Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marley and Me | 2005 | John Grogan | Buy |
| 2 | Marley: A Dog Like No Other | 2007 | John Grogan | Buy |
| 3 | The Longest Trip Home | 2008 | John Grogan | Buy |
John Grogan’s non-fiction includes Marley and Me (2005), the bestselling memoir about his family’s wild Labrador retriever. Marley: A Dog Like No Other (2007) is a version adapted for young readers. The Longest Trip Home (2008) is a memoir about his Catholic upbringing and his relationship with his parents.
Marley and Me spent more than a year on the New York Times bestseller list and was adapted into a 2008 film starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston. The book’s appeal comes from Grogan’s honest account of owning a dog that was loving but almost impossibly destructive. It is funny through most of its pages and heartbreaking at the end.
The Longest Trip Home takes a more serious turn, covering Grogan’s relationship with his devout parents and the tension between their expectations and his own choices. It is a more personal book than Marley and Me, dealing with faith, independence, and loss. Marley: A Dog Like No Other condenses the original memoir for younger readers, keeping the story’s core while making it appropriate for kids.