12 Hot Father's Day Books

Attention, shoppers: Put down the golf gear, step away from the neckties. From an epic retelling of WWII to P.J. O’Rourke’s ode to the American automobile, here are 12 books dad will actually read.

Finding the perfect Father’s Day gift can be challenging: How many Brookstone gadgets can you buy before he starts to feel as if he’s living in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen? Luckily, somewhere in this list of a dozen hot reads, you’re bound to find something that Dad will genuinely appreciate. From baseball to Elvis, cars to science fiction, here are enough page-turners to cover every patriarch personality.

Hound Dog: The Leiber & Stoller Autobiography By Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller 336 pages. Simon & Schuster. $16.50 Hound Dog: The Leiber & Stoller Autobiography
by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller

With the help of celebrity bio author David Ritz, this dual autobiography from Elvis’ favorite songwriters reads just like the lyrics that made them famous. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller achieved songwriting superstardom while they were still teenagers with songs like “Yakety Yak,” “Jailhouse Rock” and—you guessed it—“Hound Dog.” Their book is written under alternating headings, “Leiber” and “Stoller,” and is as quippy and comical as their lyrics ever were.

Far North By Marcel Theroux 320 pages. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. $16.50 Far North
by Marcel Theroux

Far North may be best described as a Siberian sci-fi western with a female protagonist, but don’t let that deter you. In a future where civilization has deteriorated and technology has gone kaput, Makepeace is one of the few surviving residents in the Arctic—and the end is near. It’s a novel of despair, futility, and unlikely optimism that’s so full of insights it may well give us something to look forward to when the apocalypse comes to town.

Driving Like Crazy By P.J. O’Rourke 288 Pages. Atlantic Monthly Press. $15.29 Driving Like Crazy
by P.J. O’Rourke

Car buff or not, all dads can enjoy satirist P.J. O’Rourke’s ode to the American automobile—and the metaphors it inspires. O’Rourke chronicles his 30-year career waxing poetic on cars, motorcycles, and life. The need for speed, it turns out, has stayed with the author throughout his career, both on the road and off.

Masters and Commanders By Andrew Roberts 720 pages. Harper. $22.30 Masters and Commanders
by Andrew Roberts

A biography for the ages, Masters and Commanders (reviewed here by Daily Beast contributor Michael Korda) is an epic retelling of World War II and its four most powerful Allies: Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, General Sir Alan Brooke and General George C. Marshall. Roberts dramatically sets the stage for these world leaders’ explosive arguments on how to destroy Nazism and uncovers the impact of personality on winning their own battles—and the war.

Horse Soldiers By Doug Stanton 416 pages. Scribner. $16.80 Horse Soldiers
by Doug Stanton

From the bestselling author of In Harm's Way comes the true story of a small group of Special Forces who traveled to Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks and battled the Taliban on horseback. Horse Soldiers’ warfare, heroes, and villains not only make it the perfect fast-paced and action-packed summer read, it’s also practically a modern-day version of The Iliad.