Editors' Top Picks
Stiff by Mary RoachSalt by Mark KurlanskyThe Professor and the Madman by Simon WinchesterThe Ghost Map by Steven JohnsonLongitude by Dava Sobel
Microhistory: Social Histories of Just One Thing
53rd out of 1,836 books — 2,231 voters
The Love of a Dog by Jo ProutyThe Soul of an Octopus by Sy MontgomeryPoseidon's Steed The Story of Seahorses, from Myth to Reality by Helen ScalesThe Secret Life of Lobsters by Trevor CorsonKraken by Wendy Williams
Biology Of Your Favorite Animal
14th out of 255 books — 137 voters

Stiff by Mary RoachThe Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca SklootSalt by Mark KurlanskyEats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne TrussThe Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester
You Read a Book about What?
939th out of 4,102 books — 2,283 voters
Born Free by Joy AdamsonGorillas in the Mist by Dian FosseyThe Wilderness Family by Kobie KrügerSwimming with Orca by Ingrid VisserThe Spotted Sphinx by Joy Adamson
Studying the Wild: Memoirs of Animal Research in the Field
46th out of 239 books — 47 voters

Rats by Robert SullivanLily Pond by Hope RydenThe Irish Wildlife Book by Fergus O'GormanPaddy by R.D. LawrenceEager by Ben Goldfarb
Natural History of Rodents
1st out of 39 books — 8 voters
Stiff by Mary RoachThe Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca SklootThe Origin of Species by Charles DarwinThe Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha MukherjeeThe Hot Zone by Richard Preston
Best Nonfiction Biology books on Goodreads
195th out of 414 books — 75 voters

Stiff by Mary RoachRats by Robert SullivanThe Notebook by Roland AllenThe Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St. ClairCat Tales by Jerry D. Moore
2026 Read Harder – 1. A Microhistory
1st out of 30 books — 3 voters
Rats by Robert SullivanCat Tales by Jerry D. MooreThe Ubiquitous Pig - 1992 publication by Marlyn NssnsonFuzz by Mary RoachThe Lost German Slave Girl by John Bailey
Book Riot #ReadHarder 2026 Task #1
1st out of 5 books — 1 voter

Babel by R.F. KuangFrankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft ShelleyBeyond the Wand by Tom FeltonAnatomy by Dana SchwartzBorn a Crime by Trevor Noah
52 Book Club 2023: #1 A Book With A Subtitle
322nd out of 1,226 books — 194 voters
The Rhino Crash by Nick NewmanNever Cry Wolf by Farley MowatThe Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence AnthonyDon't Look Behind You! A Safari Guide's Encounters with Raven... by Peter AllisonWhatever You Do, Don't Run by Peter Allison
Great Non-fiction Wildlife books
122nd out of 157 books — 17 voters

Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared DiamondVoyagers by Nicholas ThomasHurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid by Thor HansonThe Celts by Frank DelaneySquid Empire by Danna Staaf
Reading Interests (Non-Fiction)
18th out of 58 books — 3 voters
Stiff by Mary RoachPacking for Mars by Mary RoachSmoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin DoughtyThe Men Who Stare at Goats by Jon RonsonThe Cows by Lydia Davis
What an Odd Thing to Read About!
142nd out of 179 books — 44 voters

Fuzz by Mary RoachA Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching by Rosemary MoscoIn Search of Lost Frogs by Robin MooreCoyote America by Dan FloresWasps by Eric R. Eaton
Underappreciated Taxa
24th out of 97 books — 5 voters
Spillover by David QuammenThe Great Influenza by John M. BarryAnd the Band Played On by Randy ShiltsGet Well Soon by Jennifer WrightPandemic by Sonia Shah
Pandemics and Epidemics (nonfiction)
52nd out of 125 books — 15 voters

Tiny Victory Gardens by Acadia TuckerGrowing Perennial Foods by Acadia TuckerThe Sibley Guide to Birds by David Allen SibleyThe Home Place by J. Drew LanhamBringing Nature Home by Douglas W. Tallamy
Nature at Home
175th out of 237 books — 22 voters
The Hunger Games by Suzanne CollinsPride and Prejudice by Jane AustenTo Kill a Mockingbird by Harper LeeHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. RowlingThe Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Best Books Ever
42035th out of 77,636 books — 289,791 voters

The Whistling Season by Ivan DoigGirl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy ChevalierNickel and Dimed by Barbara EhrenreichWhen the Emperor Was Divine by Julie OtsukaThe Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Alex Awards from 2000 thru 2009
70th out of 100 books — 5 voters
Unseen City by Nathanael JohnsonThe Urban Bestiary by Lyanda Lynn HauptLook Up! by Annette LeBlanc CateDarwin Comes to Town by Menno SchilthuizenWild Urban Plants of the Northeast by Peter del Tredici
Nature in the Suburban and Urban Environment
134th out of 298 books — 37 voters

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi PicoultSwimming to Antarctica by Lynne CoxShadow Divers by Robert KursonCandyfreak by Steve AlmondDonorboy by Brendan Halpin
2005 Alex Award Winners
10th out of 10 books — 4 voters
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark HaddonThe Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix PotterThe Horse and His Boy by C.S. LewisThe Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg LarssonThe Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco
The Chinese Zodiac
330th out of 1,015 books — 99 voters

Life of Pi by Yann MartelSteppenwolf by Hermann HesseCloud Atlas by David MitchellMiss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom RiggsLet the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
Book Buzz - The Quirky, Heterodox Reads
132nd out of 136 books — 51 voters
The Power Broker by Robert A. CaroUnwifeable by Mandy StadtmillerPlunkitt of Tammany Hall by George Washington PlunkittNo Vacancy by Charlotte Smallwood CookBeyond Nostalgia by Tom Winton
New York
9th out of 25 books — 10 voters

Diary of a Freedom Writer by Darrius GarrettOutliers by Malcolm GladwellThe Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca SklootBury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee BrownAnimal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
AP Non Fiction
84th out of 107 books — 29 voters
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom RiggsThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark HaddonThe Book Thief by Markus ZusakGo the Fuck to Sleep by Adam MansbachThe Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own M... by Catherynne M. Valente
I Picked It Up Because of the Title
7829th out of 7,939 books — 2,083 voters

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca SklootThe Hot Zone by Richard PrestonThe Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha MukherjeeThe Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne FadimanThe Great Influenza by John M. Barry
Wonderful Books of Science and Medicine
163rd out of 180 books — 85 voters
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix PotterOf Mice and Men by John SteinbeckTo Kill a Mockingbird by Harper LeeAll the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthyThe Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
Animal Magnetism
203rd out of 394 books — 31 voters


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