With Father’s day approaching, let’s look at audiobooks that would make great gifts for dad! We’ve chosen twenty books – mostly fiction, some non-fiction – from the Audiobooks Now catalog that might fit the bill for the dad you’re buying for. Whether it’s for your own dad or you’re buying on behalf of the kids, we’ve got something suitable.
We’ve been very deliberate in our choices. We’ve avoided the most obvious bestsellers, focusing instead on great books and fantastic writers that maybe aren’t on this week’s top ten list. Popularity and quality don’t always have much to do with one another, and very often the reader will overlook a book or author simply because the name is unfamiliar.
We’ve avoided politics, because dad doesn’t need a coronary on his special day (and you don’t want to hear him griping) and the sort of self-help books that may make him feel unhappy with life on a day where he should be able to revel in just who he is!
On with the list.
Fiction
Crime & Suspense
Crime and suspense usually goes down well, and here are some favorites chosen by a long term fan of the genre:
Gone, Baby, Gone: A Novel by Dennis Lehane
In a toughSouth Bostonneighborhood a child goes missing. Her mother is an alcoholic. Other family members are concerned, and bring in Private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro. Bad cops, bad luck and some surprisingly good motives appear in this thoughtful novel about parents and children.
Hit List byLawrence Block
So, Keller has one name, collects stamps, lives a quiet life inNew York City. He doesn’t work often, but when he does, he’s very good. – and is paid well for it. When you want somebody killed efficiently, he’s the man. Entertaining, bitingly funny stuff from a master of crime fiction.
Humor
Everyone’s taste varies when it comes to what they think is funny. Here we have two ‘opposites’ that are top of the heap in their respective piles – the gently madcap world-gone-by of P.G. Wodehouse and the sharp, urban style of the great Richard Pryor.
A Damsel in Distress by P. G. Wodehouse
An American composer of musical comedy, is inEnglandto attend the performance of a new production. When the Lady Patricia Maud Marsh slips into his taxi, he is drawn into the frivolous intrigues ofBelpherCastle. The king of light, fast prose gives us misunderstandings, impersonations and a lot of fun.
The Legend of Comedy: Richard Pryor, Vol. 1 by Richard Pryor
Widely seen as one of the greatest stand-up comics ever to take the stage, Richard Pryor was known for sharp observations on race, politics and life in general .This collection includes three ‘bits’ – Are You Serious?, Rev. Du Rite, and Insane.
Historical Adventure
Very often, the word ‘historical’ in the context of fiction means period romances. We aren’t going to offer those to dads. Instead, lets look at a couple of crime-in-time stories by masters of the genre.
The Venus Throw by Steven Saylor
Rome, 56 BC. Set in the last, chaotic decades before theRomanRepubliccollapsed into civil war, this is one in Saylor’s series concerning Gordianus ‘the Finder’, who is, essentially a private eye working for the rich and famous of the city. Murder and intrigue in a toga? This is a great place to start.
Target Lancer by Max Allan Collins
The most recent in Max Allan Collin’s superb Nathan Heller books – meticulously researched tales of actual events from the thirties onwards – takes the now-middle aged PI to his home city ofChicagoto deal with a case involving mobsters, communists and rogue cops in a plot to kill Kennedy a few weeks before the President was gunned down inDallas. It’s terrific.
Science Fiction & Fantasy
A lot of guys like SF and fantasy. Here are some suggestions that aren’t your typical galactic heroes and wizards ‘n’ dwarves adventures.
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Gaiman deals in dark places, and this is the story of an ordinary young man whose act of kindness towards a young girl takes him into a strange, sinister world that exists benath and alongside modernLondon. “A fantastic story that is both the stuff of dreams and nightmares”,
The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson
Poul Anderson, a legend in SF and fantasy circles, began his career with a novel that delves into Norse mythology, with the broken sword of Thor at the bottom of it all. Darker and more deeply rooted in legend than most mainstream fantasy tales, we follow Skafloc, a boy kidnapped and raised by (sinister, non Christmassy) elves who has to mend the sword and face the changeling put into his own crib.
Birthright: The Book of Man by Mike Resnick
Resnick is a renaissance man of the genre, with forty or so Hugo and Nebula nominations and awards. This is his first novel from 1982, a sweeping epic about expansion through space over thousands of years.
Westerns
The western genre ain’t what it used to be. Fifty years ago the western novel, like theHollywoodhorse-opera, was a staple of mainstream culture. But older guys, especially, love westerns, and we’ve chosen one from the golden age, and one about archaeology and crime in the modern day southwest.
Three Ten to Yuma by Elmore Leonard
Best known for his crime novels, Elmore Leonard launched his career with Three-Ten toYuma, made into a movie in 1957 and remade fifty years later. A classic lawman-versus-outlaws tale using a town as the setting for gunplay.
Deadly Canyon by Jake Page
A blind sculptor and his half-Hopi girlfriend get mixed up in relic theft and murder at a scientific research facility in the wilds ofArizona’s Mogollon Rim country. Weird and off-beat, this is the second of Page’s series involving Mo Bowdre, whose blindness doesn’t stop him solving crimes.
Non Fiction
Health
Dad doesn’t really want a book that tells him to diet and work out more – trust me on this! More appealing is –
The First 20 Minutes: Surprising Science Reveals How We Can Exercise Better, Train Smarter, Live Longer by Gretchen Reynolds
Did you know that twenty minutes of cardio at a time is enough to obtain maximum health benefits? Gretchen Reynolds writes a Phys Ed column for the New York Times. In this books she debunks myths, and questions widely held beliefs about exercise. Consulting experts in physiology, biology, psychology, neurology, and sports, she tells us how often to exercise, how long workouts should be and – for us oldsters – how to avoid injury!
Folks, This Ain’t Normal: A Farmer’s Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World by Joel Salatin
Environmentalism without preachiness! From farmer Joel Salatin’s point of view, life in the 21st century just ain’t normal. He discusses how far removed we are from the simple, sustainable joy that comes from living close to the land and the people we love. Salatin tellus what normal is and shares practical ideas for changing our lives in small ways that have big impact, from child-rearing, to creating quality family time. Funny but revealing.
Current Events
We love mobsters. Not actual criminals, of course, but the idea of organized crime and how law enforcement fights it:
Gangland: How the FBI Broke the Mob by Howard Blum
A handpicked squad of FBI agents takes on John Gotti, the seemingly invincible head of the richest and most powerfulNew Yorkcrime family. This was the FBI’s Organized Crime squad, who finally ended the ‘Dapper Don’s’ criminal career.
History
For many men, history is about battles. This much-lauded study covers one of the most crucial military actions of the last century:
Six Armies in Normandy: From D-Day to the Liberation of Paris, June 6th – August 25th, 1944 by John Keegan
There are many books about D-Day and theNormandycampaign. The late John Keegan here tells of the 1944 invasion, from D-Day to the liberation ofParis. He focuses on all the fighting forces involved – from the American airborne troops in their night drop on the eve of the invasion, the Canadians at Juno Beach, the British advancing inland, the Free French liberating their homeland, the Poles at Falaise and – the much outnumbered Germans.
Who doesn’t like pirates? Arr!
Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates by David Cordingly
The former head of exhibitions at theNationalMaritimeMuseuminLondonhas combed the archives to give us a new picture of the golden age of piracy, exploding myths and bringing new light on old legends.
Science
Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach
Mary Roach may be – together with the hilarious Bill Bryson – the funniest science writer working today. The author of Stiff (a study of death) and Bonk (a history of sex research) tells us about long distance space exploration, and answers the question we’ve all wanted to ask – “What happens if you vomit in your helmet during a spacewalk?”
Sports
There are a million books about sports careers. Dad isn’t a pro, and he’s not going to be. Help him lower his stress level after a disastrous round of golf with this —
It’s How You Play the Game and The Games Do Count by Brian Kilmeade
Sports books tend to be all about winning. Bios of athletes and coaches all focus on being the best in the world. But most of us don’t play sports at anything like that level. We play for fun, for fitness and to show youngsters how to do it. So, as Brian Kilmeade writes, “Winning or losing has little to do with who you will become. Instead, it’s how you prepared for the game that determines whether you’ll be a winner or loser in life.”
Music
Dad may be old and grey – at least according to the kids – but inside him there’s a rocker. Here’s a bio of one of the legendary rock bands of the ‘60s, selected partly in honor of the passing of the band’s great keyboardist, Ray Manzarek, in May 2013.
The Doors : A Lifetime of Listening to Five Mean Years by Greil Marcus
Respected rock critic Greil Marcus takes us through the tumultuous history of the Doors, front by the brilliant, self-destructive Jim Morrison – one of rock’s many casualties. A fan since the band’s first album in 1967, Marcus takes the reader through Morrison’s tragic death to the decades beyond.
Travel
Whether we are driving across thePainted Desertor picking up milk at the Stop ‘n’ Shop, the allure of travel is with us. Charles Kuralt is one of the great popular chroniclers ofAmerica’s roads.
Charles Kuralt’s America by Charles Kuralt
After retiring from CBS News in 1994, Kuralt set out to spend a perfect year inAmerica, traveling to his twelve favorite American places. He goes fromMontanain September andAlaskain June to winter in Cajun country and theNorth Carolinamountains in spring, bringing gentle humor to the whole trip.
So, that’s twenty audiobooks chosen not for mass popularity but for quality. Pick one you think the man of the hour would appreciate!
