Chicago has been frequently touted as a writer’s town; a place where writers can work on their craft and thrive. Of course writers are nothing without an audience to read them, and the bevy of bookstores in Chicagoland is one indication that we’re also a reader’s town—not just a place where people make books, but […]
Tag: books
The Beauty of Your Face isn’t afraid to get ugly
In Sahar Mustafah’s debut novel, The Beauty of Your Face, a terrorist attack opens a window on the story of a Palestinian American family in Chicago.
We’ve brought together twenty of Leor Galil’s best music features from the past ten years in one book
Best of Chicago Reader, Volume 1
Covert
On being a mother, the apocalypse of the interior life, and sheltering in place on the other side of Lake Michigan.
Eye 94 opens readers’ ears
Lumpen hosts the only terrestrial radio show in the midwest devoted to books and authors.
Making All Black Lives Matter: Barbara Ransby talks politics and protesting in 2018
At a book talk Tuesday at the SEIU Healthcare headquarters in Pilsen, Barbara Ransby discussed her book Making All Black Lives Matter.
Andrew Smith throws Jungle Green’s homemade songs at a bigger wall—will they stick?
Chicago singer-songwriter Andrew Smith has promoted Jungle Green’s homemade songs mostly by sending them to people who reply to flyers he’s taped to lampposts. Fortunately he’s also made some well-connected fans.
Books we can’t wait to read in 2018
Bill Clinton has written a thriller about a missing president! And nearly 100 other ways to escape the oncoming shit show.
More gift ideas: music for your eyes
Two stunning photography books that came out in 2017 focus on jazz in France and traditional music from around the world.
Gentrifier is a positive step forward in the gentrification debate
A new book succeeds by avoiding simple solutions to complicated problems.
Photo book Too Fly Not to Fly celebrates #blackgirlmagic and #blackboyjoy
With Too Fly Not To Fly, educators Briana McLean and Desmond Owusu have created a learning tool that also captures the joy of black childhood in Chicago.
An Internet-free ‘bookbar’ in Lincoln Park has banned laptops in favor of books and conversation
Kibbitznest Books, Brews & Blarney attempts a return to old-fashioned coffeehouse culture.
In the wake of the Facebook Live attack, we need to talk about black anger
Condemn the attack, but also understand the roots of black anger and violence done in Trump’s name.