Tasty Treats for Dad

Whatever you give your father or grandfather for Father’s Day, it will be just what he wants because he loves you and thinks almost everything you do is perfect. Even when you made him a clay hippopotamus that resembled a piano, he loved it and displayed it. Still you’d like to give him something more personal than golf balls or a tie and you may be a little old to make him a clay paperweight so buy him a book that fits his interests.

Contact your local independent bookstore and they'll even help Dad download one of these titles onto his Ipad or e-reader or they'll help you find just what he wants. 

If your dad is happiest when camping, hunting, or fishing yet he’s also a reader who appreciates fine writing then Nickolas Butler’s Beneath the Bonfire will make him smile more than a Cabela’s gift card. It’s a testosterone packed group of stories that puts the reader alongside the men camping out, the couples at a chainsaw party, and those hunting prized morel mushrooms. This is the rare treasure that celebrates male bonding without trivializing it. If your dad missed Butler’s amazing debut novel, Shotgun Lovesongs, it’s out in paper and would also be a fine present, especially for Gen X or Millennial Dads.

My husband recently finished Erik Larson’s Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania and he highly recommends it for other Dads. We all know what happened on that 1915 journey when a German U-boat sank the Lusitania, but Larson’s skill is in making what we know exciting by showing us history through the people who made it. Larson paints a picture using letters, telegrams, logs, and the statements of survivors that’s historically accurate, informative, and intriguing.

Dear Father: Breaking the Cycle of Pain by J Ivy is a book younger fathers will want to read to learn how the Grammy-winning hip-hop poet forgave his absent father and started a program to help inspire healing through writing for children and adults who grew up in fatherless homes. Read my full review here.

The Secret Wisdom of the Earth by Christopher Scotton shows how a grandfather’s love can heal.  Fourteen-year-old Kevin’s brother is dead and his mother “had folded into herself” so they go to her Kentucky hometown where her father, “Pops,” works to save them. The Secret Wisdom of the Earth will have your father holding his breath as he hikes down the mountain alongside these authentic characters. It’s a debut novel that's simply an old-fashioned good read. Read my full review here.


Inside the O'Briens by Lisa Genova celebrates fatherhood even when it's tough. Give it to a father who likes a great story. It will make you remember that "Every breath is a risk. Love is why we breathe."  Read my full review here.