Book recs for dads and daughters

[trinityofone]

My dad is impossible to shop for, and as always happens around this time of year, I’m faced with the one-two punch of Father’s Day and his birthday, which are only about two weeks apart. I’ve been wracking my brain for gift ideas, but haven’t come up with much beyond getting him some books to read on the road, as he’s got about a billion business trips scheduled this summer. (Just the other day he was at the Canadian Consulate in Detroit interviewing Mounties. Dude! SO CLOSE!) He doesn’t read too many novels, but I think he would enjoy a break from Serious Books About Serious Issues. Still, I’m not really sure what to get him.

My original idea was to buy him Forty Signs of Rain by Kim Stanley Robinson, as my dad’s a political junkie and would, I think, enjoy those aspects; however, I think the science would make his eyes glaze over, and since, as I said, he rarely reads fiction, I don’t think the first book of a trilogy’s such a good idea. So, my question for you is: what are some other books he might like? Well-written novels that would make good plane reading and deal with some of his interests:

*Politics
*History (though mostly American history and/or the histories of indigenous peoples in Mexico/South America)
*Religion
*Jazz

Any suggestions would be hugely appreciated!

…And while I’m soliciting book recs, I might as well ask for some myself. I’ve lately been very disappointed with pretty much everything I’ve read. There are a number of reasons for this, but chief among them is the fact that everything I’ve been choosing has turned out to have only the most shallowly developed characters. Do you have any recs for books with really awesome, fucked up, wonderful characters? I’m looking for an experience like when I first started reading the Lymond Chronicles. I’m not feeling too picky about genre; I just want someone I can fall in love with. Be my literary matchmaker, please!

Comments

[mercurydraconix.livejournal.com]

For you dad, I've heard very good things about Salt and Cod, both by Mark Kurlansky. Obviously, they have a very tight focus, but they're also both fairly short, which would make them ideal for short trips.

Both my dad (science professor) and my mom (high school graduate) liked Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything - I wasn't that impressed, but deeply approved of the cover. (I have a thing for covers.) They went on to enjoy A Walk In the Woods too.

My dad's had Guns, Germs and Steel sitting in a prominent place on his bookshelf for years now, but I confess that I don't know whether that's because it's awesome or because he couldn't be bothered to finish it.

I enjoyed parts of Freakonomics, which is econ-lite - information from a real economist, but written by somebody at the New Yorker or similar magazine. (I also deeply approved of the orange/apple cover, but ... not everybody cares.)

For you... The Golden Apples of the Sun, and other stories by Ray Bradbury. It's not horror or anything, but he certainly brings the creepy. (Yes, oldschool recommendation, but I avoided him for a long time. I'm not into all his stuff, in fact, I hated F. 451 and couldn't finish Martian Chronicles, but I really loved this.) The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is probably my favorite Heinlein, and while I haven't read him for a while, I remember Charles de Lint with affection. (But I find sometimes that my standards have risen and a book I used to love is actually ... crap. So if you hate de Lint, I'm sorry.)