By Katie de Iongh

This month Literary Mamas celebrate Father's Day with these titles! Take your pick!

Download the list to find it fast at your local bookstore or library.

Kristina Riggle, Fiction Co-Editor, shares, "The Art of Dancing in the Rain by Garth Stein gets a lot of attention because it's narrated by a dog. That is an unusual and charming aspect of the novel, but this book is actually about a father fighting for his daughter and those are the scenes that had my stomach in knots and my face awash in tears."

Suzanne Kamata, Fiction Co-Editor, says, "I'd like to recommend The Bone People, a Booker Prize- winning novel by Maori novelist Keri Hulme. This story is told from the point of view of Kerewin, a reclusive woman writer and painter who lives alone in a lighthouse by the New Zealand Sea. The father in this story is Joe, the Maori foster father of a mute boy named Simon who has suffered physical abuse. As their lives become entwined, dark secrets are revealed. At times harrowing, at times deeply moving, this is a beautifully told, unforgettable book."

Creative Non-Fiction Co-Editor, Kate Haas, writes, " I'd like to plug Calvin Trillin's
Family Man, the account of Trillin's years raising children in New York City in the 70's. This is the book I give all prospective fathers. Trillin's dry, wry, witty voice is delectable. (His only advice for child-rearing: "Try to get one that doesn't spit up.") His
affection for his daughters is moving and funny; he's the dad you hope will come along on your school field trip to the exotic reptile store. And he's self-deprecating about his experiences, but in a grownup way (i.e he's not one of those annoying men who write contemporary memoirs congratulating themselves for dressing the baby in a Ramones onesie.) Trillin became a father in an era when women were just beginning to expect husbands to take on more of child-rearing duties. Family Man attests that he rose to the occasion admirably."

Shari MacDonald Strong, Senior Editor, shares, "I love The Wet Engine: Exploring the Mad Wild Miracle of the Heart, by Brian Doyle, in which Doyle (a genius in the realm of spiritual writing) explores his anguish and epiphanies surrounding his infant (and, later, toddler) son Liam's multiple heart surgeries. As a parent and as a survivor of cardiac surgery, myself, I was captivated and deeply moved by Doyle's gorgeous musings on fatherhood, spirituality, courage, mortality, love, and the heart."