2000 Read Michigan Selections

Read Michigan, a list of recommended books about Michigan or by Michigan authors, was established in 1991 in cooperation with the Great Lakes Booksellers Association and the Historical Society of Michigan. 

The list was announced by Governor John Engler and Secretary of State Candice Miller at the State Capitol. Committee members included Sam Spiegel, Partners Book Distributing Inc. and George Weeks, Detroit News. Following is the 2000 Read Michigan list.

A Sailor's Logbook: A Season Aboard Great Lakes Freighters, by Mark Thompson. Wayne State University Press. Michigan has an important maritime heritage, and this book provides a current, firsthand account of life aboard the ships that sail its waters.

Art in Detroit Public Places, text by Dennis Alan Nawrocki, photographs by David Clements. Wayne State University Press. As noted by Michigan History Magazine, "The reader not only will be better able to enjoy Detroit, but also will gain a better understanding of the city's development."

Between the Flowers, by Harriette Simpson Arnow (published posthumously), a 1983 inductee into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame. Michigan State University Press. This novel has appeal similar to her moving book, The Dollmaker, based in wartime Detroit and celebrating strong women surviving hard life.

Century of Voices: Detroit Women Writers; Anthology 1900-2000, Detroit Women Writers. Includes fiction, non-fictions, essays, columns and other writings from 87 members of Detroit Women Writers, including well-known authors Joyce Carol Oats and Judith Guest.

Ernie: Hemingway's Sister "Sunny" Remembers, by Madelaine Hemingway Miller. Thunder Bay Press. Among the 140 family photos are those from their summer vacations at Walloon Lake near Petoskey, which figures prominently in this book.

Hemingway in Michigan, by Dr. Constance Cappel. Little Traverse Historical Society. Re-published in 1999, this is a biographical account of Hemingway's early years in northern Michigan.

Island Farm, by Arthur Versluis. Michigan State University Press. In recounting the story of the author's family historic orchards near Grand Rapids, he provides an insight into the American agrarian tradition.

Keepers of Valor: Lakes of Vengeance, Lakeboats, Lifesavers & Lighthouses, by Wes Oleszewski. Avery Color Studios. This factual historical narrative includes sagas of some of the most obscure and thrilling events that can be told of lake mariners and those who served them.

M Is for Mitten: A Michigan Alphabet, by Annie Appleford, Kathy-jo Wargin and Michael G. Monroe. Sleeping Bear Press. Incredibly captivating, this book explores wonders of Michigan from Apple blossom to the Zoo of Detroit with delightful text and colorful illustrations.

Michigan and the Civil War: An Anthology. A Michigan History Magazine Heritage Publication. Through diaries and letters, and research of some of Michigan's most respected historians, readers discover the service and sacrifice of Michiganians during America's greatest conflict.

Michigan: The Spirit of the Land, text by Kathy-jo Wargin, photos by Ed Wargin. Voyageur Press. An artistic photographic tour of Michigan accompanied by colorful, anecdotal, poetic text, and the lore and legends of the state.

Peninsula: Essays and Memoirs from Michigan, edited by Michael Steinberg. Michigan State University Press. Thirty-seven writers, including acclaimed novelist Jim Harrison, give a sense of the variety, flavor and distinctiveness from Detroit to the Upper Peninsula.

Retrieving Michigan's Buried Past: The Archaeology of the Great Lakes State, edited by John R. Halsey. Cranbrook Institute of Science. Covers a full range of prehistoric occupations, and archaeology of Michigan from the time of first European exploration to the dawn of the 20th century.

Rockin' Down the Dial: The Detroit Sound of Radio, by David Carson. Momentum Books. Casey Kasem says, "To relieve the soundtrack of your life, read this compelling story of Detroit's biggest air personalities and classic radio stations."

Saw Mills and Sleigh Bells: Stories of Mid-Michigan Settlers, by Linda R. Peckham and Lorie Ellen Heuft. Catalpa Publications. As Director Sandra Clark of the Michigan Historical Center observed, "This is a great book for an adult and a child to share."

Sharing the Balance of Power: An Examination of Shared Power in the Michigan House of Representatives, 1993-94, by Daniel Loepp. University of Michigan Press. A Capitol insider provides a refreshing portrait of politicians achieving bipartisanship, including Michigan's first-ever co-speakership, after the 1992 election produced a 55-55 House split.

State of Glory: Michigan State's 1999-2000 Championship Season. Detroit Free Press and Triumph Books. After their third straight Big Ten title, MSU's basketball team won the national title.

Tap into the Great Lakes: A Guide to the Brewpubs & Microbreweries of Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio & Wisconsin, by John Bice. Thunder Bay Press. A Michigan native provides a guide for the burgeoning craft-brewing industry that has attracted Michiganians and visitors

The Life & Wisdom of Gwen Frostic, by Sheryl James. Sleeping Bear Press. There lives Up North an extraordinary women who for nearly 50 years has carved images that celebrate Michigan--its shoreline, its wildflowers, its butterflies and so much more. Gwen Frostic is a Michigan institution.

The Michigan Book of Bests: An Eclectic Barrage of Great Places to Go and Things to Know, by Gary W. Barfknecht. Friede Publications. The title says it all about Michigan's more than 500 "bests."

Winter of the Wolf Moon, by Steve Hamilton. Thomas Dunne Books. A Detroit area-born and raised author spins fiction that captures the flavor of northern Michigan and its first people.

Updated 12/20/2019