2012 Book Reading Update

I read the book Sh*t My Dad says by Justin Halpern;

Now yes the title is provocative & fair warning the book is a bit crass.  I picked it up off recommendations from others who read it & to be honest I was bit skeptical when I started reading the book but was profoundly surprised by a few things, one being how much care Justin's dad had for his son, family & the extremes he went to show it.


The Book is written from the perspective of Justin who, as a son, recalls all these stories of growing up in San Diego with his dad who was a cancer researcher for his entire professional career.  Justin shares candidly about his ups & downs in life as a young boy as well as growing into adulthood and how his relationship with his dad helped shape it.  His stories are blunt, honest & gave the reader a perspective of having a dad who was raised in a very rural context in Kentucky, coming from nothing & gaining a lot of exposure in the medical world to raise a family in San Diego, California.


What I kept seeing through the whole book is a dad who has his son's best interest in mind.  I LOVED some of the side conversations Justin shared that he and his dad had about baseball, dating, money, faith, school, education, death, responsibility & marraige.  I LOVED them because it models a dad who took a lot of intentional moments to speak into his sons life.  You could argue that how the dad handled the conversations wasn't "the best" but it begs to discuss the question; Is there really a "best way" to raise kids.  
There was also some great nuggets of insight into this relationship about two people who don't have a faith conviction of any form about death & the afterlife.


I'm not endorsing this book to everyone to read, but for myself reading this book gave me some great content to use in talking with parents as well as being forced to re-think how some families handle life discussions with their kids.


Amazon Link