2023 Michigan Notable Books

Photo of a book display

The Library of Michigan has announced the selections for the 2023 Michigan Notable Books list. 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. You can check out these picks through MeLCat!

  • As Long as I Know You: The Mom Book by Anne-Marie Oomen – University of Georgia Press
  • Blood and Fire: The Unbelievable Real-Life Story of Wrestling’s Original Sheik by Brian R. Solomon – ECW Press
  • Chevy in the Hole: A Novel by Kelsey Ronan – Henry Holt and Co.
  • Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm by Dan Charnas – MCD Books
  • Ferne: a Detroit Story by Barbara Henning – Spuyten Duyvil
  • Guardians of Michigan: Architectural Sculpture of the Pleasant Peninsulas by Jeff Morrison – University of Michigan Press
  • Hadha Baladuna: Arab American Narratives of Boundary and Belonging edited by Ghassan Zeineddine, Nabeel Abraham, and Sally Howell – Wayne State University Press
  • I’ll Be There: My Life with the Four Tops by Duke Fakir with Kathleen McGhee-Anderson – Omnibus Press
  • It’s Hard Being You: A Primer on Being Happy Anyway by Sharon Emery – Mission Point Press
  • Love Radio by Ebony LaDelle – Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
  • Magic Season: A Son’s Story by Wade Rouse – Hanover Square Press
  • The Peacekeeper: A Novel by B.L. Blanchard – 47North
  • Satisfaction Guaranteed: How Zingerman’s Built a Corner Deli into a Global Food Community by Micheline Maynard – Scribner
  • Scarlet in Blue: A Novel by Jennifer Murphy – Dutton
  • Shapes, Lines, and Light: My Grandfather’s American Journey by Katie Yamasaki – Norton Young Readers
  • The Star That Always Stays by Anna Rose Johnson – Holiday House
  • The Turtle of Michigan: A Novel by Naomi Shihab Nye – Greenwillow Books
  • Uphill: A Memoir by Jemele Hill – Henry Holt and Co.
  • We Kept Our Towns Going: The Gossard Girls of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula by Phyllis Michael Wong – Michigan State University Press
  • What the Fireflies Knew: A Novel by Kai Harris – Tiny Reparations Books

Find more information about the Michigan Notable Books program by visiting Michigan.gov/NotableBooks. The Michigan Notable Books program is sponsored in part by the Library of Michigan FoundationMichigan Center for the Book, and Michigan Humanities.