While many graduation ceremonies have been done and dusted, yet others are right around the corner, just like dad’s day as well! Finding the perfect gifts with heart for dads and grads can feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be.

So here is a post just to celebrate them – with ideas and gifts! These gifts with heart for dads and grads go beyond the usual — they’re designed to create memories, show appreciation, and light up their day.

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Five Creative Gifts With Heart for Dads and Grads

👔💙 5 Heartfelt Gifts for Dads (That He’ll Actually Love)

1. “Dadventure” Day
   Plan a day of mini adventures based on his favorite things — a hike, a movie marathon, karaoke, comedy sketches, even a backyard campfire with s’mores counts!
2. Framed Dad-isms
   Collect all his famous sayings and turn them into a word art print or quirky quote collage. And add this book to celebrate his Daditude!
3. Tools + Tokens
   Gift a toolbox — and in addition to some real tools, add heartfelt notes, treats, and tiny “you fix everything” thank-you tokens. Plus, as a bonus, include this sweet board-book shaped like a, well, a toolbox – You’re the Coolest Dad in the Box!
4. A Playlist + Handwritten Track List
   Curate a mix of “dad vibes” — songs that remind you of him, his favorites, or tunes from your shared memories. Pair it with a handwritten list and doodles. Include this cool popup card like a record player, or this one, thanking dad for their taste in music
5. Memory Jar with Mini Notes
   Each slip of paper holds a thank-you, a memory, or a reason he’s awesome. It’s a hug in a jar — and he’ll keep going back for refills.

For more gift ideas for dad, check out the following posts

• Five Fantastic Finds for Father’s Day and More
• Dadurday to Celebrate Wonderful Dads Everyday and Everywhere
• 15 Books to Gift Dad for Father’s Day
• Great Bookish Gifts For Dad on Father’s Day
• The Best Poems for Dad Everyday

🎓💡 5 Meaningful Gifts for College Grads

1. The “Adulting” Starter Kit
   A basket of essentials for post-college life — for example – this fun adulting note pad, a recipe book filled with family favorite recipes (ones from mom, dad, grandmoms, and more), a good pen, a fun card to congratulate them!
2. Custom Keepsake or Illustration
   Celebrate their journey with a personalized print of their college map, a drawing of their cap and gown moment, or you could gift a book where friends/family can write messages, wishes, and memories.
3. A Really Good Work Bag
   A sleek backpack or messenger bag or tote that’s ready for commutes, interviews, or cross-town adventures — because professionalism doesn’t have to be boring.
4. A Letter to (or from) Their Future Self
   Write them a note for their “next big moment” a few years from now, date it, — and seal it. Or write them a letter from “five years in the future,” encouraging them with the wisdom they don’t know they need yet.
   • Bonus: include a tiny trinket or photo to go with it.
5. Books that Inspire
   • The Defining Decade by Meg Jay
   • The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
   • How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question by Michael Schur
   • Make Your Bed by Admiral William H. McRaven
   • Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon

And for inspiring quotes for your grads, check out this post. If your child is years away from graduation and just starting school, then this is the post for you – A How to Guide: ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go’ Graduation Gift

The Bookish Five Featuring Heart Lamp

Kannada wasn’t the language I spoke at home, but it was an integral part of my everyday life growing up in Karnataka. It was the language of school lessons, street signs, casual conversations, and local stories. While Tamil was my mother language, Kannada – along with English and Hindi – was part of my academic life. Thus, Kannada became a language I grew comfortable with—familiar, practical, and rooted in place.

So when Banu Mushtaq’s Heart Lamp won the Booker Prize, it felt significant. Not just because of the global recognition, but because a language that shaped so much of my day-to-day life is being celebrated on an international platform.

Heart Lamp

I read part of one of the short stories within in both the original Kannada (found it on Mushtaq’s blog here) and in the translated version in Heart Lamp; loved them both!

(1 & 2) Book Beginnings and First Line Friday

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY is hosted by Rose City Reader. What book are you happy about reading this week? Please share the opening sentence (or so) on BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY! Add the link to your blog or social media post and visit other blogs to see what others are reading.

Happy Friday and welcome to the FIRST LINE FRIDAY, hosted by Reading is My Superpower! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line.

3 Friday 56

THE FRIDAY 56 is hosted by Anne at HeadFullofBooks. To play, open a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% on your e-reader). Find a sentence or two and post them, along with the book title and author. Then link up and visit others in the linky. 

4 Book Blogger Hop

The purpose of THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, and befriend other bloggers. THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.  

23rd – 29th – A songwriter composes a song about your love for books. What would the song’s title be?

A few titles came to my mind, including ‘Bookmarked Moments,’ and ‘Once Upon My Bookshelf’ but once I decided on this third one, I couldn’t stop myself, and ended up writing a little song! And for those of you who want more songs just for bibliophiles, check out these 13 Great Enjoyable Songs Perfect For Book Lovers

My Heart Between the Lines

I opened the door called a book one day,
I wandered into pages, let my cares drift away,
With every word, a new world did shine —
And soon I found myself lost between the lines.

Made new friends in stories I read,
Walked through lands in two-page spreads,
Adventures calling out, “Make me mine!”
How sweet it is to be lost between the lines.

Between the covers, I escape, I soar,
Each chapter opens up another door.
No need to run — no need for signs,
I know the way…
for my heart’s between the lines.

In bookmarked corners, time winds and unwinds,
Each page a balm for my soul and mind.
No map, no guide — just stories intertwined,
And I return to where I’m lost between the lines.

In every tale, some part of me aligns —
A life I’ve lived between those lines.
No need to run — no need for signs,
I know the way…
I left my heart between the lines.
~ Vidya Tiru @ LadyInReadWrites

5 Kannada Stories to Read

• Ghachar Ghochar by Vivek Shanbhag, translated from Kannada by Srinath Perur
• No Presents Please : Mumbai Stories by Jayant Kaikini, translated by Tejaswini Niranjana 
• Brink by S. L. Bhyrappa, translated by R. Ranganath Prasad 
• Bride in the Hills by Kuvempu, translated by Vanamala Viswanatha
• Hayavadana written and translated by Girish Karnad

And one bonus read A Teashop In Kamalapura: And Other Classic Kannada Stories edited by Mini Krishnan and translated by Susheela Punitha 

And Now, the End of This Post

Dear reader, which of the books here inspires you? Which one will you be picking to read for yourself or a loved one – maybe the dad and/or grad in your life? Any other suggestions for me?

As for the celebrations I talk about, nno matter which gifts with heart for dads and grads you choose, the most important thing is the love and thought behind them. Do you have any tips and gift ideas to celebrate dads and grads? Do let me know.