Hey friends and happy beautiful June weekend!!
I could also have titled this post Last Minute Father’s Day Gifts because that was really the inspiration for this list. Honestly the #1 thing I wish I could give the father of my children is a day at the beach with no place to be, just sunshine, a comfy chair, his feet in the sand, a picnic of all his favorite things like prosciutto and good cheese and fig jam, nuts and berries and sangria (oh wait, those are MY favorite things…..), a football and frisbee to throw around, a good book to devour, and of course our three teenagers all present and a pleasure to be around 🙂
Pure relaxation is what I wish I could give Mark! It’s not happening this weekend, but at least I can give him a book for the day that it does! Here are a few recommendations for fantastic reads that the Dads in your life might enjoy.
I have seen most of these at Target and/or Barnes & Noble, but provided affiliate links to all of them on Amazon if you don’t need it for Sunday or want to mail it to your favorite DAD (or yourself!) Read my full disclosure policy here for more info on affiliate links.
Defending Jacob by William Landay. This is a legal/psychological thriller about an 8th grade boy accused of murdering a classmate. The story is based in a real suburb of Boston near us, and is gripping and hard to put down.
Townie by Andre Dubus III. Townie is another Boston-based book of a family struggling to survive through poverty, this one a memoir that is at once gritty and poignant. This is one of those books that stays with you – I read this at least 5 years ago and still remember vividly scenes from the book.
Dubus also authored the excellent work of fiction House of Sand and Fog which was made into a movie with Jennifer Connelly and Ben Kingsley, have you seen it? I haven’t yet but the book was brilliant.
Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer. Even if you don’t follow football, you may remember the NFL player who felt a calling to walk away from a dream-come-true career to enlist in the army and serve in Iraq and Afghanistan following 9/11. The author Jon Krakauer is known for other works, most notably Into Thin Air, the account of a Mount Everest tragedy in 1997. Mark read this one and loved it. (We just watched the Jake Gyllenhaal/Keira Knightly movie Everest about this very disaster last weekend and it was so good!!)
When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi by David Maraniss. I haven’t read this yet but I think it’s the first sports figure biography that I have ever been compelled to read, and I know my husband and teenage sons would enjoy it. Vince Lombardi was a Green Bay Packers head coach in the 60s and has become legend through the years. His story is one of perseverance and leadership, such an inspiration.
King of the World: Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an American Hero by Pulitzer Prize winning author David Remnick. Given Muhammad Ali’s recent death (and my personal love of boxing with the amazing Keiko), I had to include this biography of the three-time World Champ. It may or may not be a gift that I am giving to someone I love this weekend (purely for my own selfish reason of wanting to read it too after spending 20 minutes diving into it in the bookstore!)
If you have read anything recently that you loved, be sure to share here in the comments!
If you’re looking for some more recommendations, check out these past posts…..
Favorite Books Friday | Mother’s Day Edition
Hope you have a wonderful weekend ahead!
Katie @ Team Skelley says
Into Thin Air is one of my all-time favorite books. I read it in college and don’t think that I studied at all that week, I could not put it down.
Lisa says
I loved it too. Did you see the movie Everest Katie?