Paperback Animals Horses Autobirography Memoir Chosen Forever by Susan Richards In the heartwarming sequel to Chosen by a Horse, Susan Richards tells of the continuing gifts brought to her life by her beloved horse, Lay Me Down. Readers cried with Susan Richards when, at the end of Chosen by a Horse, her beloved mare was laid to rest in the paddock where she had met her herd -- Hot Shot, Tempo, and Georgia. Now they will cheer as Susan recounts the further wonders that came into her life as part of Lay Me Down's legacy: a bestselling book, a tour to support that book, the reconnection to friends and family who come to celebrate her success, and love-- unexpected, complicated, and true. And so Chosen Forever works its magic as a sequel of self-discovery, as Susan continues to grow into her new life. Told in charming prose with her familiar and disarming sense of humor, and featuring a new supporting cast of animal characters (a Siamese cat, two pugs, tow Labs, and appearances by horses), this is another moving tale for readers facing their own challenges at recreating their lives. Chosen Forever is the story of what happens the day after all of your dreams come true-- how you learn to accept that you deserve to be happy, and how those we love continue to offer us gifts long after they are gone. Learn More

Hardcover Animals Dogs For Bea by Kristin von Kreisler (Goodreads Author) A touching and humorous account of the author's fifteen years with her beagle, Bea, a refugee from an animal research laboratory. Harried by recent upheavals in her life, the last thing Kristin von Kreisler needed was another dog. But when she came upon Bea, a scrawny beagle abandoned by the roadside, she couldn't turn away. Bea became part of her family, and changed it forever. Disheveled, malnourished, and terrified of human contact, Bea seemed damaged beyond repair. But, gradually, she began to trust von Kreisler. After resisting her touch again and again, the dog one day leaned in and nuzzled her neck. From that moment, Bea began to give love as well as receive it. With the typically unforgettable personality of a beagle, over the next decade and a half she taught von Kreisler the value of living utterly in the present, of meeting each day with a good bark, and of moving forward in life without being dragged down by past grief. Written with rare eloquence and down-to-earth wit, this memoir of Bea and von Kreisler's fifteen-year love story will charm beaglers and touch the heart of anyone who has ever loved a dog. Learn More

Hardcover Pure Joy: The Dogs We Love by Danielle Steel Filled with funny, poignant stories, down-to-earth wisdom, and delightful photos, Danielle Steel’s Pure Joy is a charming memoir about the dogs who have enriched her life—the perfect gift for any animal lover. Learn More

Paperback Room for Another Heart by Yvonne C. Hebert (Goodreads Author) An adventurous, heart-warming tale of a woman's courage in overcoming great losses in her personal life. This book includes true domestic and wild animal stories. Set in the Northern Michigan Manistee Forest, young Cathy Maslin must face the loss of her husband, Chase, a soldier killed in Iraq, and, as a result of the country's economic upheavals, her first position as a school teacher. All the plans she and Chase had dreamed of for their lives are gone. Her lifestyle is changed irrevocably. Her only connection to her beloved Chase is Moose, the dog he gave her as a wedding present. Moose becomes her constant, sometimes frustrating, companion. Confused, depressed, and searching for answers, she embarks on a spirited journey to self-understanding and fulfillment. With the help of veterans who had known Chase, her personal friends, the dogs who enter her life, and the healing forest surrounding her home, ..she builds a new life and career. Learn More

Paperback Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand There's an alternate cover edition here Seabiscuit was one of the most electrifying and popular attractions in sports history and the single biggest newsmaker in the world in 1938, receiving more coverage than FDR, Hitler, or Mussolini. But his success was a surprise to the racing establishment, which had written off the crooked-legged racehorse with the sad tail. Three men changed Seabiscuit’s fortunes: Charles Howard was a onetime bicycle repairman who introduced the automobile to the western United States and became an overnight millionaire. When he needed a trainer for his new racehorses, he hired Tom Smith, a mysterious mustang breaker from the Colorado plains. Smith urged Howard to buy Seabiscuit for a bargain-basement price, then hired as his jockey Red Pollard, a failed boxer who was blind in one eye, half-crippled, and prone to quoting passages from Ralph Waldo Emerson. Over four years, these unlikely partners survived a phenomenal run of bad fortune, conspiracy, and severe injury to transform Seabiscuit from a neurotic, pathologically indolent also-ran into an American sports icon. Author Laura Hillenbrand brilliantly re-creates a universal underdog story, one that proves life is a horse race. From the Hardcover edition. Learn More

Hardcover Cowboy & Wills by Monica Holloway In this exceptionally touching memoir, critically acclaimed author Monica Holloway shares the extraordinary, deeply moving story of Cowboy, the golden retriever puppy who changed her son's life. The day Monica learns that her lovable, brilliant three-year-old son, Wills, has autism spectrum disorder, she takes him to buy an aquarium. It's the first in a string of impulsive trips to the pet store to buy animals as a distraction from the uncontrollable, crushing reality of Wills's diagnosis. But while Wills diligently tends to the growing menagerie, what he really wants is a puppy. And one Christmas, when Wills is six, Cowboy Carol Lawrence joins their family. Like all dynamic duos, Cowboy and Wills complement each other perfectly. Wills is cautious, fastidious, and irresistibly tenderhearted. Cowboy, a rambunctious golden retriever, is overeager, affectionate, and impulsive. And from the moment Cowboy enters their lives, Monica sees her son step a little farther into the world. Soon, the boy who could barely say hello to his classmates in kindergarten is sharing stories of his new sister Cowboy during morning circle. Children crowd around them at the park, and instead of running away, Wills, holding Cowboy's leash in his sweaty fist, proudly answers all of their questions. With Cowboy, he finds the courage to invite kids over for playdates, overcomes his debilitating fear of water to swim along beside her in the family pool, and, after years of gentle coaxing, Wills finally sleeps in his own bed with Cowboy's paws draped across his small chest. Through it all, Cowboy is there, dragging him toward other children, giving him the confidence to try new things and the courage to face his worst fears. And when Cowboy turns out to need her new family as much as they need her, they discover just how much she has taught them -- about devotion, about loyalty, and about never giving up. Sometimes it's what you don't know to hope for that saves you. For Monica, her husband, Michael, and their son, Wills, salvation came in the form of a puppy with pale blond fur, chocolate brown eyes, a fondness for chewing the crotch out of underpants, and a limitless capacity for love. Learn More

Hardcover - Good Steven Winn Come Back, Como Nonfiction Dogs Based on a beloved ten-part series in the San Francisco Chronicle, Come Back, Comois Steven Winn’s tender and hilarious memoir of his uncommonly rich experience with a dog who wanted nothing whatsoever to do with him. With humor and pathos, Winn describes the exasperating but ultimately rewarding effects the pet had on his family, the ordeals he and his dog endured together, and the greatest lesson Como taught him: that loving a dog can somehow make us more human. Learn More

Hardcover - Great Will's Red Coat: A Story of Friendship, Faith, and One Old Dog's Choice to Live Again by Tom Ryan A true story of acceptance, perseverance, and the possibility of love and redemption as evocative, charming, and powerful as the New York Times bestseller Following Atticus. Drawn by an online post, Tom Ryan adopted Will, a frightened, deaf, and mostly blind elderly dog, and brought him home to live with him and Atticus. The only owners Will ever knew had grown too fragile to take care of themselves, or of him. Ultimately, Will was left at a kill shelter in New Jersey. Tom hoped to give Will a place to die with dignity, amid the rustic beauty of the White Mountains of his New Hampshire home. But when Will bites him numerous times and acts out in violent displays, Tom realizes he is in for a challenge. With endless patience and the kind of continued empathy Tom has nurtured in his relationship with Atticus, Will eventually begins to thrive. Soon, the angry, hurt, depressed, and near-death oldster has transformed into a happy, gamboling companion with a puppy-like zest for discovery. Will perseveres for two and a half years, inspiring hundreds of thousands of Tom and Atticus’ fans with his courage, resilience, and unforgettable heart. A story of a dog and an indelible bond that is beautiful, heartbreaking, uplifting, and unforgettable, Will’s Red Coat honors the promise held in all of us, at any stage of life. Will’s Red Coat includes eight pages of color photographs. Learn More

Paperback - Great Wallace: The Underdog Who Conquered a Sport, Saved a Marriage, and Championed Pit Bulls-- One Flying Disc at a Time by Jim Gorant The author of the New York Times bestseller The Lost Dogs shares the heartwarming tale of one plucky, unwanted pit bull who achieved international celebrity. Today, Wallace is a champion. But in the summer of 2005, he was living in a shelter, a refugee from a suspicious pit bull–breeding operation. Then Andrew “Roo” Yori entered the picture. A scientist and shelter volunteer, Roo could tell immediately that Wallace was something special. While on his honeymoon, Roo learned that Wallace was about to be put down. Frantic—and even though they already had two dogs—Roo and his wife fought to keep Wallace alive until they could return home to adopt him. Once Wallace made it home, Roo knew the dog needed a mission, and serendipity led them to the world of competitive Frisbee dogs. It seemed like a terrible idea. Pit bulls are everything that most Frisbee dogs aren’t: large and heavy with thick muscles that can make them look less than graceful. But that was fine with Roo—because part of his mission was to change people’s minds about pit bulls. After overcoming everything from injuries to prejudice against the breed, the unlikely pair became World Champions. Movingly told by bestselling author Jim Gorant, Wallace will capture the hearts of animal lovers everywhere—and help rescue this popular breed’s unfairly tarnished reputation. Learn More

Hardcover - Great The Best Cat Ever (Compleat Cat #3) by Cleveland Amory Picking up where those phenomenal bestsellers The Cat Who Came for Christmas and The Cat and the Curmudgeon left off, The Best Cat Ever is, in one sense the third and final volume of a trilogy, one which entails the trials and tribulations of the sublime Polar Bear versus his crafty owner, or rather ownee, the redoubtable author Cleveland Amory. The Best Cat Ever is the most humorous of all Amory’s cat books, and it is also the most touching—a loving look back at the aforesaid trials and tribulations, all of which end in a kind of triumphal truce. The chapter titles show the range of the book: in “A Cat for All Seasons”, when Amory is taken ill, Polar Bear takes on the job, against a phalanx of hospital nurses, of both watch cat and guard cat… In “My Harvard”, Polar Bear faithfully attends a class reunion at Amory’s alma mater and becomes privy to such dark secrets as how Amory and his roommate first conducted a successful search for the all-time easiest course ever offered in Harvard’s catalogue and then brazenly enrolled in same… In “My Last Duchess and 4,000 Other Celebrities”, when Amory undertakes the autobiography of her late Highness, Polar Bear arrives on the scene too late to warn of the impending disaster but nonetheless ensures that no such untoward goings-on would be countenanced under his reign… In “Polar Bear and Me and Your TV—Your Guide to the Medium Medium”, Polar Bear, like so many of his kind a world-class critic himself, takes a critical look at Amory’s tenuous tenure as chief critic of TV Guide… And finally, in “The Miracles of Modern Medicine—and Some Objections to Same”, Polar Bear and Amory are afflicted with an age-old illness of man and cat—something which is most in need of, if not a modern miracle, at least a good old-fashioned one. All in all, The Best Cat Ever is Amory’s best book ever—the witty and wise conclusion to a wonderful love story. Learn More

Hardcover - Great Roger Caras' Treasury Of Great Cat Stories by Roger A. Caras Such master storytellers as Rudyard Kipling, Edgar Allan Poe, Saki, Fritz Leiber, P.G. Wodehouse, Paul Gallico and Cordwainer Smith join in their admiration for the mysterious and beautiful feline. As Cara says about his subject, For virtually their entire history our tabbies and their kin have had an arcane relationship with us Learn More

PapeThe Compassion of Animals: True Stories of Animal Courage and Kindness by Kristin von Kreisler (Goodreads Author) Do Animals Have Feelings? According to Kristin von Kreisler, the answer is an undeniable yes. Here, she shares dozens of absorbing, true stories of animals who've risked their lives to keep the human they love out of danger. You'll read of incredibly heroic acts—from the dog who swallows a firecracker to protect a toddler, to the horse who runs through traffic to save an injured woman. You'll come away from this profoundly moving book with a deeper appreciation for the indispensable role animals play in our daily lives. Remember some of the feelings you had as a child for the animals to whom you were closest . . . That is what this book is all about. —Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, from the foreword An inspiring collection of animal loyalty, love, and bravery. No one can deny the emotional impact of this anecdotal book. —Publishers Weekly An extraordinary combination of incredible research and deep feeling. —Cleveland Amory, author of Ranch of Dreams and The Cat Who Came for Christmas Through dozens of inspiring true stories, Kristin von Kreisler makes a strong case for a 'controversial premise'—that animals demonstrate genuine acts of compassion toward others every day. This book will remove the 'controversial' from the premise! — Paul G. Irwin, president of The Humane Society of the United States Ms. von Kreisler is fearless, intriguing, and herself compassionate. Highly recommended. — Roger A. Caras, president of the ASPCA Learn More