I was at the SFMoMA last week, and this simple, elegant little pooch tomé caught my eye — The Book of Dog.
Yeah, okay, it might appear a bit artsy-fartsy on the outside — but you can’t judge a dog book by its cover, right? This elegant catalog was chock full of tasteful portraits and chewy tidbits for any high-or-low-falutin’ dog lover!
This ‘old’ dog story by Adam Gopnik — from 2011 — about a couple getting a pooch for their daughter re-appeared on The New Yorker website last week, and I thought you might enjoy it!
Before Cesar Millan and the explosion of TV dog trainers, there was Dr. Patricia McConnell, a world-renowned animal behaviorist and author, who has published a new dog book, The Education of Will: A Mutual Memoir of A Woman and Her Dog.
McConnell takes her years of animal expertise to come to terms with her own troubled past while treating a fearful, aggressive Border Collie named Will. Also, be sure to check out her past best-sellers, For Love of A Dog and The Other End of the Leash.
Following Atticus, an inspiring dog adventure memoir from Tom Ryan (no relation) is now only $1.99 via Goodreads/Amazon through 3/27.
With all the “Best of” lists coming out as we wrap up 2016 — I figured why not add a pile of this year’s dog books to the mix? If you’re looking for stocking stuffers or other pet presents, there’s plenty of reading material to entertain the dog person in your life!
FICTION
Lily and the Octopus (Steven Rowley)
Twelve Dogs of Christmas (David Rosenfelt)
Sit! Stay! Speak! (Annie England Noblin)
Earnest (Kristin Von Kreisler)
NON-FICTION
Being A Dog: Following the Dog into A World of Smell (Alexandra Horowitz)
Dogs and Their People (BarkPost)
The Secret Language of Dogs (Victoria Stilwell)
The Education of Will: A Mutual Memoir of a Woman and Her Dog (Patricia McConnell) – Available Feb 2017
Let Me Tell You About Jasper: How My Best Friend Became America’s Dog (Dana Perino)
Free Days with George: Learning Life’s Little Lessons from One Very Big Dog (Colin Campbell)
Dog Gone: A Lost Pet’s Extraordinary Journey and the Family Who Brought Him Home (Pauls Toutonghi)
Wesley Banks, author of the newly-released Faith in Every Footstep, has compiled a list of his Top 100 Dog Books using a complex, dog-eared algorithm of ratings, reviews, and sales (call it Moneyball for Mutts) — and It’s Just A Dog is proud to chew up the #30 slot!
Also, Mr. Banks is gifting a bundle of classic dog books this weekend — so check out his giveaway here on his website!
Alexandra Horowitz, author of the best-selling Inside of A Dog, is back with a new dog-delving science book, BEING A DOG: FOLLOWING THE DOG INTO A WORLD OF SMELL. Widely known for sniffing out drugs, bombs, and certain types of ancer, this book will surely open up our minds — and nostrils — to the infinite ways that dogs perceive the world around us! (NPR)
The New York Times recently reviewed a fresh batch of non-fiction books for pet parents — including a trifecta of new pup psychology titles, Pets on the Couch and Modern Dog Parenting, and Lucky Dog Lessons: Train Your Dog in 7 Days.
On this 4th of July holiday weekend, why not snuggle up with a (somewhat) patriotic dog book? Bronwen Dickey’s excellent new non-fiction title, Pit Bull: The Battle Over an American Icon, clears up the myths and misconceptions of America’s most demonized dog breed — and also shows the cruel part that humans have played in abusing this loyal animal’s reputation.
The @Midnight game show on Comedy Central referenced “#dogbooks” for its #hashtagwars segment last night — and the results were hilarious! (#DogBooks on @midnight)
The pooch-lovin’ publicity hounds at BarkPost are entering the book publishing biz soon with their dog owners’ crowd-sourced book, Dogs and Their People. And you don’t have to wait in line when it comes out if you pre-order at Amazon!
The Chicago Tribune has wrangled up a gang of pet books that should please just about any animal lover — from pet politics to Men With Cats to Chicken Soup for the feline soul! (Chicago Tribune)
If you’ve ever fallen down a hole and need a little help, that’s when you find out who your true friends are.
And Julie Barton found that friend in the bunker — er, rather, in Bunker, her beautiful Golden Retriever, as she writes about battling depression in the new touching memoir, Dog Medicine: How My Dog Saved Me From Myself.
