I never have enough time to get through the stacks of books littering my room and deskspace. Those piles are unofficially titled “Should Read” and “Want To Read.” I have recently begun picking through tomes that my eldest son (now 10) would like me to read.

This summer, I took in the first of the Alex Rider books, a series written by Anthony Horowitz, which features a kind of teenage MacGyver-meets-Bond. Good, adventurous stuff for the pre-teen and teen set.

But my real excitement is reserved for the yarns spun by Irish author Eoin Colfer for his Artemis Fowl books. I’ve barreled through the first two installments (Artemis Fowl and The Arctic Incident) which are notable for being sharply funny (even for grown-ups) and highly inventive for the sci-fi/fantasy genre. The main character is Artemis, a boy genius to end all boy geniuses, who happens to be a criminal mastermind struggling with family problems and a growing conscience. Other characters include Butler, a crafty Bruce Lee-type, and Captain Holly Short, a no-nonsense fairy from the magical underworld with whom Artemis clashes in the early going of the series.

Now, we have Colfer’s latest Fowl-up, entitled The Time Paradox. This sixth book in the ongoing tales shows how much Artemis has matured, but also how much is at stake for him as he embarks on a time-travel journey to save his mother’s life. While I have lots to say about this novel, my son has more. So, I introduce to you a new reviewer — Benjamin Keer. See his take on the new Fowl at www.familymanonline.com/recommends.php?id=54.

How’s this for father-child bonding? A troupe of dads out of Temecula, California, were looking for another way to hang out with their daughters. So, they started taking tap-dancing lessons with their kids. Now the group, under the direction of Jimmy Peters, will be performing tonight, July 29, on NBC’s America’s Got Talent (9/8c). You can see video and learn more about them at www.myspace.com/tappingdads . Good luck to Rodney Amstutz (who sent me an e-mail about the dads) and the rest of the tappers in the competition and beyond!

I’m a big fan of the show Medium in large part because, for all the paranormal intrusion on the Dubois family, the dad is a fairly normal guy with realistic relationships with his wife and kids. OK, I also have a longstanding crush on Patricia Arquette (and her sister Rosanna, for that matter , but I digress). But the character of Joe Dubois (admirably played by the underrated Jake Weber) makes dads look good, even in his imperfections.

While I’d like to think I’m a little like Joe Dubois, I’m probably somewhere between the deeply concerned character Bill Bixby played on The Courtship of Eddie’s Father and the mistake-prone Herman Munster.

The question is, then, which TV dad or mom are YOU most like? Please post your answers here and/or at the FamilyManOnline Facebook page: www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=16660109690&topic=4756 .

An idea I was given years ago about stretching a dollar and teaching kids about the world has a ton of value in our current state of national financial affairs. If you can’t exactly afford to travel around the world, show your kids about various cultures by taking them around to ethnic spots around your town, this summer. Eat at varying restaurants, visit museums dedicated to particular cultures, and hang out in parks where the mix of people is different than you are normally used to. Prepare the family with Web browsing about cultures and be ready to answer lots of questions about the wonderful wide world that may very well be in your city or very nearby.

Tracey Serebin has me back on her “Family Matters” Internet radio show to discuss the dad’s perspective on choosing and interacting with your kid’s pediatrician. Listen to the podcast at www.webtalkradio.net/content/view/598/30/ to hear suggestions about maintaining a good dialogue with the doctor (be it in person or on the phone and via e-mail) and staying in sync with your child’s development. Check out Tracey’s blog for more real and workable family tips at www.traceyserebin.blogspot.com .