A collage of the books Muddled Cherries, We Had Fun and Nobody D
From Door County to Bascom Hall, novels set in Wisconsin this year focus on characters struggling to fit in — both with their communities and with themselves. They include Muddled Cherries (Ten16 Press), a coming-of-age story by first-time Door County author Sally Collins, and Welcome to Meskousing (Spilled Inc. Press) by Sun Prairie’s Sean Patrick Little, which follows a young female sheriff tracking a mythical creature in the fictional Meskousing County, Wisconsin’s smallest (and oddest) county.
Local references abound in The Bones of Bascom Hall (University of Wisconsin Press), the latest installment in the Nora Barnes and Toby Sandler mystery series by Betsy Draine and Michael Hinden (professors emeriti of English at UW-Madison). The story revolves around the discovery of bones in the attic of an administration building on campus — bones that could be connected to the bombing of Sterling Hall in 1970.
Bummer Camp (Lake Union Publishing), the charming and witty sixth novel from Madison-based author Ann Garvin, centers on two adult sisters stuck trying to save the family’s rundown Wisconsin theater camp that’s been overtaken by a lunatic life coach. The inspiration, she says, came from her time working as a camp nurse at the Wisconsin Lions Camp in Rosholt. Garvin even brought the titular “Bummer Camp” to life, hosting a weekend summer camp experience for “bookish ladies” in August at a site in Stevens Point’s deep woods.
Wisconsin is such fertile ground for writers that Mineral Point-based publisher Little Creek Press this year recalibrated its mission to focus solely on books and authors that showcase Wisconsin. Some of its latest fiction titles include Accidental Summer by Sara Rath, Driftless Insurrection by Sue Berg and Miracles Along County Q, the debut fiction title by the former executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, Mike McCabe.
Notable in nonfiction was the rollicking We Had Fun and Nobody Died: Adventures of a Milwaukee Music Promoter (Wisconsin Historical Society Press) by Shank Hall owner Peter Jest and Milwaukee Public Library reference librarian Amy T. Waldman, an enlightening read that chronicles the state’s music scene over the past four decades. It takes its title from a line uttered by Violent Femmes bassist Brian Ritchie when asked about the band’s ramshackle 1985 West Coast tour, during which Jest served as tour manager. More in music: Moments of Happiness: A Wisconsin Band Story (University of Wisconsin Press) by former UW marching band director Mike Leckrone and journalist Doug Moe made some of the loudest noise.
Newspapers used to be a primary vector for the sharing of recipes; Extra! Extra! Eat All About It! Recipes and Culinary Curiosities from Historic Wisconsin Newspapers (Wisconsin Historical Society Press) delves into many regional and historic cooking quirks as culled from newspapers from across the state. A chapter on the fad of paper bag cooking, for instance, from the early 20th century, includes a recipe for stuffed onions (cooked, naturally, in a paper bag) from the Manitowoc Pilot. An early vegetarian recipe for baked cowpeas and cheese comes from the Northern Wisconsin Advertiser. With each recipe comes relevant background on usually forgotten culinary alleys.
The environment — getting out in it, appreciating it, saving it — was on many authors’ minds this year. Madison author Heather Swan’s Where the Grass Still Sings: Stories of Insects and Interconnection (Penn State University Press) combines essays reporting on people on the front lines of climate change and its effect on insects with reflections on artists who celebrate the insect in their works in diverse ways. Wisconsin State Parks, Forests, and Recreation Areas: A Ranger’s Guide (HenschelHAUS Publishing) by former state park and forest ranger Jim Buchholz takes readers on a colorful tour of 80 diverse sites.
Betsy Korbinyr’s Time, Beauty, and Grief: A Hike Through Wisconsin’s 50 State Parks (Little Creek Press) is a series of essays describing the author’s visit to every state park, combining personal reflection and practical trail info. And in Wildlifer: Wisconsin Origin to Climate Change (Cornerstone Press), Neil F. Payne — a professor emeritus of wildlife ecology at UW-Stevens Point influenced by Aldo Leopold and John Muir — guides readers through an analysis of wildlife management as a profession.
Longtime UW-Madison creative writing professor Jesse Lee Kercheval branched out into graphic memoir; French Girl (Fieldmouse Press) was both written and illustrated by Kercheval.
Brian Reisinger, former campaign communications director for Republican Ron Johnson, grew up on a family farm in Sauk County. He chronicles what he refers to as America’s most detrimental and unexplained socioeconomic crisis in Land Rich Cash Poor: My Family’s Hope and the Untold History of the Disappearing American Farmer (Skyhorse Publishing). And books that chronicle the role our state has played — and will continue to play — in national politics included Wisconsin for Kennedy: The Primary that Launched a President and Changed the Course of History (Wisconsin Historical Society Press) by UW-Eau Claire English professor B.J. Hollars and Wisconsin Gerrymandering: The Fight for Permanent Fair Maps and Why It Matters (Little Creek Press) by former state Sen. Tim Cullen.
Other Wisconsin-related nonfiction titles from this year include: Chasing the Stars: How the Astronomers of Observatory Hill Transformed Our Understanding of the Universe (Wisconsin Historical Society Press) by James Lattis and Kelly Tyrrell, Mission to Oslo: Dancing with the Queen, Dealmaking with the Russians, Shaping History (Little Creek Press) by Tom Loftus, Seasons on Ice: The Birth of Wisconsin Badgers Hockey (Piper Park Publishing) by Criag P. Nelson, World War II Dispatches to Madison: Letters Home from an Army Air Corps Soldier (The History Press) by Dannelle Gay, Year of Plenty: A Family’s Season of Grief (University of Wisconsin Press) by B.J. Hollars and Great Nature Wisconsin: A Guide for Nature Immersion in Wisconsin by Randy Hoffman with Laura and Cody Stingley.
More Wisconsin-centric novels by Wisconsin authors published in 2024 include Big Lake Troubles (Atmosphere Press) by Jeffrey D. Boldt, Fire Conditions (WWA Press) by Thomas C. Malin, Ghost Mother (Union Square & Co.) by Kelly Dwyer, Northwoods (Emily Bestler Books/Atria) by Amy Pease, The Killers’ Terms (Level Best Books) by Kevin Kluesner and Trempealeau (Talus Books) by John Umhoefer. Thrillers Beyond the Flames (Three Towers Press/HenschelHAUS Publishing) by Lakes Mills author Gregory Lee Renz (it’s the follow-up to 2019’s Beneath the Flames) and Nick Petrie’s The Price You Pay (Putnam), the eighth in his Peter Ash series were released. Also, the second short story collection, Close Call (Cornerstone Press), from Kim Suhr has stories set in Madison and elsewhere in Wisconsin.
