Don't Forget Dad!

Don't say we didn't warn you: Father's Day is this Sunday, June 19th. I think I heard Dad mention that nothing would make him happier than the gift of a book or two. Really. Surprise, surprise -- we've got lots of idea! Is your dad into history? Both David McCullough and Erik Larson, two very fine writers of history, have new books out. McCullough's is The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris, and Larson's is In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin.

Perhaps your dad's thing is sports. Here are just a few ideas from the many sports-related book we have: Those Guys Have all the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN (James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales), Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball's Longest Game (Dan Berry), and Cardboard Gods: An American Tale (Josh Wilker), a memoir told through baseball cards.

Is your dad into cooking? We've got lots of fabulous cookbooks to choose from. Or you could go with Man with a Pan: Culinary Adventures of Fathers Who Cook for Their Families, edited by John Donohue --"An A-list of writers who share riveting tales of culinary love and war." It even includes tips and recipes!

My Dad loves to read good mysteries, novels of suspense and espionage. Here are a couple of new ones: Against all Enemies, by Tom Clancy, and Bloodmoney, by David Ignatius. Or perhaps fiction of another ilk: The new novel by David Abbott, The Upright Piano Player, looks terrific. Or the new collection of stories by Julian Barnes (Pulse: Stories). Or Jonathan Evison's novel about the fictional northwest town of Port Bonita (West of Here). Or Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War, by Karl Marlantes, just out in paperback.

Maybe something with a science/nature bent? Might we suggest Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout by Philip Connors, The Tell-Tale Brain: a Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human by V.S. Ramachandran, and The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood by James Gleick.

Finally, for the new dad in your life, the smash hit Go the F*k to Sleep, by Adam Mansbach and illustrated by Ricardo Cortes, a children's book for grown-ups -- probably not a good one to read to your kids.

Come see us -- we love helping you find just the right book for Dad.