Author image, Courtesy, Jeff Cravotta
Tommy Tomlinson
The glorious subtitle: Passion, Glory, and Lots of Slobber at the Westminster Dog Show. Tomlinson is a longtime Charlotte resident, podcast host, and beloved former newspaper columnist whose first book, The Elephant in the Room, chronicles his lifelong battle with obesity. Five years later, he enters the realm of the dog show, where he meets all of the dogs, who nuzzle, lick, and sniff him. Dogland (Simon & Schuster, $28.99) zooms out of its crate April 23.
Author image, Courtesy, Allie Marie Smith
Patrice Gopo
Autumn Song: Essays on Absence
Published in September, Autumn Song (University of Nebraska Press, $19.95) explores the things we leave behind—relationships, plans, our former selves—in deeply thought and felt prose. The compilation “invites readers into one Black woman’s experiences encountering absences, seeing beyond the empty spaces, and grasping at the glimmers of glory that remain. In a world marred with brokenness, these glimmers speak to the possibility of grieving losses, healing heartache, and allowing ourselves to be changed.”
Author image, Courtesy, Katie Posnanski
Joe Posnanski
Posnanski is one of the nation’s best sportswriters (and a close friend of Tomlinson’s). He’s also a baseball obsessive whose last book, the 880-page The Baseball 100, didn’t merely thumbnail-sketch the 100 greatest players in the game’s history but brought them to life through rich, intimate profiles. Why We Love Baseball (Penguin Random House, $29) does the same for the sport’s greatest moments, from Willie Mays’ over-the-shoulder catch to Kirk Gibson’s one-legged home run.
Author photo courtesy, Jim McGuire
Gavin Edwards
(with Joanna Robinson and Dave Gonzales)
MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios
Has a pop-culture empire ever been as powerful and pervasive as the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Edwards, who’s penned 14 books, joins his co-authors to trace the many shaky steps Marvel has taken on the track from “moribund toymaker” to “the dominant player both in Hollywood and in global pop culture.” MCU (W.W. Norton, $35 hardcover) hit the New York Times bestseller list immediately upon its release in October.
Author photo courtesy, Logan Day Productions
Molly Grantham
Grantham, an anchor for WBTV, writes funny, insightful books about parenthood. Her first two cover the early stages of balancing a career and raising a daughter and son with her husband, Wes. This one (Miss Meade Publishing, $22.95) begins as COVID hits and Grantham’s pregnant with her third child, another son. After his birth in July 2020, the entire family contracts the virus. Yet she still stresses “how it’s crucial to stop and find magic in the mess.”
Ed.: Gavin Edwards is a contributing editor for this magazine, and Molly Grantham is a frequent contributor to its sister publication, Charlotte Parent.