first, i think everybody who loves animals needs to read this book. my dad read it to me when i was a kid and i loved every single page of it, even the ones that made me cry. it's the story of a young English country vet in the 1930s. each chapter tells a self-contained story, though James' personal story carries through the whole of the book.
another fantastic book that will make you laugh until you can't breathe is Bill Bryon's book "In A Sunburned Country", the story of his travels across Australia. it's not a typical dull, dry travelogue so you'll never feel bogged down.
