Yooper Favorites

Stories and history from the wild and wonderful Upper Peninsula of Michigan, surrounded by three of the five Great Lakes.

Updated October 24, 2025
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The trouble up north
Mulhauser, Travis
Paper Book
An NPR Best Book of the Year 2025 An atmospheric, haunting novel about the Sawbrooks, a family of bootleggers with a troubled history and a deep connection to the Michigan land that binds them. The Sawbrooks have spent decades...
100 things to do in the Upper Peninsula before you die
Usitalo, Kath.
Paper Book
Michigan's Upper Peninsula (UP) is sparse in population and big in national park-worthy sites. It's home to Isle Royale National Park, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Keweenaw National Historical Park, and the North Country National Scenic Trail, as well as Mackinac Island, a Victorian-era, car...
The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Stonehouse, Frederick.
Paper Book
The Nick Adams stories
Hemingway, Ernest
Paper Book
From one of the 20th century's greatest voices comes the complete chronological anthology of his short stories featuring Nick Adams, Ernest Hemingway's memorable character, as he grows from child to adolescent to soldier, veteran, writer, and parent--a sequence closely paralleling the events of...
Anatomy of a murder
Traver, Robert
Paper Book
First published by St. Martin's in 1958, Robert Traver's Anatomy of a Murder immediately became the number-one bestseller in America, and was subsequently turned into the now classic Otto Preminger film of the same name, starring Jimmy Stewart and Duke Ellington. It's...
100 Things to Do on Mackinac Island Before You Die, Second Edition
Usitalo, Kath
Paper Book
Lumberjack : inside an era in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Crowe, William S.
Paper Book
Winner--Best Biography/Memoir of 2002, Midwest Book Awards (St. Paul, MN) A firsthand account of the lumbering era during the white pine boom years of the late 1800s - early 1900s in the northern U.S. Millions of board feet of logs were cut in deep woods camps, driven down...
Yooper talk : dialect as identity in Michigan's Upper Peninsula
Remlinger, Kathryn A.
Paper Book
Yooper Talk is a fresh and significant contribution to understanding regional language and culture in North America. The Upper Peninsula of Michigan--known as "the UP"--is historically, geographically, and culturally distinct. Struggles over land, labor, and language during the last 150...
Fire point : a novel of suspense
Smolens, John
Paper Book
When Evan Chase drowns in the Palm Beach surf, the cops believe it's murder. But what begins as a high-profile murder case, evolves into a frightening conspiracy involving huge amounts of money, corrupt police and a horrible and bizarre truth.
Dark of night : an Annie Pederson novel
Coble, Colleen
Paper Book
The second book in USA TODAY bestselling romantic suspense author Colleen Coble's Annie Pederson Series (following Edge of Dusk) returns to fan-favorite Rock Harbor as ranger Annie Pederson tries to find a way to balance justice and grace. As if the last few months haven't...
You wouldn't like it here : a guide to the real Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Emerick, Lon L.
Paper Book
A high-spirited humorous look at a special land, and the challenges of living in a remote region with more trees than people, long winters and two-track roads. Visitors are warned about the climate, insects, wildlife, local resdients and other potential "dangers." In a more serious epilogue, the...
Winter study
Barr, Nevada
Paper Book
Anna Pigeon returns—in the remarkable new novel from the New York Times–bestselling writer. It is January, and Park Ranger Anna Pigeon is sent to Isle Royale in Lake Superior to learn about managing and understanding wolves, as her home base of Rocky Mountain National Park might soon have their own...
Great Lakes crime : murder, mayhem, booze & broads
Stonehouse, Frederick.
Paper Book
Murder, piracy, ship burnings, rum runners and prostitutes. More excellent research and storytelling by renowned Great Lakes Historian Fred Stonehouse.
The great leader : a faux mystery
Harrison, Jim
Paper Book
Rapturously received by critics and enthusiastically embraced by readers, The Great Leader is an enthralling, blackly comic take on the detective story that follows a retired detective in hilarious and bold pursuit of a sinister cult leader. Detective Sunderson is on the...
Sugar Island sampler : a slice of Upper Peninsula heritage
Arbic, Bernard.
Paper Book
Blood is the sky
Hamilton, Steve
Paper Book
"When a fire is done, what’s left is only half-destroyed. It is charred and brittle. It is obscene. There is nothing so ugly in all the world as what a fire leaves behind, covered in ashes and smoke and a smell you’ll think about every day for the rest of your life." ...
November's fury : the deadly Great Lakes hurricane of 1913
Schumacher, Michael
Paper Book
On Thursday, November 6, the Detroit News forecasted "moderate to brisk" winds for the Great Lakes. On Friday, the Port Huron Times-Herald predicted a "moderately severe" storm. Hourly the warnings became more and more dire. Weather forecasting was in its infancy, however, and...

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