Jan 11, 2009

The 2009 Michigan Notable Books reflect the creativity of Michigan residents


Michigan residents and former residents are some of the most creative people in the world.

Some of the most famous authors, actors, directors, comedians, musicians and inventors call or have called Michigan home. To name just a few, Francis Ford Coppola, Gilda Radner, Della Reese, Danny Thomas, George C. Scott, Arthur Miller and Ernest Hemingway.

The Library of Michigan’s annual list of Michigan’s Notable Books highlight some of that talent, and it also highlights Michigan people, places and events. The books are chosen from both fiction and non-fiction books published in Michigan, by Michigan authors or books about Michigan, and the 2009 Michigan Notable Books include 20 of the best books Michigan has to offer. Michigan Notable Books is an annual program with roots stretching back to Michigan Week 1991.

The exciting development is we may get to see a book written in Michigan and then turned into a movie that is filmed right here in Michigan. The Michigan Legislature passed a package of attractive incentives for filmmakers in April, and it has led to hundreds of productions being filmed in Michigan. That has led to a proposal for a $100 million studio in Allen Park that can bring as many as 3,500 jobs to the state.

Here are the 2009 Michigan Notable Books

Asylum for the Insane: A History of the Kalamazoo State Hospital by William A. Decker, M.D. (Arbutus Press)

The English Major by Jim Harrison (Grove Press)

The Expeditions: A Novel by Karl Iagnemma (Dial Press)

Historic Cottages of Glen Lake by Barbara Siepker. Photography by Dietrich Floeter (Leelanau Press)

"Jiffy" A Family Tradition: Mixing Business and Old-Fashioned Values by Cynthia Furlong Reynolds (Chelsea Milling Company, distributed by University of Michigan Press)

Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Mostly True Stories of Growing Up Scieszka by Jon Scieszka (Viking)

Looking for Hickories: The Forgotten Wildness of the Midwest by Tom Springer (University of Michigan Press)

Measure of the Heart: A Father's Alzheimer's, a Daughter's Return by Mary Ellen Geist (Springboard)

The Model T: A Centennial History by Robert Casey (Johns Hopkins University Press)

Ninety Years Crossing Lake Michigan: The History of the Ann Arbor Car Ferries by Grant Brown, Jr. (University of Michigan Press)

A Picturesque Situation: Mackinac Before Photography, 1615-1860 by Brian Leigh Dunnigan (Wayne State University Press)

Ravens in the Storm: A Personal History of the 1960s Antiwar Movement by Carl Oglesby (Scribner)

Roadie: The Misunderstood World of a Bike Racer by Jamie O. Smith. Illustrated by Jef Mallett (Velo Press)

Sirens of Chrome: The Enduring Allure of the Auto Show Model by Margery Krevsky (Momentum Books)

Summer Dreams: The Story of Bob-Lo Island by Patrick Livingston (Wayne State University Press)

The Toledo War: The First Michigan-Ohio Rivalry by Don Faber (University of Michigan Press)

War as They Knew It: Woody Hayes, Bo Schembechler, and America in a Time of Unrest by Michael Rosenberg (Grand Central Publishing)

When the Church Becomes Your Party: Contemporary Gospel Music by Deborah Smith Pollard (Wayne State University Press)

Who's Jim Hines? by Jean Alicia Elster (Wayne State University Press)

Wreck of the Carl D.: A True Story of Loss, Survival, and Rescue at Sea by Michael Schumacher (Bloomsbury USA)

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