Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood? Local Evanston Authors On Our Shelves

January 20, 2017

When I tell you that Evanston is full of local authors, that information should hardly shock you.  Being as literary a community as we are, writers are liable to spring up whenever possible.  And, whenever possible, we do try to add their books to our library.  Of course, there are authors like Laurence Gonzales and […]


Sara Grady’s Best Reads of 2016

December 2, 2016

My name is Sara Grady, and I’m a former engineer with the heart of a poet. As a Road Scholar with the Illinois Humanities Council, I travel the state talking about how stories, myths, and words influence our culture and communities. I love language, breathe books, and teach science writing at Northwestern University. I wish […]


The Chicago Review of Books Awards

November 16, 2016

This one’s going out to those of you who may have wondered why all the major book awards seems to come from places other than Chicago.  Considering the breadth and depth of the literary landscape here, it’s a bit shocking that we have so few awards to name off the top of our heads.  Introducing […]


How Do Evanston Residents’ Reading Habits Compare to the Country?

November 9, 2016

Ever wonder what sets Evanston, IL apart from the rest of the nation?  While other parts of the country go gaga over one book or another, can the same be said for our little corner of the world?  Curious, I decided to do some comparisons between the top selling books according to Publishers Weekly this […]


Clowns: Not All of Them Are Psychos, You Know

October 14, 2016

Here’s my theory. With the release of a new version of Stephen King’s It, I half suspect that the reason we’ve been seeing a lot of scary clowns in the news lately is that someone started dressing up as a form of viral promotion and things got out of hand.  That’s just my theory, though.  […]


Fall Is Delicious

October 12, 2016

Usually around this time of year I like to put up a big display of fall books on the first floor.  Mind you, that was before Hamilton: The Musical came to Chicago.  Now my apples have been replaced with Federalist Papers.  Pretty cool, but with all these lovely autumnal materials on our shelves it seems […]


The Chicago Marathon: Past, Present and Future

October 10, 2016

The other day I was perusing the blogs of the New York Public Library (my old stomping grounds) when I came across a piece that was strangely pertinent to my current location.  Called Researching the Chicago Marathon the piece talked about this past Sunday’s race and mentioned the following: Most runners who are interested in […]


Happy Banned Books Week!

September 28, 2016

It only comes but once a year, but the actual banning of books happens far more frequently than that. Here in Evanston we are a reading community.  Book challenges don’t appear here at the same rate that they may in other cities.  That said, there is value in celebrating the right to read.  Here then […]


Biographies No One Loves Anymore

September 26, 2016

The saddest thing that i ever did see, was a woodpecker peckin’ on a plastic tree. He looks at me and “friend” says he “Things ain’t as sweet as they used to be”. – Shel Silverstein Shel Silverstein got many things right but in this case he was wrong.  Sad woodpeckers have nothing on old […]


National Book Award and Man Booker Prize Nominees Announced: How Many Have You Read?

September 20, 2016

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. That time when the longlists for the National Book Awards are announced. Click on the covers to put any of these on hold. Here are the nominees by category for the National Book Awards: POETRY Daniel Borzutzky, The Performance of Becoming Human (Brooklyn Arts Press) Rita Dove, […]


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