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.
Michigan is rich in good writers and the Library of Michigan is proud to honor and celebrate this wonderful literary heritage each year with the Night for Notables and with the annual grant-funded authors' tour to libraries throughout the state.
The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X by 
A People's Atlas of Detroit by 
R-E-S-P-E-C-T : Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul by 
Camera Hunter: George Shiras III and the Birth of Wildlife Photgraphy by 
Guardians of Detroit: Architectural Sculpture in the Motor City by 
The World According to Fannie Davis: My Mother's Life in the Detroit Numbers by 
Building the Modern World: Albert Kahn in Detroit by 
Elemental: A Collection of Michigan Creative Nonfiction by 
Manoomin: The Story of Wild Rice in Michigan by 
Nature's Friend: The Gwen Frostic Story by 
The Poisoned City: Flint's Water and the American Urban Tragedy by 
The Russian Five: A Story of Espionage, Defection, Bribery and Courage by 
What the Eyes Don't See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City by 
Black Detroit: A People's History of Self-Determination by 
Brewed in Michigan: The New Golden Age of Brewing in the Great Beer State by 
The Dawn of Detroit: A Chronicle of Slavery and Freedom in the City of the Straits by 
The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by 
Designing Detroit: Wirt Rowland and the Rise of Modern American Architecture by 
Detroit 1967: Origins, Impacts, Legacies by 
Grown-up Anger: The Connected Mysteries of Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, and the Calumet Massacre of 1913 by 
The Kelloggs: The Battling Brothers of Battle Creek by 
Sailing into History: Great Lakes Bulk Carriers of the Twentieth Century and the Crews Who Sailed Them by 
We're Going to Be Friends by 
Beer Money: A Memoir of Privilege and Loss by 
Detroit Resurrected: To Bankruptcy and Back by 
Great Lakes Island Escapes: Ferries and Bridges to Adventure by 
Heaven Was Detroit: From Jazz to Hip-Hop and Beyond by 
Lake Invaders: Invasive Species and the Battle for the Future of the Great Lakes by 
Michigan Modern: Design That Shaped America by 
Preston Tucker and His Battle to Build the Car of Tomorrow by 
Terror in the City of Champions: Murder, Baseball, and the Secret Society that Shocked Depression-era Detroit by 
Twelve Twenty-Five: The Life and Times of a Steam Locomotive by 
Women Doing Life: Gender, Punishment and the Struggle for Identity by 
Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo in Detroit by 
Great Girls in Michigan History by 
Making Waves: Michigan’s Boat-Building Industry, 1865-2000 by 
Once in a Great City: A Detroit Story by 
Stone Circle Poems: The Collected Poems of Terry Wooten by 
Station Eleven: A Novel by 
Detroit: Race Riots, Racial Conflicts, and Efforts to Bridge the Racial Divide by 
November's Fury: The Deadly Great Lakes Hurricane of 1913 by 
Poetry in Michigan / Michigan in Poetry by 
The Way North: Collected Upper Peninsula New Works by 
The Amphibians and Reptiles of Michigan: A Quaternary and Recent Faunal Adventure by 
Ink Trails: Michigan's Famous and Forgotten Authors by 
Michigan's Historic Railroad Stations by 
Elly Peterson: 'Mother' of the Moderates by 
Everyday Klansfolk: White Protestant Life and the KKK in 1920s Michigan by 
Ghost Writers : Us Haunting Them, Contemporary Michigan Literature by 
Hank Greenberg: The Hero Who Didn't Want to Be One by 
Chrysler's Turbine Car: The Rise and Fall of Detroit's Coolest Creation by 
Eden Springs: A Novella by 
Lord of Misrule: A Novel by 
Mine Towns: Buildings for Workers in Michigan’s Copper Country by 
Reimagining Detroit: Opportunities for Redefining an American City by 
Sixty to Zero: An Inside Look at the Collapse of General Motors and the Detroit Auto Industry by 
Wounded Warrior: The Rise and Fall of Michigan Governor John Swainson by 
Bath Massacre: America's First School Bombing by 
Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City by 
Isadore's Secret: Sin, Murder, and Confession in a Northern Michigan Town by 
Michigan's Columbus: The Life of Douglass Houghton by 
Orlando M. Poe: Civil War General and Great Lakes Engineer by 
Our People, Our Journey: The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians by 
Pandora's Locks: The Opening of the Great Lakes-St. Lawerence Seaway by 
Roses and Revolutions: The Selected Writings of Dudley Randall by 
Travelin' Man: On the Road and Behind the Scenes with Bob Seger by 
Up the Rouge! : Paddling Detroit's Hidden River by 
