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 January 31, 2025
Upper Peninsula Region of Library Cooperation
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The lady with the dark hair : a novel
Bartels, Erin
Paper Book
A 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...
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...
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 with a "lively, engaging, and often wise" (The New York Times Book Review) voice, offers a lyrical, introspective, and unforgettable account of her past and her search for the first family of Black country music.
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...
Firekeeper's daughter
Boulley, Angeline
Paper Book
A PRINTZ MEDAL WINNER! A MORRIS AWARD WINNER! AN AMERICAN INDIAN YOUTH LITERATURE AWARD YA HONOR BOOK! A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB YA PICK An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller Soon to be adapted at Netflix...
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...
Everything is just beginning : a novel
Bartels, Erin
Paper Book
A 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...
Strikers : a graphic novel
Phegley, Kiel
Paper Book
Evan just wants to win a game. Bobby would rather fight than win. Hockey--and life--keep handing them both losses. Their team, the Strikers, has a roster of rejects in hand-me-down coats but lacks good equipment, a deep bench, and a coach who shows up on time. Their town of Flint, Michigan...
Warrior girl unearthed
Boulley, Angeline
Paper Book
An Instant New York Times bestseller! A #1 Indies Bestseller!A Publisher's Lunch Best YA of 2023! An Amazon Best Book of the Year!Winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award!A Horn Book Fanfare Title! A BookPage Best...
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...
My murder
Williams, Katie 1978-
Paper Book
What if the murder you had to solve was your own? Lou is a happily married mother of an adorable toddler. She's also the victim of a local serial killer. Recently brought back to life and returned to her grieving family by a government project, she is grateful for this second...
The rediscovery of America : native peoples and the unmaking of U.S. history
Blackhawk, Ned
Paper Book
National Bestseller Winner of the 2023 National Book Award in Nonfiction * Finalist for the 2023 Los Angeles Times Book Award in History * Winner of 2024 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in Nonfiction * Winner of the 2024 Mark Lynton History Prize ...
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 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...
Uphill : a memoir
Hill, Jemele
Paper Book
One of Oprah Daily's Best Fall Nonfiction Books of 2022 An empowering, unabashedly bold memoir by the Atlantic journalist and former ESPN SportsCenter coanchor about overcoming a legacy of pain and forging a new path, no matter how uphill life's battles...
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 across the...
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...
Firekeeper's daughter
Boulley, Angeline
Paper Book
A PRINTZ MEDAL WINNER! A MORRIS AWARD WINNER! AN AMERICAN INDIAN YOUTH LITERATURE AWARD YA HONOR BOOK! A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB YA PICK An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller Soon to be adapted at Netflix...
What the fireflies knew : a novel
Harris, Kai
Paper Book
An NAACP Image Award Nominee Longlisted for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize A Marie Claire Book Club pick Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2022 by *Marie Claire* *Teen Vogue* *Buzzfeed* *Essence* *Ms. Magazine* *NBCNews.com* *...
Firekeeper's daughter
Boulley, Angeline
Paper Book
A PRINTZ MEDAL WINNER! A MORRIS AWARD WINNER! AN AMERICAN INDIAN YOUTH LITERATURE AWARD YA HONOR BOOK! A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB YA PICK An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller Soon to be adapted at Netflix...
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...
Dead of winter
Jones, Stephen Mack
Paper Book
Authentico Foods Inc. has been a part of Detroit's Mexicantown for over thirty years, grown from a tiny business to a block-long facility that supplies tortillas to restaurants. Ex-cop and Mexicantown native August Snow has been invited for a business meeting at Authentico. Its owner, Ronaldo Ochoa,...
Early morning riser
Heiny, Katherine
Paper Book
Alternately bittersweet and laugh-out-loud funny, a wise, bighearted novel of love, disaster, and unconventional family--from the acclaimed author of Standard Deviation, who has been called the "literary descendant of Jane Austen, sharing Austen's essentially comic world view" (NPR). ...
Ancestor approved : intertribal stories for kids
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 across the...
The dead are arising : the life of Malcolm X
Payne, Les
Paper Book
Les Payne, the renowned Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, embarked in 1990 on a nearly thirty-year-long quest to interview anyone he could find who had actually known Malcolm X--all living siblings of the Malcolm Little family, classmates, street friends, cellmates, Nation of Islam...
The girls : an all-American town, a predatory doctor, and the untold story of the gymnasts who brought him down
Pesta, Abigail.
Paper Book
In this news-breaking narrative, decades of women who brought down sexual predator Larry Nassar offer groundbreaking new insight, with the first known survivor and many others sharing their stories exclusively for the first time. We think of Larry Nassar as the despicable sexual...

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