“He was more inclined to military books and murder mystery stuff than the classics!”
Your Dad & I have similar interests, then. Most of the ‘classics’ that I read were read when I was a boy. By the time I was an adult, I ceased worrying about what book was ‘good’, and read for information, work, or pleasure. For the latter...mysteries and military books - often biographies - are my preference.
I am the same way, I trend now towards biographies and history, with some informational books (political and otherwise) mixed in.
I have to do a lot of audiobooks now. My eyes completely suck, and reading more than 15 minutes makes them water.
That is a bit depressing for me, because I used to take four or five books on vacation, and would finish them. Now, it takes me a month to read a real book. I have tried all kinds of glasses and bifocals, but nothing works. Darn it.