2013 Recommended Father's Day Books

Who needs good eyesight? All a man needs is a good read.

Time for that annual list! Give the men in your life the gift of a good read, whether by buying a physical book, all tied up with a bow, or by sending that emailed ebook surprise. If that special paternal figure in your life has already worked through my past lists in 2012 and 2011, give these a try:

For the man who loves History of Science...

A little WWII, a little history of chemistry, a little disease and death--it's a history of the first Sulfa drugs! Absolutely fascinating. Or consider,

This history of cancer is famous enough that you might want to check if he's already read it, but it's even timelier now because filmmaker Ken Burns plans to adapt it for a documentary.

Next up, for the man who loves his baseball...

This one's got it all: baseball, sibling rivalry, Marilyn Monroe, and the American Dream. For those of us who know California, there's also plenty of I-never-knew-that! Actually, for all of us, there's plenty of I-never-knew-that!

Then there's your fellow who loves adventure and armchair survival...

While purportedly about S. A. Andree's nutty quest to fly over the North Pole in a hot air balloon, the book covers much much more from the age of Arctic exploration. Great for lovers of Ant/Arctic disaster because there's plenty of hubris, grit, freezing to death, and utter disaster.

And finally, if you want to improve your man, without giving him an obnoxious weight-loss book or something to obvious as "How to Be a Better Husband/Father/Man," this one is fun.

If he enjoyed BRAIN RULES or Malcom Gladwell books, this is in the same genre, with a wee bit of self-correction thrown in...

Enjoy! And a Happy Father's Day to all you wonderful men out there.