Isabel Klee has taken her dog-rescue stories from the social feed to the top of a bestseller list. Her debut memoir, Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About, has entered the New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction chart at number one.
As a cat-branded publication, we are contractually obliged to raise one eyebrow at this much dog attention. Fortunately, cats are very good at looking unimpressed while remaining deeply interested.
Which List—and Which Date?
Klee’s literary agency, Janklow & Nesbit, announced the result on May 8: the book debuted at number one on both the Hardcover Nonfiction and Combined Print & E-Book lists dated May 17, 2026. William Morrow published the US edition on April 28.
The chart’s edition date is later than the announcement. That is why the result can already be reported now; it is not a claim about sales that have yet to happen. It is also a ranking within named categories, rather than a verdict that this is the best or biggest-selling book in every format.
The Person Behind SimonSits
Klee is known online as @simonsits. In a May 3 NPR interview, she described beginning to foster at 25 because she wanted a dog but had little money. The report counted 35 foster dogs by that point.
Simon, the Jindo mix she adopted after fostering him, became a central part of her life. His complicated epilepsy helped motivate her work with dogs requiring more demanding care. He was not simply a convenient mascot for a publishing campaign.
The interview also describes difficult outcomes, including an elderly foster whose health did not improve. That is an important part of the picture: rescue work does not reliably supply an easy before-and-after transformation.
It is tempting to imagine each new animal as a neat episode with a guaranteed happy ending. Real animals do not owe a camera a satisfying final scene.
What Kind of Book Is It?
The publisher’s description presents a memoir about Klee’s twenties in New York: relationships, finding her footing and the dogs who accompanied that process. Readers looking for a practical training manual should not assume that is what the title offers.
In her April 28 ELLE interview, Klee said she wanted the book to stand apart from her social-media identity. The interview also reported that UCP had acquired it for a television adaptation, with Klee attached as an executive producer.
An adaptation deal is a development step, not a confirmed broadcast date or a finished series. There is no need to invent its episode length, casting or a second book to make the debut interesting.
This is a look at the book’s arrival and the story behind it, based on those sources. The bestseller position alone cannot tell us how its prose reads or whether its structure will work for a particular reader.
An Audience Helps, but It Does Not Explain Every Sale
It is reasonable to see an established online following as an advantage when a book launches. People who already care about an author have a reason to notice an announcement.
What we cannot infer from a chart position is exactly why each buyer chose the book, whether every reader was already a follower or whether a different author could reproduce the result by reaching the same follower count.
Nor does one debut prove that publishing has abandoned agents, editors or traditional development. Klee’s own agency announcement is sitting right there. Turning this into a story about creators bypassing every intermediary would require overlooking one of our sources.
Dogs Have This Moment. Cats Will Survive.
The appeal of an animal-centred memoir need not depend on whether the reader shares the author’s preferred species. Attachment, responsibility and the difficulty of saying goodbye are not exclusive to dog people.
That does not make all pet stories interchangeable. The particular relationships are the reason to pick up a memoir in the first place. A chart can draw attention to the title; a sample can help a reader decide whether the voice is for them.
For now, Klee has a confirmed number-one debut and a book that places those relationships in the foreground. The resident cat has reviewed this outcome and would like its own contribution to household morale acknowledged in hardcover, preferably before dinner.
