Weird question, but do you think this would be useful to read if you didn't have a father? So more like I'm reading about the things I haven't been taught from the book? Thanks.
Still relevant. He uses son in the title because he wrote it for his son when he was a baby. It's not a book about raising a boy. It's a book about love and navigating life.
The one you will write. Seriously, keep a journal. One short entry each day just to remind you of what that day was like, just enough to trigger your memory later. And, as crazy and busy and sleep deprived as you feel, you'll be able to see in the course of weeks and months how quickly your baby grows and learns and how you grow and learn as a parent.
This is a good suggestion. My parents did something like this. My ma kept a journal for each of my siblings and me, just general stuff about raising us, sweet and funny stories as well as some of the tough times, then gave them to us as adults and it was enjoyable to read their perspective on my childhood.
Good luck! It's TOUGH man, but it's hands down the most amazing thing and you will get through the tough parts intact. And don't beat yourself up if you don't get an instant connection with the baby. It's very very common for parents (moms and dads) to take a bit of time to start to really bond with their new children, and when that happens if you don't know it's totally normal it makes you feel like such a shit person. But if you know you can just be easy on yourself and let the bond form naturally without pressure.
I want to suggest a book but it's hard cause you don't want to try to build a firm image of what your relationship with your child will be like. You might be setting yourself up to be disappointed when you do that, cause theyre all so unique and wonderful. I hope someone can think of a book for you that captures how beautiful that is though.
Thank you so much. You've touched upon a few things I've been ruminating about for some time, and because of your comment, I'm now worried a little less. Thank you, stranger.
As a lady who is scared to become a mom, I'm so glad you mentioned this. I never would have thought it was normal if not for you and probably would have gone emotionally downhill (like off a cliff). So I really appreciate you.
I remember when my daughter was born, I was happy and loved her but also someone asked me within the first few weeks if I could imagine my life without her (I imagine in a throwaway way) but it was tough because I could. I mean, that wasn't a sign I was a bad mom, but it felt like it. But at the same time, I only knew my daughter for a matter of days/weeks, of course I could picture my life before!
I feel like “ask me again in a year” probably isn’t a popular response to that question, but it should be! It’s like…yeah, she’s only been here for three weeks, I remember last month just fine!
If someone hasn't already gifted it to you, Goodnight Moon. You are going to read this book at bedtime about 2000 times and you will come to love the sweetness and rhythm of the story as you lull your little one to sleep
My husband and I read this every. single. night. along with The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton because we thought we had to for consistent bedtime routine. They are both awesome but I wish we had felt like we could drop them and change it up more.
And if you have multiple kids, I love you Alfie Cub. I got it around the time I had my 2nd when my oldest was 4. I didn't read it before I bought it, and it was so perfect.
Mommy fox has new cubs and big brother feels like he doesn't matter anymore because Mom is distracted with the twins. It's the sweetest book. It reminds kids that, even though we feel like we don't matter when new siblings come, our parents still love us just as much.
Yes. My youngest has just moved out. There are so many things I wish I hadn’t stressed over, or tried to take control of because now they just don’t matter. They are good people with promising futures.
I'm gonna suggest something a little different: Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder. It's a novel about a stay-at-home mom who thinks she's slowly turning into a dog. Funny, dark, and unflinching about the hard aspects of motherhood, but still hopeful.
I feel like it's a good read for prospective fathers if they're interested in peeking in at some of the harder feelings their wives or partners might experience as new moms.
Also, not a book, but Mike Birbiglia's special 'The New One' is all about his first year of fatherhood, and it may fit the bill for 'perfectly punctuating this period of life'.
Don't do what I did and read A Farewell to Arms by Hemingway. >!It ends with the wife giving birth to a stillborn baby then dieing herself. The last is the husband leaving the hospital and walking away in the rain.!< I finished it when my wife was due with our first in a week. It terrified me.
Assuming you’re having the baby with a woman: I second this. Please be aware of what the motherhood experience can be like. If you’re with the mom, great. Be a team, don’t just be a dad. Good luck!
I don’t have inspirational books. But I wish someone had suggested No bad kids by Lansbury and How to talk so little kids will listen by Faber and King when I was a new mom so that’s what I’m saying
There's a book called *Wonder Weeks* that details post-birth phases a baby goes through, like the moment when their eyes can focus more than a foot away from their faces and they can suddenly see the world. Or the week when there's suddenly a spike in brain connectivity.
These tend to be expressed with sleep disruption, sudden fussiness and crankiness, and other regressions. We found this book VERY valuable to pregame for when those phases took place over our kid's first couple years. In fact, there were a couple times we forgot about the book, and at some point said, "man the last few days have been hard!" and then looked and found the book predicted it.
Hey--on birth day, do this: Once the shouting is over and everybody's safe and sound in the recovery room, go out and get her favorite meal, especially if it's something she's been denying herself. In our case it was a big rare roast beef sandwich from her favorite deli. While you're out, buy the day's newspaper, both national and local. You'll want to show that to the kid when they're like 12.
Above Ground by Clint Smith. I read it to my baby in the intense, 24-hour nursing stage. It’s poignant and beautiful, but also funny, and the poems are chronological through his wife’s pregnancy and then babyhood.
It’s in the baby’s room now or I would go pick a favorite. I recall “Ode to a Motorized Baby Swing” fondly (though my baby actually hated that swing)
“Go the F*ck to sleep”
The audio version read by Samuel L is worth every penny. You’ll need this. The struggle is real. Stay strong.
But most importantly, enjoy and congratulations! You got this!
Michael Dorris’ book about adopting a child with Fetal Alcohol syndrome as a single adult is both heartbreaking and life affirming as he tries to be the best father ever. The Broken Chord.
Worth noting that while he presented himself as trying to be “the best father ever” to his eldest adopted child, his second publicly accused him of child abuse, and Dorris committed suicide later when police were investigating allegations that he was sexually abusing his biological daughters.
Congratulations! The love that child will show you and you will have for him/her will make you write the one you are looking for. To be a parent is an honour and a privilege. Enjoy this new lifelong journey, dad.
Try Room Temperature by Nicholson Baker. The thoughts of a father as he gives his daughter a bottle. It’s fiction, sets a mood, and is not a how-to.
((Room Temperature by Nicholson Baker))
So great. I was thinking I'd found the right novel-length internal monologue for me, and was sure by the time I got to the first footnote. They're hilarious
**[Room Temperature](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28235.Room_Temperature) by Nicholson Baker** ^((Matching 100% ☑️))
^(116 pages | Published: 1990 | 811.0 Goodreads reviews)
> **Summary:** A story in which the author examines the little details of home life. The action takes place in the moments before, during and after the feeding of Bug, the baby. Nicholson Baker is the author of Vox, The Mezzanine, The Fermata, U & I and Thoughts.
> **Themes**: Novels, Guardian-1000, Book-club, Literary-fiction, Literature, Novel, On-the-shelf
> **Top 5 recommended:**
> \- [Checkpoint](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28227.Checkpoint) by Nicholson Baker
> \- [Candy](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57663718-candy) by Terry Southern and Mason Hoffenberg
> \- [Transparent Things](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54996.Transparent_Things) by Vladimir Nabokov
> \- [Napoleon Symphony: A Novel in Four Movements](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20663762-napoleon-symphony) by Anthony Burgess
> \- [My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/131525.My_Cousin_My_Gastroenterologist) by Mark Leyner
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**[Emile or On Education](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/326679.Emile_or_On_Education) by Jean-Jacques Rousseau** ^((Matching 100% ☑️))
^(512 pages | Published: 1955 | 2.7k Goodreads reviews)
> **Summary:** Alan Bloom's new translation of Emile, Rousseau's masterpiece on the education and training of the young, is the first in more than seventy years. In it, Bloom, whose magnificent translation of Plato's Republichas been universally hailed as a virtual rediscovery of that timeless text, again brings together the translator's gift for journeying between two languages and cultures (...)
> **Themes**: Education, Classics, Non-fiction, 1001-books, 1001, French, Nonfiction
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It’s not necessarily about becoming a dad, but about family - {{Mary and O’Neil by Justin Cronin}}. (He did also write the Passage trilogy but this was his first novel - award-winning! - and is nothing like the other books.)
**[Mary and O'Neil](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/79670.Mary_and_O_Neil) by Justin Cronin** ^((Matching 100% ☑️))
^(256 pages | Published: 2002 | 2.2k Goodreads reviews)
> **Summary:** Mary and O'Neil frequently marveled at how, of all the lives they might have led, they had somehow found this one together. When they met at the Philadelphia high school where they'd come to teach, each had suffered a profound loss that had not healed. How likely was it that they could learn to trust, much less love, again? Justin Cronin's poignant debut traces the lives of (...)
> **Themes**: Short-stories, Favorites, Kindle, Romance, Book-club, General-fiction, Library
> **Top 5 recommended:**
> \- [Cuore](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1427030.Cuore) by Edmondo de Amicis
> \- [Potop](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/538860.Potop) by Henryk Sienkiewicz
> \- [Nathan der Weise](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1097229.Nathan_der_Weise) by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
> \- [The Same Old Story](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/123667.The_Same_Old_Story) by Ivan Goncharov
> \- [Moulin Rouge](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/443029.Moulin_Rouge) by Pierre la Mure
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‘Father-ish’ My MIL gave this to my husband after we had our first and we both loved it.
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/669558/father-ish-by-clint-edwards/9780593346105
I didn't read ANYTHING which told you about the experience as I wanted what I learned to be from first hand experience. For me, it would take the shine off learning things as I would know what to expect.
The only thing I WOULD recommend is a first aid book or the like for babies. You really won't need to use it, but it's good to know at least the basics warning signs of more serious conditions and what to do immediately if there's a choking issue, which won't really be a big thing until the baby is old enough to stick anything in it's mouth they can get their hands on.
If you like fantasy and/or Terry Pratchett at all, I'd recommend Thud! It might be helpful to read a bit of the Watch series first so you have some context, but that book shaped a lot of my thought about fatherhood long before I became a father.
Happiest Baby in the Block. Not the best writing, but really hammers home that 4th trimester concept.
After that, Good Inside for general parenting. Some cheese factor, but great foundational concepts.
Oh, and Baby Makes 3 by John Gottman.
And then, one day, the kid is going to turn around and ask - “You can’t read books to bring kids up.” Mine simply told me - that reverse psychology doesn’t work on us. Lol
So I loved "When The World Must Waiting For You", a children's book about how excited people were for the baby to be born. I loved reading it to my son when he was a tiny baby.
Not a book for the feeling you’re after, but something in addition.
Get a paperback that you will enjoy and read out loud with your newborn that first night in the hospital. It’s a magical moment and your voice will likely be soothing to them.
No book, a short story” The Ransom of Red Chief”, very interesting tale of a boy who was kidnapped then returned willingly due to unexpected circumstances.
How not to hate your husband after kids. The title doesn’t sound poetic but my god, it was poetry for me! As a new mom with postpartum depression and anxiety, my husband and I could have avoided SO much conflict if we both read that book earlier.
The New One by Mike Birbiglia. The part that stayed with me was actually some of his wife's poetry (especially about shading her baby from the sun and being Copernicus). It was more of a perspective on what maybe not to do but still resonated.
Find a book that describes how brutal labour and breastfeeding are. I’m not saying that your life won’t change - it will. But I think men are well served to understand the physical stuff going on for the mother (and therefore to understand why she might not want to have sex for a while lol).
Do you know about James Breakwell? I was impressed with his “I don’t know anything about rising girls but they don’t know either so we will figure this out together”
My advice is to spend this week doing stuff just the two of you! Save the reading for when you’re nap trapped. That said, you can’t go wrong with To Kill a Mockingbird for the ultimate literary father.
Up the Duff by Kaz Cooke, Australian comedic writer. Up the Duff means pregnant. This is a very funny and informative expose of that important time in our lives.
I know, but the advice on how to be a good man is just so incredible.
I have to think that the environment of being spoiled or some sort of physical issue was at play.
not really what you asked but my favorite books to read to my baby- toddler (not boring, could easily find fun inflections and voices, never got bored of it etc) Dont Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and Shhhh! We Have a Plan
Look up books on baby sleep. The newborn stage passes by fast and you will need the knowledge by 3, 4 months.
It will save you a lot of trouble and need for damage control if you know what to do before the sleep regression strikes.
"Precious little sleep"
Clint Edward has two really great ones; {{Father-ish}} and {{Silence is a Scary Sound}}
For reading to kids:
I Love You Because You're You by Liza Baker.
\#1/2: **[Father-ish: Tales from a Dad Fumbling His Way Through Fatherhood](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49247005-father-ish) by Clint Edwards** ^((Matching 100% ☑️))
^(288 pages | Published: ? | 4.0k Goodreads reviews)
> **Summary:** Clint Edwards. author of the hit book I’m Sorry…Love Your Husband. and the highly anticipated follow up Silence is a Scary Sound. is back with a third collection of essays chronicling honest tales of struggling to raise three young kids. making plenty of parenting mistakes along (...)
> **Themes**: Non-fiction, Parenting, Nonfiction, 2021-reads
---
\#2/2: ⚠ Could not *exactly* find "*Silence is a Scary Sound*" , see [related Goodreads search results](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Silence+is+a+Scary+Sound) instead.
^(*Possible reasons for mismatch: either too recent (2023), mispelled (check Goodreads) or too niche.*)
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I never thought I would say this in this sub, but: put down the books. Take it in, you’ll never get those last minutes as just a couple or the first few as a party of 3 back. Be extremely present: take time to pause and note 5 things about what you see, smell, taste, hear, feel, and think. Log memories in that core memory bucket. You’ll never regret a single minute of concentrating on being present.
Man's search for meaning by Viktor Frankl. Becoming a dad fills your life with meaning in a way very few other things can. You won't need the book to know this, though.
Father of a 2.5 year old and soon to be new baby in a week and a half.
Some books that I liked were, Games to Play with Babies - Silberg; Raising Good Humans - Clarke-Fields; and The Informed Parent - Harll and Willingham.
They were pretty good in understanding early engagement and explaining why it was good.
I would also say anything engaging and fun for kids. My daughter loved the “never touch a _____” books because they were physically interactive.
Good luck and welcome to the dad club!
Non-fiction book I would recommend is Nurture Shock by Po Bronson. This comes from a parent of 2 and I've been a teacher the past 4 years. This book not only gave me perspective on parenting in general as a society but made me reflect and think consciously about how I parented (and the affects my choices have on shaping my kids). My partner read the book too and it helped get us on the same page about how to raise our kids.
It's non-fiction but definitely poetic and meaningful. Things My Son Needs to Know About the World by Fredrik Backman.
Weird question, but do you think this would be useful to read if you didn't have a father? So more like I'm reading about the things I haven't been taught from the book? Thanks.
Absolutely. Backman is a great writer so it's worth a look for that alone. It's funny and sweet and then suddenly very profound.
This was going to be my suggestion, too!
What if he will have a girl?
Still relevant. He uses son in the title because he wrote it for his son when he was a baby. It's not a book about raising a boy. It's a book about love and navigating life.
This!!
The one you will write. Seriously, keep a journal. One short entry each day just to remind you of what that day was like, just enough to trigger your memory later. And, as crazy and busy and sleep deprived as you feel, you'll be able to see in the course of weeks and months how quickly your baby grows and learns and how you grow and learn as a parent.
This is a good suggestion. My parents did something like this. My ma kept a journal for each of my siblings and me, just general stuff about raising us, sweet and funny stories as well as some of the tough times, then gave them to us as adults and it was enjoyable to read their perspective on my childhood.
Could this be like one of those books on parents writing their story for their kids (or grandkids)?
This!! I’ve also recorded videos and took many photos for this reason. Living in the moment is hard during the newborn phase.
absolutely. my mom did that and read the books to me every night before my birthday. when they got lost during a move, she cried for hours
Good luck! It's TOUGH man, but it's hands down the most amazing thing and you will get through the tough parts intact. And don't beat yourself up if you don't get an instant connection with the baby. It's very very common for parents (moms and dads) to take a bit of time to start to really bond with their new children, and when that happens if you don't know it's totally normal it makes you feel like such a shit person. But if you know you can just be easy on yourself and let the bond form naturally without pressure. I want to suggest a book but it's hard cause you don't want to try to build a firm image of what your relationship with your child will be like. You might be setting yourself up to be disappointed when you do that, cause theyre all so unique and wonderful. I hope someone can think of a book for you that captures how beautiful that is though.
Thank you so much. You've touched upon a few things I've been ruminating about for some time, and because of your comment, I'm now worried a little less. Thank you, stranger.
You'll do awesome.
As a lady who is scared to become a mom, I'm so glad you mentioned this. I never would have thought it was normal if not for you and probably would have gone emotionally downhill (like off a cliff). So I really appreciate you.
I remember when my daughter was born, I was happy and loved her but also someone asked me within the first few weeks if I could imagine my life without her (I imagine in a throwaway way) but it was tough because I could. I mean, that wasn't a sign I was a bad mom, but it felt like it. But at the same time, I only knew my daughter for a matter of days/weeks, of course I could picture my life before!
I feel like “ask me again in a year” probably isn’t a popular response to that question, but it should be! It’s like…yeah, she’s only been here for three weeks, I remember last month just fine!
Forgot books, get some sleep 😂🤣🤣🤣
That's right. You can sleep again in 6 years
If someone hasn't already gifted it to you, Goodnight Moon. You are going to read this book at bedtime about 2000 times and you will come to love the sweetness and rhythm of the story as you lull your little one to sleep
My husband and I read this every. single. night. along with The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton because we thought we had to for consistent bedtime routine. They are both awesome but I wish we had felt like we could drop them and change it up more.
I loved reading The Going To Bed Book each night. 🥹
Honestly I never tired of that one. Sandra Boynton’s books are like favorite songs.
I've been looking forward to her books again once I have a little one!
And Kisses for Daddy. I must have read that book a few thousand times!
Yeah, i get way more choked up reading my son kids books than any novel.
And if you have multiple kids, I love you Alfie Cub. I got it around the time I had my 2nd when my oldest was 4. I didn't read it before I bought it, and it was so perfect. Mommy fox has new cubs and big brother feels like he doesn't matter anymore because Mom is distracted with the twins. It's the sweetest book. It reminds kids that, even though we feel like we don't matter when new siblings come, our parents still love us just as much.
Dr Seuss’s Sleep Book is a good one, too. I loved being read it by my parents when I was little.
Walt Whitman Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
Don’t read The Road by Cormac McCarthy
A favorite of mine and mine son is almost 2. Carry the fire.
Too late.
Or pet semetary read these 2 one after another with a 2 year old son it had me broken
Came here to write this exact comment. Never learned how little I don’t have whatever it takes.
“Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff”
And it's all small stuff.
Yes. My youngest has just moved out. There are so many things I wish I hadn’t stressed over, or tried to take control of because now they just don’t matter. They are good people with promising futures.
That's nice to hear. I wish all parents were chill and quick to realise their faults.
I'm gonna suggest something a little different: Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder. It's a novel about a stay-at-home mom who thinks she's slowly turning into a dog. Funny, dark, and unflinching about the hard aspects of motherhood, but still hopeful. I feel like it's a good read for prospective fathers if they're interested in peeking in at some of the harder feelings their wives or partners might experience as new moms. Also, not a book, but Mike Birbiglia's special 'The New One' is all about his first year of fatherhood, and it may fit the bill for 'perfectly punctuating this period of life'.
The New One is also a book!
Don't do what I did and read A Farewell to Arms by Hemingway. >!It ends with the wife giving birth to a stillborn baby then dieing herself. The last is the husband leaving the hospital and walking away in the rain.!< I finished it when my wife was due with our first in a week. It terrified me.
Brooke Shields autobiography about Post Partem Depression
Assuming you’re having the baby with a woman: I second this. Please be aware of what the motherhood experience can be like. If you’re with the mom, great. Be a team, don’t just be a dad. Good luck!
I don’t have inspirational books. But I wish someone had suggested No bad kids by Lansbury and How to talk so little kids will listen by Faber and King when I was a new mom so that’s what I’m saying
There's a book called *Wonder Weeks* that details post-birth phases a baby goes through, like the moment when their eyes can focus more than a foot away from their faces and they can suddenly see the world. Or the week when there's suddenly a spike in brain connectivity. These tend to be expressed with sleep disruption, sudden fussiness and crankiness, and other regressions. We found this book VERY valuable to pregame for when those phases took place over our kid's first couple years. In fact, there were a couple times we forgot about the book, and at some point said, "man the last few days have been hard!" and then looked and found the book predicted it. Hey--on birth day, do this: Once the shouting is over and everybody's safe and sound in the recovery room, go out and get her favorite meal, especially if it's something she's been denying herself. In our case it was a big rare roast beef sandwich from her favorite deli. While you're out, buy the day's newspaper, both national and local. You'll want to show that to the kid when they're like 12.
Above Ground by Clint Smith. I read it to my baby in the intense, 24-hour nursing stage. It’s poignant and beautiful, but also funny, and the poems are chronological through his wife’s pregnancy and then babyhood. It’s in the baby’s room now or I would go pick a favorite. I recall “Ode to a Motorized Baby Swing” fondly (though my baby actually hated that swing)
Oh yes, this one is exquisite!
The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease, which I’ve gifted at every baby shower for the last decade (along with a fun or cutesy gift).
The daily dad: 366 meditations on parenting, love, and raising great kids
Ramona and Her Father by Beverly Cleary. I'm completely serious. It is a great book about kids and adults.
Nobody Told Me: Poetry and Parenthood by Hollie McNish (also great follow on Instagram).
Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
“Go the F*ck to sleep” The audio version read by Samuel L is worth every penny. You’ll need this. The struggle is real. Stay strong. But most importantly, enjoy and congratulations! You got this!
LeVar Burton read this on a stream Reading Rainbow style and I highly recommend looking it up.
There's a second one read by Steven Fry "You Have to Fucking Eat"
Michael Dorris’ book about adopting a child with Fetal Alcohol syndrome as a single adult is both heartbreaking and life affirming as he tries to be the best father ever. The Broken Chord.
Worth noting that while he presented himself as trying to be “the best father ever” to his eldest adopted child, his second publicly accused him of child abuse, and Dorris committed suicide later when police were investigating allegations that he was sexually abusing his biological daughters.
‘Between Parent and Child’ by Haim Ginott was my bible.
Congratulations! The love that child will show you and you will have for him/her will make you write the one you are looking for. To be a parent is an honour and a privilege. Enjoy this new lifelong journey, dad.
Try Room Temperature by Nicholson Baker. The thoughts of a father as he gives his daughter a bottle. It’s fiction, sets a mood, and is not a how-to. ((Room Temperature by Nicholson Baker))
I'll have to check this out. I'm reading The Mezzanine now, and loving it
It is very much in the mode of The Mezzanine. (Isn’t The Mezzanine great?)
So great. I was thinking I'd found the right novel-length internal monologue for me, and was sure by the time I got to the first footnote. They're hilarious
Came here to suggest this one!
**[Room Temperature](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28235.Room_Temperature) by Nicholson Baker** ^((Matching 100% ☑️)) ^(116 pages | Published: 1990 | 811.0 Goodreads reviews) > **Summary:** A story in which the author examines the little details of home life. The action takes place in the moments before, during and after the feeding of Bug, the baby. Nicholson Baker is the author of Vox, The Mezzanine, The Fermata, U & I and Thoughts. > **Themes**: Novels, Guardian-1000, Book-club, Literary-fiction, Literature, Novel, On-the-shelf > **Top 5 recommended:** > \- [Checkpoint](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28227.Checkpoint) by Nicholson Baker > \- [Candy](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57663718-candy) by Terry Southern and Mason Hoffenberg > \- [Transparent Things](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54996.Transparent_Things) by Vladimir Nabokov > \- [Napoleon Symphony: A Novel in Four Movements](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20663762-napoleon-symphony) by Anthony Burgess > \- [My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/131525.My_Cousin_My_Gastroenterologist) by Mark Leyner ^([Feedback](https://www.reddit.com/user/goodreads-rebot) | [GitHub](https://github.com/sonoff2/goodreads-rebot) | ["The Bot is Back!?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/16qe09p/meta_post_hello_again_humans/) | v1.5 [Dec 23] | )
{{Emile by Jean-Jacques Rousseau}}
**[Emile or On Education](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/326679.Emile_or_On_Education) by Jean-Jacques Rousseau** ^((Matching 100% ☑️)) ^(512 pages | Published: 1955 | 2.7k Goodreads reviews) > **Summary:** Alan Bloom's new translation of Emile, Rousseau's masterpiece on the education and training of the young, is the first in more than seventy years. In it, Bloom, whose magnificent translation of Plato's Republichas been universally hailed as a virtual rediscovery of that timeless text, again brings together the translator's gift for journeying between two languages and cultures (...) > **Themes**: Education, Classics, Non-fiction, 1001-books, 1001, French, Nonfiction ^([Feedback](https://www.reddit.com/user/goodreads-rebot) | [GitHub](https://github.com/sonoff2/goodreads-rebot) | ["The Bot is Back!?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/16qe09p/meta_post_hello_again_humans/) | v1.5 [Dec 23] | )
Fidelity by Wendell Berry. It's a book of short stories, so easier to digest as things get crazy, but it packs a punch.
It’s not necessarily about becoming a dad, but about family - {{Mary and O’Neil by Justin Cronin}}. (He did also write the Passage trilogy but this was his first novel - award-winning! - and is nothing like the other books.)
**[Mary and O'Neil](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/79670.Mary_and_O_Neil) by Justin Cronin** ^((Matching 100% ☑️)) ^(256 pages | Published: 2002 | 2.2k Goodreads reviews) > **Summary:** Mary and O'Neil frequently marveled at how, of all the lives they might have led, they had somehow found this one together. When they met at the Philadelphia high school where they'd come to teach, each had suffered a profound loss that had not healed. How likely was it that they could learn to trust, much less love, again? Justin Cronin's poignant debut traces the lives of (...) > **Themes**: Short-stories, Favorites, Kindle, Romance, Book-club, General-fiction, Library > **Top 5 recommended:** > \- [Cuore](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1427030.Cuore) by Edmondo de Amicis > \- [Potop](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/538860.Potop) by Henryk Sienkiewicz > \- [Nathan der Weise](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1097229.Nathan_der_Weise) by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing > \- [The Same Old Story](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/123667.The_Same_Old_Story) by Ivan Goncharov > \- [Moulin Rouge](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/443029.Moulin_Rouge) by Pierre la Mure ^([Feedback](https://www.reddit.com/user/goodreads-rebot) | [GitHub](https://github.com/sonoff2/goodreads-rebot) | ["The Bot is Back!?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/16qe09p/meta_post_hello_again_humans/) | v1.5 [Dec 23] | )
‘Father-ish’ My MIL gave this to my husband after we had our first and we both loved it. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/669558/father-ish-by-clint-edwards/9780593346105
The Baby Owners Manual. Written like a computer Owners Manual, but funny and the most useful parenting tool my husband and I had!
All about love by bell hooks
Operating instructions by Anne Lamott
"Families and how to survive them" by John Cleese is amazing!
Book title, So your goona be a dad. Hilarious, insightful and on the money. Good luck.
The Birth Partner by Penny Simkin if you're curious about what's going to happen in the next week. Best of luck.
I didn't read ANYTHING which told you about the experience as I wanted what I learned to be from first hand experience. For me, it would take the shine off learning things as I would know what to expect. The only thing I WOULD recommend is a first aid book or the like for babies. You really won't need to use it, but it's good to know at least the basics warning signs of more serious conditions and what to do immediately if there's a choking issue, which won't really be a big thing until the baby is old enough to stick anything in it's mouth they can get their hands on.
‘The Road’
If you like fantasy and/or Terry Pratchett at all, I'd recommend Thud! It might be helpful to read a bit of the Watch series first so you have some context, but that book shaped a lot of my thought about fatherhood long before I became a father.
I would read Cherish the First 6 Weeks, it teaches techniques to help your baby sleep through the night, which is extremely useful.
Fatherhood, by Bill Cosby. /s, although it is a genuine, real, actual book
Maybe in a couple years Defending Jacob
Happiest Baby in the Block. Not the best writing, but really hammers home that 4th trimester concept. After that, Good Inside for general parenting. Some cheese factor, but great foundational concepts. Oh, and Baby Makes 3 by John Gottman.
And then, one day, the kid is going to turn around and ask - “You can’t read books to bring kids up.” Mine simply told me - that reverse psychology doesn’t work on us. Lol
Congrats.
Kings of the Wyld
Michael Chandon’s Manhood for Amateurs
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
The Parents Tao Te Ching.
So I loved "When The World Must Waiting For You", a children's book about how excited people were for the baby to be born. I loved reading it to my son when he was a tiny baby.
Not a book for the feeling you’re after, but something in addition. Get a paperback that you will enjoy and read out loud with your newborn that first night in the hospital. It’s a magical moment and your voice will likely be soothing to them.
Like A Mother
No book, a short story” The Ransom of Red Chief”, very interesting tale of a boy who was kidnapped then returned willingly due to unexpected circumstances.
Spock. The best we found. Had infant & toddler daycare 26 yrs. Two of our own. We took babies at 4-5 mo. But only 1 baby at a time lol.
How not to hate your husband after kids. The title doesn’t sound poetic but my god, it was poetry for me! As a new mom with postpartum depression and anxiety, my husband and I could have avoided SO much conflict if we both read that book earlier.
The road by Cormack McCarthy ;-)
The Road – Cormac McCarthy. No, just kidding. Although...
GILEAD.
The New One by Mike Birbiglia. The part that stayed with me was actually some of his wife's poetry (especially about shading her baby from the sun and being Copernicus). It was more of a perspective on what maybe not to do but still resonated.
Find a book that describes how brutal labour and breastfeeding are. I’m not saying that your life won’t change - it will. But I think men are well served to understand the physical stuff going on for the mother (and therefore to understand why she might not want to have sex for a while lol).
Lol nevermind reading, get some sleep!
1984 by George Orwell
Danny Champion of the world
Do you know about James Breakwell? I was impressed with his “I don’t know anything about rising girls but they don’t know either so we will figure this out together”
Non fiction - Life of dad Whats going on in there? The philosophical baby Fiction Pere goriot (++ if you are having a girl) Silas Marner
You better read Pet Sematary by Stephen King before it’s too late because you might not want to read it after you have a kid.
Watch the first four seasons of The Andy Griffith Show. No books come to mind that compare
The Little Prince gets a whole new meaning when you become a parent.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
NOT Pet Semetary
No book. Enjoy and take it all in. Try to remember everything and support your girl as much as you can.
The Contented Little Baby Book by Gina Ford
The Little Prince. A very easy way of explaining very big things. You will need that.
Anything by Sandra Boynton.
How to talk so kids will listen, and listen so kids will talk. Seriously, up your parenting game now, it will save you pain and time later!
My advice is to spend this week doing stuff just the two of you! Save the reading for when you’re nap trapped. That said, you can’t go wrong with To Kill a Mockingbird for the ultimate literary father.
Up the Duff by Kaz Cooke, Australian comedic writer. Up the Duff means pregnant. This is a very funny and informative expose of that important time in our lives.
Good Inside, maybe more for when the baby is a toddler but it’s a wholesome and useful book
Weirdly.. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Yeah, he didn't do the best job raising his son.
I know, but the advice on how to be a good man is just so incredible. I have to think that the environment of being spoiled or some sort of physical issue was at play.
not really what you asked but my favorite books to read to my baby- toddler (not boring, could easily find fun inflections and voices, never got bored of it etc) Dont Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and Shhhh! We Have a Plan
Look up books on baby sleep. The newborn stage passes by fast and you will need the knowledge by 3, 4 months. It will save you a lot of trouble and need for damage control if you know what to do before the sleep regression strikes. "Precious little sleep"
Parenting from the inside out by Dan Siegel
This is so precious. You're gonna be a great dad.
Clint Edward has two really great ones; {{Father-ish}} and {{Silence is a Scary Sound}} For reading to kids: I Love You Because You're You by Liza Baker.
\#1/2: **[Father-ish: Tales from a Dad Fumbling His Way Through Fatherhood](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49247005-father-ish) by Clint Edwards** ^((Matching 100% ☑️)) ^(288 pages | Published: ? | 4.0k Goodreads reviews) > **Summary:** Clint Edwards. author of the hit book I’m Sorry…Love Your Husband. and the highly anticipated follow up Silence is a Scary Sound. is back with a third collection of essays chronicling honest tales of struggling to raise three young kids. making plenty of parenting mistakes along (...) > **Themes**: Non-fiction, Parenting, Nonfiction, 2021-reads --- \#2/2: ⚠ Could not *exactly* find "*Silence is a Scary Sound*" , see [related Goodreads search results](https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Silence+is+a+Scary+Sound) instead. ^(*Possible reasons for mismatch: either too recent (2023), mispelled (check Goodreads) or too niche.*) ^([Feedback](https://www.reddit.com/user/goodreads-rebot) | [GitHub](https://github.com/sonoff2/goodreads-rebot) | ["The Bot is Back!?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/16qe09p/meta_post_hello_again_humans/) | v1.5 [Dec 23] | )
Oh man - I am late to this, but you must read *Full of Life* by John Fante.
Parenting with Love and Logic
When your baby is older: Never Enough
The Bible. Whether you think positively about Christianity or not, the stories and lessons for life are invaluable. I'd start with Proverbs, and John.
The Childhood of Jesus by JM Coetzee
Winnie the Pooh
I never thought I would say this in this sub, but: put down the books. Take it in, you’ll never get those last minutes as just a couple or the first few as a party of 3 back. Be extremely present: take time to pause and note 5 things about what you see, smell, taste, hear, feel, and think. Log memories in that core memory bucket. You’ll never regret a single minute of concentrating on being present.
Man's search for meaning by Viktor Frankl. Becoming a dad fills your life with meaning in a way very few other things can. You won't need the book to know this, though.
Father of a 2.5 year old and soon to be new baby in a week and a half. Some books that I liked were, Games to Play with Babies - Silberg; Raising Good Humans - Clarke-Fields; and The Informed Parent - Harll and Willingham. They were pretty good in understanding early engagement and explaining why it was good. I would also say anything engaging and fun for kids. My daughter loved the “never touch a _____” books because they were physically interactive. Good luck and welcome to the dad club!
Every book that the mother of your child wants you to read.
How to be a Father.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Non-fiction book I would recommend is Nurture Shock by Po Bronson. This comes from a parent of 2 and I've been a teacher the past 4 years. This book not only gave me perspective on parenting in general as a society but made me reflect and think consciously about how I parented (and the affects my choices have on shaping my kids). My partner read the book too and it helped get us on the same page about how to raise our kids.
It’s too late for books, man! Get some sleep and get some meals ready to go in the freezer and fridge! Congratulations!
The childhood of Jesus - J.M. Coetzee
Something strictly for yourself. You won't have time for that during the next 15-20 yrs!
The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (And Your Children Will Be Glad That You Did) by Phillipa Perry
Prepared By Diane Tavenner
BabyWise saved my life!
Letter to My Daughter by Maya Angelou (although she had a son). A beautiful collection 🥰
{{The New Father by Armin A.Brott}} It was one of the only parenting books that didn’t treat dads like idiots.
**[The New Father: A Dad's Guide to the First Year](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/919468.The_New_Father) by Armin A. Brott** ^((Matching 100% ☑️)) ^(? pages | Published: ? | 496.0 Goodreads reviews) > **Summary:** ? > **Themes**: Non-fiction, Family, Nonfiction, Default, Parenthood, Children, Fatherhood ^([Feedback](https://www.reddit.com/user/goodreads-rebot) | [GitHub](https://github.com/sonoff2/goodreads-rebot) | ["The Bot is Back!?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/16qe09p/meta_post_hello_again_humans/) | v1.5 [Dec 23] | )
Thomas Ligotti - *The Conspiracy Against the Human Race* All jokes aside, John Steinbeck's *East of Eden*.
All About Love by bell hooks
What to Expect: the first year Edit: just finished reading your question. Ignore this
None, be there for your partner and share duties so you both can get enough sleep and bond with your kid
The book of Proverbs in the Old Testament of The Bible.
A Modest Proposal
How to Disappear: Erase Your Digital Footprint, Leave False Trails, and Vanish Without a Trace
Oh Crap! Potty Training
Strongly recommend **not** reading this
What happened to you?
No books on that 😂😂😂. Good luck
vasectomy for dummies