In Wild New World, author Dan Flores chronicles the epoch in which humans and animals have coexisted in the “wild new world” of North America — a place shaped both by its own grand evolutionary forces and by momentous arrivals from Asia, Africa, and Europe. With portraits of iconic creatures such as mammoths, horses, wolves, and bison, Flores describes the evolution and historical ecology of North America like never before.

As part of the Libby app’s digital book club, Big Library Read, you can check out the ebook and audiobook of Wild New World from your library from May 9 - 23 with no waitlists or holds.

So grab your library card (or stop by your library to get one) and download the free Libby app on your phone or tablet to get started!

More ways to participate

💬 Share your thoughts on the discussion board.

✨ Check out bonus material like a letter from the author and reader group guide.

💻 Register for a live Q&A with author Dan Flores on May 23 at 12 PM EST.

Use #biglibraryread on social media for a chance to win prizes, including:

🎧 Beats Headphones
☕️ Stanley French Press Travel Mug
📗 Copy of Wild New World
🌳 50 trees planted in your honor

Explore more of the world with these read-alikes

The Monster’s Bones by David K. Randall

This is a gripping narrative of a fearless paleontologist, the founding of America’s most loved museums, and the race to find the largest dinosaurs on record. Vivid and engaging, The Monster’s Bones journeys from prehistory to present day, from remote Patagonia to the unforgiving badlands of the American West to the penthouses of Manhattan. With a wide-ranging cast of robber barons, eugenicists, and opportunistic cowboys, New York Times best-selling author David K. Randall reveals how a monster of a bygone era ignited a new understanding of our planet and our place within it.

An Immense World by Ed Yong

In An Immense World, Ed Yong coaxes us beyond the confines of our own senses, allowing us to perceive the skeins of scent, waves of electromagnetism, and pulses of pressure that surround us. We encounter beetles that are drawn to fires, turtles that can track the Earth’s magnetic fields, fish that fill rivers with electrical messages, and even humans who wield sonar like bats. We discover that a crocodile’s scaly face is as sensitive as a lover’s fingertips, that the eyes of a giant squid evolved to see sparkling whales, that plants thrum with the inaudible songs of courting bugs, and that even simple scallops have complex vision. We learn what bees see in flowers, what songbirds hear in their tunes, and what dogs smell on the street. We listen to stories of pivotal discoveries in the field, while looking ahead at the many mysteries that remain unsolved.

Curious Species by Whitney Barlow Robles

In an eclectic fusion of history and nature writing, Robles alternates between careful historical investigations and probing personal narratives. These excavations of the past and present of distinct nonhuman creatures reveal the animal foundations of human knowledge and show why tackling our current environmental crisis first requires looking back in time.

Beloved Beasts by Michelle Nijhuis

In the late 19th century, humans came at long last to a devastating realization: their rapidly industrializing and globalizing societies were driving scores of animal species to extinction. In Beloved Beasts, acclaimed science journalist Michelle Nijhuis traces the history of the movement to protect and conserve other forms of life. From early battles to save charismatic species such as the American bison and bald eagle to today’s global effort to defend life on a larger scale, Nijhuis’s “spirited and engaging” account documents “the changes of heart that changed history” (Dan Cryer, Boston Globe).

The next digital book club pick will be announced in July. Stay up to date on all the latest picks by subscribing to Libby Life.

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