🐾 Dogs, Boys and Other Things I’ve Cried About 🐾

• Isabel Klee

‘That’s the magic of dogs: The simple, unrelenting magic is that they don’t even have to try. They heal just by existing, reminding us to live every moment to the fullest. Because what is life other than taking long walks, eating good food, and spending time with the people you love most?’

This is a memoir by Isabel Klee, a content creator and dog fosterer. If you haven’t already, I do urge you to go check out her adorable dog @SimonSits. This memoir follows Isabel and Simon throughout her twenties. Here’s a snippet from the dedication: ‘To the dog you got in your twenties. The dog you got the you were unprepared and venturing out into the unknown. The dog who navigated the confusion of youth with you, who moved from apartment to apartment, who sat through every breakup and every first date. The dog who was the sole reason you got out of bed most mornings, while the heaviness of the world was weighing on your shoulders, who simply sat with you, existed with you, when loneliness felt like a living, breathing thing. […] The dog who now has white hairs sprinkled around their eyes, who is getting older just like you are.’

That quote really encapsulates this memoir better than I ever could. One minute your heart is bursting with love and the next you’re sobbing (actually, often it’s both). Well-written and with such heart, it made me wish I could give every single dog a forehead kiss, and Isabel too, for all the incredible work she does. It’s also such a love letter to New York City. 

Other than dogs, it follows Isabel’s dating misadventures, living with other girls in a romcom-esque apartment, her relationship to the city itself. And of course, her job as a dog photographer’s assistant, which took her all over the world meeting dogs of all shapes and sizes. From every story of the individual dogs who came to Isabel, who allowed her to love them despite the horrific experiences they’ve gone through to her famous foster fail, Simon. The discovery of Simon’s epilepsy had me bawling, as well as the section about her childhood dog. 

Thank you to Little Brown Book Group and NetGalley for the digital proof. Dogs, Boys and Other Things I’ve Cried About is out now. If you’re a pet owner or dog lover, I think it will really resonate.

Are you a big memoir reader? If so, let me know in the comments your recommendations, as I’m on the lookout for some more non-fiction recs <3