LANSING, Mich. (WZMQ) – The Library of Michigan has released its 2024 Michigan Notable Books list. Every year, the library releases a list of 20 curated works published the previous year that are about or take place in Michigan or are written by Michigan authors.
This year’s list features the sequel to Firekeeps Daughter, by U.P. author Angeline Boulley; Warrior Girl Unearthed. Matthew Pacer, a Resource Librarian with the Library of Michigan said the selection committee tries to make sure there’s a book for readers of all interests and ages, each year.
“It gives Michigan residents a wonderful taste of the breadth and depth of Michigan authors,” Pacer said. “There’s poetry, there’s nonfiction, there’s children’s. Things that expose us to all this wonderful literature.”
The Michigan Notable Books list comes out each year in January. It’s a signature program at the Library of Michigan, that started in 1991 but was taken over by the state library in 2004. A committee of 14-16 people goes through and reads all of the submitted books to come up with the final list of 20.
Pacer says the library takes submissions and recommendations throughout the year for the list. This year’s features a handful of titles with ties to the U.P.. John Smolens is a fiction writer from New York, whose books often take place in the Upper Peninsula, featured this year for his historical fiction book A Cold, Hard Prayer.
The list also includes many works of nonfiction, Michigan Rocks! is a guide to geologic sites throughout the state. Adam Oster, The Community Engagement Librarian said The U.P. is just one of those wonderful areas of the state where there is an overabundance of topics that people can write about.
One of the committee’s favorite titles was Warrior Girl Unearthed, by Angeline Boulley, a novel that takes place in the same world as her first book, Fire Keepers Daughter. The committee spends the entire year reading submissions and working together to select the standout group. Pacer says the books showcase the wide range of topics that make Michigan so special, one of the reasons Bolley’s novel was such a popular pick.
“You’re getting to learn so much more about the Indigenous population of Michigan from a perspective we don’t always get to experience.” Oster said, “Not only are we looking at a really cool mystery-style title, we’re getting to learn so much more about what life is like for people of Michigan that maybe we don’t get to see on a day-to-day basis.”
the collection features children’s books, cookbooks, and a lyric and photograph book. Oster said the committee makes an effort to make sure books for a diverse set of interests and ages are included in the list, whether it’s a mystery, a nonfiction title, or something related to state history.
This summer, some of the authors of the featured books are taking part in a library tour around the state to discuss and answer questions about their work as well as a reception on Saturday, April 20 at the Library of Michigan in Lansing. there’s more about those events on The Library website Michigan.gov/LibraryofMichigan
2024 Michigan Notable Books
The All-American by Susie Finkbeiner
Cinema Ann Arbor: How Campus Rebels Forged a Singular Film Culture by Frank Uhle
A Cold, Hard Prayer by John Smolens
Dearborn: Stories by Ghassan Zeineddine
Enough to Lose by R.S. Deeren
Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant: A Memoir by Curtis Chin
Everything is Just Beginning: A Novel by Erin Bartels
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
In the Upper Country: A Novel by Kai Thomas
Making Art in Prison: Survival and Resistance by Janie Paul
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
Pulp: A Practical Guide to Cooking with Fruit by Abra Berens
The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History by Ned Blackhawk
Strikers: A Graphic Novel by Kiel Phegley
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley
The White Stripes: Complete Lyrics, 1997-2007 by Jack White
