Animals and other nonhuman characters play a part in these books available to borrow from the Lititz Public Library. Find a variety of genres, including whodunits that feature an animal at the center of the mystery, romances with characters that rely on their pets as sympathetic confidents and literary fiction that spotlight nonhuman creatures as a way to further a book’s theme.
Unsaid by Neil Abramson
After a veterinarian dies of breast cancer she haunts the life she left behind and narrates the emotional struggles of her attorney husband as he becomes involved in a court case to save the life of a chimpanzee.
The Tale of Briar Bank by Susan Wittig Albert
The villagers are certain a man’s death has something to do with a treasure he dug up last spring, but only his fox terrier knows exactly what happened, and it’s up to amateur sleuth Beatrix Potter to solve the murder.
The Mare by Mary Gaitskill
The story of people from different races and classes trying to meet one another honestly is told through the experiences of an eleven-year-old Fresh Air Fund girl from Brooklyn who visits a host family in upstate New York.
Raising Stony Mayhall by Daryl Gregory
After a zombie attack, a woman rescues a near-dead infant on the side of a frozen highway and decides to raise him without telling the authorities.
Safari by Parnell Hall
Reluctantly embarking on a group safari trip to Zambia, a man finds himself at the mercy of a reckless guide who enjoys encounters with dangerous animals.
The Animals by Christian Kiefer
When his childhood friend is released from prison, the manager of a rural Idaho wildlife sanctuary is forced to confront secrets of his own criminal youth.
The Darkest Evening of the Year by Dean Koontz
A series of eerie, ominous and invasive accidents occur when the founder of an organization that rescues abandoned and endangered golden retrievers brings a new dog into her home.
Stay by Allie Larkin
Impulsively buying a puppy online after the heartbreak of watching the love of her life marry another, a woman is dismayed when her purchase produces a one-hundred-pound German shepherd and an unlikely friendship with a handsome veterinarian.
The Year of the Hare by Arto Paasilinna
When a journalist hits a hare with his car, he decides to quit his job, leave his wife, sell his possessions and spend a year wandering the wilds of Finland with the bunny as his companion.
Zoo by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
When worldwide coordinated animal attacks begin to escalate, a young biologist races to warn leaders about the enormity of the violence to come.
The Great Zoo of China by Matthew Reilly
The Chinese, preparing to unveil the astonishing discovery of a species of animal once thought mythological, assure visitors they are perfectly safe and nothing can go wrong.
Pegasus by Danielle Steel
Multigenerational saga traces the efforts of an aristocratic German family to find refuge for themselves and their magnificent horses in post-World War II America.
The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart
A Beefeater is tasked with setting up an elaborate menagerie within the Tower of London’s walls to house the many exotic animals gifted to the Queen.
Zone One by Colson Whitehead
A squad of “sweepers” search lower Manhattan for a handful of zombies in a walled off enclave scheduled for resettlement in the aftermath of a plague.
January 22, 2016