Michigan Notable Books

Every year, the Library of Michigan selects up to twenty of the most notable books, either written by a Michigan resident or about Michigan or the Great Lakes. The selected books are honored in the year after their publication or copyright date. Each selected title speaks to our state's rich cultural, historical, and literary heritage and proves without a doubt that some of the greatest stories are found in the Great Lakes State.


Updated February 6, 2026
Upper Peninsula Region of Library Cooperation
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The gales of November : the untold story of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Bacon, John U.
Paper Book
For three decades following World War II, the Great Lakes overtook Europe as the epicenter of global economic strength. The region was the beating heart of the world economy, possessing all the power and prestige Silicon Valley does today. And no ship represented the apex of the American Century...
How to talk to your succulent
Persico, Zoe
Paper Book
Eleven-year-old Adara and her dad are moving from California to the cold and flat lands of Michigan... and it sucks. After Mom's recent passing, it seems way too soon. Talking to Dad has always been harder than with Mom, but now it's like walking on eggshells. And why did Dad bring so many of Mom's...
The lady with the dark hair : a novel
Bartels, Erin
Paper Book
2025 Michigan Notable Book "Bartels perfectly meshes the stories of two women, both artists, living half a world and nearly a century-and-a-half apart. Bartels' settings and historical details are unusual and compelling; the dual time lines work perfectly, and this well-researched...
Funny story
Henry, Emily
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ∙ A shimmering, joyful novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry. A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2024 Named a Must-Read Book of 2024 by...
My black country : a journey through country music's black past, present, and future
Randall, Alice
Paper Book
Alice Randall, award-winning professor, songwriter, and author presents "a celebration of all things country music" (Ken Burns) as she reflects on her search for the first family of Black country music. Country music had brought Alice Randall and her activist mother together and...
I cheerfully refuse : a novel
Enger, Leif
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * A BARNES & NOBLE BOOK CLUB PICK * A career defining tour-de-force from New York Times bestselling, award-winning and "formidably gifted" (Chicago Tribune) author of Peace Like a River Leif Enger. "A rare, remarkable book to be kept and...
The Black utopians : searching for paradise and the Promised Land in America
Robertson, Aaron
Ebook
One of The New York Times's 100 Notable Books of 2024 One of the Washington Post's 50 Best Nonfiction Books of 2024 A Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for History Finalist for the Zora Award | Hooks National Book Award<...
Sail, steam, and diesel : moving cargo on the Great Lakes
Hirsimaki, Eric E.
Paper Book
Water transportation has played a key role in the Great Lakes region's settlement and economic growth, from providing entry into the new lake states to offering cheap transportation for the goods they produced. There are numerous tales surrounding the Great Lakes shipping trade, but few storytellers...
Firekeeper's daughter
Boulley, Angeline
Paper Book
An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller! A Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick! A Printz Medal AND Morris Award Winner! Soon to be adapted at Netflix for TV with President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama's production company, Higher Ground.
The luminous life of Lucy Landry
Johnson, Anna Rose
Paper Book
Lucy, a spirited French-Ojibwe orphan, is sent to the stormy waters of Lake Superior to live with a mysterious family of lighthouse-keepers--and, she hopes, to find the legendary necklace her father spent his life seeking... Selena Lucy Landry (named for a ship, as every sailor's...
True Gretch : what I've learned about life, leadership, and everything in between
Whitmer, Gretchen
Paper Book
From trailblazing Michigan governor, Democratic leader, and national advocate for women's rights, Gretchen Whitmer, comes an unconventional and deeply personal account of her life and career--"Not your nana's ponderous political memoir" (New York magazine)--offering insights into her...
The waters : a novel
Campbell, Bonnie Jo
Paper Book
On an island in the Great Massasauga Swamp--an area known as "The Waters" to the residents of nearby Whiteheart, Michigan--herbalist and eccentric Hermine "Herself" Zook has healed the local women of their ailments for generations. As stubborn as her tonics are powerful, Herself inspires...
Dearborn : stories
Zeineddine, Ghassan
Paper Book
Winner of the 2023 Khayrallah Book Prize Finalist for the 2024 CLMP Firecracker Award for Debut Fiction Shortlisted for the 2024 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing A Washington Post Best Book of September * Named a Best Book of the Year...
Everything is just beginning : a novel
Bartels, Erin
Paper Book
2024 Michigan Notable Book *** An Immersive Story of Music, Struggle, and Starting Over from an Award-Winning Author Michael Sullivan is a talented lyricist and a decent guitarist, but since he was kicked out of his band (and his apartment), he's not sure he'll ever...
Strikers : a graphic novel
Phegley, Kiel
Ebook
Warrior girl unearthed
Boulley, Angeline
Paper Book
An Instant New York Times bestseller! A #1 Indies Bestseller! Six Starred Reviews! #1 New York Times bestselling author of Firekeeper's Daughter Angeline Boulley takes us back to Sugar Island in this high-stakes thriller about the power of discovering your stolen...
Everything I learned, I learned in a Chinese restaurant : a memoir
Chin, Curtis
Paper Book
This poignant memoir tells the story of Curtis Chin's time growing up as a gay Chinese American kid in 1980's Detroit. "Vivid, moving, funny, and heartfelt" --Lisa Ko, author of The Leavers Nineteen eighties Detroit was a...
Tom Lake : a novel
Patchett, Ann
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK In this beautiful and moving novel about family, love, and growing up, Ann Patchett once again proves herself one of America's finest writers. "Patchett leads us to a truth that feels like life rather than...
In the Upper Country
Thomas, Kai
Paper Book
Winner of the 2023 Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize The fates of two unforgettable women--one just beginning a journey of reckoning and self-discovery and the other completing her life's last vital act--intertwine in this sweeping, powerful novel set at the...
My murder
Williams, Katie
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER  NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY NPR AND GLAMOUR! "One of those rare emotionally intelligent books that are also fun reads... Going to keep readers turning pages late into the night." -The New York Times ...
In the upper country
Thomas, Kai
Paper Book
Winner of the 2023 Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize The fates of two unforgettable women--one just beginning a journey of reckoning and self-discovery and the other completing her life's last vital act--intertwine in this sweeping, powerful novel set at the...
Girls and their monsters : the Genain quadruplets and the making of madness in America
Farley, Audrey Clare
Paper Book
For readers of Hidden Valley Road and Patient H.M., an "intimate and compassionate portrait" (Grace M. Cho) of the Genain quadruplets, the harrowing violence they experienced, and its psychological and political consequences.​ In 1954,...
The rediscovery of America : native peoples and the unmaking of U.S. history
Blackhawk, Ned
Paper Book
A sweeping and overdue retelling of U.S. history that recognizes that Native Americans are essential to understanding the evolution of modern America National Bestseller Winner of the 2023 National Book Award in Nonfiction * Finalist for the 2023 Los...
Isaiah Dunn is my hero
Baptist, Kelly J.
Paper Book
A coming-of-age tale about a boy who discovers a love of poetry after finding his late father's journal. Adapted from a story that first appeared in Flying Lessons & Other Stories and perfect for fans of The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson. Isaiah is now the...
The king of confidence : a tale of utopian dreamers, frontier schemers, true believers, false prophets, and the murder of an American monarch
Harvey, Miles
Paper Book
The "unputdownable" (Dave Eggers, National Book award finalist) story of the most infamous American con man you've never heard of: James Strang, self-proclaimed divine king of earth, heaven, and an island in Lake Michigan, "perfect for fans of The Devil in the White City" (Kirkus)<...
Tin camp road
Airgood, Ellen
Paper Book
Laurel Hill and her precocious daughter Skye live on Lake Superior, where the local school has classes of just four children, and the nearest hospital is a helicopter ride away. One otherwise normal afternoon, their landlord decides to evict them in favour of a more profitable summer rental, and,...
The turtle of Michigan : a novel
Nye, Naomi Shihab
Paper Book
The stand-alone companion to National Book Award Finalist and beloved poet Naomi Shihab Nye's The Turtle of Oman. The Turtle of Michigan is a deft and accessible novel that follows a young boy named Aref as he travels from Muscat, Oman, to Ann Arbor, Michigan, and adjusts to a new...
The peacekeeper : a novel
Blanchard, B. L.
Paper Book
Sidewise Award Winner for Best Long Form. Against the backdrop of a never-colonized North America, a broken Ojibwe detective embarks on an emotional and twisting journey toward solving two murders, rediscovering family, and finding himself. North America was never...
Magic season : a son's story
Rouse, Wade
Paper Book
*A Michigan Notable Book of 2022* "Honest, authentic, heartbreaking and healing. I devoured it in one day."--Jenny Lawson, #1 New York Times bestselling author      Wade Rouse, bestselling author under the pen name...
Love radio
LaDelle, Ebony
Paper Book
"Readers won't be able to get enough of these dope-ass characters." --Elizabeth Acevedo, author of Clap When You Land Hitch meets The Sun Is Also a Star in this "mega swoon-worthy, effortlessly cool" (Casey McQuiston, New York Times bestselling...
Ancestor approved : intertribal stories for kids
Smith, Cynthia Leitich
Paper Book
Edited by award-winning and bestselling author Cynthia Leitich Smith, this collection of intersecting stories by both new and veteran Native writers bursts with hope, joy, resilience, the strength of community, and Native pride. Native families from Nations...
The star that always stays
Johnson, Anna Rose
Paper Book
When bright and spirited Norvia moves from the country to the city, she has to live by one new rule: Never let anyone know you're Ojibwe. Growing up on Beaver Island, Grand-père told Norvia stories--stories about her ancestor Migizi, about Biboonke-o-nini the Wintermaker, about...
The wicked sister
Dionne, Karen
Paper Book
She thought she'd buried her past. But what if it's been hunting her this whole time? From the bestselling and award-winning author of The Marsh King's Daughter comes a startling novel of psychological suspense as two generations of sisters try to unravel their tangled...
Dilla time : the life and afterlife of J Dilla, the hip-hop producer who reinvented rhythm
Charnas, Dan
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE PEN/JACQUELINE BOGRAD WELD AWARD FOR BIOGRAPHY NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "This book is a must for everyone interested in illuminating the idea of unexplainable genius." --QUESTLOVE Equal parts biography,...
Firekeeper's daughter
Boulley, Angeline
Paper Book
A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB YA PICK An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller Soon to be adapted at Netflix for TV with President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama's production company, Higher Ground. "One of this year's most buzzed about...

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