 elephant whisperer : my life with the herd in the African wild
Anthony, Lawrence.
Paper Book
When South African conservationist Lawrence Anthony was asked to accept a herd of "rogue" wild elephants on his Thula Thula game reserve in Zululand, his common sense told him to refuse. But he was the herd's last chance of survival: they would be killed if he wouldn't take them. In...
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...
Eager : the surprising, secret life of beavers and why they matter
Goldfarb, Ben (Environmental journalist)
Paper Book
WINNER of the 2019 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award Washington Post "50 Notable Works of Nonfiction" Science News "Favorite Science Books of 2018" Booklist "Top Ten Science/Technology Book of 2018" "A marvelously humor-laced page-turner about the...
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...
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
Audiobook
INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER 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...
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...
Wesley the owl : the remarkable love story of an owl and his girl
O'Brien, Stacey.
Paper Book
Written with the same heartwarming sentiment that made the memoir Marley & Me a runaway bestseller, biologist and owl expert O'Brien chronicles her rescue of an adorable, abandoned baby barn owl--and their astonishing and unprecedented 19-year life together.
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...
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
A most remarkable creature : the hidden life and epic journey of the world's smartest birds of prey
Meiburg, Jonathan
Paper Book
"Utterly captivating and beautifully written, this book is a hugely entertaining and enlightening exploration of a bird so wickedly smart, curious, and social, it boggles the mind."--Jennifer Ackerman, author of The Bird Way "A fascinating, entertaining, and totally...
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 good good pig : the extraordinary life of Christopher Hogwood
Montgomery, Sy.
Paper Book
“Christopher Hogwood came home on my lap in a shoebox. He was a creature who would prove in many ways to be more human than I am.” –from The Good Good Pig A naturalist who spent months at a time living on her own among wild creatures in remote jungles, Sy Montgomery had always...
Voices in the ocean : a journey into the wild and haunting world of dolphins
Casey, Susan
Paper Book
From Susan Casey, the New York Times bestselling author of The Wave and The Devil's Teeth, a breathtaking journey through the extraordinary world of dolphins  Since the dawn of recorded history, humans have felt a kinship with the sleek and beautiful...
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...
Spying on whales : the past, present, and future of earth's most awesome creatures
Pyenson, Nick
Paper Book
"A palaeontological howdunnit...[Spying on Whales] captures the excitement of...seeking answers to deep questions in cetacean science." --Nature   Called "the best of science writing" (Edward O. Wilson) and named a best book by Popular Science, a dive into...
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...
Animal wise : the thoughts and emotions of our fellow creatures
Morell, Virginia.
Paper Book
Noted science writer Virginia Morell explores the frontiers of research on animal cognition and emotion, offering a surprising and moving exploration into the hearts and minds of wild and domesticated animals.      Have you ever wondered what it is like to be a fish? Or a parrot,...
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
A lifetime of adventures with bats around the world reveals why these special and imperiled creatures should be protected rather than feared. From menacing moonshiners and armed bandits to charging elephants and man-eating tigers, Merlin Tuttle has stopped at...
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...
Eavesdropping on animals : what we can learn from wildlife conversations
Bumann, George
Paper Book
"This book is fabulous and takes you close inside the wild world, where you feel the creatures whispering your old name."--Craig Foster, My Octopus Teacher Learn how to decode the secret conversations of wild animals all around you. From a Yellowstone...
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...
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...
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...
How to speak whale : a voyage into the future of animal communication
Mustill, Tom
Paper Book
What if animals and humans could speak to one another? Tom Mustill--the nature documentarian who went viral when a thirty‑ton humpback whale breached onto his kayak--asks this question in his thrilling investigation into whale science and animal communication. ...
What it's like to be a dog : and other adventures in animal neuroscience
Berns, Gregory
Paper Book
"Dog lovers and neuroscientists should both read this important book." -- Dr. Temple Grandin What is it like to be a dog? A bat? Or a dolphin? To find out, neuroscientist and bestselling author Gregory Berns and his team did something nobody had ever attempted: they...
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...
Dog sense : how the new science of dog behavior can make you a better friend to your pet
Bradshaw, John
Paper Book
Dogs have been mankind's faithful companions for tens of thousands of years, yet today they are regularly treated as either pack-following wolves or furry humans. The truth is, dogs are neither--and our misunderstanding has put them in serious crisis. What dogs really need is a spokesperson,...
When elephants weep : the emotional lives of animals
Masson, J. Moussaieff
Paper Book
This national bestseller exploring the complex emotional lives of animals was hailed as "a masterpiece" by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas and as "marvelous" by Jane Goodall. The popularity ofWhen Elephants Weephas swept the nation, as author Jeffrey Masson appeared onDateline NBC, Good Morning America...
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...

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