Hi All,

Yesterday the Library of Michigan released the 2025 Michigan Notable Books list. We are grateful to the Detroit Free Press for their continued collaboration in announcing the 2025 selections: https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/arts/2025/01/19/michigan-notable-books-20-of-the-states-best-offerings-from-2024/77692288007/

The 20 titles on this 2025 Michigan Notable Books list are:

Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.: Citizen Printer by Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr. – Letterform Archive Books
The Black Utopians: Searching for Paradise and the Promised Land in America by Aaron Robertson – Farrar, Straus and Giroux
A Cast Away in Montana by Tim Schulz – Lyons Press Robertson – Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Funny Story: A Novel by Emily Henry – Berkley
Good Dress by Brittany Rogers – Tin House Books
I Cheerfully Refuse: A Novel by Leif Enger – Grove Press
The Lady with the Dark Hair by Erin Bartels – Revell
The Lions Finally Roar: The Ford Family, the Detroit Lions, and the Road to Redemption in the NFL by Bill Morris – Pegasus Books
Listening to Workers: Oral Histories of Metro Detroit Autoworkers in the 1950s by Daniel J. Clark – University of Illinois Press
The Luminous Life of Lucy Landry by Anna Rose Johnson – Holiday House
MC5: An Oral Biography of Rock’s Most Revolutionary Band by Brad Tolinski, Jaan Uhelszki, and Ben Edmonds – Da Capo
My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music's Black Past, Present, and Future by Alice Randall – Atria/Black Privilege Publishing
Old Time Hawkey's Recipes from the Cedar Swamp: A Cookbook by Old Time Hawkey – DK
Sail, Steam, and Diesel: Moving Cargo on the Great Lakes by Eric Hirsimaki – Michigan State University Press
Searching for Van Gogh: A Novel by Donald Lystra – Omena Hills Press
True Gretch: What I've Learned About Life, Leadership, and Everything in Between by Gretchen Whitmer – Simon & Schuster
The Waters: A Novel by Bonnie Jo Campbell – W.W. Norton & Company
We Live Here: Detroit Eviction Defense and the Battle for Housing by Jeffrey Wilson and Bambi Kramer – Seven Stories Press
What Can the Matter Be? by Keith Taylor – Wayne State University Press
When Detroit Played the Numbers: Gambling's History and Cultural Impact on the Motor City by Felicia B. George – Wayne State University Press

Additional information about the application process to host a 2025 MNB author during the Author Tour as well as graphics for promoting the list will soon be sent out over the next several weeks. The annual Night for Notables reception is scheduled for Saturday, April 26, 2025. Be sure to look for all details around the Michigan Notable Books program by going to www.Michigan.gov/NotableBooks. Send questions to Michigan-Notable-Books@michigan.gov.

Thanks!

Adam

Adam Oster, Community Engagement Librarian

Library of Michigan

Michigan Department of Education

702 W. Kalamazoo

PO Box 30007

Lansing, MI 48909

ostera@michigan.gov | 517-335-1469 | www.mi.gov/libraryofmichigan