32 books with Michigan ties to check out this season

ocal authors – or those with local ties, at least – have certainly been busy this season. Let your bookshelf overflow with these new and recently released titles from area writers.

Self-Help/Devotional/Memoir

Coffee With God: 31-Day Prayer Devotional for Wives, Charity R. Dean, ($11.99, self-published)	Flesh and Stones: Field Notes From a Finite World, Jan Shoemaker ($18, Bottom Dog Press)
Dean, a lifelong Detroiter, makes it her mission to serve God and others and extends upon that work with a guide to a better marriage and a better you.	An Okemos teacher and bookseller, Shoemaker offers fine, witty prose in her first book of creative nonfiction that’s part travelogue and part memoir, circling around themes of loss.

Fatherless Daughter: A Different Perspective, A. Morel Brown, ($16.95, Perfected Purpose Publishing)	Jewels for Every Woman: A Guide to Queendom Living, Dr. Stephanie Burrage ($15, self-published)
Brown, a service leader, speaker and mentor, offers guidance and advice for women who have grown up without fathers.	A self-help book from a local educator and vlogger, women learn to walk in their “queendom” with messages of hope and empowerment rooted in faith, compassion, love and confidence.

Dear Queen, Dr. Eddie Connor ($19.99, self-published)	God’s Way to Conquering Fear, Dr. Herbert B. Robinson ($21.95, self-published)
The popular Detroit author, professor and speaker’s latest is a “literary love letter” that celebrates the value of women around the world.	The pastor of Detroit’s True Love Missionary Baptist Church offers a new devotional.

Five Smooth Stones: One Father’s Journey to Deposit and Develop Excellence in His Five Sons, R.V. Sykes Sr. ($11.99, Xulon Press)	Confessions of Restoration, Rodnesha Ross ($15, self-published)
A Detroit father and pastor offers personal insights on growing up in Detroit during the 1980s and being raised in a single-parent home.	A former photographer turns to the written word and offers self-help guidance and affirmation from her own experiences, in hopes that her testimony can pave the way for the next person to be restored.

Be EmPOWERed: How to Live Above & Beyond Life’s Drama, Rasheda Kamaria Williams ($8.95, Empowered Flower Girl)	My New Friend, Grief, Anna Hodges Oginsky ($13.99, Balboa Press)
Williams, a Detroit communications professional, writes an interactive guidebook for girls packed with inspirational prose, thought-provoking questions and written activities.	A Brighton author shares how she experienced grief after the sudden death of her father and discovered that befriending grief would allow her to move through life in richer, more meaningful ways.

Grow Into Yourself: The Transitional Road from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be, Sherry Swift ($9.99, self-published)
Swift encourages readers on a journey that of unfamiliar places, original thoughts and new goals and desires.

History/Current Events

In Love and Struggle: The Revolutionary Lives of James & Grace Lee Boggs, Stephen M. Ward ($39.95, The University of North Carolina Press)	Heaven Was Detroit: From Jazz to Hip Hop and Beyond, M.L. Liebler ($34.99, Wayne State University Press)
Ward, an associate professor of Afroamerican and African studies at the University of Michigan, takes a deep dive into the personal and political dimensions of the Detroit activists and their shaping of black activist thinking.	An array of essayists capture the full spectrum of Detroit popular music from the early 1900s to the 21st century.

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra: Grace, Grit and Glory, Laurie Lanzen Harris with Paul Ganson ($39.99, Painted Turtle)	Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and its Legacy, Heather Ann Thompson ($24.75, Pantheon)
The first history to document the DSO from its 19th-century beginnings to present, in tandem with the city’s own cultural and economic changes.	Thompson, a University of Michigan historian, offers the first definitive history of the infamous 1971 Attica prison uprising and the state of New York’s violent response.

Iconic Restaurants of Ann Arbor, Jon Milan and Gail Offen ($22.99, Arcadia Publishing)
All of the favorite eats and treats for college townies and residents alike ranging from taverns to diners and fine dining to carry-outs.

Educational

My Business My Basics, Brandi C. Shelton ($30, self-published)	Truth Transforms Education: A Framework for New School Leaders, Dr. Antoinette Pearson ($14.99, self-published)
Shelton, a local entrepreneur with 14 years of experience, pens a 150-page workbook and business journal with real-world examples, worksheets, journal sheets and other elements that will enhance any business or aid in planning business strategy.	A veteran K-12 educator discusses seven practical principles school leaders should consider as they strive to build the instructional capacity of educators and create institutions of academic success for students.

Fiction

A Place Near the Front, William G. Herbert ($13.99, iUniverse)	Sax Club: Thorn Birds of Detroit Confront Mafia, Les Cochran ($16, Bookstand Publishing)
This historical novel follows a black man’s journey from 1910s ship work to a stint with the Buffalo Soldiers – including brushes with the mob and constant battles with racism.	Tells the story of the entrepreneurs and people of Detroit who took a stand against the mafia to pursue their dreams of owning their own businesses free of mafia control.

The Art of Holding On and Letting Go, Kristin Bartley Lenz ($9.17, Elephant Rock Productions)
In this young-adult fiction from Detroit author Lenz, a teen rock climber finds herself starting over at her grandparents’ house in suburban Detroit after a sudden tragedy.

Children's Books

Books Do Not Have Wings, Brynne Barnes ($15.75, Sleeping Bear Press)	Phenomenally Me, Korene E.J. Smith ($16.95, self-published)
The second children’s release from local professor and author Barnes, Wings lets young readers answer the question, “What is a book?”	A children’s book authored and illustrated by a military wife and mom of two, Phenomenally offers children a foundation for positive self-talk and inner peace.

Ivylocs: Episode 1: Tee-Tee’s Wedding, Danielle Carin Dunn ($8.99, self-published)	Annon and Mom’s Great Sea Adventure, Mou and Annon Gjukis ($15.99, Xlibris)
In the first of a series, a Detroit author debuts Ivylocs, a curious girl who is faced with the challenge of helping save her closest aunt’s wedding day from disaster – who and uses creativity and critical thinking skills to solve everyday problems.	A mother-and-son duo living in Portage team up for an exciting fictional story of a mother and child who work together in order to overcome an obstacle.

Round, S.R. Taylor ($17.99, self-published):	Look, Daddy! There’s a Bunny, Kimberly Batchelor Davis ($14.99, self-published)
A strong anti-bullying message is put forth in a tale about a little girl who wants nothing more to be a butterfly in her school play but is teased because of her size.	A father and his two young sons take a walk through their historic neighborhood where they meet furry creatures and find a bunny who needs their help.

Poetry

What We Are Not For, Tommye Blount ($12, Bull City Press)
A debut chapbook from this Novi writer delves into ideas of manhood through biography, fairy tale and history, moving its reader toward caustic longing.

Coming Soon

How to Kill a City: Gentrification, Inequality, and the Fight for the Neighborhood, Peter Moskowitz ($26, Nation Books)	A $500 House in Detroit: Rebuilding an Abandoned Home and an American City, Drew Philp ($26, Scribner)
Moskowitz, an NYC-based freelancer, visits Detroit and other cities and reveals who holds power in those cities and how residents can fight back. Out in March.	Spun off from a well-read BuzzFeed post on rehabbing a $500 Detroit home, Philp’s book expounds on his experiences in race, crime and class. Out in April.

A History Lover’s Guide to Detroit, Karin Risko (Price TBA, History Press)	Black Detroit: A People’s History of Self-Determination, Herb Boyd ($27.99, Amistad)
In line with History Press’ other history lover’s city guides, this forthcoming book will tour notable monuments, streets and other points of interest. Out in June.	Boyd, who moved to Detroit in 1939, writes a celebratory tome (blurbed by Betty DeRamus and John Conyers) of the rise of the black middle class in Detroit, turning an eye toward music, manufacturing, politics and culture. Out in June.