We chatted with the experts, the bookworms, and bookstore owners, and here’s our roundup of local books—or books written by local authors—that were published in 2025. All make great holiday gifts! Find them at Leelanau County’s locally owned, independent bookstores: Cottage Book Shop in Glen Arbor, Bay Books in Suttons Bay, Dog Ears Books in Northport, and Leelanau Books in Leland; or at your local library. Happy reading!
A special holiday tradition continues on Nov. 14 as the Friends of the Glen Lake Community Library kick off their annual call for children’s books. The Friends are once again collecting donations of new children’s books for children whose families are in need of assistance this holiday season. Donors are asked to purchase a book for a child on this list and deliver it gift-wrapped to the library by Dec. 13. The Cottage Book Shop will provide a 20% discount on any books purchased for the drive. They will even gift wrap and deliver the books for you.
The Cottage Book Shop in Glen Arbor, which Jenny Puvogel acquired last year, will celebrate its 40th birthday with an author signing on Saturday, June 28, from 5-7 pm. “We will have several local authors signing books under the tent outside—some new books, some older books—and some light refreshments,” said Puvogel. The author lineup includes: Sue Boucher (Sleeping Bear Dunes Day), M Christine Byron (Perfect Omena Day), Bryan Gruley (Bitter Frost), Mark Lindsay (The Soul of Sleeping Bear), Tim Mulherin (This Magnetic North), Steve Reddicliffe (The New York Times Essential Book of Cocktails), Kit Robey (The Sleeping Bear Wakes Up), Barbara Siepker (Historic Cottages of Glen Lake) and more.
The Glen Lake Community Library in Empire will celebrate and host Michigan Notable Book Award winner and national best-selling author Bonnie Jo Campbell on Saturday, May 24 from 2-3 pm. Campbell will read from, discuss, and sign copies of her highly acclaimed 2024 novel, The Waters. Fellow Notable Author and Empire resident Anne-Marie Oomen will lead the discussion. Books sales are courtesy of Glen Arbor’s Cottage Book Shop.
The four public libraries of Leelanau County are pleased to host Nita Prose on Saturday, May 17, at 7 pm at the Glen Lake Schools Auditorium. She will discuss her first book, The Maid. Prose has authored a sequel, novella, and a third book in the The Maid series, “The Maid’s Secret,” which was released in April. She will be interviewed by guest host Sarah Bearup-Neal of the Glen Arbor Arts Center.
Our coverage in 2024 featured crimes, celebrities, cool new businesses, and an homage to the now removed Crystal River culverts. Our top 10 most-read stories included: a manhunt in the National Lakeshore; the search for a black bear that broke into Grocers Daughter Chocolate and devoured a 50-pound bag of sugar; Jerry Seinfeld’s movie “Unfrosted” about Pop-Tart man Bill Post, and the Twin Flames Universe cult’s secretive wedding in Traverse City. Thanks for your readership. We look forward to sharing more stories of Leelanau County events, characters, businesses, and the arts in 2025. Here’s the list of our Top 10 stories by online views in 2024.
A Special Holiday Tradition continues on Nov. 15 as the Friends of the Glen Lake Library kick off their annual call for children’s books. The Friends are once again collecting donations of new children’s books for those whose families are in need of assistance this holiday season. Any family can find themselves in hard times and the goal is to make sure the children still have some holiday joy in the form of a special book. The list is compiled from Glen Lake Elementary School, Parenting Communities, The Benodjenh Child Center, Leelanau Children’s Center and Family Daycare Homes and is available at the Glen Lake Library in Empire and at the Cottage Book Shop in Glen Arbor.
We chatted with the experts, the bookworms, and bookstore owners, and here’s our roundup of local books, or books written by local authors, that were published this year. Find them at Leelanau County’s locally-owned, independent bookstores: Cottage Book Shop in Glen Arbor, Bay Books in Suttons Bay, Dog Ears Books in Northport, and Leelanau Books in Leland; or at your local library. Happy reading!
The cozy book shop in a nearly 100-year-old log cabin in the heart of Glen Arbor has a new owner this spring. Jenny Puvogel acquired the Cottage Book Shop from Sue Boucher on April 1 after working there for five years. Boucher bought the book shop 10 years ago from Barbara Siepker, who acquired it from founder Mollie Weeks in 1995 and then moved it across Lake Street to its current location between the Glen Arbor Gardens and Lake Street Studios. We asked Puvogel about her love for the book shop and the area, what’s happening there this summer, and what’s she’s reading now.
A special holiday tradition continues on Nov. 19 with an annual call for children’s books. The Friends of the Glen Lake Library are once again collecting donations of new children’s books for children whose families are in need of assistance this holiday season. Any family can find themselves in hard times and the goal is to make sure the children still have some holiday joy in the form of a special book.