c.2024, various publishers $28 – $36 • various page counts

He already has a blue tie. And a yellow one, a plaid one, and one that looks like a fish. He doesn’t need any more tools. He doesn’t smoke, and he has enough mugs to last any Dad a lifetime. The best gift to give then, perhaps. is a good book. Maybe one of these…

If Dad eagerly devours big books and the Natchez Burning trilogy were his faves, he will be so happy to get “Southern Man” by Greg Iles (Wm. Morrow, $36.00). It’s been a decade now, and Penn Cage is almost totally alone. Most of the people he loved are gone, and it pains him. What also hurts is that Natchez and Bienville are still burning, in more ways than one, and a Black radical group is taking credit for some of the violence. Politics has something to do with it. So does the current polarized atmosphere. Is there any way to stop the man who’s running on a third-party ticket, a man who could destroy America?

Ripped from the headlines, give this book to Dad and watch him race through it.

Speaking of racing, if Pops can’t get enough of motors and all things with wheels, then “The Race to the Future” by Kassia St. Clair (Liveright, $29.99) might make him slow down enough to read. It’s the true story of the Peking-to-Paris Motor Challenge of 1907, in which five drivers entered a competition to see who could get from China to France in the fastest time. It’s also a story of the early twentieth century, early automobiles and their creators, cultural history, and a World War a-brewing. Rev your engines, wrap up this book.

For the Dad of an almost-teenage daughter, “Dad Camp” by Evans S. Porter (Dutton, $28.00) is a great novel about a man who aspires to be the Best Dad in the World. Alas, his preteen daughter is having none of that so he takes her on a summer retreat: a weeklong Dad-and-daughter camping trip that should make them closer than ever, right?

This is a funny book, but also bittersweet. For any Dad whose little girl is growing up too fast, it’s the right gift.

Or if Dad loves thrillers, then “The Year of the Locust” by Terry Hayes (Emily Bestler Books / Atria, $32.00) couldn’t be a better gift. Kane, from Hayes’ bestseller “I Am Pilgrim” is back and he still doesn’t pay any attention to boundaries or limits. He also only pays attention to violence and danger enough to avoid it.

In some places, though, death, violence, and vengeance simply can’t be avoided.

This is another one of those books that Dad will dive into, and he won’t easily be able to quit until it’s done.

Still need more ideas for giving Dad a great book? Check with your favorite bookseller, or ask your local librarian for ideas. They’ll have all kinds of suggestions for making Pops happy now and for a few weeks’ of reading. Books always help you tie up your gift-giving.