Summer Reads
These page-turners—from memoirs and novels to post-apocalyptic imaginings—make great gifts for Dad, or treats for anyone looking for a book for a lazy summer day.
I Daddy, Stop Talking! And Other Things My Kids Want but Won’t be Getting Adam Carolla, comedian, co-creator and star of TV’s The
Man Show and bestselling author, shares stories of his “own crappy childhood” and takes helicopter parenting to task. (Harper Collins)
2It’s
a Long Story: My Life
Who doesn’t love Trigger–wielding Willie Nelson? (Trigger is the name of his guitar.) Pour a drink, take a seat and dig into the life story of one of America’s true living legends. (Little, Brown and Company)
3The
Dead Lands
“There is life inside the wall. There is death outside the wall.” Benjamin Percy reimagines Lewis and Clark’s crosscountry journey to Oregon as a postapocalyptic tale. (Grand Central Publishing)
4 A Lucky Life Interrupted: A Memoir of Hope In this memoir from the longtime anchor of the
NBC Nightly News and the bestselling author of The Greatest Generation, Tom Brokaw ruminates on his lucky—and ultimately incredibly happy—life. (Random House)
5 The Fateful Lightning: A Novel of the Civil War The captivating final installment in Jeff Shaara’s four-part Civil War series tells the story of the bloodiest year of the conflict from both perspectives. (Ballantine Books)
6 The Dadly Virtues:
Adventures from the Worst Job You’ll Ever Love Laugh out loud with this cost-benefit analysis of fatherhood in essays from a fellowship of fathers, including P.J. O’Rourke and the book’s editor Jonathan V. Last. (Templeton Press)
Visit Parade.com/virtues for essay excerpts from P.J. O’Rourke and Jonathan V. Last.
7 The Harder They Come
T.C. Boyle hits hard with his 15th novel about a father trying to save his son from himself, a reflection on American violence and testament to the idea that no gun goes unfired. (Ecco)
8Franklin Barbecue: A Meat-Smoking Manifesto More than a how-to or mere collection of recipes, this stunningly illustrated book by Aaron Franklin and Jordan Mackay tells the humble and inspiring story of one of America’s favorite barbecue joints, and inspires us to try smoking at home. (Ten Speed Press)
9 Kelly Tough: Live Courageously by Faith “Cancer wasn’t supposed to be part of my story,” says NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly. But it is, and his daughter, Erin, along with his wife, Jill, write about it in a most moving way. (Broad-Street Publishing)
I0 Every Father’s Daughter: Twenty-four Women Writers Remember Their Fathers Here are twenty-four ways of looking at fatherhood by an incredible host of writers, including Jane Smiley, Ann Hood and Alice Munro, among others. (McPherson& Company)
ii Finders Keepers Summertime, under the sunshine, maybe even on a beach, is really the best time to read Stephen King’s new fiercely intense novel about a reader obsessed with an author’s work. Imagine Misery with a bit more misery. (Scribner)
I2 The History of Fly-Fishing in Fifty Flies
Who knew there were more than 1,700 salmon fly patterns a fisherman could learn to tie? Here, Ian Whitelaw tells the whole story of this elegant 2,000-year-old sport. (Stewart Tabori & Chang)
I3 The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings: J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams A lively telling of the ultimate literary and artistic collective— and what they wrestled with as they met weekly for nearly 30 years, by Philip Zaleski and Carol Zaleski. (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
I4
The Wright Brothers Another fitting summer read, especially if you’re flying somewhere. Dig into acclaimed author David McCullough’s true story of the passion that bordered on obsession and led to two brothers from Ohio launching us airborne. (Simon & Schuster)
I5 The New One Minute Manager
This updated version of the business classic by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson speaks to the lightning-speed pace of the new generation. (William Morrow)