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As the school year draws to a close, are you preparing your reading list for the summer? To help, the University of Michigan Press has chosen to highlight some of our newest and upcoming books for you to enjoy in the break between semesters.

Don’t forget to take advantage of our spring sale by using the discount code SPRING26 at checkout! This year we’re excited to offer 50% off our entire list of titles during our sale (June 1st to June 30th).

Great Lake: An Unnatural History of Lake Michigan By Theodore J. Karamanski

Will you spend any time reading by the water? Great Lake is the perfect read for you. If you’d like to close your eyes in the sunlight, listen to the interview with the author on Michigan Public’s Stateside.

“Great Lake: An Unnatural History of Lake Michigan gives a wide-sweeping look at Lake Michigan, starting in prehistoric times when the lake was being created by the glaciers through to the present day. Each chapter is chronological and focuses on how humans have used the lake. As a real treat, he explores Chicago’s lesser-known maritime history, which really is the secret to Chicago’s progress (and the rise and fall of Gary, Indiana).” —Elisa Shoenberger, Chicago Review of Books

What the Mirror Said: The Necessity of Black Women in Poetry By Ashley M Jones

The first person of color and the youngest person to serve as Poet Laureate of Alabama, Ashley M. Jones encountered so many incredible Black women poets who showed her the possibilities. Part critical essay, part personal essay collection, What the Mirror Said traces the influence of nine Black women poets in Jones’s writing and life.

Library Journal writes that, “Readers open to gaining new perspectives and languishing in artful language will appreciate Jones's enlightening tribute to the works of legendary Black women poets.”

A Way With Words: Style in the Age of Artificial Intelligence By John Marsh

"This work is a must for budding writers or beginning college students who want their writing to be its best. It may also help advanced English-language learners write more succinctly and with purpose." —Maria Ashton-Stebbings, Library Journal

A Way with Words helps readers learn the essentials of writing and offers advice about how writers can distinguish their writing from the assembly-line writing that artificial intelligence tends to generate, and how they can develop their style to stand out to their teachers, employers, and clients.

The Ella E. Hall Recipe Book By Ella E. Hall, Foreword by Jessica Kenyatta Walker & Susan Wineberg

“What a find we have here: the recovered, handwritten cookbook of Ann Arbor’s Ella E. Hall. Step into Hall’s kitchen, where she elevates treasured home recipes and favored ones from national brands. Then, add this to your reading list: The Ella E. Hall Recipe Book makes a lovely addition to the shelves of Michiganders and home cooks alike.” —Rafia Zafar, author of Recipes for Respect: African American Meals and Meaning

Ella E. Hall, a Black cook and landlord in Ann Arbor, Michigan, collected her favorite recipes in a journal between 1920 and 1939. Published for the first time, Hall’s recipe book contains not only recipes from family and friends, but also articles, clippings, and advertisements, which provide a glimpse into the food culture and daily life of the time.

What Clever Friends: The Selected Letters of Jane Kenyon and Alice Mattison Edited by Chad Wriglesworth

What Clever Friends, edited by Chad Wriglesworth, is a selection of engaging, frank letters between poet Jane Kenyon and fiction writer Alice Mattison. Ranging from their first meeting in 1979 to Kenyon’s death in 1995, this fifteen-year conversation between close friends reveals their experiences pursuing writing while living out the responsibilities of ordinary life. With more than 500 edited and annotated letters, a retrospective foreword written by Alice Mattison, and a scholarly introduction written by Chad Wriglesworth, What Clever Friends conveys a compelling story that will interest readers and writers.

Their System, Our Game: Homebrew and the Worlds of Pathfinder By Scott DeJong & Marc LaJeunesse

“In Their System, Our Game, DeJong and Lajeunesse analyze the history, culture, and communities of Pathfinder to show how the game’s systems and use exemplify wider patterns of ‘open gaming’ and homebrew. Through archival work, interviews, and ethnographic design research, the authors write both a love letter to and a deep investigation of tabletop players’ practices and creativity. The result is a useful introduction to homebrew, tabletop game play, and tabletop industries for scholars and TTRPG fans alike.” —Amanda Cote, Michigan State University

When this book is published in August, the authors’ two homebrewed campaigns will be available as free downloads for interested readers to try at home!