There are a lot of "bad dad" books out there – stories filled with abuse, neglect and just plain absent fathers. But in honor of all those dads who do their best and take care of their families, I'd like to share some "good dad" books with you. Topping that list is My Dad and Me by Larry King. Because Larry King is who he is, he was able to collect stories from such notables as Chinua Achebe, Dr. Joyce Brothers, Bill Gates, Marlo Thomas, Donald Trump and even Weird Al Yankovic about their favorite memories of their fathers. It’s not great literature, but it's a loving and inspirational tribute to fatherhood.

For a lot of dads and their children, the thought of sitting around discussing their feelings and emotions seems ludicrous. But give them a shared task and you'd be surprised at the depth of the conversations that develop. For author John Marchese, a shared project was also a chance to repair a broken relationship. In his book, Renovations, Marchese describes working with his 73-year-old father, a cranky and opinionated former construction worker, to renovate a fixer-upper in rural New York. As they deconstruct then rebuild the house, similar things happen in their relationship. It's a thoughtful and sensitive book with just enough humor to keep it from becoming maudlin.

Building a house isn't the only thing that can bring fathers and sons together. In their book, My Old Man and the Sea, father David and son Daniel Hays tell of building a 25-foot sailboat together which they then sail around Cape Horn. Told in alternating voices, it's a gripping narrative about sailing a small boat in some of the world's most treacherous seas and a moving account of their loving, yet sometimes difficult, relationship.

Lest we be accused of ignoring fathers and daughters and their shared adventures, Two for the Summit is the engaging story of a father and daughter and their climbs up Grand Teton in Wyoming and Aconcagua in the Andes. Approaching his 50th birthday, author Geoffrey Norman announces to his family he's going to climb Grand Teton. He's surprised and pleased when his 15-year-old daughter asks to accompany him. Not only an exciting adventure tale, it's a deeply personal account of Noman's realization of what it means to be a good father.

For many baby boomers like me, we grew up with fathers who served in but never talked about their experiences during World War II. Author Louise Steinman was told not to ever ask her father about the war. Cleaning out a storage locker after his death, she discovered more than 400 letters written by her father to her mother during the war and a small, silk Japanese flag. Her memoir, The Souvenir, is the story of Steinman's quest to return the flag to the family of the Japanese soldier to whom it belonged and her discovery of her father's wartime experiences and the impact it had on him and his family.

More books about dads:

Fiction
Big Fish by Daniel Wallace
Man and Boy by Tony Parsons
Perfect Skin by Nick Earls
Scooter by Mick Foley
The Risk Pool by Richard Russo
The Truth about Celia by Kevin Brockmeier

Non Fiction
Big Russ and Me by Tim Russert
Family Man by Calvin Trillin
Fatherhood by Bill Cosby
The Film Club by David Gilmour
First and Last Seasons by Dan McGraw
Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik

You can find these movies and many more at any Jefferson County Public Library location. Talk to your librarian for more recommendations.