Edited from the Michigan Notable Books website by Christa Clare
Each year, the Michigan Notable Books list features 20 books published during the previous calendar year that are about, or set in, Michigan or the Great Lakes region, or are written by a native or resident of Michigan. Selections include nonfiction and fiction and typically have a wide appeal and cover an array of topics and issues close to the hearts of Michigan residents.
Michigan Notable Books (MNB) is a statewide program that began as part of the 1991 Michigan Week celebration, geared to pay tribute and draw attention to many people, places and things that make Michigan life unique. In that regard, the MNB program successfully features Michigan books and writers focusing on the literary talents found in the Great Lakes State.
Books featuring topics as varied as a physically-challenged kid from Flint who went on to win an Olympic Gold Medal and pitch a no-hitter for the New York Yankees, the 1968 Detroit Tigers, survival of the Kirtland's warbler, a biography of Michigan's first governor, northwest Michigan's Fishtown, the revival of Detroit, saving the Theodore Roethke house, Michigan's historic train stations, a memoir of a Detroit soul singer, a study of Michigan's amphibians and reptiles, Depression-era Flint, and an illustrated history of Detroit's historic places of worship are all part of this year's list.
American Poet: A Novel by Jeff Vande Zande (Bottom Dog Press)
The Amphibians and Reptiles of Michigan by J. Alan Holman (Wayne State University Press)
Balthazar Korab: Architect of Photography by John Comazzi (Princeton Architectural Press)
Bear Has a Story to Tell by Phillip C. Stead, illustrated by Erin E. Stead (Roaring Brook Press)
The Boy Governor: Stevens T. Mason and the Birth of Michigan Politics by Don Faber (University of Michigan Press)
Canada by Richard Ford (Ecco)
Death Dance of a Butterfly by Melba Joyce Boyd (Past Tents Press)
Detroit City Is the Place to Be by Mark Binelli (Metropolitan Books)
Detroit's Historic Places of Worship compiled and edited by Marla O. Collum, Barbara E. Krueger and Dorothy Kostuch, photographs by Dirk Bakker with a forward by John Gallagher (Wayne State University Press)
Dust to Dust: A Memoir by Benjamin Busch (Ecco)
Fishtown: Leland Michigan's Historic Fishery by Laurie Sommers (Arbutus Press)
Imperfect by Jim Abbott/Tim Brown (Ballantine Books)
Ink Trails by Jack Dempsey and Dave Dempsey (Michigan State University Press)
The Kirtland's Warbler by William Rapai (University of Michigan Press)
Michigan's Historic Railroad Stations by Michael Hodges (Wayne State University Press)
The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis (Wendy Lamb Books)
The Skeleton Box: A Starvation Lake Mystery by Bryan Gruley (Touchstone Books)
Summer of '68: The Season That Changed Baseball--and America--Forever by Tim Wendel (Da Capo Press)
A Woman Like Me by Bettye LaVette (Blue Rider Press)
The World of A Few Minutes Ago by Jack Driscol (Wayne State University Press).