Father’s Day: Top 10 New Geeky Books for Dads

Father’s Day is coming up, and if your Dad is anything like mine, he’s far too busy to read. Constantly wrangling his grandkids, fussing over the house, planning his well earned “dammit-I’m-retired-I’ll-do-what-I-want” vacations.

Or if he’s a younger Dad, like any number of my friends, he’s swamped between balancing work and raising a new munchkin. Diapers to change, pre-schools to find, babysitters to screen, getting a little video gaming in here and there. Who has the time?

No matter how busy Dad is, there should always be time to squeeze in a little reading. The trick is finding just the right book.

A lot of great books came out this Spring, and with Father’s Day just around the corner, I’ve assembled a nice little list (in no particular order) of my top 10 geeky picks for those all-too-busy geeky Dads. If you’ve got some ideas (which I’m sure you do), by all means, please leave them in the comments or drop me a line ([email protected])!

And don’t be afraid to scope out some of the recommend Quirk titles featured on the right. *wink*

The Geek Dad’s Guide to Weekend Fun: The celebrated blogger behind Wired’s Geek Dad, Ken Denmead, is back. The original Geek Dad title was a New York Times bestseller…  and that should come as no surprise. His latest, Geek Dad’s Guide to Weekend Fun, is perfect for Dads with younger geeks-in-training.

ManVentions: Published by our pals Adams Media, ManVentions is a hilarious, irreverant book that takes a look at the world’s manliest inventions. Beer. Duct Tape. Fantasy Football. Gas Grills. Written with bits of trivia, this book is set to remind you why it’s so great to be a man. I feel like I should be drinking PowerThirst while describing this book.

Captain America, The Mighty Thor, and/or the Flash Omnibus: Marvel recently released omnibuses for these awesome heroes. Great for that comic book loving Dad of yours. Volume 2 of the Green Lantern hits in November, if you’re up for pre-ordering.

A Game of Thrones / A Song of Ice & Fire (Boxed Set): I’ll admit it, I’m a sucker for boxed sets. And while these aren’t hardcovers, this paperback set of George R. R. Martin’s beloved series is a must have for your HBO addicted Dad. You’ve caught him watching it, engrossed by Boromir (aka Sean Bean) as Ned Stark. Now get him into the books. Grab this for about $20 on Amazon.

Ready Player One: Stephen, Brett, Doogie and I all snagged copies of this exciting title from Random House during BEA last month, and I’m so psyched to recommend it. Even though it doesn’t come out until August, pre-order a copy for that geeky Dad of yours who loves his vintage video games. Does he yearn for the simplicity that was Atari and ColecoVision? This epic adventure by Ernest Cline (who wrote the excellent movie Fanboys) is just the ticket.

Robopocalypse: The witty author of How To Survive a Robot Uprising and Where’s My Jetpack?, is back with his second novel this year (A Boy & His Bot came out in January). Like Ready Player One, Robopocalypse isn’t quite out yet, but you’ll get it in time for Father’s Day. Think World War Z… only with robots. That’s right. Awesome.

The Paleo Diet: A suggestion from Quirk’s own Margaret McGuire, the Paleo Diet is all about eating foods your body was meant to eat… aka CAVEMAN FOOD. Because really, what’s manlier than developing a working knowledge of preparing wild game to be promptly devoured? Not that prepackaged TV dinner, that’s for sure.

Star Wars Craft Book: About a week or so ago, my new Twitter friend Bonnie Burton sent me a copy of her latest LucasArts book, the Star Wars Craft Book. Stephen has since stolen it, and I doubt I will ever see it again. Though I remember enough from the title to highly recommend it for geek Dads that want some quality crafting time with their younglings. This Admiral Ackbar paper bag puppet sold me.

The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth: Know a concerned Father of a geek? This bestseller might be the perfect book to pick up for them, explaining why us geeks turn out just fine after high school.

Star Wars vs. Star Trek: Another Star Wars book? Why not, it’s perfect for the passionate father fanboy. Purchase this book for your Dad, and watch him become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.

Bonus Pick:

The Reading Promise: My Father & the Books We Shared: Here’s a bonus heartwarming pick from Jenn over at Jenn’s Bookshelves and Karina at First Person Arts. I’ve yet to scope out this title myself, but if those two recommend it, it has to be good. Sounds like a really touching book.

Have picks of your own? Again, leave them in the comments or drop me a line ([email protected]). Happy Father’s Day!