Top Five Wednesday/ Wildlife On The Cover

I currently have two book issues. I haven’t updated my reading stats since May, which, give or take, means 200 books to be added to that something that my hands can’t handle right now. The other problem is that I have read about 50 books on my Kindle that I now need to unhaul. Top Five Wednesday is currently being hosted by Stephanie at Books Less Travelled, and I’m co-hosting with her this month. She’s adding the prompts in the Goodreads group since I don’t know how to, and I tried to create a group on Storygraph, but I need help with that.

3^rd  September: Wild animals on the cover or stories about them.

As tomorrow is National Wildlife Day, I feel that a typical pet, like a dog, cat or horse, is more common to find on a cover or having their story than, say, a tiger, elephant or bear.

Goodreads Blurb:

From award-winning author Margarita Engle comes an inspiring and luminous love story told in verse about childhood friends, once lost and now reconnected, and their fight to protect endangered animals.

Every day, Vida reads to the creatures at the wildlife rescue center and dreams of her childhood in Cuba, where she and her best friend Adán adventured through the island rescuing animals from harm. Unbeknownst to her, Adán has also moved to Florida and is feeling trapped in his new home, buffeted by the stormy fights between his abuelo and papi. When a chance encounter with a captive fox leads to their reunion, Vida and Adán are able to find refuge from the cruelty that surrounds them in their soaring, rekindled romance.

Their love reaches new heights as they work together at the zoo that rescues rare species, but soon they realize that this peace is only temporary. Much like the wildlife they want to protect, Vida and Adán are caught in a cycle of distrust and heartlessness. As old family grudges and painful memories come to light, can they and their families learn to heal and forgive each other for a brighter, kinder future?

Goodreads Blurb:

Cuban-born eleven-year-old Oriol lives in Santa Barbara, California, where she struggles to belong. But most of the time that’s okay, because she enjoys helping her parents care for the many injured animals at their veterinary clinic.

Then Gabriela Mistral, the first Latin American winner of a Nobel Prize in Literature, moves to town, and aspiring writer Oriol finds herself opening up. As she begins to create a world of words for herself, Oriol learns it will take courage to stay true to herself and do what she thinks is right–attempting to rescue a baby elephant in need–even if it means keeping secrets from those she loves.

Goodreads Blurb:

When Candice’s in-laws were killed eight months ago buying a huge faux polar bear rug for her Christmas present, she lost more than just two of her favorite people: she lost her husband Ian as well. After only two years of marriage, their guilt and pain have left them living together but apart, unable to really talk for fear of what they’ll say to each other.

Ian leaves for a month-long contract overseas, and Candice plans to use the time apart to decide whether her marriage can be saved. When her ex walks back into her life as the new client at work, ten years more attractive yet saddened by his own recent loss, she’s left wondering what she really wants from life and love.

Goodreads Blurb:

Thirsty with greed for the spoils that the illicit rhino-horn trade bled into his pockets, a mysterious African poaching kingpin always managed to evade both detection and capture. Until he decided to turn his devastation on Tony Campbell’s beloved Zimbabwe, and put a ticking target on his back. Ruthless anti-poaching maverick Tony Campbell is well established and respected in the world of wildlife conservation. He is just about to take on a new anti-poaching role when multiple black rhino carcasses are found, brutally butchered for their valuable horn. What started out as a routine relocation exercise turns into a frantic military-run mission that will either save the last of the Zambezi rhinos or seal their fate forever. As the soft underbelly of the nefarious poaching world is stripped away by a series of seemingly unrelated events, Campbell will have to risk it all to lure the kingpin into a trap. And he’ll have to decide just what price he’s willing to pay to uncover and stop the senseless killings.

Goodreads Blurb:

Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all.

Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he’s seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line.

Then he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from her family, and she makes Ivan see their home—and his own art—through new eyes. When Ruby arrives, change comes with her, and it’s up to Ivan to make it a change for the better.

Alex