Psst!

March 3, 2016

You didn’t hear it from me, but you know Spotlight, the movie that just won an Academy Award for Best Picture?  Did you know it was based on a book from 2002?  Only, see, the book has a different title than the movie.  Here’s the book: Now as of this blog post, that book is […]


Funny Finds Found When Weeding: EPL Hidden Treasures

March 1, 2016

Look, I gotta level with you here.  The Evanston Public Library collection?  It’s massive, man.  We have 485,000 print items alone, which is kind of unusual for a city this size.  We’re proud of our collection as well.  Have you ever looked, I mean really looked, at our art books?  How about our music scores?  […]


Evanston Reaches Out to Read

February 26, 2016

If you’re a regular reader of the Evanston Roundtable then this title probably caught your eye this month: Evanston is in the Midst of a Reading ‘Crisis’ says ETHS.  The piece goes on to describe how the number of incoming freshmen who require reading intervention has more than doubled since 2011, and that number isn’t […]


The Book Tie-In: Hackstudio

February 24, 2016

This is the first in a series of posts highlighting important businesses or areas in Evanston. You wouldn’t think that at the age of 37 a person could become a curmudgeon, but there is at least one area in which slot neatly into the definition.  Hacking.  It’s not that I don’t like it or think […]


Remembering Harper Lee

February 20, 2016

In this age where authors are expected to tweet, update their Facebook pages, use Instagram to promote their books, and even dabble in Pinterest/Snapchat/what-have-you, it’s really enough to make you nostalgic for an era where an author could write a book, have it be a massive success, and then generally disappear from public view if […]


Nom Nom Nom: Food Bios and Author Visits

February 19, 2016

Hungry?  You should be.  For what it’s worth the authors Daniel R. Block and Howard Rosing, the men behind the new book Chicago: A Food Biography, are coming to Evanston Public Library on Sunday, February 21st at 3:00 p.m. to the Community Meeting Room (it’s bound to be popular so please register online or call […]


The Evanston Literary Salon: Publishing Children’s Books in the 21st Century

February 16, 2016

Lots of people want to write and/or illustrate books for kids, but how do you actually go about doing so? What are some of the pitfalls and perks of the job? What should you avoid? What are the common myths? This past Saturday, attendees of Evanston’s monthly Literary Salon (an event for adults with an […]


Four Recommended Chicago/Evanston Literary Podcasts

February 12, 2016

Sometimes these blog posts feel a bit like dares. The Challenge: Locate as many literary podcasts that are based out of the Chicago area as possible. Special Bonus Points: Find one that’s recorded in Evanston, IL proper. The search was on.  By which I mean, the Google search.  The iTunes search as well.  I love […]


Covers From the Past: Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

February 10, 2016

Dig deep enough into the stacks of Evanston Public Library and you’ll find book jackets long since forgotten.  Today’s pick is that classic summer paean, Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury.  A beautiful novel and one that I return to constantly when the cold winds of February blow (like today), I thought I knew all its […]


Shakespeare Comes to Illinois!

February 8, 2016

Well . . . sorta.  Small impediment to getting Shakespeare here in the States is the somewhat unavoidable fact that he is dead.  As a proverbial doorknob.  But that doesn’t mean that pieces of him don’t go walkabout from time to time.  Case in point, the national touring exhibition First Folio! The Book that Gave Us […]


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