Michigan Notable Books - Past and Present
2025 Michigan Notable Books
20 Books Celebrating Michigan People, Places, and Events
Titles Available at Benzonia Public Library:
Items with an * are also available via Up North Digital-OverDrive via the Libby app
· The Black Utopians: Searching for Paradise and the Promised Land in America by Aaron Robertson
· Funny Story: A Novel by Emily Henry*
· I Cheerfully Refuse: A Novel by Leif Enger *
· The Lady with the Dark Hair by Erin Bartels*
· The Lions Finally Roar: The Ford Family, the Detroit Lions, and the Road to Redemption in the NFL by Bill Morris
· True Gretch: What I've Learned About Life, Leadership, and Everything in Between by Gretchen Whitmer*
· The Waters: A Novel by Bonnie Jo Campbell*
To reserve items visit our Library Catalog or contact us at 231-882-4111 or [email protected].
The following titles may be available via the MeL interlibrary loan system. Ask BPL staff if you need assistance.
· Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.: Citizen Printer by Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.
· A Cast Away in Montana by Tim Schulz
· Good Dress by Brittany Rogers
· Listening to Workers: Oral Histories of Metro Detroit Autoworkers in the 1950s by Daniel J. Clark
· The Luminous Life of Lucy Landry by Anna Rose Johnson*
· MC5: An Oral Biography of Rock’s Most Revolutionary Band by Brad Tolinski, Jaan Uhelszki, and Ben Edmonds
· My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music's Black Past, Present, and Future by Alice Randall
· Old Time Hawkey's Recipes from the Cedar Swamp: A Cookbook by Old Time Hawkey
· Sail, Steam, and Diesel: Moving Cargo on the Great Lakes by Eric Hirsimaki
· Searching for Van Gogh: A Novel by Donald Lystra
· We Live Here: Detroit Eviction Defense and the Battle for Housing by Jeffrey Wilson and Bambi Kramer
· What Can the Matter Be? by Keith Taylor
· When Detroit Played the Numbers: Gambling's History and Cultural Impact on the Motor City by Felicia B. George
To learn more about Michigan Notable books visit www.michigan.gov
2024 Michigan Notable Books
20 Books Celebrating Michigan People, Places, and Events
Titles Available at Benzonia Public Library:
Items with an * are also available via Up North Digital-OverDrive via the Libby app
· The All-American by Susie Finkbeiner
· A Cold, Hard Prayer by John Smolens
· Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant: A Memoir by Curtis Chin
· Enough to Lose by R.S. Deeren
· Everything is Just Beginning: A Novel by Erin Bartels
· In the Upper Country: A Novel by Kai Thomas
· Michigan Rocks!: A Guide to Geologic Sites in the Great Lakes State by Paul Brandes
· My Murder: A Novel by Katie Williams
· An Ordinary Man: The Surprising Life and Historic Presidency of Gerald R. Ford by Richard Norton Smith
· The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History by Ned Blackhawk
· Tom Lake by Ann Patchett *
· Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley *
To reserve items visit our Library Catalog or contact us at 231-882-4111 or [email protected].
The following titles may be available via the MeL interlibrary loan system. Ask BPL staff if you need assistance.
· Cinema Ann Arbor: How Campus Rebels Forged a Singular Film Culture by Frank Uhle
· Dearborn: Stories by Ghassan Zeineddine
· Enough to Lose by R.S. Deeren
· Girls and Their Monsters: The Genain Quadruplets and the Making of Madness in America by Audrey Clare Farley
· Great Women of Mackinac, 1800-1950 by Melissa Croghan
· Making Art in Prison: Survival and Resistance by Janie Paul
· Pulp: A Practical Guide to Cooking with Fruit by Abra Berens
· Strikers: A Graphic Novel by Kiel Phegley
· The White Stripes: Complete Lyrics, 1997-2007 by Jack White
To learn more about Michigan Notable books visit www.michigan.gov
20 Books Celebrating Michigan People, Places, and Events
Titles Available at Benzonia Public Library:
Items with an * are also available via Up North Digital-OverDrive via the Libby app
· The All-American by Susie Finkbeiner
· A Cold, Hard Prayer by John Smolens
· Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant: A Memoir by Curtis Chin
· Enough to Lose by R.S. Deeren
· Everything is Just Beginning: A Novel by Erin Bartels
· In the Upper Country: A Novel by Kai Thomas
· Michigan Rocks!: A Guide to Geologic Sites in the Great Lakes State by Paul Brandes
· My Murder: A Novel by Katie Williams
· An Ordinary Man: The Surprising Life and Historic Presidency of Gerald R. Ford by Richard Norton Smith
· The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History by Ned Blackhawk
· Tom Lake by Ann Patchett *
· Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley *
To reserve items visit our Library Catalog or contact us at 231-882-4111 or [email protected].
The following titles may be available via the MeL interlibrary loan system. Ask BPL staff if you need assistance.
· Cinema Ann Arbor: How Campus Rebels Forged a Singular Film Culture by Frank Uhle
· Dearborn: Stories by Ghassan Zeineddine
· Enough to Lose by R.S. Deeren
· Girls and Their Monsters: The Genain Quadruplets and the Making of Madness in America by Audrey Clare Farley
· Great Women of Mackinac, 1800-1950 by Melissa Croghan
· Making Art in Prison: Survival and Resistance by Janie Paul
· Pulp: A Practical Guide to Cooking with Fruit by Abra Berens
· Strikers: A Graphic Novel by Kiel Phegley
· The White Stripes: Complete Lyrics, 1997-2007 by Jack White
To learn more about Michigan Notable books visit www.michigan.gov
2023 Michigan Notable Books
20 Books Celebrating Michigan People, Places, and Events
Titles Available at Benzonia Public Library:
Items with an * are also available via Up North Digital-OverDrive.
To reserve items visit our Library Catalog or contact us at 231-882-4111 or [email protected].
The following titles may be available via the MeL interlibrary loan system.
Ask BPL staff if you need assistance.
To reserve MeL items visit MeL.org or contact us at 231-882-4111 or [email protected].
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.
To learn more about Michigan Notable books visit www.michigan.gov
20 Books Celebrating Michigan People, Places, and Events
Titles Available at Benzonia Public Library:
Items with an * are also available via Up North Digital-OverDrive.
- Chevy in the Hole by Kelsey Ronan
- Hadha Baladuna: Arab American Narratives of Boundary and Belonging edited by Ghassan Zeineddine, Nabeel Abraham, and Sally Howell
- Magic Season: A Son’s Story by Wade Rouse
- Satisfaction Guaranteed: How Zingerman's Built a Corner Deli into a Global Food Community by Micheline Maynard
- Scarlet in Blue by Jennifer Murphy
- The Star That Always Stays by Anna Rose Johnson
- The Turtle of Michigan by Naomi Shihab Nye
- We Kept Our Towns Going: The Gossard Girls of Michigan's Upper Peninsula by Phyllis Michael Wong
- What the Fireflies Knew by Kai Harris*
To reserve items visit our Library Catalog or contact us at 231-882-4111 or [email protected].
The following titles may be available via the MeL interlibrary loan system.
Ask BPL staff if you need assistance.
- As Long as I Know You: The Mom Book by Anne-Marie Oomen
- Blood and Fire: The Unbelievable Real-Life Story of Wrestling’s Original Sheik by Brian R. Solomon
- Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm by Dan Charnas
- Ferne: a Detroit Story by Barbara Henning
- Guardians of Michigan: Architectural Sculpture of the Pleasant Peninsulas by Jeff Morrison
- I'll Be There: My Life with the Four Tops by Duke Fakir with Kathleen McGhee-Anderson
- It’s Hard Being You: A Primer on Being Happy Anyway by Sharon Emery Love Radio by Ebony LaDelle
- The Peacekeeper by B.L. Blanchard
- Shapes, Lines, and Light: My Grandfather’s American Journey by Katie Yamasaki
- Uphill: A Memoir by Jemele Hill
To reserve MeL items visit MeL.org or contact us at 231-882-4111 or [email protected].
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.
To learn more about Michigan Notable books visit www.michigan.gov
2022 Michigan Notable Books
20 Books Celebrating Michigan People, Places, and Events
Titles Available at Benzonia Public Library:
Items with an * are also available via Up North Digital-OverDrive.
The following titles may be available via the MeL interlibrary loan system.
Ask BPL staff if you need assistance.
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.
To learn more about Michigan Notable books visit www.michigan.gov
20 Books Celebrating Michigan People, Places, and Events
Titles Available at Benzonia Public Library:
Items with an * are also available via Up North Digital-OverDrive.
- Ancestor Approved: intertribal stories for kids edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith
- The Cut by John Wemlinger
- Day of Days by John Smolens
- Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny*
- Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley*
- From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry: the killing of Vincent Chin and the trial that galvanized the Asian American Movement by Paula Yoo*
- Long Road to the Circus by Betsy Bird, illustrated by David Small
- Never Saw You Coming by Erin Hahn
- Pewabic Pottery: The American Arts & Crafts Movement Expressed in Clay by Thomas W. Brunk
- Tin Camp Road by Ellen Airgood
- Up North in Michigan: a Portrait of Place in Four Seasons by Jerry Dennis
The following titles may be available via the MeL interlibrary loan system.
Ask BPL staff if you need assistance.
- Call Me Athena, Girl from Detroit: a novel in verse by Colby Cedar Smith
- Dead of Winter by Stephen Mack Jones
- The Dock Porter: A Mackinac Island Novel by Dave McVeigh and Jim Bolone
- Getting to the Heart of the Matter: my 36 years in the Senate by Senator Carl Levin, written with Linda Gustitus
- Miles from Motown by Lisa Sukenic
- The Other Me by Sarah Zachrich Jeng
- Private Love, Public School: Gay Teacher Under Fire by Christine A. Yared
- Standpipe: Delivering Water in Flint by David Hardin
- Trout Water: a Year on the Au Sable by Josh Greenberg
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.
To learn more about Michigan Notable books visit www.michigan.gov