Here are 100 books that Wesley the Owl fans have personally recommended if you like
Wesley the Owl.
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I am a freelance journalist who started writing about animals after getting and falling in love with a flock of chickens. Animals are fascinating in their own right but the way we talk about them, and our relationships, shine a fascinating light on humans and what we value. My work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Country Living, and many others.
Starlings are everywhere and yet I hadn’t properly seen them until I picked up this book.
The author combines the history of our relationship with the starling, a reviled bird that is nevertheless so much like us, with an up-close view of the species through a pet starling named Carmen. This book will leave you enchanted by the chatty birds.
On May 27th, 1784, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart met a flirtatious little starling who sang (an improved version of!) the theme from his Piano Concerto Number 17 in G to him. Knowing a kindred spirit when he met one, Mozart wrote "That was wonderful" in his journal and took the bird home to be his pet. For three years Mozart and his family enjoyed the uniquely delightful company of the starling until one April morning when the bird passed away.
In 2013, Lyanda Lynn Haupt, author of Crow Planet, rescued her own starling, Carmen, who has become a part of her…
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…
I have been passionate about soulmate animals since I was a child. Each of these books represents a different facet of the extraordinary capacities of the animal-human relationship. In my books, Soulmate Dog and The Lunatic, I underscore that interspecies love stories are worthy of being told, and that to love also means to lose and grieve. In my recent novel, The Lunatic, one of the protagonists is a German shepherd who communicates silently with the human protagonist as a result of their deep companionship. These books on my list helped fuel my passion for the notion of soulmate animals who think, who love, and who break all conventional boundaries.
I love Merle’s Door because it demonstrates how Ted and Merle taught each other what it means to be human and animal, and they broke all barriers about what it means for an animal to love, be free, to form powerful bonds, and to be worthy of the utmost respect.
A moving, insightful love story about the vast possiblities of the relationship between humans and dogs.
While on a camping trip, Ted Kerasote meets a Labrador mix living on his own in the wild. They become attached to each other, and Kerasote decides to bring the dog, who he names Merle, home. There, after realizing that Merle's native intelligence would be diminished by living exclusively in the human world, he installs a dog door in his house, allowing Merle to live both outside and in.
Merle shows Kerasote how dogs might live if they were allowed to make more of…
For most of my life no one guessed I could fall for a dog, much less write a book about one. I associated dogs with drool on the floor and fur all over everything. One of those “just a dog” people, I thought the marriage bed should be strictly for humans. It crossed my mind that an eager dog would keep me from working into the night at the office where I ran Chatelaine, Canada’s premier magazine for women, but I chose a treadmill at the Y over rambles with a dog. At 65 I discovered my inner dog person. A ragged-eared mutt is now my joy and my muse.
When Rick Bragg shuffles home to his mother’s place in rural Alabama, spent from chemotherapy, depression, and years of hard living, he figures it’ll take a sweet old dog to lick the crankiness out of him.
There’s nothing sweet about the stray who shows up at the side of the road, “seventy-six pounds of wet hair and bad decisions.” In a willful Australian shepherd with a ruined eye and a lust for carrion, Bragg recognizes himself—his wounds, his tenacity, his devotion to family. Speck “would rather die than be clean” but he stands by his people when they need him, and Bragg is his number one human.
I loved the humor, pathos, and Southern character that elevate this story of redemption by a dog over more predictable versions.
NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • From the best-selling, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of All Over but the Shoutin', the warmhearted and hilarious story of how his life was transformed by his love for a poorly behaved, half-blind stray dog.
Speck is not a good boy. He is a terrible boy, a defiant, self-destructive, often malodorous boy, a grave robber and screen door moocher who spends his days playing chicken with the Fed Ex man, picking fights with thousand-pound livestock, and rolling in donkey manure, and his nights howling at the moon. He has been that way since the moment he…
A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.
Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…
I have been passionate about soulmate animals since I was a child. Each of these books represents a different facet of the extraordinary capacities of the animal-human relationship. In my books, Soulmate Dog and The Lunatic, I underscore that interspecies love stories are worthy of being told, and that to love also means to lose and grieve. In my recent novel, The Lunatic, one of the protagonists is a German shepherd who communicates silently with the human protagonist as a result of their deep companionship. These books on my list helped fuel my passion for the notion of soulmate animals who think, who love, and who break all conventional boundaries.
I love the perspective of a philosopher on the profound love between a wolf and a man.
It includes the funny details about what it’s like to live with a destructive wolf in a home! The author’s lessons about love, death, and the meaning of life resonated with me. I love that they taught each other, and they respected each other.
The charming and poignant story of the relationship between a philosophy professor and his pet wolf.
Mark Rowlands was a young philosophy professor, rootless and searching for life’s greater meaning. Shortly after arriving at the University of Alabama, he noticed a classified ad in the local paper advertising wolf cubs for sale, and decided he had to investigate, if only out of curiosity. It was love at first sight, and the bond that grew between philosopher and wolf reaffirms for us the incredible relationships that exist between man and animal.
When Mark welcomed his new companion, Brenin, into his home,…
I am a freelance journalist who started writing about animals after getting and falling in love with a flock of chickens. Animals are fascinating in their own right but the way we talk about them, and our relationships, shine a fascinating light on humans and what we value. My work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Country Living, and many others.
Catherine Raven is a loner. To keep her distance from others, the author buys a cabin on a remote stretch of land in Montana. Then she starts getting visits from a fox.
This absolute dream of a book catalogues Raven’s friendship with the fox and what you can learn from hours spent in another being’s presence. One of the best animal books I’ve ever read. You’ll savor every page.
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
A Christian Science Monitor Best Book of the Year * 2021 Summer Reading Pick by BUZZFEED * NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW * KIRKUS * TIME MAGAZINE * GOOD MORNING AMERICA * PEOPLE MAGAZINE * THE WASHINGTON POST
“The book everyone will be talking about … full of tenderness and understanding.”―The New York…
I am a freelance journalist who started writing about animals after getting and falling in love with a flock of chickens. Animals are fascinating in their own right but the way we talk about them, and our relationships, shine a fascinating light on humans and what we value. My work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Country Living, and many others.
Sometimes it takes a pig to introduce us to our fellow humans.
In this delightful book, nature writer Sy Montgomery sticks close to home following the story of Christopher Hogwood, a runty piglet who grows into 750 pounds and a neighborhood favorite. You may not want a pig as a pet after reading but you will fall in love with the pig mind and the way animals can bring us together.
"In loving yet unsentimental prose, Sy Montgomery captures the richness that animals bring to the human experience. Sometimes it takes a too-smart-for-his-own-good pig to open our eyes to what most matters in life.” —John Grogan, author of Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog
A naturalist who spent months at a time living on her own among wild creatures in remote jungles, Sy Montgomery had always felt more comfortable with animals than with people. So she gladly opened her heart to a sick piglet who had been crowded away from nourishing meals by his stronger siblings.…
The Duke's Christmas Redemption
by
Arietta Richmond,
A Duke who has rejected love, a Lady who dreams of a love match, an arranged marriage, a house full of secrets, a most unneighborly neighbor, a plot to destroy reputations, an unexpected love that redeems it all.
Lady Charlotte Wyndham, given in an arranged marriage to a man she…
I have been passionate about soulmate animals since I was a child. Each of these books represents a different facet of the extraordinary capacities of the animal-human relationship. In my books, Soulmate Dog and The Lunatic, I underscore that interspecies love stories are worthy of being told, and that to love also means to lose and grieve. In my recent novel, The Lunatic, one of the protagonists is a German shepherd who communicates silently with the human protagonist as a result of their deep companionship. These books on my list helped fuel my passion for the notion of soulmate animals who think, who love, and who break all conventional boundaries.
I have loved this book for decades since my parents read it to me out loud when I was a child, because the extraordinary story about the unbreakable bond formed between a man and a formidable wolf in the Canadian wilds has stayed in my heart and mind. Their anecdotes of vulnerability, trust, and love defy all odds.
I hoped that one day, I, too, would find my own soulmate wolf, and I think of their story often.
In 1970, a young Indian who introduced himself as Gregory Tah-Kloma beached his canoe near the author's Babine Lake campsite in the backwoods of British Columbia. Night after night by the campfire, the young Indian told the remarkable story of his devotion to a pack of timber wolves and their legendary female leader: Nahani, "the one who shines." This extraordinary tale has touched many readers over the years with its moving portrayal of the friendship between Greg and Nahani. Certain names and locations have been altered, but the facts of Gregory Tah-Kloma's adventures with Nahani are as he told them…
I have been passionate about soulmate animals since I was a child. Each of these books represents a different facet of the extraordinary capacities of the animal-human relationship. In my books, Soulmate Dog and The Lunatic, I underscore that interspecies love stories are worthy of being told, and that to love also means to lose and grieve. In my recent novel, The Lunatic, one of the protagonists is a German shepherd who communicates silently with the human protagonist as a result of their deep companionship. These books on my list helped fuel my passion for the notion of soulmate animals who think, who love, and who break all conventional boundaries.
I love Muir’s thoughtful observations about each of the multiple animals he describes based on his hikes in the American West.
He includes details not only about their physical attributes and behavior, but also about their character and psychology. His endearing descriptions demonstrate a respect for these animals, and they provide insights that only someone who paid close attention would see.
Many of John Muir's most vivid and memorable stories celebrate his encounters with animals. Whether breakfasting with deer, attempting to scare off a black bear, or musing upon the ferocity of ants, Muir looks upon the animal world with amazement and affection, and the power of his words, the freshness of his thinking, the keenness of his perceptions, and the depth of his passion continue to inspire the same in readers today. Drawing from longtime favorites such as Stickeen as well as from less familiar books, letters, articles, and journals, John Muir's Book of Animals presents us with twenty-seven of…
I have been an ardent fantasy reader since I was very young, and have been a writer for nearly as long. The idea of being able to weave together an original narrative that can be entertaining, educational, and instructive at the same time is a concept that has fascinated me well into adulthood, and one that I continue to explore in my reading and writing to this day, whether short form or long; fiction or non.
I first read this book when I was 10 years old, and from then on I was utterly devoted to the genre of fantasy series.
With its mixture of childlike wonder and rather advanced concepts, this first book in the extensive Guardians of Ga’Hoole series succeeds in making the reader think while remaining an entertaining piece of literature. And the choice of owls as the main characters proves a worthwhile gamble on the part of the author that makes the series informative as well as unique.
Introducing the newest heroes to children's fiction; the owls of Ga'Hoole. Meet Soren and his friends, the owls charged with keeping owldom safe. Based on Katherine Lasky's work with owls, this adventures series is bound to be a hit with kids. Join the heroic owls in the first of a series of mythic adventures.
Out of the darkness a hero will rise... Soren the enthusiastic and young owl is busy learning the rituals of being a barn owl- First Meat Ceremony, how to fly and of course, about the legendary Guardians of Ga'Hoole. However, his life is quickly transformed when…
This book follows the journey of a writer in search of wisdom as he narrates encounters with 12 distinguished American men over 80, including Paul Volcker, the former head of the Federal Reserve, and Denton Cooley, the world’s most famous heart surgeon.
In these and other intimate conversations, the book…
My father was a NASA scientist during the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs, so while most people knew the Space Race as a spectacle of thundering rockets and grainy lunar footage, I remember the very human costs and excitement of scientific progress. My space-cadet years come in snippets–the emotional break in my dad’s voice when Neil Armstrong hopped around the Moon; the strange peace I felt as I bobbed on a surfboard and watched another Saturn 1b flame into the sky. Later, as a journalist and author, I would see that such moments are couched in societal waves as profound and mysterious as the wheeling of hundreds of starlings overhead.
I love this book, which starts out as the childhood memoir of the celebrated Nobel Laureate in animal behaviorism. As a boy growing up in pre-WWII Austria, Lorenz was fascinated by the behavior of several family dogs, especially the unanswerable persistence of the canine/human bond.
But what distinguishes this book from the great mass of pet tales is the depth of Lorenz’s observations and his ability to record detail. He may not understand why his Chow Stasi acts in such a manner, yet he chronicles the surrounding circumstances and later fits it into a pattern he observes over time. You see this ability maturing in Lorenz even as we scroll through a succession of dogs and their idiosyncracies; this power of observation is probably the essential trait of all great scientists and certainly led to his later classics, King Solomon’s Ring and On Aggression.
In this wonderful book, the famous scientist and best-selling author, Konrad Lorenz, 'the man who talked with animals', enlightens and entertains us with his illustrated account of the unique relationship between humans and their pets. Displaying Lorenz's customary humanity and expert knowledge of animals, Man Meets Dog is also a deeply personal and entertaining account of his relationships with his own four-legged friends. With charming sketches on almost every page, Man Meets Dog offers a delightful insight into animal and human thinking and feeling. An essential companion for all lovers of dogs (and cats!).
