Castle Nowhere is Constance Woolson's collection of stories set for the most part in the Great Lakes, in particular northern Lake Michigan and Lake Huron near Detroit. Several themes inhabit Woolson's writing: an environmental consciousness and concern with landscapes; an awareness of the complexities of race; and an abidingly careful eye for the shallowness that sometimes accompanies wealth or social pretensions. She also had a unique perspective as a woman who pioneered the use of controversial subjects---such as unrequited or misplaced passion---and methods in fiction during a time that valorized domesticity. As Margot Livesey notes in her introduction, reading about thwarted love is only one of the pleasures to be found in Castle Nowhere. "The majority of these stories are set in remote areas on the shores of Lake Michigan, which Woolson evokes with great vividness and beauty while always remaining keenly aware that beauty in no way mitigates hardship. As a writer, she was nearly always looking over her shoulder, and many, if not all, of these stories were written at a time when she no longer visited the Lake and her beloved Mackinac Island." Contemporary readers will find a curiously modern atmosphere in Woolson's stories, as well as a distinct regional flavor in her careful renderings of the Great Lakes landscape. As such, Castle Nowhere represents a rare woman's voice in literature of its period and setting. Constance Fenimore Woolson (1840-1894) was born in New Hampshire and moved to Cleveland shortly thereafter. She spent time on Mackinac Island, Michigan, then traveled to Florida before moving to Europe. Much of her time there was spent in Italy. She died in Venice in 1894. Novelist Margot Livesey is the author of Eva Moves the Furniture and Homework.

Castle Nowhere: Lake-Country Sketches (Sweetwater Fiction: Reintroductions)

Literature & Fiction

LIVESEY, Margot

Woolson., Constance Fenimore

United States

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN REGIONAL

The avid gardener will need no other resource than this book to plan and maintain a natural garden on the country farm or in the suburban backyard, a habitat congenial to the scarlet tanager, the monarch butterfly, and the toad. Unique to this book is author Beresford-Kroeger's concept of bioplanning, in which the gardener views the site as a biological system and the activity of gardening as an ecological task. To assist in bioplanning a garden, the author provides both plans that are adaptable to different garden sizes and shapes, as well as planting instructions emphasizing organic care, ecofunction, and environmentally friendly means of pest control. A Garden for Life challenges everyone to create an ecologically valuable garden for the joy of doing so, and for the salvation of our natural world. Diana Beresford-Kroeger is the author of Arboretum America. She is a botanist, medical and agricultural researcher, lecturer, and self-defined "renegade scientist" in the fields of classical botany, medical biochemistry, organic chemistry, and nuclear chemistry. She lives in Ontario, Canada.

A Garden for Life: The Natural Approach to Designing, Planting, and Maintaining a North Temperate Garden

Crafts, Hobbies & Home

Beresford-Kroeger, Diana

Gardening & Landscape Design

The coastal beaches of the Great Lakes are some of the most outstanding features of this vast chain of freshwater lakes. Many plants of this region grow nowhere else, and a number of protected species are found along the shoreline. In Guide to Great Lakes Coastal Plants Ellen Elliott Weatherbee provides simple yet authoritative descriptions of sixty-seven of the most interesting plants found on the United States and Canadian shores. Each plant is illustrated with color photographs and line drawings for ease in identification. Wildlife and ethnobotanical uses add fascinating information about the plants, and distribution maps are included for easy reference. This is a must-have field guide for anyone who enjoys the natural beauty of wildflowers.

Guide to Great Lakes Coastal Plants

Science & Math

Weatherbee, Ellen Elliott

Biological Sciences

The Detroit Tigers Reader celebrates the great moments and personalities of the city's rich baseball history. The story of the Tigers---like the story of Detroit itself---is one of resilience and endurance. For baseball fans it's also an intensely personal one: Detroit Tigers baseball has flowed through the veins of generations of families. The essays, articles, and letters in The Detroit Tigers Reader capture those stories and the essence of the Tigers' spirit, tracing the history of the team from its first game on April 25, 1901, up through the arrival of "Pudge" Rodriguez in 2004. With contributions from some of the greatest sportswriters and athletes, as well as local journalists and fans, The Detroit Tigers Reader charts the highs and lows of one of the most extraordinary and celebrated teams in baseball history. Includes contributions from Mitch Albom Dave Anderson Joseph Durso Joe Falls Hank Greenberg Ernie Harwell Al Kaline Mike Lupica Grantland Rice Damon Runyon Babe Ruth Neal Shine

The Detroit Tigers Reader

Sports & Outdoors

Baseball

Join the hunt for one of the most sought-after mushroom marvels---the elusive morel "Michael Kuo offers an engaging survey of a diverse group of fungi whose fruiting bodies are among the most prized edible mushrooms. Morels is a lavishly illustrated poem that will be relished by amateur and professional mycologists alike." ---Nicholas P. Money, author of Mr. Bloomfield's Orchard: The Mysterious World of Mushrooms, Molds, and Mycologists Filled to the brim with information about the science and sport of finding, identifying, and savoring these world-renowned fungi, Morels is a far-ranging, reader-friendly book about one of America's most popular and passionately pursued outdoor activities. Author Michael Kuo brings years of morel-hunting experience to Morels, delivering detailed information in an engaging, readable style to seasoned morel hunters and beginners alike. Morels includes extensive information on the art of hunting morels and on current scientific knowledge regarding these delectable fungi. In addition, Kuo compiles easy-to-understand information on the latest scientific research into morels, from studies into how they grow to DNA-based classification of species. With over two hundred color photographs.

Morels

Kuo, Michael

Winner 2003 Michigan Literary Fiction Award for original novelWinner of Minnesota Book Award "Written with precision and perception, this is a highly recommended work from a writer to watch." ---Library Journal "O'Connor . . . remains a consummate artist, true to her vision of a work that is bleak, truthful, and lacking any overt sentimental overtures. Her eye, a poet's eye, misses nothing." ---three candles ". . . a touching odyssey of a girl poised between the emotional abyss and the reader's heart." ---Minneapolis Star-Tribune "A sensitive, often disquieting book that rings true throughout. . . . It's the skill of an accomplished writer that we see Faina's extraordinary spirit, while simultaneously experiencing her pain and despair. The end result is an uplifting, even inspiring book without any of the sugarcoating often found in stories like this." ---California Literary Review Where No Gods Came is author Sheila O'Connor's compelling story of Faina McCoy, a young girl caught in a perilous scheme of elaborate lies created for her own harrowing system of survival. Enmeshed in a tangled family web, Faina is abruptly uprooted against her will from her father and finds herself half a continent away on the doorstep of a mother who abandoned her years before-but who can't live without Faina now. Alone, persecuted, and exploited, Faina must fend for herself as she searches for love and answers, navigating the streets of a strange city and forging bonds of feeling with liars and outlaws.

Where No Gods Came (Sweetwater Fiction: Originals)

O'Connor, Sheila

On the morning of May 7, 1965, the American freighter Cedarville collided with the Norwegian vessel Topdalsfjord in heavy fog in the Straits of Mackinac. Ultimately, ten crew members of the Cedarville died and a legal battle ensued implicating U.S. Steel---the company that owned the Cedarville---in the chain of events leading to the tragedy. The Cedarville Conspiracy is the story of that doomed ship and its crew. It is also the first Great Lakes history to expose the heroism, villainy, courage, and confusion surrounding the Cedarville disaster. In atmospheric, cinematic style, L. Stephen Cox's gripping page-turner dramatizes the events surrounding the collision between the Norwegian and American freighters. As the mortally wounded Cedarville began to list and sink, U.S. Steel refused to allow the crew to escape to safety, while the captain secretly donned his life jacket and abandoned the sinking ship. Ten seamen died in the frigid waters that morning as the captain and survivors swam to safety. Researching the story, author L. Stephen Cox interviewed the surviving crew and their rescuers and attorneys, examined more than 20,000 pages of Coast Guard reports, and discovered deposition transcripts and other documentary evidence that detailed the deterioration of the ship, the captain's disregard of Great Lakes navigational rules, the company's participation in the decision to confine the men aboard the sinking vessel, and the subsequent efforts by U.S. Steel to manipulate the evidence.

The Cedarville Conspiracy: Indicting U.S. Steel

History

Cox, L. Stephen

Americas

Traveling Through Time is the definitive illustrated guide to nearly 1,500 historic Michigan sites. With this book, travelers can journey through the state to discover the historical markers in Michigan's neighborhoods, along its highways, and in city centers. Since 1955 the state of Michigan has erected historical markers throughout the state. In this revised edition of Traveling Through Time, Laura Rose Ashlee collects the histories that appear on these markers together into one handy guidebook---a great desk reference for researchers and armchair historians alike. Some of the book's special features include: o Location and full text of each marker o Arranged alphabetically within county chapters o More than 85 historic and color photographs o Special section on Michigan historical markers placed outside Michigan

Traveling Through Time: A Guide to Michigan's Historical Markers

A memoir of Midwestern life and culture from the author of Winesburg, OhioPraise for A Story Teller's Story---"The American Portrait of the Artist."-Charles Baxter"Probably unequaled . . . for the austerity of moral courage and sincerity ofconviction. . . . A book which should be read by every intelligent American."---New York Times"In the field of literary autobiography, it stands practically alone in America."---The Nation"The voice of the soliloquist . . . amplifies the drama of A Story Teller's Story, as does the persistent theme of escape, from an America of fact and factories, marketing and manufacturing, to the borderless Ohios of imagination and creation."---From the introduction by Thomas Lynch

A Story Teller's Story: A Memoir (Sweetwater Fiction: Reintroductions)

Biographies & Memoirs

ANDERSON, SHERWOOD

Arts & Literature

"A premiere work offering a rich chronicle of weaving in Michigan. Colorful stories tell of Michigan's textile people, places, and events, and show the important role that this state played in preserving and progressing the culture of cloth locally and nationally. I came away with a new sense of pride and joy at being a part of this rich human history and inspired to continue exploring within this great tradition!" ---Chris Triola, Fiber Artist
"Fascination with Fiber is a well-documented history, with consequence! The authors reveal surprising continuity in relationships, with results that are far-reaching. Readers will be moved beyond border as they come to realize the extensive influences generated in Michigan." ---Gerhardt Knodel, Director, Cranbrook Academy of Art
Fascination with Fiber is the first complete look at Michigan's rich tradition of handweaving, from pioneer log cabin days to the contemporary era of digital computer-aided looms.
Michigan has been at the center of handweaving and fiber arts and crafts since early settlers brought their skills with them from countries where handicrafts and weaving were traditionally strong. The textiles they produced in their new country, from linens to coverlets to rugs, took on a distinctly American expression. In the twentieth century, the formation of guilds, craft communities, and formal art programs created a revival of interest in handweaving as an opportunity for artistic expression so that by latter part of the century the state played a vital role in the national fiber movement.
Weavers and historians themselves, authors Marie A. Gile and Marion T. Marzolf focus on the people and forces that have kept the craft of handweaving alive in Michigan and indeed throughout the country for over two centuries: a passionate group of individuals and weaving communities enlivened through shared necessity, opportunity, and creativity.
Gile and Marzolf base their book on oral histories, interviews, and documentary and artifact research. With its tales of colorful characters such as Mary Atwater, the gun-toting weaver from Montana who helped organize the handweaving industry; to the formation of the Michigan League of Handweavers in 1959; and the "Fascination with Fiber" exhibit that opened in 2004; Fascination with Fiber brings the story of handweaving in Michigan to life like no other book.
Marie A. Gile is Textile Specialist and Research Associate at Michigan State University Museum in Lansing. She has been a weaver and fiber artist for twenty-five years. Marion T. Marzolf is Professor Emerita in the Department of Journalism and Communication at the University of Michigan. Since retiring in 1995, she has taught basic weaving, has served as president of the Michigan League of Handweavers, and has exhibited in galleries statewide.

Fascination with Fiber: Michigan's Handweaving Heritage

Gile, Marie A.

Marzolf, Marion T.

Crafts & Hobbies

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