Top Ten Tuesday: Books with Animals in Them

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

How it works:

She assigns each Tuesday a topic and then posts her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.


As with all TTTs, today’s prompt gave me a huge grin on my face. I love animals and I love it when animals are featured in books I am reading. For me, sometimes just having an animal (notice I didn’t say pet) adds that extra oomph that I need to enjoy the book.

Do you like books with animals? If so, what are your favorite books? Let me know so I can either A. say “Oh I read that” or B. Go and add it to my already overfull TBR shelf….lol.


1. The Others series by Anne Bishop

Book Cover

This series features shape shifting Wolves, Bears, Panthers, Sharks, Crows, and Hawks. There are also mentions of Bobcats and Lynx. But these shape shifters are definitely NOT human or desire to be human. They are the Alpha predators and humans must confirm to their laws or get eaten.

2. Dark Roads by Chevy Stevens

Book Cover

One of the main characters, Hailey, disappears into the Canadian wilderness with her dog, Wolf. Now, Wolf doesn’t show up until halfway through the book but after that, he is a constant. I absolutely loved him and his relationship with Hailey!!

3. Bones of a Saint by Grant Farley

Book Cover

RJ is gifted two homing pigeons by Mr. Leguin (you need to read the book to understand why) and they are featured a bit until well, Mr. Peabody comes onto the scene. Then they aren’t (catch my drift).

4. Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton

Book Cover

S.T., a crow, and Dennis, his dog, have front row seats to the end of humanity. People became too dependent on their phones and it turned them into zombies. S.T. is the savior of the pets who were left behind, rescuing them from houses or other animals. I loved S.T. and his wiseass commentary of how the humans destroyed themselves.

5. Shadow Pack by Marc Daniel

Book Cover

This is a shifter book. Michael is a bear shifter (thought to be extinct) and is hunting down a murderous pack of werewolves. There is so much more to the story than what I mentioned here.

6. Mutts Like Me by Keri Armstrong

Book Cover

Another shifter book. The female main is a werewolf. Her love interest is a Kitsune. There are also fox and dragon shifters in the book. I picked it up for the title but ended up loving it for the storyline (and the fact that the shifters can interbreed)

7. Moonrise by Joseph Hagen

Book Cover

This book is a werewolf horror novel and its actually pretty good. The main character gets turned, against his will, and then hunts down the Alpha to exact revenge for the murder of his family. He is helped by werewolf hunters (witches) with this.

8. Incubus Caged by A.H. Lee

Book Cover

I hesitated with putting this book on the list. The incubus spends 90% of his time in panther form (including one memorable dinner scene at the beginning of the book). The other times, he keeps the form of a man. But in reality he is a demon who shifts into human and panther form. Make sense as to why I hesitated?

9. Hunting the Past by J.C. Diem

Book Cover

Another werewolf story. Seems like I like to read a lot of shifter books. Oh well…lol.

10 Swimming Monkeys: Genesis by Steve Hadden

Book Cover

A non shifter book!! This book reminded me of a combination of National Treasure and the Indiana Jones movie series. And the animals? Monkeys of course!! But not just any monkeys. These monkeys are special and it is up to the main character to get them to safety while outwitting bad guys around every corner.