💬 Friday Thread: Who Are Your Favorite Book Dads -Good, Bad, or Complicated?
Hello!
Before we get to this week’s question, I wanted to share a change that’s coming next month.
Over the past few weeks I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the future of this newsletter and how I want it to evolve in this next season. One thing that became very clear to me is that while I’ve loved our Friday Threads, the best part has never been the weekly question itself. It’s been the conversations, recommendations, friendships, and sense of community that have grown around them. I’m so grateful for this and hope it will continue!
The change I’m excited about…..Beginning July 1, I’ll be moving our Friday Thread community discussions to my private Substack Chat.
Rather than gathering around a new question every Friday, the Itsbooktalk Chat (accessible via the Substack App, your browser, or my website) will become an ongoing space for paid subscribers to talk about books, share recommendations, ask questions, post photos, and connect with one another anytime of the day/week. That’s right, the chat will be open 24/7 and anyone will be able to start a conversation or ask a question (not just me) which I hope will make the community feel even more welcoming and fun—kind of like a dinner party with revolving hosts:)
I’ll still occasionally ask specific book questions in the Chat, but now you can too. I’ll also be using the Chat to share what I’m reading and dnfing more often, rather than waiting until the end of the week or month. Plus, I’ve always hated how there’s no way to share photos in the Friday Thread comments so now we can start sharing pics of the books we’re reading, our library stacks, our pets, etc. I’m super excited about photos!
This change also gives me more flexibility as the newsletter continues to evolve. One thing my recent break reminded me is that I crave being able to follow my curiosity, reading and writing about the things I’m most excited to share. You’ll still see plenty of book recommendations and other bookish content (I’ll be bringing back more podcasts), but you’ll also start seeing me experiment with content in ways that give me more creative freedom moving forward.
Most importantly, I just want to say thank you for being here.
Ok, let’s talk about the dads...
Last month we had a lively discussion about the good, bad, complicated moms we’ve read so this month, in honor of Father’s Day this Sunday, we’re turning to the dads.
A couple of dads from two new releases immediately came to mind—one because he was a big dummy (Steven in The Au Pair by Teddy Wayne..I’ll elaborate in the comments) and one because he was such a nice guy (Eddie in Whistler by Ann Patchett).
After perusing my Storygraph, many other dads stood out. Most of them are good guys but many are complicated which tracks with my love of messy, dark, and dysfunctional:)
A Few of My Most Memorable Dads
Harold from A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Corby from The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb
Maurice from A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck by Sophie Elmhirst
Kostas from The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak
Andy Glaze (memoir) - Smile, Or You’re Doing It Wrong. I met Andy in person last month and I can confirm, he’s a very nice guy!
Elvis Presley (memoir) - From Here To the Great Unknown by Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough
Jim from James by Percival Everett
Gardiner from Father of the Rain by Lily King
Eliot from Some Bright Nowhere by Ann Packer
Meet you in the comments, I can’t wait to see what dads made your list and what you’ve been reading this week!
