Fiction, Lit, Reviews

Review: Kells: A Novel of the Eighth Century, by Amy Crider

At an early point in the story, one of the central characters, Connachtach, is left to contemplate the question “What does God want of me?” It’s a deep question, and […]

Adam Prestigiacomo /
Essays, Lit, Soapbox

Opinion: A Pre-Obit for the Physical Book

Make no mistake, I love physical books. I love the weighty feel of a book in my hands. I love the aroma of a book when you open it whether a […]

Patrick T. Reardon /
Events, Fiction, Interviews, Lit, Live lit events

Interview: Sinister Twisters—Author James Kennedy Talks Horror and His New Book, Bride of the Tornado

James Kennedy will appear at the HORRORPALOOZA! event at After-Words Bookstore (23 E. Illinois Street), Sunday, October 29, at 5pm, with fellow horror authors Cynthia Pelayo and Julia Fine and […]

Dan Kelly /
Fiction, Lit, Reviews

Review: A Feel-Good Novel about Coping Together, Everybody Here Is Kin, by BettyJoyce Nash

BettyJoyce Nash will be at The Book Cellar at 4736 N Lincoln Ave. in Chicago at 7pm on Thursday, October 26, to discuss her new novel Everybody Here is Kin […]

Patrick T. Reardon /
Comics and Graphic Novels, Events, Interviews, Lit, Live lit events, Music, Nonfiction

Review: Something Out of Nothing—New Book Shares the History and Images of Garage Rock Label Estrus Records

Chris Coyle and designer Scott Sugiuchi will attend a book release party at Quimby’s Bookstore (1854 W North Ave) on Saturday, October 21, beginning at 1 p.m. Another party takes […]

Dan Kelly /
Essays, Events, Fiction, Lit, Nonfiction, Poetry

Shortlist Announced for 2023 Chicago Review of Books Awards

The 2023 Chicago Review of Books Awards shortlist includes literary works ranging in subject matter from queer motherhood to belonging and migration, Chicago’s Black cowboy culture, and women’s overlooked heroism during World War II.

Elizabeth Niarchos Neukirch /
Chicago history, Events, Fiction, Interviews, Lit, Live lit events

The Haunting of Hemingway House: Four Women Writers Make Hemingway’s Childhood Home a Clean, Well-Frighted Place

Note: The event is sold out, but Ernest Hemingway’s Birthplace Museum continues to present tours and weekly events all year round. As the quintessential literary man’s man, it’s easy to […]

Dan Kelly /
Chicago history, Chicago history, Fiction, Lit

Review: A Sparkling, Gritty, and Compassionate Collection, Dona Cleanwell Leaves Home: Stories, by Ana Castillo

The seven stories in Ana Castillo’s sparkling and new, yet gritty and compassionate collection Dona Cleanwell Leaves Home, share several common themes. Ghosts, for one, including a beautiful naked woman […]

Patrick T. Reardon /
Chicago history, Events, Food, Lit, Live lit events, Nonfiction, Recipes

Review: Consuming My Religion: Holy Food, by Christina Ward

No matter how busy they were creating the universe, some gods always found time to lay down the law on what their worshippers should eat. Diets and deities have a […]

Dan Kelly /
Architecture, Beyond, Chicago history, Chicago history, Children's books, Comics and Graphic Novels, Fiction, Lit, Nonfiction, Poetry

Essay: In Defense of “Unregulated” Little Free Libraries

Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th) thinks the little free libraries along many Chicago sidewalks are bad—very bad. They are “unregulated”! And they’re “popular”! And many of them are planted in city soil! (Collective […]

Patrick T. Reardon /
Fiction, Lit, Reviews

Review: Bewitching Hollywood Flappers and Fairies in Kathleen Rooney’s From Dust to Stardust

At one point in Kathleen Rooney’s bewitching new novel From Dust to Stardust, the iconic Hollywood flapper Doreen O’Dare says to an interviewer, “What I’ve figured out is that the […]

Elizabeth Niarchos Neukirch /
Dialogs, Events, Fiction, Lit, Live lit events

Dialogs: Zadie Smith’s New Historical Fiction The Fraud Plumbed at Chicago Humanities Festival Event

Fiction is a “medium that must always allow itself…the possibility of expressing intimate and inconvenient truths,” acclaimed London-born author Zadie Smith once said. She recently stopped by Lincoln Park’s Francis […]

Karin McKie /