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Best Books for Dad 2014

Father's Day

Best Books for Dad 2014

Father’s Day is a time to celebrate the men in our lives who have raised and loved us. Why not show him your appreciation by inspiring him with a great book? We have 18 titles that are perfect gift-giving suggestions for Dad, keeping him busy through the rest of the year.

Congratulations to the 10 winners of our Ninth Annual Father’s Day Contest! Each winner will receive a prize package that includes nine of the titles in this year’s feature, along with a "Best. Dad. Ever." T-shirt, a $10 Starbucks gift card, and some dark chocolate with toffee.

This year's featured Father's Day titles include (scroll down to read more about each book):

  • AMERICAN GUN: A History of the U.S. in Ten Firearms, by Chris Kyle with William Doyle
  • BLACKLIST by Jerry Ludwig
  • THE BOYS IN THE BOAT: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, by Daniel James Brown
  • A CASE FOR REDEMPTION by Adam Mitzner
  • CRY FATHER by Benjamin Whitmer
  • A DAD'S PRAYERS FOR HIS DAUGHTER: Praying for Every Part of Her Life, by Rob Teigen and Joanna Teigen
  • ENDURING COURAGE: Ace Pilot Eddie Rickenbacker and the Dawn of the Age of Speed, by John F. Ross
  • GOOD CALL: Reflections on Faith, Family, and Fowl, by Jase Robertson
  • GUY ON FIRE: 130 Recipes for Adventures in Outdoor Cooking, by Guy Fieri
  • THE HOUR OF THE INNOCENTS by Robert Paston
  • THE KILL SWITCH: A Tucker Wayne Novel, by James Rollins and Grant Blackwood
  • NATCHEZ BURNING by Greg Iles
  • THE SERPENT OF VENICE by Christopher Moore
  • STARFIRE by Dale Brown
  • THINK LIKE A FREAK by Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt
  • THE TRUTH ABOUT THE HARRY QUEBERT AFFAIR by Joël Dicker
  • WARRIORS: An Alex Hawke Novel, by Ted Bell
  • WHEN I FIRST HELD YOU by Brian Gresko

Winners

Ashley from Bliss, NY
Benjamin from Grass Lake, MI
Chris from Albany, OR
Geri from Scotch Plains, NJ
Glenda from Highlands, NC
Kathy from Oceanside, CA
Matt from Reynoldsburg, OH
Randy from Pace, FL
Richard from Milwaukee, WI
Wimon from Danville, VA

 
American Gun: A History of the U.S. in Ten Firearms by Chris Kyle with William Doyle - History


At the time of his tragic death in February 2013, former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, the top sniper in U.S. military history, was finishing one of the most exciting missions of his life: a remarkable book that retold American history through the lens of a hand-selected list of firearms. Kyle masterfully shows how guns have played a fascinating, indispensable, and often underappreciated role in our national story.

Blacklist by Jerry Ludwig - Fiction

 

The last time the United States looked on its own citizens with suspicion, the results were ruined dreams, shattered lives…and murder in Jerry Ludwig’s BLACKLIST.

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown - Sports History


THE BOYS IN THE BOAT tells the story of the University of Washington’s 1936 eight-oar crew and their epic quest for an Olympic gold medal. The emotional heart of the story lies with one rower, a teenager who rows not for glory, but to regain his shattered self-regard and to find a place he can call home. The crew is assembled by an enigmatic coach and mentored by an eccentric boat builder, but it’s their trust in each other that makes them a victorious team.

A Case of Redemption by Adam Mitzner - Thriller

 

Dan Sorenson was once a high-powered New York defense attorney...but that was before a horrifying accident killed the two most important people in his life. As he approaches rock bottom, Dan is unexpectedly offered the opportunity of a lifetime: defend an up-and-coming rapper who swears he’s innocent of the brutal slaying of his pop star girlfriend. Dan realizes that this may be his only hope to put his own life back on track, but he soon learns that atonement comes at a very steep price.

Cry Father by Benjamin Whitmer - Fiction


Patterson Wells works alongside dangerous, desperate itinerant men as a tree clearer in disaster zones, and he’s still dealing with the loss of his young son. Writing letters to the boy offers solace, but the bottle gives more. In Colorado, Patterson stops to go fishing with an old acquaintance, only to find him in a meth-induced delirium with a woman tied up in the bathtub. Patterson tries to do the right thing, but in the lives of those he knows, violence and justice are strange, intoxicating bedfellows.

A Dad's Prayers for His Daughter: Praying for Every Part of Her Life by Rob Teigen and Joanna Teigen - Parenting/Prayer

From the moment your little girl was born, you knew you were going to be doing a lot of praying. But you may wonder, What exactly should I be praying for? Now the authors of 88 GREAT DADDY-DAUGHTER DATES show you how to pray for every area of your daughter's life. Rob and Joanna Teigen give you a strong foundation to build a lifelong habit of prayer for your daughter with a collection of specific prayers you can use to get started right now.

Enduring Courage: Ace Pilot Eddie Rickenbacker and the Dawn of the Age of Speed by John F. Ross - Biography/History


ENDURING COURAGE is the electrifying story of the beginning of America’s love affair with speed --- and how one man above all the rest showed a nation the way forward. Eddie Rickenbacker was an innovator on the racetrack, a skilled aerial dualist and squadron commander, and founder of Eastern Air Lines. He showed a war-weary nation what it took to survive against nearly insurmountable odds when he and seven others endured a harrowing three-week ordeal adrift without food or water in the Pacific during World War II.

Good Call: Reflections on Faith, Family, and Fowl by Jase Robertson - Nonfiction

 

In this enlightening book, Jase Robertson gives us a deep look behind his funnyman exterior. In addition to stories of life in the Robertson family and epic tales of hunting of all kinds, readers will get an inside look at Jase’s personal faith in the Creator of the outdoors he so dearly loves.

Guy on Fire: 130 Recipes for Adventures in Outdoor Cooking by Guy Fieri - Nonfiction

 

Food Network superstar, celebrity chef, and #1 New York Times bestselling author Guy Fieri takes it outdoors with this smart, practical, four-color cookbook filled with dozens of recipes for meals, drinks, holidays, bashes, and more.

The Hour of the Innocents by Robert Paston - Fiction

 

Four young musicians are determined to escape a ravaged industrial landscape by playing rock and roll...and they play it with a passion and brilliance that contrasts with their poverty. Music is the only hope they have.

The Kill Switch: A Tucker Wayne Novel by James Rollins and Grant Blackwood - Thriller/Adventure


The mission seems simple enough: extract a pharmaceutical magnate from Russian soil, a volatile man who holds the secret to a deadly bioweapon. But nothing is as it appears to be. A conspiracy of world-shattering scope unravels as former Army Ranger Tucker Wayne and his stalwart companion, Kane, a military working dog of exceptional abilities, struggle to keep one move ahead of their deadly enemies.

Natchez Burning by Greg Iles - Thriller


Raised in the southern splendor of Natchez, Mississippi, Penn Cage learned all he knows of duty from his father, Dr. Tom Cage. But now the beloved family doctor has been accused of murdering the African American nurse with whom he worked in the dark days of the 1960s. Penn's quest for the truth sends him deep into his father's past, where a sexually charged secret lies. More chilling, this long-buried sin is only one thread in a conspiracy of greed and murder involving the vicious Double Eagles, an offshoot of the KKK controlled by some of the most powerful men in the state.

The Serpent of Venice by Christopher Moore - Mystery/Humor


Three prominent Venetians await their most loathsome and foul dinner guest, the erstwhile envoy from the Queen of Britain: the rascal Fool Pocket. This trio of cunning plotters have lured Pocket to a dark dungeon, promising an evening of sprits and debauchery. But this Fool is no fool…and he has more than a few tricks (and hand gestures) up his sleeve.

Starfire by Dale Brown - Fiction


With the death of his space warfare veteran father, Bradley McLanahan must now fly solo, leading a team of engineers designing Starfire, the world's first orbiting solar power plant. Starfire will not only deliver unlimited electricity to anywhere on Earth, it can also transmit power to the moon and spacecraft. But U.S. president Kenneth Phoenix's plans to militarize and industrialize Earth's orbit sparks a terrifying arms race. Before he can prevent it, Bradley and his team are caught at the center of a battle that threatens to become all-out global war for control of space.

Think Like a Freak by Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt - Nonfiction

 

Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner have written their most revolutionary book yet --- THINK LIKE A FREAK. With their trademark blend of captivating storytelling and unconventional analysis, they take us inside their thought process and teach us all to think a bit more productively, more creatively, more rationally --- to think, that is, like a Freak.

The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joël Dicker - Literary Thriller


THE TRUTH ABOUT THE HARRY QUEBERT AFFAIR is the #1 internationally bestselling thriller, and ingenious book within a book, about the disappearance of a 15-year-old New Hampshire girl and, 33 years later, a young American writer’s determination to clear his mentor’s name --- and find the inspiration for his next bestseller.

Warriors: An Alex Hawke Novel by Ted Bell - Thriller/Adventure


When an elderly professor at Cambridge is murdered, a victim of bizarre, ancient Chinese torture, Alex Hawke teams up with his Scotland Yard colleague and friend, Inspector Ambrose Congreve, to find the killer. But the death is only the opening move in a tense and lethal game of geopolitical brinksmanship. Hawke must pull off his most daring mission yet: infiltrate China and neutralize the source of their advantage, or risk witnessing World War III.

When I First Held You by Brian Gresko - Essays


Becoming a father can be one of the most profoundly terrifying, exhilarating, life-changing occasions in a man’s life. Now 22 of today’s top writers get straight to the heart of modern fatherhood in this incomparable collection of thought-provoking essays. From making that ultimate decision to have a kid to making it through the birth to tangling with a toddler mid-tantrum, and eventually letting a teen loose in the world, these fathers explore every facet of fatherhood and show how being a father changed the way they saw the world --- and themselves.