Finding a book for Dad

My email includes something from Barnes & Noble practically every day, and lately they have been sending out Father's Day teasers. Every merchandiser tries to make money out of every holiday, but for bookstores, Father's Day can be a challenge. I visit a bookstore at least once a month, but I see mostly women there.

When I look over the tables covered with the latest novels, spotting a book written by a male author can be a challenge. Not only are most new novels written by women, but they are mostly intended for female readers. I am currently in the middle of a novel written by a woman, which I am actually enjoying, yet I have noticed that virtually every important character is a woman. I expect the murderer will turn out to be a man, but otherwise it is a story about women for women written by a woman.

And so, how does one pick out a book that Dad might enjoy?

I think Barnes & Noble has mostly done an admirable job in their selections for the upcoming holiday. Mostly they focus on nonfiction, which are the books men may be most likely to read.

Among these suggestions are The Fate of the Day by Rick Atkinson, a book about the start of the American Revolution; The Determined Spy by Douglas Waller, about the early days of the CIA; the massive new Mark Twain biography written by Ron Cherow; How Countries Go Broke by Ray Dalio, and Why We Love Baseball by Joe Posnanski.

As for fiction, they recommend the latest Stephen King novel, Never Flinch; Buffalo Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones; The First Gentleman by Bill Clinton and James Patterson; Twist by Colum McCann; and I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger.

All these are books written by men, many of them expressly for men. Relatively few women read books about war or baseball.

There is still something for Dad in bookstores. You may just have to look a little harder than you did when you were shopping for Mom last month.