A collection of 16 poignant stories about the rogue stresses that threaten the stability of modern women, At the Gates of the Animal Kingdom presents tales that are witty, absurd, and beautiful, about coming together, making do, and learning to live with the scars of life. "...One of the great delights of these stories is that they approach the usual cliches of real life and fiction at an unexpectedly oblique angle. And they do so with surprising emotional force".--The Wall Street Journal.

WELCOME TO THE BOTTOM OF THE FOOD CHAIN! Aside from being freakishly tall, Joe is just an ordinary divorcee taking his son, Danny, to the zoo for his weekend of custody. Everything is going great until a bizarre snake attack sends everybody in the zoo running for cover. It isn't long before Joe realizes that there is a lot more going on than a simple snake attack - and if the hungry lions, roaring gorillas, and rampaging elephants have anything to do about it, there will be more bloodshed to come. All of the world's animals are attacking and no one knows why. The only thing that is certain is man has fallen to the bottom of the food chain.

A Publishers Weekly Best Book One of the New York Public Library's "25 Books to Remember" for 1999 Lavishly illustrated and meticulously researched, filled with fascinating facts and astonishing descriptions of animal behavior, Bruce Bagemihl's Biological Exuberance is a landmark book that will change forever how we look at nature. Homosexuality in its myriad forms has been scientifically documented in more than 450 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, insects, and other animals worldwide. Biological Exuberance is the first comprehensive account of the subject, bringing together accurate, accessible, and nonsensationalized information. Drawing upon a rich body of zoological research spanning more than two centuries, Bagemihl shows that animals engage in all types of nonreproductive sexual behavior. Sexual and gender expression in the animal world displays exuberant variety, including same-sex courtship, pair-bonding, sex, and co-parenting—even instances of lifelong homosexual bonding in species that do not have lifelong heterosexual bonding. Part 1, "A Polysexual, Polygendered World," begins with a survey of homosexuality, transgender, and nonreproductive heterosexuality in animals and then delves into the broader implications of these findings, including a valuable perspective on human diversity. Bagemihl also examines the hidden assumptions behind the way biologists look at natural systems and suggests a fresh perspective based on the synthesis of contemporary scientific insights with traditional knowledge from indigenous cultures. Part 2, "A Wondrous Bestiary," profiles more than 190 species in which scientific observers have noted homosexual or transgender behavior. Each profile is a verbal and visual "snapshot" of one or more closely related bird or mammal species, containing all the documentation required to support the author's often controversial conclusions.

Picking up where bestselling 90 Minutes in Heaven left off, Don Piper reveals for the first time the sacred, intimate details of the people who met him at the gates of heaven and the profound impact they had on his faith on earth. In this incredible follow-up to his eight-million-copy bestseller, 90 Minutes in Heaven, Don Piper shares untold stories about his encounters with people who greeted him at the gates of heaven, and offers powerful insights about the way for us to live our lives on earth. Don Piper's unforgettable account of a horrific car accident that took his life, and what happened next has riveted more than eight million readers. Something happened as he shared his story in the years since. Not only did Piper realize he had more to tell, he had yet to share the most sacred and intimate details of his time in heaven about the people who met him at the gates. "I have never left a speaking engagement without people wanting to know more," he said. In The People I Met in Heaven, Piper takes readers deeper into his experience, which includes never-before-told encounters with the people who met him when he arrived in heaven-those who helped him on his journey that led to the entrance to God's heavenly home. Even more, Piper recounts the majesty of heaven and the glorious reunion that awaits us there. He offers practical insights, inspiration, and a challenging call that while we're on earth we need to obey Jesus' command to "go and make disciples of all nations."

This is the humorous, compassionate, and heartwarming life journey of an animal communicator, to bring you into the world of talking with animals and how we can interact mentally, humanely, and telepathically with the Animal Kingdom. From a little girl talking with animals, she travelled across the world to set up home with her veterinarian husband, welcoming an abundance of animals into her home, animals wild and domestic, in need of help, care, and rehabilitation. In addition to Rosina's life journey, you will read the stories of some of these rescued animals and be introduced to humane living, animal welfare, energy healing, and practical ways in which we humans can live in peace and harmony with animals and nature. Rosina teaches animal communication in Hong Kong and other countries. In part two of the book, she introduces you to the foundations of learning animal communication, the basic "how to," with methods and exercises to help and guide you in beginning your own journey in communicating with animals and progressing towards a better understanding between animals and you.

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 journalist Ed Yong “One of this year’s finest works of narrative nonfiction.”—Oprah Daily ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Time, People, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Slate, Reader’s Digest, Chicago Public Library, Outside, Publishers Weekly, BookPage ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Oprah Daily, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Economist, Smithsonian Magazine, Prospect (UK), Globe & Mail, Esquire, Mental Floss, Marginalian, She Reads, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every kind of animal, including humans, is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of our immense world. In An Immense World, Ed Yong coaxes us beyond the confines of our own senses, allowing us to perceive the skeins of scent, waves of electromagnetism, and pulses of pressure that surround us. We encounter beetles that are drawn to fires, turtles that can track the Earth’s magnetic fields, fish that fill rivers with electrical messages, and even humans who wield sonar like bats. We discover that a crocodile’s scaly face is as sensitive as a lover’s fingertips, that the eyes of a giant squid evolved to see sparkling whales, that plants thrum with the inaudible songs of courting bugs, and that even simple scallops have complex vision. We learn what bees see in flowers, what songbirds hear in their tunes, and what dogs smell on the street. We listen to stories of pivotal discoveries in the field, while looking ahead at the many mysteries that remain unsolved. Funny, rigorous, and suffused with the joy of discovery, An Immense World takes us on what Marcel Proust called “the only true voyage . . . not to visit strange lands, but to possess other eyes.” WINNER OF THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL • FINALIST FOR THE KIRKUS PRIZE • FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD • LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/E.O. WILSON AWARD

Hempel's now-classic collection of short fiction is peopled by complex characters who have discovered that their safety nets are not dependable and who must now learn to balance on the threads of wit, irony, and spirit.

The recognition of animal pain and stress, once controversial, is now acknowledged by legislation in many countries, but there is no formal recognition of animals' ability to feel pleasure. Pleasurable Kingdom is the first book for lay-readers to present new evidence that animals--like humans--enjoy themselves. It debunks the popular perception that life for most is a continuous, grim struggle for survival and the avoidance of pain. Instead it suggests that creatures from birds to baboons feel good thanks to play, sex, touch, food, anticipation, comfort, aesthetics, and more. Combining rigorous evidence, elegant argument and amusing anecdotes, leading animal behavior researcher Jonathan Balcombe proposes that the possibility of positive feelings in creatures other than humans has important ethical ramifications for both science and society.

With her trademark compassion and wit, Hempel takes readers into the marriages, minor disasters, and moments of revelation in an uneasy America.

Throughout his life photographer Jim Naughten has been fascinated with the natural world. As a child, he collected fossils he found near his home in Dover. Now a renowned photographer, Naughten has started to experiment with stereography and has turned to his boyhood interest, gaining access to the archives of some of the world's most prestigious natural history museums. This gorgeously produced book contains fifty images of marine life, reptiles, mammals, birds and primates photographed expressly for viewing through a stereoscope, which is included with the book. Stereoscopy was invented in 1839 to study and explain binocular vision. Having two eyes allows humans to determine distance and depth and stereoscopy shows a left- and right-eye view from a slightly different angle, as we see things in day-to-day life. Looking through the stereo viewer, readers will see the specimens as three-dimensional objects. As the images jump off the page, their incredible details become apparent-delicate bat wings, the spiraling skeleton of a python, the almost mythic form of a leafy sea dragon.A foreword by Martin Barnes of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London offers an assessment of the work while essays on the specimens themselves and the history of stereoscopy provide rich background to this photographic technology, and to Naughten's achievement in bringing to life a world that seamlessly melds the past and present.