A couple of years ago, I was at a decent-sized book festival with a bunch of very cool authors when I realized something strange.

I was the only nonfiction author there.

You had authors of romance, of fantasy, of romantasy. Historical fiction. Dystopian fiction. Sci-Fi. There were a few mystery authors. A horror author. Someone who wrote graphic novels. There were children’s authors, from picture books to young adult.

Again, I was the only nonfiction author there.

And it hit me, not for the first time: We nonfiction authors could use a little help. I mean, we don’t have Oprah. We don’t have Reese. We don’t have Jenna. We don’t have BookTok. Nonfiction books sometimes get chosen for book clubs, sure — David Grann, Michael Lewis, the wonderful Candace Millard, huge authors like that — but it doesn’t feel like there are quite as many places to discover awesome nonfiction.

Discovery is everything in the book business. There are so many incredible nonfiction books written that don’t get noticed because it’s SO HARD to get noticed in the turbulent sea of celebrity books, political books, political celebrity books, billion-sale series with names like “Thorns of the Mastodon” or “Why My Summer Turned to Autumn” or “Shadow Pawns: Book 1 of the Ajedrez Wars.”

Obviously, I want ALL books to sell.

But I’d love to offer a little light to some of the great nonfiction authors out there.

So, welcome to the JoeBlogs Book of the Month. Together — more than EIGHTY of you have already volunteered to serve on a committee* — we’re going to bring you one great nonfiction book each month, selected from one of five lovingly named categories:

Consider the Lobster: Incredible pop culture books

Destiny of the Republic: Mind-blowing history and biography books

The Boys of Summer: The best sports books.

Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius: Beautifully written nonfiction

The Power Broker: Nonfiction books that changed the whole genre.

I’m hoping that at the start of each month, I’ll introduce the book, and then later in the month, we’ll have an interview with the author or an essay from the author or something like that. And Talia will lead the discussion throughout the month for everyone who wants to be involved. And, sure, I’m hoping you’ll want to read — and maybe buy — some of these books. People are dedicating their lives to telling these true stories that shape our world. This is for readers and writers and all of us who believe in the power of true stories.

JoeBlogs Book of the Month: Dogland

Dogland: Passion, Glory, and Lots of Slobber at the Westminster Dog Show.

By Tommy Tomlinson

👉🏼 Dogland Publisher’s Page

👉🏼 Buy the book at Bookshop

Let’s start with the subtitle: “Passion, Glory, and Lots of Slobber at the Westminster Dog Show.” It’s obviously great fun. Any time you can get the word “slobber” into a book title, you definitely should. “War and Peace?” Meh. “War and Peace and Slobber?” A-plus!

But while the subtitle is a happy one, and while it certainly does reflect what you will find inside — Tommy does not skimp on the slobber — it is a bit misleading. Dogland is a very funny dive into the world of Westminster and dog shows in general. But that’s not really what this book is about.

What this book is about is dogs … and why we love them.

And wondering if they really love us back.

And thinking about that eternal question: Are dogs happy?

This is a question that Tommy was born to answer. I’m kicking off this series with Dogland for three reasons. One, it’s a truly wonderful book, one that will make you laugh and smile and feel a little bit better about things, which is a big part of our core mission. Two, I am giving myself the first book choice — from here on in, the books will be chosen by Talia and our awesome committees — and I’ve known for a while that I wanted this book to be first.

And three: Yes, Tommy and I have been friends for 35 years — geez, can it really be 35 years? — and he’s an American treasure. We met in the Rock Hill bureau of The Charlotte Observer all those years ago, two kids hoping to spend a lifetime telling stories. That first day, he was assigned to write a front-page story about the big Rock Hill-Northwestern High School football game. In the bureau, we must have written 75 stories about the game already (both schools were undefeated), and I would have told you there was absolutely NOTHING left to say.

So what did Tommy do? He cold-called people all over Rock Hill — using the white pages for the numbers, that’s how long ago this was — until he found a few who told him they were NOT going to the game … or listening to on the radio … or thinking about it at all. I remember he found one woman who was a glorious character … she said she was not going to pay attention to the game because she would be busy washing her underwear.

Yep, from Day 1, Tommy had this magical knack for finding wonder and joyful silliness in whatever he wrote.

So I cannot think of a better question for him to explore than, “Are dogs happy?”

I’m obviously not going to spoil the ending … or the middle … or even the beginning. This is a book meant to be savored. This is a book meant to be read on a plane … or at the beach … or listened to on a car trip. But I will tell you that I believe our dog Westley is happy. This is the sort of thing that Dogland makes you think about. It’s not a passive read. You are an active participant, and so is your dog, even if your dog is the muttiest mutt and wouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the Westminster Dog Show, even with a ticket.

Yes, throughout, there are just fun stories and interludes that make you think about your own dog — I think some of this, but not all, does cross over to cats — and why they matter so much. Our Westley has been so much trouble over the years. Barked me awake hundreds of times. Needed to be drowned in hydrogen peroxide a bunch of times because of his superdog knack of finding and eating chocolate. Grabbed food directly out of our hands, knocked over stuff constantly, refused to come in because he was sure he would get that squirrel. I’ve yelled “stupid dog!” at him so many times that he probably thinks that’s his name.

And yet, we adore him beyond all reason.

Why? Read the book. Sure, there are lots of “Best in Show” guffaws. But beyond it all, you will find the beating heart, wet nose and slobber of the dog you love.

A Note from Talia

Hi there! I’m Talia, and I’m so excited to be helping Joe run his Book of the Month club! I’ve known Joe — or rather, he’s known me — pretty much my whole life!

I studied global literature, movies, and media in college, which obviously makes me supremely qualified to handle book- and arts-related things (and not much else! Maybe I should have gone for a business degree after all…). I read a lot of fiction — tragedies and epics translated from Ancient Greek and Latin, magical realism translated from Spanish, and an odd 20-pound encyclopedia on whales (or maybe that was Moby Dick…)

What I didn’t read a lot of was nonfiction, unless you count satire (which could be construed as nonfiction’s weird cousin) or various essays written by people like Cicero and Aristotle. Those letters were interesting and important and … also kind of old. When someone says, “Hey, I’m at the Barnes & Noble, what nonfiction are you reading?” … I don’t think they’re looking for “Letter to Atticus, Book 4, Letter 5.”

This has made me extra appreciative of the nonfiction that has crossed my path. Lately, I got hooked on a few books about the rise of the internet/social media … hooked enough that I’m considering switching to a flip phone. I recently devoured the true story of the rise and fall of the world’s most prolific art thief. A good chunk of my childhood was spent on the floor of the TV room poring over The Ultimate Dog Book (so I’m particularly fired up about this month’s selection!).

And I realize: I love a good nonfiction book and can’t wait to discover more. When I think about how reading a nonfiction book makes me feel — when I get to have that moment of “I never knew X about Y” or I laugh out loud because “he hit his first home run right after we put a man on the moon?!” or I get to tell my partner about all of the things I now know about some new corner of the world — I realize that, yeah, nonfiction can be pretty special.

Let’s discover some great nonfiction together.

With that, welcome to the JoeBlogs Book of the Month Club! I want this to be whatever YOU want it to be; I’ve learned from Joe that making projects like this as interactive and collaborative as possible turns them from something great into something spectacular. Participate as much or as little as you like!

Please send me emails with any pitches, thoughts and cool ideas you may have — I’d love to hear from you. And as each Book of the Month is announced, if you happen to know someone connected to the subject — maybe an expert, a professional in the field, or just someone with a great story — I’d be thrilled to hear about it.

Also, if you work in publishing or have a nonfiction book coming out that might be a fit down the line, I’d love to hear from you. One of the goals of this club is to spotlight new voices and books that deserve more love, so feel free to reach out!

I can’t wait to get things going! 

Kathleen’s Korner

I wanted to do a special edition of Kathleen’s Korner with some links provided by our Brilliant Readers on the premium subscriber Discord server. Enjoy!

• drmagoo shared this fun Fangraphs story about Pete Crow-Armstrong being an exceptional hype man for the Cubs.

• Richard S shared his own ideas for City Connect uniforms from his blog Pure Blather.

• James Keri highlighted this super cool YouTube channel that has been posting colorized baseball videos from the 1920s and 1930s. This one in particular features an interview with Lefty Grove.

• That prompted a wonderful response from Richard S in which he shared this link to an old episode of the PBS series “The Way it Was” about the 1962 NBA Championship.

• Georg submitted this one at the buzzer. It’s a post from sportsgirlclub on Instagram about finding your Taylor Swift Era based on your favorite sport. Even better, he reported back with his result.

• Finally, I’d be remiss not to mention the incredible Women’s College World Series, which wraps up tonight on ESPN. Texas Tech vs. Texas. The series is tied 1-1.