Despite its Mother's Day peg, Ann Hulbert's book recommendations in this Slate.com column are exactly what most parents need in this age of hyper-anxiety and helicopter hovering.

Some of the titles speak for themselves, like David Anderegg's Worried All the Time and Grolnick and Seal's Pressured Parents and Stressed Out Kids. But Hulbert takes a lateral look as well, praising Benjamin Nugent's American Nerd: A Story of My People, which should be on your reading list just for the subtitle alone.

Frankly, it's a great list for Father's Day as well. Rather than view this round-up as past its expiration date, let's think about which as these titles you'll be getting the dad in your life (or for yourself, if you're a dad). Unless you really want to buy Pops yet another tie...