Father’s Day is this Sunday (4 September)! By all means, get him socks, but we reckon he’ll appreciate it if you match them with a pair of books too. At Roaring Stories, our team of booksellers has compiled some great gift ideas for dads who love the page – whether to get sucked deep into a gripping thriller, to get ideas to whip together a dinner the whole family will love, or to get his green thumb grubby in the garden. 

FICTION

• The Long Knives by Irvine Welsh ($32.99) – The highly-anticipated second instalment in the CRIME trilogy, now a hit TV Series.
• Nimblefoot by Robert Drew ($32.99) – The untold story of Johnny Day, Australia’s first international sports hero – a tale of mishap, adventure, chase, chance and luck – from one of Australia’s finest writers.
• Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra (32.99) – The epic tale of a brilliant woman who must reinvent herself to survive, moving from Mussolini’s Italy to 1940s Los Angeles-a timeless story of love, deceit, and sacrifice.
• Ancestry by Simon Mawer ($32.99) – The past is another country and we are all its exiles. Banished forever, we look back in fascination and wonder at this mysterious land. Who were the people who populated it?
• Jesustown by Paul Daley ($32.99) – ‘A novel of lurid, postcolonial truth-telling.’ – The Conversation. Watch the Roaring Stories author event.
• Grimmish by Michael Winkler ($29.95) – ‘Grimmish meets a need I didn’t even know I had. I lurched between bursts of wild laughter, shudders of horror, and gasps of awe at Winkler’s verbal command: the freshness and muscle of his verbs, the unstoppable flow of his images, the bizarre wit of the language of pugilism—and all the while, a moving subterranean glint of strange masculine tenderness.’ – Helen Garner

CRIME & THRILLER

• Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Daniel Silva ($32.99) – #1 New York Times bestselling author Daniel Silva delivers another stunning thriller in his latest action-packed tale of high stakes international intrigue.
• Black River by Matthew Spencer ($32.99) – ‘Sharply plotted and relentlessly paced, it kept me guessing until the last page.’
• The Ink Black Heart: Cormoran Strike, Book 6 by Robert Galbraith ($32.99) – The next thrilling instalment in the highly acclaimed, international bestselling series featuring Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott.
• The Settlement by Jock Serong ($32.99) – Serong reimagines in urgent, compelling prose the ill-fated exploits of George Augustus Robinson at the settlement of Wybalenna—a venture whose blinkered, self-interested cruelty might stand for the colonial enterprise itself.
• The Wrong Woman by JP Pomare ($32.99) – It was just a tragic accident … Wasn’t it?A completely addictive murder mystery novel from the author of In the Clearing, soon to be a major psychological thriller TV series.
• Lying Beside You by Michael Robotham ($32.99) – ‘The guy can’t write a bad book. This is one of his best, suspenseful and hard to put down.’ – Stephen King

NON-FICTION

• August in Kabul by Andrew Quilty ($34.99) – Told through the eyes of witnesses to the fall of Kabul, Walkley award-winning journalist Andrew Quilty’s debut publication offers a remarkable record of this historic moment. 
• The Last Colony by Philippe Sands, Martin Rowson ($29.99) – Telling the story of the landmark international judgement that brought an end to Britain’s colonial rule in Africa, The Last Colony is a riveting, enraging and beautifully rendered history of international law by the bestselling author.
• Humanity’s Moment by Joëlle Gergis ($34.99) – A climate scientist’s guide to rekindling hope, and a call to action to restore our relationship with ourselves, each other and our planet.
• Chasing Wrongs and Rights by Elaine Pearson ($34.99) – The Australia Director at Human Rights Watch shares her experiences defending human rights, offering an extremely involving personal account of how far we’ve come, and how far we’ve got to go.
• Rigged by Cameron Murray, Paul Frijters ($32.99) – The shocking story of how networks of Mates have come to dominate business and government, and managed to rob the majority of ordinary Australians of half our wealth.
• Of Marsupials and Men by Alistair Paton ($32.99) – Of Marsupials and Men recounts the fascinating and often hilarious history of the men and women who dedicated their lives to understanding Australia’s native animals.

BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR

• Patting the Shark by Tim Baker ($34.99) – A surfer’s journey learning to live well with cancer. Written with raw vulnerability, this is a story about facing your mortality, staring down your fears, and working out what really matters in life, when so many elements of your identity are stripped away.
• My Father and Other Animals by Sam Vincent ($32.99) – When Sam returns to the family farm to help out after a woodchipper accident, his life takes a new and unexpected direction. Slowly, he finds himself thinking differently about the farm, his father and his relationship with both.
• Weekends with Matt by Peter Coleman and Matt Fowles ($35.00) – A classic odd-couple tale of two very different men and the common ground that can be found over a shared passion for wine.
• Life and Death Decisions by Dr Lachlan McIver ($34.99) – A deeply human look at the personal cost of our broken global health system, and how we must work together to change it for the better. It’s what we need right now.
• Nailing It by Rich Hall ($32.99) – ‘An uproariously funny collection of true stories from one of the comedy greats’ – Bill Bailey.
• The Summertime of Our Dreams by Michael Pascoe ($34.99) – An unforgettable celebration of life, a hymn to the land, and a meditation on the memory and dreams of youth.

FOOD, GARDEN & TRAVEL

• COOK by Karen Martini ($100.00) – In this essential collection of more than 1000 recipes, from old favourites to brilliant new dishes, acclaimed chef Karen Martini shares a lifetime of cooking, eating and learning about food.
• With Nature by Fiona Brockhoff ($70.00) – Brockhoff takes us through her gardens in Australia – some never before seen – with tips, design guidance and inspiration to help you create your own sustainable, naturalistic and wholistic gardens.
• Halliday Wine Companion 2023 by Halliday James ($39.99) – Quite simply the essential guide for drinkers of Australian wine, or a perfect gift for the wine lover in your life.
• Evergreen by Tim Entwisle ($39.99) – A memoir showcasing the amalgam of nature, science and culture that has shaped both Tim Entwisle and every great botanic garden.
• Eat Weeds by Diego Bonetto ($49.99) – A field guide to foraging: How to identify, harvest, eat and use wild plants.
• High by Erika Fatland ($34.99) – An ambitious and magnificent new travelogue by bestselling and prizewinning author Erika Fatland, on a journey along the Himalayas.

ART, DESIGN & GIFTS

• Dreaming the Land by Marie Geissler ($100.00) – A vividly illustrated survey of the Australian Aboriginal art movement from remote Australia.
• Reclaimed by Penny Craswell ($65.00) – An inspiring collection of homes made from salvaged and repurposed materials showcasing design ingenuity and award-winning architecture from across the globe.
• The New Queensland House by Cameron Bruhn, Katelin Butler ($70.00) – A showcase of the most innovative examples of Queensland’s subtropical architecture.
• The Kitchen Garden by Lucy Mora ($45.00) – An artfully illustrated guide to edible plants with simple, practical techniques and recipes for the home gardener/cook.
• Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris ($29.99) – The latest installment from always funny, sometimes bizarre comic David Sedaris.
• Life Plans on Dive Bar Napkins by Paul Manser ($40.00) – A book for the people who want to experience something different, who drink because they enjoy it, and whose life plans begin as incoherent scrawls on the back of a dive bar napkin.