So, earlier this year, I started a Book Club at the zoo where I work. It was something I came up with for our AAZK chapter to do to encourage interdepartmental relations through literary discussions, and I like to think we have become quite successful. Our first book we read was "Born Free", which was not the most popular. We read "An Iniconvenient Truth" next which was a bit more popular, and then they suggested "Animal Vegetable, Miracle", but we ended up with only 5 people attending. Last month we read "Night Kill/Did Not Survive" by Ann Littlewood, and we were fortunate enough to have the author join us! This month we're reading "Zoo Story", and I know we'll have a lively discussion. But I'm at a loss at what to suggest for our next meeting after this. One of the volunteers suggested "Animals Make Us Human", and i think this will be a great read, but i generally like to throw out 3 or 4 suggestions and have the attendees vote. I would also like to keep topics for stories similar from month to month. Does anyone know some similar books to "Animaks Make Us Human" that I could bring up to vote in for our next meet-up? And do any of you have "must read" suggestions for our book club's future reads? By the way, I am ultimately hoping to start a kids' book club, reading books about animals and hearing from keepers first hand what it is like working with those animals. Reading and animals! My biggest passions combined!
While there are lots of obvious non-fiction books about zoos, novels are thinner on the ground. I'd certainly recommend The Life of Pi by Yann Martel, which has three or four pages explaining why it is not cruel to keep animals in captivity which is as good, as persuasive and as clear-headed as anything I have read. Neil Cross, who is better known as a TV script writer (Spooks) wrote a novel called Natural History a few years ago. It's a thriller, pretty good, but set in a primate park not unlike Monkey World, with lots of (pretty accurate) references to other thinly-disguised zoos in it as well.
Here's a few: The Lizard King by Brian Christy, about wildlife smuggling Bonobo Handshake by Vanessa Woods, bonobo rehab Animal Dialogs by Craig Child, adventures in the wild Tigerland and other Unintended Destiantions, Eric Dinerstein, field biologist with WWF
