The short answer
- Best practical gift: get the thing he uses every day repaired or serviced, like resoling his favourite boots or servicing his watch. He'd never pay for it himself, because that means admitting it's worn out.
- Best experience gift: 2 tickets to a game or a show, with you in the other seat. The afternoon is the present.
- Best sentimental gift: Storyworth, which emails him a question about his life every week for a year and prints his answers as a hardcover book.
- Best everyday upgrade: Darn Tough merino socks, made in Vermont and guaranteed for life.
- A gift that lasts all year: 365 Days of World History. A page a day from ancient empires to modern times, starting January 1, with 1,000+ facts he'll repeat at dinner.
- Best book for Christmas week: Endurance by Alfred Lansing (1959). Shackleton's men stranded on the Antarctic ice, and every one of the 28 survived.
Each category is below. All 12 are in one table at the end.
An upgrade to something he uses every day
Look at what he's wearing out. The boots with the thin heel, the watch that loses 5 minutes a week. Pick one and have it fixed properly.
A cobbler can resole good boots, and a watchmaker can service a mechanical watch. He gets back the object he already loves, in better shape than when he bought it.
The other upgrade is socks. Darn Tough makes merino socks in Vermont with an unconditional lifetime guarantee, so when he wears through a heel they replace the pair. They'll be on his feet on December 26.
A day out
2 tickets to a game or a show he wouldn't book for himself, with you in the other seat. The afternoon is the gift, and the ticket is how you hand it over.
Put the date in the card. Tickets with a date get used.
His stories, written down
Storyworth emails him one question a week for a year: what was your first job, what was your own father like. He writes back, and at the end the answers are printed as a hardcover book. You can order extra copies for the rest of the family.
The free version is a phone and an afternoon. Ask him about the worst car he ever owned and press record. In 20 years it'll be the thing you're gladdest you kept.
A gift that lasts all year
A page-a-day book is a subscription that arrives all at once: 365 short readings, starting January 1. A December gift is in use a week later, and it's on his nightstand until the next Christmas.
365 Days of World History runs from ancient empires to modern times in order, one page a day, with 1,000+ facts. It suits the dad who watches history documentaries. ★4.5 across 61 Amazon ratings.
If he'd rather argue about ideas than collect facts, 365 Days of Philosophy gives a page each to 130+ thinkers, Socrates to Sartre. ★4.5 across 233 Amazon ratings. Gifts for philosophy lovers has more in that direction.
The best-known book in this format is The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman (2016), a Stoic passage and commentary for every date. It fits a dad who likes discipline and doesn't mind taking advice from Marcus Aurelius.
365 Days of World History is the wrong gift for a dad who's already read 20 books on the Civil War, because a page a day across all of history will feel thin to him. For him, gifts for history buffs sorts books by era. If you'd like to see the daily format first, the free daily philosophy email is one page each morning.
Books he'll finish
Endurance (1959) by Alfred Lansing is the Shackleton story. The ice crushed the ship in 1915 and left 28 men on the floes. Every one of them made it home.
The wreck was found in 2022, about 3,000 metres down in the Weddell Sea. That's your line when he opens it.
The Wright Brothers (2015) by David McCullough is 2 bicycle mechanics from Dayton teaching themselves to fly. McCullough won 2 Pulitzers, and this is his easiest book to love.
The Guns of August (1962) by Barbara Tuchman is the first month of the First World War, told like a novel. It won the Pulitzer, and military history readers still hand it to each other.
For fiction, Project Hail Mary (2021) by Andy Weir. A science teacher wakes up alone on a spaceship with no memory of how he got there, and works out the rest one problem at a time.
All 12 at a glance
| The gift | Category | Why he'll use it |
|---|---|---|
| His boots resoled or his watch serviced | An everyday upgrade | The thing he already loves, back in shape. |
| Darn Tough merino socks | An everyday upgrade | Made in Vermont, guaranteed for life. Worn on December 26. |
| 2 tickets, with you in the other seat | A day out | The afternoon is the present. |
| Storyworth | His stories | A question a week for a year, printed as a hardcover at the end. |
| An afternoon recording his stories | His stories | Free, and the one you'll be gladdest of in 20 years. |
| 365 Days of World History · ours | A gift that lasts all year | Ancient empires to modern times, one page a day from January 1. ★4.5 across 61 Amazon ratings. |
| 365 Days of Philosophy · ours | A gift that lasts all year | 130+ thinkers in order, one a page. ★4.5 across 233 Amazon ratings. |
| The Daily Stoic · Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman (2016) | A gift that lasts all year | Marcus Aurelius and friends, a page a day. |
| Endurance · Alfred Lansing (1959) | A book he'll finish | Shackleton's crew on the ice. All 28 came home. |
| The Wright Brothers · David McCullough (2015) | A book he'll finish | 2 bicycle mechanics from Dayton teach themselves to fly. |
| The Guns of August · Barbara Tuchman (1962) | A book he'll finish | August 1914, told like a thriller. Pulitzer winner. |
| Project Hail Mary · Andy Weir (2021) | A book he'll finish | A science teacher wakes up alone on a spaceship. Hard to put down. |
Timing, and what to write inside
Order printed books by mid-December. After that, send a Kindle book: Amazon's "Buy for others" button on the Kindle page takes his email and a delivery date.
Whatever you give, write in it. His name, the year, one line about why. It's the part he'll keep. More ideas for everyone else are in the holiday book gift guide and gifts for people who have everything.
Common questions
What do you get a dad who has everything?
Something he'll use or something about him. Get his favourite boots resoled or his watch serviced, take him to a game, sign him up for Storyworth, or give a page-a-day book such as 365 Days of World History that starts on January 1.
What is a meaningful gift for a dad?
His own stories, written down. Storyworth sends him a question a week for a year and prints the answers as a book. Recording an afternoon of him talking on your phone does a similar job for free.
What book should I get my dad for Christmas?
Endurance by Alfred Lansing for adventure, The Wright Brothers by David McCullough or The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman for history, Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir for fiction. For 5 minutes a day all year, 365 Days of World History.
What do you get a dad who says he doesn't want anything?
Time with you, with a date on it: 2 tickets to a game or a show. Or fix something he already owns, since that adds nothing to the house.
What is a good last-minute gift for dad?
A Kindle book. On the Amazon page for a Kindle edition, "Buy for others" lets you enter his email and a delivery date. 365 Days of World History and 365 Days of Philosophy both have Kindle editions.