In advance of Father's Day every year, library staff think of ways to promote stories about fathers and fatherhood. When I saw the opportunity to write a blog post to mark the occasion, I had the idea to highlight books which explore the complicated relationships that many (most?) of us develop with our dads. In searching out these stories, I expected that I would have to wade through a current of warm and fuzzy fiction populated by excruciatingly happy families with uniformly positive male role models; like something out of a Hallmark card. Au contraire! I can report that books of this sort are rather overwhelmed by other, messier stories that represent the full diversity of what fatherhood can mean.
In fact, I was so spoilt for choice that I organized the books into different categories - fiction, non-fiction, and graphic novel - and limited myself to four titles each. Whatever "fatherhood" means to you, I hope you'll find something to interest you from this selection.
Fiction
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipi4DsG9fF0NQclQFBtLRP1agC4XGnZsLhVghyR_Tq8hzZFdwV2UZRMmVgUTIFIQwaUFJ4jwEMFIIRA0Y9mNtRoveEHyhVbUYqOFJHkNBqitDuD9kYEPCNFBeOu0kTMRwF0KHMLn88dqA/s200/41ZXMQI66dL._SY344_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg)
Pedal by Chelsea Rooney
Medicine Walk: a novel by Richard Wagamese
The Lost Language of Cranes: a novel by David Leavitt
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Non-fiction
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwKyr3MzZ8QPbw6MXVE7s6e_5eTC5-1L7IWEgcSKfGs_DKm2bGrqAxsBle8dMbGLONNH8G_0_DeoLK3Shkaibi1HnJ6G3zd1_3HnucZ1Q6vElv62C7gU9TyfpZcqzMZBG-yUHJHsWs1DE/s200/41%252BmDHEI6fL._SY344_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg)
Detachment: an adoption memoir by Maurice Mierau
Blood, Marriage, Wine & Glitter: essays by S. Bear Bergman
When you're a transgender parent, the discussion of what fatherhood means takes on an entirely new dimension.
Leaving Before the Rains Come by Alexandra Fuller
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Graphic Novels
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguHgECTNUv-1T2Af9W0zcYCoD1cLdjDc4lambZrDNaquthsp3kNbbvMyGpIxI6y5pf_Q9Vlm25IDzh7u2OKAM6KBGimivJ-o9SyBNS-QeQsQgqw92IqfPMMugiEvaSSePIz8t7hjdk7X8/s200/amatteroflife80dpi_lg.jpg)
Two books and two very different perspectives on fatherhood by the celebrated graphic novelist.
A User's Guide to Neglectful Parenting by Guy Delisle
Fun Home: a family tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
Bechdel recently won a Tony Award for the theatrical adaptation of Fun Home.
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