Best Books & Movies for Animal Lovers

My Favorite Titles of the Year

*MAJOR announcement coming on 1/1*

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You’ve probably gotten a sense for the kind of stories I like based on what I write about—violence, terror, darkness—but my interest in different styles and genres fluctuates throughout the year. For a few weeks, all I’ll want to watch is supernatural horror, then I’ll get an itch for true crime docuseries, then I won’t stop thinking about literary fiction, middle-grade fantasy, or dense nonfiction.

This year, I cut back on the number of movies I watched but made up for it by reading, frankly, far too many books than is probably healthy. But I figured I’d at least put that to good use by sharing my favorite titles I read/watched this year, both related to animals and unrelated, as well as take a look at what I’ll be checking out next year.

There are a TON of recommendations here, so even if you have very different tastes to my own, I guarantee there’s something you’ll like.

Books (fiction)

I won’t be discussing any of the books (or movies) I’ve already written about, or plan to write about next year, but be sure to check out The September House, Dark Harvest, and Willodeen, among others,¹ so you don’t miss out!

Bunnicula: The Graphic Novel by James Howe & Andrew Dorkin, illustrated by Stephen Gilpin

This is about the cutest little book I’ve ever read. Starring a paranoid cat and dopey dog, the two investigate the new resident in their home, a vampiric vegetarian bunny rabbit. Be sure to check out the rest of the Bunnicula and Friends series, as well as the spin-off series Tales From the House of Bunnicula. (There’s also a Cartoon Network show I’ve yet to watch.)

If you’re looking for more graphic novels starring talking animals, I’ll also recommend the Beasts of Burden series (though it’s definitely for a teen/adult audience). The artwork is fabulous, and I even bought some prints from one of the artists.

A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers

I stumbled upon this book after googling “books about cannibalism,” as I do, and it may very well be my favorite book of the year.² Definitely more on the literary (rather than commercial) side, it acts as a memoir of a food-critic-turned-serial-killer who also eats her victims. She freely labels herself a psychopath and draws overt connections between her amorality, her love of decadent animal-based foods, and her desire to kill and eat men. (It’s like American Psycho for the modern woman.) If you can stomach it, I highly recommend this for its unexpectedly strong message about the brutality of eating animals.

Green Rising by

Wren James

A young adult cli-fi novel, this book came to my attention from @veganbookclub on Instagram. James’ prose feels very nostalgiac to me, the prose reminiscent of my all-time favorite series, Tiger’s Curse by Colleen Houck. James brings to life a world in which teenagers suddenly gain the power to grow plants out of their bodies. (The premise reminds me also of Naomi Alderman’s The Power, and its Prime series, though less bleak.) The protagonists follow the lead of Gabrielle—a radical vegan, aroace climate activist after my own heart—to help save the planet.

Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle, translated by Xan Fielding

There are certain books where I can literally feel my brain rewiring as it absorbs each word. And wow, Planet of the Apes did that. Since seeing the movie trailers off and on since 2011, I finally got curious enough to dig into where this massive franchise came from.

I especially like how this book (and the movies, which I’ll discuss below) challenge the idea of personhood. Though the apes exhibit what we may consider human-level intelligence—making them persons in every way but their bodies—they are just as cruel to the humans on their planet as we are to animals on Earth. Planet of the Apes forces us to reflect on how we treat animals and how we’d feel if another species held dominion over us. It’s an essential read for anyone who cares about protecting animals.

(Though tbh primates kind of creep me out; still a little iffy about humans.)

Remarkably Bright Creatures by

Shelby Van Pelt

I briefly mentioned this in “Do Fictional Animals Matter?” but if you’re still sitting on it, let me encourage you once again to give this book a try. It’s a perfect story to discuss with others, especially concerning how the octopus character is portrayed and the story’s concluding message, for better or worse, about keeping animals in captivity.

A movie’s also in the works, so I’ll be interested to see how the octopus is represented.

Movies

By far, my favorite subgenre—within my favorite genre: horror—is animal attacks, yet they’re often cliché and rarely memorable. (But I’ll never stop watching them.) That being said, if you click on the following footnote, I’ve included a separate list of some of my favorites of the year, along with the types of animals they feature.³

I didn’t watch enough animal rights documentaries to include a whole list on them, so I’ll just tell you now that I watched You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment, Christspiracy, and Chimp Crazy (all from 2024). Also, Earthling Ed’s animated short film “Matilda and the Brave Escape,” based on the true story of a pig from Surge Sanctuary.

Cat Person (2023)

I’ll admit it’s a bit of a stretch for me to include this title on the list, but hear me out. In a time when we’re about to have an admitted hater of “cat ladies” in the executive branch of our government, it’s good to revisit how we think about other people to ensure we’re not perpetuating the same prejudice. To be sure, the so-called “cat person” in this movie certainly has his issues, but I found both the leads in the film very relatable. (Actually, I was a little freaked out by how relatable they were. Even the protagonist’s ex-boyfriend, appearing only in one scene, admits to her that he’s ace and that’s why he never liked having sex. If you combined him and the two main characters into one person, that’s basically my entire identity.) This is a rec just for me, but I hope you’ll like it too.

Humane (2024)

A darkly comedic cli-fi thriller, Caitlin Cronenberg’s debut film takes place in the near future, as climate change forces the government to enact depopulation procedures. No surprise, the monetary reward incentivizes the poorest to take advantage so their families can survive. Much like The First Purge (2018), things don’t exactly go as planned, leading to far more violent killings than the government’s propaganda would lead citizens to believe. Animal activists may find the ironic title similar to the humane-washing of animal “depopulation,” “culling,” and “processing” in the agriculture industry.

A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)

There’s a storytelling tip that if you’re writing an unlikeable character, you should give them a dog or cat to show that they’re not simply an unsympathetic curmudgeon. (See also: Starling House by Alix E. Harrow.) The go-to book for aspiring screenwriters is even called Save the Cat! (or, my preferences, Save the Cat! Writes a Novel and Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult Novel). A Quiet Place: Day One follows through on this advice by subverting the typical horror trope of killing animals to heighten the plot’s tension (as discussed in “The ‘Sacrificial Animal’ Trope” and “First Animals & Final Girls”). The cat becomes a character in the story himself, and viewers may find themselves reaching out to clutch him to their chests to protect him from the aliens.

(Can I heap on more praise for showing a character who actually uses a leash and harness on her cat? The number of people who still let their cats roam free boggles my mind!)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Admittedly, I prefer the sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), but Rise offers a unique perspective on vivisection, in which the lab apes gain anthropomorphic intelligence and free themselves from their cages. It calls to mind the much grittier and horrific film 28 Days Later (2002) in its use of apes in research. In Rise’s case, at least the chimps become free(-ish) rather than incubate a “rage virus” that brings about the zombie apocalypse.

It’s disappointing that the apes become more human-like in the sequels, riding horses and even stealing eagle eggs to raise the chicks in captivity by the most recent installment, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024). Yet this philosophical quagmire does offer an interesting opportunity for discussions on the morality of being/using animals.

Soft & Quiet (2022)

In my limited knowledge of social media trends, this movie made waves upon its release for its disturbing premise. (You’ve been warned.) Following a get-together of neo-Nazi tradwives, the ladies spend the rest of the evening harassing and attacking two Asian American women who’d accused one of the white women’s brothers of rape. This film isn’t directly related to animals, but I loved its perverse perspective in dealing with sensitive subjects. I’d like to see movies like this centering animal rights themes. (Though not a so-called “disturbing film,” I’m hoping the upcoming vegan horror movie A44 makes viewers contemplate the morality of eating animals.)

Certainly not for everyone, it’s a great watch to test your limits.

What You Wish For (2023)

In any other context, this wouldn’t go on my list of favorites. It was a fine movie (that got better as the story developed) but not extraordinary. Revealing anything about the plot would give away a major twist, so all I’ll say is that if you know anything about my depraved taste in movies, you can figure out how this offers commentary on how we treat animals.

Books (nonfiction)

I spend a lot of time researching the history of vegetarianism and animal advocacy for both Wizard of Claws and in my role at the Protego Foundation (and because I like it, obvs). As such, many of the nonfiction books I read are purely academic and can be a bit dense. If those kinds of books are your jam, you may enjoy The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman, Horses at Work by Ann Norton Greene, Legions of Pigs in the Early Medieval West by Jamie Kreiner, and When Animals Dream by David M. Peña-Guzmán.

Animals Welcome by Peg Kehret

I read A LOT of books, yet there are still huge gaps in my knowledge. As such, I’d never heard of prolific author Peg Kehret until her memoir was chosen for

Nota Rein

’s book club in November (you can find them and their book club on Instagram). In it, Kehret looks back at the animals she’s rescued, how they’ve changed her life and taught her new things. There’s something so special about meeting animals from another person’s perspective, and especially from a writer’s perspective. I found myself fully engrossed in their stories, tearing up when there wasn’t a happy ending and pumping my fist when there was.

Not the End of the World by

Hannah Ritchie

If you’ve ever felt any inkling of climate anxiety, you must read this book. While it’s in vogue to catastrophize about the state of the world, we have the capacity to make things better relatively quickly. Ritchie dives deep into the data and shares how we can best protect the planet from the worst outcomes of our changing climate. (If you start to bristle at some of her suggestions, just remember that a large number of people doing a little to help the planet, and animals, does far more good than a few people doing a lot.)

Open by Rachel Krantz

This is not a book about animals in almost any way except that it’s written by an animal activist. Documenting her journey into polyamory, Krantz holds nothing back about her experiences exploring her sexuality. I typically don’t like reading sexually explicit content, but there was such a frankness, a bluntness, to the descriptions, that any disgust I felt—as a mildly sex-repulsed ace—paled in comparison to my intrigue about how each experience impacted Krantz’s journey.

Storycraft by Jack Hart

Again, this book has nothing to do with animals, but it’s an excellent read for anyone looking to improve their writing skills. Hart details how to create compelling narrative nonfiction, advice that I used to finally write a personal essay I’d been mulling over for years. (Hoping to publish it next year.) If you’re building activism campaigns or looking to become a better storyteller, you also can’t miss Story or Die by Lisa Cron; seriously, her books have changed the way I view stories.

Thanksgiving by Melanie Kirkpatrick

Learning about history makes us better activists. By reading this book, I was able to better understand how the Thanksgiving we know today came into being, and then use that information to build a case for why not eating turkeys is the best way to honor our Thanksgiving traditions. (For this reason, “Reclaiming Turkey Day” is among my favorite things I’ve written this year.⁴)

Unseen City by Nathanael Johnson

A lot of books about specific species tend to get too into the weeds with the scientific research for my taste, but Johnson took a storyteller’s approach instead. The first chapter was a little tough to get through, with his profuse disgust of pigeons (though he comes around in the end), but I ultimately very much enjoyed getting to experience another person’s connection with animals—from vultures to snails to squirrels—in such an intimate way.

Other Favorites

• Smile 2 (2024)

  • is it possible to fangirl over a popstar who isn’t real? I still can’t get her song “New Brain” out of my head

• Breathless by

  Amy McCulloch

  • the best mountaineering thriller ever

• Happy Place by

  Emily Henry

  • a friends-to-lovers-to-exes-to-lovers-again summer romance by a master of the genre

• Annie Bot by Sierra Greer

  • sentient sex doll

• Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison

  • my favorite lady werewolf book from a favorite author

• Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

  • a thriller masquerading as horror but great, and terrifying, nonetheless (I will never hear “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” the same again)

• The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

  • a surprisingly deep look at sexism, classism, and racism in suburban Georgia, with classic Hendrix wit

• I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me by Jamison Shea

  • ballet and blood oaths

• The Passenger (2023)

  • the best character drama/crime thriller I’ve ever seen

• Apple Die by Chelsea Thomas

  • a gem of a cozy mystery (with an excellent audiobook)

• Ace by Angela Chen (nonfiction)

  • everything you never knew you needed to know about asexuality

• Cultish by

  Amanda Montell
  (nonfiction)

  • all about the language of cults

• Stiff by Mary Roach (nonfiction)

  • the late, great follow-up to my high school forensic science class

• Willow Creek (2013)

  • I will literally watch any found footage movie, even if it’s about Bigfoot

• Yellowface by

  Rebecca F. Kuang

  • a delightfully unlikeable protagonist and deliciously bookish plot

• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

  • a book to remind you that life’s worth living

• The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin

  • do I even need to say anything about such a classic?

• Sinister Summer series by Kiersten White

  • reimagining classic horror for modern tweens

• Stories to Keep You Alive Despite Vampires by Ben Acker

  • fun middle-grade short stories to soothe your spooky soul

• “The Great Blue Stomach That Circles the Sun” by Jamal Hodge

  • a poem about recycling life and death (you can hear Hodge read it on this episode of We Bleed Orange and Black—highly recommend listening to the whole episode; I loved when he said this poem is about the realization that “everybody else is as alive as you are”)

• St. Denis Medical (2024-present)

  • the first rip-off of The Office that doesn’t feel like a rip-off of The Office

• The Bad Guys (2022)

  • more on this adorable animated movie soon…

2025 and Beyond

The first book up for me in January is Glory by NoViolet Bulawayo, a political satire with animal characters. After that, I think I’ll check out Big Gay Wedding by Byron Lane, which takes place on an “animal rescue farm.” If I recall correctly, Lane discussed a moving scene from a sheep’s perspective on

The Shit No One Tells You About Writing

podcast. (Well. We shall see.)

Throughout 2024, I kept thinking about The Vegetarian by Han Kang, a 2007 Korean novel about a woman’s strange behavior after going vegetarian, so I’m determined to finally get to that. In a similar vein, one of this year’s hottest horror books, The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim, follows a teen girl who begins to crave eyeballs. (If you haven’t noticed, I’m obsessed with anything about eating/food taboos. Wonder why…)

I’m also hoping to read more cli-fi, including modern titles like The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline and Rachel Carson’s classic Silent Spring.

Despite this newsletter being called Wizard of Claws, I know virtually nothing about Wicked (apart from a couple songs). I almost started the first book this summer, but my brain was too frazzled to dive into high fantasy. Now knowing that the plot involves animal rights, I’d love to finally dive into that world before the next movie comes out.

As far as other films, I’m cautiously excited for the new Jurassic World movie (and hope to write something about the franchise); Leigh Whannell’s take on Wolf Man in January; and Jordan Peele’s Him (I also have some ideas percolating about Peele’s horror films and their interesting relationship with animals).

What are your favorites from this year? What are you looking forward to?

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1. War of the Worlds, The Witch, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” Nightbitch, and the two dozen+ movies, novels, and short stories for my deep-dive into the fantasy genre

2. After hearing of the production for a little cannibal movie called Bones & All (which would be released in 2022), and learning that it was based on a book, it was quite a pleasant surprise to read that author (Camille DeAngelis) is vegan! Are there other vegans who also find cannibalism endlessly fascinating?

3. Good Boy (2020, dog); Sting & Infested (2024, spiders); Under Paris & The Black Demon (2024 & 2023, sharks); Day of the Animals (1977, various wildlife); Crabs! (2021); The Lake (2022, giant lake monster); Killer Crocodile (1989); Alligator & Lake Placid 2 (1980 & 2007, alligators); Willard (1971, rats); Bats (1999)

4. If you’re curious, the other two are “Do Fictional Animals Matter?” and “10 Animal Archetypes of the Fantasy Genre”