Casting about the web, I've been fishing for some Father's Day book options for the Spouse. The result is this highly selective list. If the titles I've hauled out don't snag your dad's attention, then check out my sources and cast your own net. See what catches your imagination.
Start with the Booklists-at-the-Library link on the library's home page. Under Apocalyptic Fiction, I followed up on The Passage: A Novel by Justin Cronin. Once selected, the book's info pops up on the library's catalog. These are the key phrases that tell me I've got a live one: security breach; chilling military experiment; chaos; stunned survivors. Sounds about right.
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Sail over to <thinkgeek.com> and you'll find plenty of dad-friendly options. Here's a can't-miss title: The Geek Dad Book for Aspiring Mad Scientists by Ken Denmead. Projects include instructions on how to "grow crystals to power your Stargate and set your room aglow" and "build a post-apocalyptic particle detector. Do you sense a developing theme? Here's my theory about the appeal of the apocalypse and zombie stories: this is the only way my Spouse imagines that he'll ever get a permanent reprieve from work. A guy can dream, can't he? Well, he can if he's got Stargate crystals setting the room aglow.
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Speaking of dreams, if your dad prefers a field of them, then clearly he needs a book about Fenway's centennial. No shortage of options there. Google the topic and you'll quickly land a bunch. Field of our Fathers: An Illustrated History of Fenway Park by Richard Johnson is described as definitive, includes posters, memorabilia and stories and the most appropriate title for Father's Day. Fenway Park: The Centennial by Saul Wisnia included a DVD hosted by Carlton Fisk. Or try Fenway Park: A Salute to the Coolest, Cruelest, Longest Running Major League Baseball Stadium in American by John Powers from the Boston Globe.
If Dad needs a laugh, consider the New Yorker Book of Cartoons, found among Real Simple magazine's list of "14 Books for Dads." <realsimple.com>
Another source of fatherly insight comes from The Daily Beast. Among their suggestions, I think The Big Book of Adventure Stories edited by Otto Penzler has kitschy possibilities. Where else can you find King Kong, Zorro, The Scarlet Pimpernel and Hopalong Cassidy all in the same book? According to the blurb, sections include Megalomania Rules, Something Feels Funny, and Sword & Sorcery. Since you've got another week until Father's Day on the 15th, there should be time to order it through either Amazon or Powell's. Or at least follow up and read more about it.
The daily titles offered in the Book Lover's Calendar for 2012 has been both source of inspiration and temptation. (If you don't have one, you can peek at them through Amazon's web site.) Most promising for our Father's Day is Still Life: Adventures in Taxidermy by Melissa Milgrom. Milgrom is a journalist who investigated the taxidermy subculture. Perfect for any dad caught watching that TV show called Oddities on the Discovery channel.
Finally, also from the Daily Beast comes the catch of the day, Man with a Pan; Culinary Adventures of Fathers who Cook for Their Families. Edited by John Donohue, 21 authors write about cooking for their families. I may be accused of baiting the Spouse if we serve up this one, but after all, a girl's gotta dream too, right?
