5 Books That Will Surprise and Delight Dads This Father’s Day

June 12 2020
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Here’s the thing: most dads this year probably won’t be expecting a gift. Now, will they be expecting a phone call? Definitely. A heartfelt email? For sure! A detailed explanation of how to download a video app so he can use his laptop to join the family group chat and not spend it perched over someone else’s shoulder? One hundred percent! Things have been more than a little chaotic lately, and chances are Dad will forgive you for being a little too distracted to find the perfect present this year. 

Which is why we’ve done it for you. Behold, the best books to gift this Father’s Day. We guarantee these picks will surprise, delight, and make your dad’s day. (Although, it probably wouldn’t hurt to also give him the Zoom download instructions so he can call you to say thanks . . .) 

The Deserter
by Nelson DeMille

Featuring ripped-from-the headlines stakes and an exotic and wildly dangerous locale, this thriller opens with the reports of the Army’s most lethal military deserter spotted in Caracas, Venezuela. Top Army brass sends brilliant, but unorthodox, investigator Scott Brodie and his new partner Maggie Taylor to hunt him down. But the mission hits complications from the moment they land in South America, and the fact that Brodie’s beautiful partner seems to be keeping secrets of her own doesn’t help matters either. . . . A father-son writing duo makes THE DESERTER an even more appropriate Father’s Day adventure! 

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The Deserter
Nelson DeMille

*NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER*

An “outstanding” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) blistering thriller featuring a brilliant and unorthodox Army investigator, his enigmatic female partner, and their hunt for the Army’s most notorious—and dangerous—deserter from #1 New York Times bestselling author Nelson DeMille and Alex DeMille.

When Captain Kyle Mercer of the Army’s elite Delta Force disappeared from his post in Afghanistan, a video released by his Taliban captors made international headlines. But circumstances were murky: Did Mercer desert before he was captured? Then a second video sent to Mercer’s Army commanders leaves no doubt: the trained assassin and keeper of classified Army intelligence has willfully disappeared.

When Mercer is spotted a year later in Caracas, Venezuela, by an old Army buddy, top military brass task Scott Brodie and Maggie Taylor of the Criminal Investigation Division to fly to Venezuela and bring Mercer back to America—preferably alive. Brodie knows this is a difficult mission, made more difficult by his new partner’s inexperience, by their undeniable chemistry, and by Brodie’s suspicion that Maggie Taylor is reporting to the CIA.

With ripped-from-the-headlines appeal, an exotic and dangerous locale, and the hairpin twists and inimitable humor that are signature DeMille, The Deserter is the first in a timely and thrilling new series from an unbeatable team of True Masters: the #1 New York Times bestseller Nelson DeMille and his son, award-winning screenwriter Alex DeMille.

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Countdown 1945
by Chris Wallace

On April 12, 1945, the nation was reeling. After years of war in Europe and the Pacific, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s sudden death sends shockwaves through the country. In an instant, Vice President Harry Truman assumes command and learns for the first time about the world-changing, top-secret Manhattan Project to develop the first atomic bomb. Written with thriller pacing and with meticulous research from a veteran journalist and anchor of Fox News Sunday, COUNTDOWN 1945 is a gripping portrait of a moment in time and profiles key playersand everyday citizenswhose lives would be forever changed by the decision to drop the bomb on Hiroshima.  

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Countdown 1945
Chris Wallace

From Chris Wallace, the veteran journalist and anchor of Fox News Sunday, comes an electrifying behind-the-scenes account of the 116 days leading up to the American attack on Hiroshima.

April 12, 1945: After years of bloody conflict in Europe and the Pacific, America is stunned by news of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death. In an instant, Vice President Harry Truman, who has been kept out of war planning and knows nothing of the top-secret Manhattan Project to develop the world’s first atomic bomb, must assume command of a nation at war on multiple continents—and confront one of the most consequential decisions in history. Countdown 1945 tells the gripping true story of the turbulent days, weeks, and months to follow, leading up to August 6, 1945, when Truman gives the order to drop the bomb on Hiroshima.

In Countdown 1945, Chris Wallace, the veteran journalist and anchor of Fox News Sunday, takes readers inside the minds of the iconic and elusive figures who join the quest for the bomb, each for different reasons: the legendary Albert Einstein, who eventually calls his vocal support for the atomic bomb “the one great mistake in my life”; lead researcher J. Robert “Oppie” Oppenheimer and the Soviet spies who secretly infiltrate his team; the fiercely competitive pilots of the plane selected to drop the bomb; and many more.

Perhaps most of all, Countdown 1945 is the story of an untested new president confronting a decision that he knows will change the world forever. Truman’s journey during these 116 days is a story of high drama: from the shock of learning of the bomb’s existence, to the conflicting advice he receives from generals like Dwight D. Eisenhower and George Marshall, to wrestling with the devastating carnage that will result if he gives the order to use America’s first weapon of mass destruction.

But Countdown 1945 is more than a book about the atomic bomb. It’s also an unforgettable account of the lives of ordinary American and Japanese civilians in wartime—from “Calutron Girls” like Ruth Sisson in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to ten-year-old Hiroshima resident Hideko Tamura, who survives the blast at ground zero but loses her mother and later immigrates to the United States, where she lives to this day—as well as American soldiers fighting in the Pacific, waiting in fear for the order to launch a possible invasion of Japan.

Told with vigor, intelligence, and humanity, Countdown 1945 is the definitive account of one of the most significant moments in history.

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The Pioneers
by David McCullough

From the Pulitzer–Prize-winning and #1 New York Times bestselling historian David McCullough comes an expansive chapter of the American story chronicling the pioneers who explored and settled the Northwest Territory following the Treaty of Paris. In THE PIONEERS, McCullough draws on relatively unknown diaries and letters by key figures to illustrate a uniquely American tale of perseverance and ambition of the settlers who braved the frontier in order to build a community on the banks of the Ohio River.  

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The Pioneers
David McCullough

The #1 New York Times bestseller by Pulitzer Prize–winning historian David McCullough rediscovers an important chapter in the American story that’s “as resonant today as ever” (The Wall Street Journal)—the settling of the Northwest Territory by courageous pioneers who overcame incredible hardships to build a community based on ideals that would define our country.

As part of the Treaty of Paris, in which Great Britain recognized the new United States of America, Britain ceded the land that comprised the immense Northwest Territory, a wilderness empire northwest of the Ohio River containing the future states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. A Massachusetts minister named Manasseh Cutler was instrumental in opening this vast territory to veterans of the Revolutionary War and their families for settlement. Included in the Northwest Ordinance were three remarkable conditions: freedom of religion, free universal education, and most importantly, the prohibition of slavery. In 1788 the first band of pioneers set out from New England for the Northwest Territory under the leadership of Revolutionary War veteran General Rufus Putnam. They settled in what is now Marietta on the banks of the Ohio River.

McCullough tells the story through five major characters: Cutler and Putnam; Cutler’s son Ephraim; and two other men, one a carpenter turned architect, and the other a physician who became a prominent pioneer in American science. “With clarity and incisiveness, [McCullough] details the experience of a brave and broad-minded band of people who crossed raging rivers, chopped down forests, plowed miles of land, suffered incalculable hardships, and braved a lonely frontier to forge a new American ideal” (The Providence Journal).

Drawn in great part from a rare and all-but-unknown collection of diaries and letters by the key figures, The Pioneers is a uniquely American story of people whose ambition and courage led them to remarkable accomplishments. “A tale of uplift” (The New York Times Book Review), this is a quintessentially American story, written with David McCullough’s signature narrative energy.

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A Course Called Scotland
by Tom Coyne

Hailed as “one of the best golf books this century” by Golf Digest, this heartfelt and humorous travelogue follows one golfer’s attempt to play every links course in Scotland, the birthplace of the game. As he journeys to over 100 legendary courses, author Tom Coyne weaves in details of golf history and insights into the game’s secrets, discovering new and old friends along the way and, most important, reaffirming the ultimate connection between the game and the soul. A must-read for the armchair traveler with a set of clubs. 

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A Course Called Scotland
Tom Coyne

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * “One of the best golf books this century.” —Golf Digest

Tom Coyne’s A Course Called Scotland is a heartfelt and humorous celebration of his quest to play golf on every links course in Scotland, the birthplace of the game he loves.

For much of his adult life, bestselling author Tom Coyne has been chasing a golf ball around the globe. When he was in college, studying abroad in London, he entered the lottery for a prized tee time in Scotland, grabbing his clubs and jumping the train to St. Andrews as his friends partied in Amsterdam; later, he golfed the entirety of Ireland’s coastline, chased pros through the mini-tours, and attended grueling Qualifying Schools in Australia, Canada, and Latin America. Yet, as he watched the greats compete, he felt something was missing. Then one day a friend suggested he attempt to play every links course in Scotland and qualify for the greatest championship in golf.

The result is A Course Called Scotland, “a fast-moving, insightful, often funny travelogue encompassing the width of much of the British Isles” (GolfWeek), including St. Andrews, Turnberry, Dornoch, Prestwick, Troon, and Carnoustie. With his signature blend of storytelling, humor, history, and insight, Coyne weaves together his “witty and charming” (Publishers Weekly) journey to more than 100 legendary courses in Scotland with compelling threads of golf history and insights into the contemporary home of golf. As he journeys Scotland in search of the game’s secrets, he discovers new and old friends, rediscovers the peace and power of the sport, and, most importantly, reaffirms the ultimate connection between the game and the soul. It is “a must-read” (Golf Advisor) rollicking love letter to Scotland and golf as no one has attempted it before.

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Lou Gehrig
by Alan D. Gaff

At age twenty-four, Lou Gehrig was one of the most famous athletes in the country and in the middle of a record-breaking season with the legendary 1927 World Serieswinning Yankees. At the time, his agent arranged for the young man’s life story to be syndicated to newspapers across the countrycolumns that were largely forgotten and eventually lost to history. Lou’s tragic death fourteen years later from ALS, a neuromuscular disorder now known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, means this inspirational rags-to-riches talecollected in this book for the first timeis the only autobiography of his the world has. Accompanied by a biographical essay by historian Alan D. Gaff, this is a fascinating look at 1920s baseball and a captivating account of one of baseball’s greatest MVPs.  

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Lou Gehrig
Alan D. Gaff

“A compelling rumination by a baseball icon and a tragic hero.” —Sports Illustrated

The lost memoir from baseball icon Lou Gehrig—a sensational discovery, published for the first time as a book.

At the tender age of twenty-four, Lou Gehrig decided to tell the remarkable story of his life and career. He was one of the most famous athletes in the country, in the midst of a record-breaking season with the legendary 1927 World Series-winning Yankees. In an effort to grow Lou’s star, pioneering sports agent Christy Walsh arranged for Lou’s tale of baseball greatness to syndicate in newspapers across the country. Until now, those columns were largely forgotten and lost to history.

Lou comes alive in this inspiring memoir. It is a heartfelt rags-to-riches tale about a dirt poor kid from New York who became one of the most revered baseball players of all time.

Fourteen years after his account, Lou would tragically die from ALS, a neuromuscular disorder now known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. His poignant autobiography is followed by an insightful biographical essay by historian Alan D. Gaff. Here is Lou—Hall of Famer, All Star, and MVP—back at bat.

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