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Best Books for Dad 2017

Father's Day

Best Books for Dad 2017

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 12 titles that are perfect gift-giving suggestions for Dad, keeping him busy through the rest of the year.

Congratulations to the five winners of our 12th Annual Father’s Day Contest! Each winner received a prize package that includes all of the titles in this year’s feature.

This year's featured titles are:

  • AL FRANKEN, GIANT OF THE SENATE by Al Franken
  • BEFORE THE FALL by Noah Hawley
  • THE COST OF COURAGE by Charles Kaiser
  • EVERYBODY BEHAVES BADLY: The True Story Behind Hemingway's Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises by Lesley M. M. Blume
  • THE FALLEN: A Testament Novel by Eric Van Lustbader
  • MAKE YOUR BED: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...and Maybe the World by William H. McRaven
  • THE RANGER WAY: Living the Code On and Off the Battlefield by Kris Paronto
  • SHORTGRASS: A Novel of World War II by John J. Dwyer
  • SLAVES OF THE SWITCHBOARD OF DOOM: A Novel of Retropolis by Bradley W. Schenck
  • TESTIMONY by Scott Turow
  • TWELVE DAYS by Steven Barnes
  • THE WINTER FORTRESS: The Epic Mission to Sabotage Hitler's Atomic Bomb by Neal Bascomb

Winners

Charles from Dedham, MA
Jeff from Bushkill, PA
Stephen from Cherry Hill, NJ
Toby from Clarkston, WA
William from Toledo, OH
 
 
 
 
Al Franken, Giant of the Senate by Al Franken - Memoir


AL FRANKEN, GIANT OF THE SENATE is a book about an unlikely campaign that had an even more improbable ending: the closest outcome in history and an unprecedented eight-month recount saga, which is pretty funny in retrospect. It's a book about what happens when the nation's foremost progressive satirist gets a chance to serve in the United States Senate and, defying the low expectations of the pundit class, actually turns out to be good at it. It's a book about our deeply polarized, frequently depressing, occasionally inspiring political culture, written from inside the belly of the beast.

Before the Fall by Noah Hawley - Thriller


On a foggy summer night, 11 people --- 10 privileged, one down-on-his-luck painter --- depart Martha's Vineyard on a private jet headed for New York. Sixteen minutes later, the unthinkable happens: the plane plunges into the ocean. The only survivors are Scott Burroughs --- the painter --- and a four-year-old boy, who is now the last remaining member of an immensely wealthy and powerful media mogul's family. With chapters weaving between the aftermath of the crash and the backstories of the passengers and crew members, the mystery surrounding the tragedy heightens.

The Cost of Courage by Charles Kaiser - History/Biography


In the fall of 1943, André Boulloche became de Gaulle’s military delegate in Paris, coordinating all the Resistance movements in the nine northern regions of France only to be betrayed by one of his associates, arrested, wounded by the Gestapo, and taken prisoner. His parents and oldest brother were arrested and shipped off on the last train from Paris to Germany before the liberation, and died in the camps. This is the first time the Boulloche family has cooperated with an author to recount their extraordinary ordeal.

Everybody Behaves Badly: The True Story Behind Hemingway's Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises by Lesley M.M. Blume - Biography


In the summer of 1925, Ernest Hemingway traveled to Pamplona for the infamous running of the bulls. He then channeled that trip’s drunken brawls, sexual rivalry, midnight betrayals and midday hangovers into a novel that redefined modern literature. Lesley Blume tells the full story behind Hemingway’s legendary rise for the first time, revealing how he created his own image as the bull-fighting aficionado, hard-drinking literary genius and expatriate bon vivant. In all its youth, lust and rivalry, the Lost Generation is illuminated here as never before.

The Fallen: A Testament Novel by Eric Van Lustbader - Supernatural Thriller


The End of Days has been predicted for millennia. Now, in a hidden cave in the mountains of Lebanon, a man makes a fateful discovery. He will bring what has been forbidden for thousands of years into the light: the Testament of Lucifer. In Istanbul, Bravo Shaw, head of the Gnostic Observatine sect, is warned by Fra Leoni that an unfathomable danger has arisen in the war between Good and Evil: Lucifer’s advance guard, the Fallen. Humankind is in danger of being enslaved by the forces of evil.

Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World by William H. McRaven - Nonfiction


On May 21, 2014, Admiral William H. McRaven addressed the graduating class of the University of Texas at Austin on their commencement day. Taking inspiration from the university’s slogan, “What starts here changes the world,” he shared the ten principles he learned during Navy SEAL training that helped him overcome challenges not only in his training and long Naval career, but also throughout his life. Building on the core tenets laid out in his speech, McRaven now recounts tales from his own life and from those of people he encountered during his military service who dealt with hardship and made tough decisions with determination, compassion, honor, and courage.

The Ranger Way: Living the Code On and Off the Battlefield by Kris Paronto - Nonfiction


Thousands of people have heard Kris "Tanto" Paronto speak about his experiences in Benghazi on September 11, 2012. But before he was a security contractor, Tanto was a US Army Ranger from 2nd Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment. Rangers are trained to lead by being pushed to their physical and mental limits so that they can perform against impossible odds in punishing situations. In THE RANGER WAY, Tanto shares stories from his training experiences that played a role in his team's heroic response in Benghazi. Being a Ranger is, by design, not for everyone, but anyone can use the expectations and techniques of Ranger culture to achieve personal victory.

Shortgrass: A Novel of World War II by John J. Dwyer - Historical Fiction


Mennonite farm boy Lance Roark’s faith is as big as the challenges he faces on his family’s drought-ravaged Dust Bowl spread on the old Chisholm Trail. He can also run over, around and away from people on the football field and is a natural-born aviator. As war clouds gather across the seas, Lance is drawn into the dangerous world of America First, the Lindbergh-led organization that opposes the popular Roosevelt’s covert drive toward American involvement in World War II. When the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, Lance faces his ultimate decision --- whether or not to accept command of a B-17 Flying Fortress in which he would face, and inflict, mass slaughter in Nazi-occupied Europe amidst history’s most fearsome war.

Slaves of the Switchboard of Doom: A Novel of Retropolis by Bradley W. Schenck - Fiction


If Fritz Lang’s Metropolis somehow mated with Futurama, their mutant offspring might well be SLAVES OF THE SWITCHBOARD OF DOOM: A Novel of Retropolis. Inspired by the future imagined in the 1939 World Fair, this hilarious, beautifully illustrated adventure by writer and artist Bradley W. Schenck is utterly unlike anything else in science fiction: a gonzo, totally bonkers, gut-busting look at the World of Tomorrow, populated with dashing, bubble-helmeted heroes, faithful robot sidekicks, mad scientists, plucky rocket engineers, sassy switchboard operators, space pirates, and much, much more --- enhanced throughout by two dozen astonishing illustrations. 

Testimony by Scott Turow - Legal Thriller

When former prosecutor Bill ten Boom is tapped by the International Criminal Court --- an organization charged with prosecuting crimes against humanity --- he feels drawn to what will become the most elusive case of his career. Over 10 years ago, in the apocalyptic chaos following the Bosnian war, an entire Roma refugee camp vanished. Now for the first time, a witness has stepped forward: Ferko Rincic claims that armed men marched the camp's Gypsy residents to a cave in the middle of the night --- and then with a hand grenade set off an avalanche, burying 400 people alive. Only Ferko survived. Boom's task is to examine Ferko's claims and determine who might have massacred the Roma.

Twelve Days by Steven Barnes - Paranormal Thriller


Olympia Dorsey is a journalist and mother, with a cynical teenage daughter and an autistic son named Hannibal, all trying to heal from a personal tragedy. Across the street, Ex–Special Forces soldier Terry Nicolas and his wartime unit have reunited Stateside to carry out a risky heist that will not only right a terrible injustice, but also set them up for life --- at the cost of their honor. Terry and the family's visit to an unusual martial arts exhibition brings them into contact with Madame Gupta, a teacher of singular skill who offers not just a way for Terry to tap into mastery beyond his dreams, but also for Hannibal to transcend the limits of his condition. But to see these promises realized, Terry will need to betray those with whom he fought and bled.

The Winter Fortress: The Epic Mission to Sabotage Hitler’s Atomic Bomb by Neal Bascomb - History


It’s 1942, and the Nazis are racing to be the first to build a weapon unlike any known before. All their plans depend on amassing a single ingredient: heavy water, which is produced in Norway’s Vemork, the lone plant in all the world that makes this rare substance. Under threat of death, Vemork’s engineers push production into overdrive. For the Allies, the plant must be destroyed. But how would they reach the castle fortress set on a precipitous gorge in one of the coldest, most inhospitable places on Earth?