Did you know Chicago is home to absolute scads of wonderful authors? We here at The Book Cellar love supporting local, and here you can find books written by your fellow Chicagoans in addition to titles that'll teach you The Windy City has a richer history than you'd even guess!
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Chicago Books!
Named among the best books about Chicago by Chicago Parent Magazine
Do you ever wonder what happens to socks that get lost in the dryer? Join Lefty and Righty for the adventure of a lifetime as they sneak out of the laundry room with a destination in mind: a White Sox game! But with so much to do in The Windy City, will they make it to the game in time? Through their fun-filled day, they'll discover the sights, sounds--and even the tastes--of Chicago, all while encountering a few surprises along the way!
Chicago's architecture attracts visitors from around the globe. The fourth edition of the AIA Guide to Chicago is the best portable resource for exploring this most breathtaking and dynamic of cityscapes. The editors offer entries on new destinations like the Riverwalk, the St. Regis Chicago, and The 606 as well as updated descriptions of Willis Tower and other refreshed landmarks. Thirty-four maps and over 500 photos make it easy to find each of the almost 2000 featured sites. A special insert, new to this edition, showcases the variety of Chicago architecture with over 80 full-color images arranged chronologically. A comprehensive index organizes entries by name and architect.
Sumptuously detailed and user friendly, the AIA Guide to Chicago encourages travelers and residents alike to explore the many diverse neighborhoods of one of the world's great architectural destinations.
An unparalleled architectural powerhouse, Chicago offers visitors and natives alike a panorama of styles and forms. The third edition of the AIA Guide to Chicago brings readers up to date on ten years of dynamic changes with new entries on smaller projects as well as showcases like the Aqua building, Trump Tower, and Millennium Park. Four hundred photos and thirty-four specially commissioned maps make it easy to find each of the one thousand-plus featured buildings, while a comprehensive index organizes buildings by name and architect. This edition also features an introduction providing an indispensable overview of Chicago's architectural history.
Chicago Writers Association Nonfiction Book of the Year (2017)
Society of Midland Authors Literary Award in Biography (2017) A tireless champion of the downtrodden, Nelson Algren, one of the most celebrated writers of the 20th century, lived an outsider's life himself. He spent a month in prison as a young man for the theft of a typewriter; his involvement in Marxist groups earned him a lengthy FBI dossier; and he spent much of his life palling around with the sorts of drug addicts, prostitutes, and poor laborers who inspired and populated his novels and short stories. Most today know Algren as the radical, womanizing writer of The Man with the Golden Arm, which won the first National Book Award, in 1950, but award-winning reporter Mary Wisniewski offers a deeper portrait. Starting with his childhood in the City of Big Shoulders, Algren sheds new light on the writer's most momentous periods, from his on-again-off-again work for the WPA to his stint as an uninspired soldier in World War II to his long-distance affair with his most famous lover, Simone de Beauvoir, to the sense of community and acceptance Algren found in the artist colony of Sag Harbor before his death in 1981. Wisniewski interviewed dozens of Algren's closest friends and inner circle, including photographer Art Shay and author and historian Studs Terkel, and tracked down much of his unpublished writing and correspondence. She unearths new details about the writer's life, work, personality, and habits and reveals a funny, sensitive, and romantic but sometimes exasperating, insecure, and self-destructive artist. The first new biography of Algren in over 25 years, this fresh look at the man whose unique style and compassionate message enchanted readers and fellow writers and whose boyish charm seduced many women is indispensable to anyone interested in 20-century American literature and history.
Society of Midland Authors Literary Award in Biography (2017) A tireless champion of the downtrodden, Nelson Algren, one of the most celebrated writers of the 20th century, lived an outsider's life himself. He spent a month in prison as a young man for the theft of a typewriter; his involvement in Marxist groups earned him a lengthy FBI dossier; and he spent much of his life palling around with the sorts of drug addicts, prostitutes, and poor laborers who inspired and populated his novels and short stories. Most today know Algren as the radical, womanizing writer of The Man with the Golden Arm, which won the first National Book Award, in 1950, but award-winning reporter Mary Wisniewski offers a deeper portrait. Starting with his childhood in the City of Big Shoulders, Algren sheds new light on the writer's most momentous periods, from his on-again-off-again work for the WPA to his stint as an uninspired soldier in World War II to his long-distance affair with his most famous lover, Simone de Beauvoir, to the sense of community and acceptance Algren found in the artist colony of Sag Harbor before his death in 1981. Wisniewski interviewed dozens of Algren's closest friends and inner circle, including photographer Art Shay and author and historian Studs Terkel, and tracked down much of his unpublished writing and correspondence. She unearths new details about the writer's life, work, personality, and habits and reveals a funny, sensitive, and romantic but sometimes exasperating, insecure, and self-destructive artist. The first new biography of Algren in over 25 years, this fresh look at the man whose unique style and compassionate message enchanted readers and fellow writers and whose boyish charm seduced many women is indispensable to anyone interested in 20-century American literature and history.
Helen Oxenbury's delightful board books, featuring her sweet and cuddly babies at play, are back with a whole new look.
Fans of New York Times bestselling authors Carly Phillips, Jennifer Probst and Julie James will fall in love with Sherrill Bodine! SHE'S STEALING HIS HEART . . .
Vintage boutique owner Venus Smith is stunned to realize her newest acquisition comes with a larcenous legend. Stolen years ago, the antique mermaid brooch belongs to the Clayworth family. The right thing to do would be to return it, but that means facing Connor Clayworth O'Flynn, the sexy department store heir Venus has had an unrequited crush on since childhood-and the man who helped ruin her father.
ONE KISS AT A TIME
Connor knows that Venus has never forgiven him for what happened between their families. But business isn't personal, even though Venus's father's betrayal still cuts him like a knife. So when Venus proposes a deal-she'll return his family's brooch if he helps clear her father's name-he reluctantly agrees. As action-packed days turn into flirtatious fall nights, it isn't long before old memories resurface . . . and new desires ignite. Can two young lovers leave the past behind? Or must they first admit that all they've ever really wanted . . . is each other?
Vintage boutique owner Venus Smith is stunned to realize her newest acquisition comes with a larcenous legend. Stolen years ago, the antique mermaid brooch belongs to the Clayworth family. The right thing to do would be to return it, but that means facing Connor Clayworth O'Flynn, the sexy department store heir Venus has had an unrequited crush on since childhood-and the man who helped ruin her father.
ONE KISS AT A TIME
Connor knows that Venus has never forgiven him for what happened between their families. But business isn't personal, even though Venus's father's betrayal still cuts him like a knife. So when Venus proposes a deal-she'll return his family's brooch if he helps clear her father's name-he reluctantly agrees. As action-packed days turn into flirtatious fall nights, it isn't long before old memories resurface . . . and new desires ignite. Can two young lovers leave the past behind? Or must they first admit that all they've ever really wanted . . . is each other?
In the Margins Book Award Winner Shawn Harrington returned to Marshall High School as an assistant coach years after appearing as a player in the iconic basketball documentary film Hoop Dreams. In January of 2014, Marshall's struggling team was about to improve after the addition of a charismatic but troubled player. Everything changed, however, when two young men opened fire on Harrington's car as he drove his daughter to school. Using his body to shield her, Harrington was struck and paralyzed. The mistaken-identity shooting was followed by a series of events that had a devastating impact on Harrington and Marshall's basketball family. Over the next three years, as a shocking number of players were murdered, it became obvious that the dream of the game providing a better life had nearly dissolved. All the Dreams We've Dreamed is a true story of courage, endurance, and friendship in one of America's most violent neighborhoods. Author Rus Bradburd, who has an intimate forty-year relationship to Chicago basketball, tells Shawn's story with empathy and care, exploring the intertwined tragedies of gun violence, health care failure, racial assumptions, struggling educational systems, corruption in athletics--and the hope that can survive them all.
Shawn Harrington returned to Marshall High School as an assistant coach years after appearing as a player in the iconic basketball documentary film Hoop Dreams. In January of 2014, Marshall's struggling team was about to improve after the addition of a charismatic but troubled player. Everything changed, however, when two young men opened fire on Harrington's car as he drove his daughter to school. Using his body to shield her, Harrington was struck and paralyzed. The mistaken-identity shooting was followed by a series of events that had a devastating impact on Harrington and Marshall's basketball family. Over the next three years it became obvious that the dream of the game providing a better life had nearly dissolved. Author Rus Bradburd tells Shawn's story with empathy and care, exploring the intertwined tragedies of gun violence, health care failure, racial assumptions, struggling educational systems, corruption in athletics--and the hope that can survive them all.
Dedicated to drinking and enjoying loose-leaf, afternoon, and bubble tea throughout the Chicagoland area, this newly revised resource provides detailed reviews, contact information, and product pricing for more than 50 tea hot spots. From nibbling scones on Chicago s famous Gold Coast to discovering hidden gems in the surrounding suburbs, tea aficionados will find helpful icons indicating each location's private-party opportunities, proximity to public transportation, level of child-friendliness, and availability of wireless internet. Peppered with literary quotes and statistics about tea, this comprehensive guidebook also includes information on websites that sell loose-leaf tea and tea accessories."
Cutting across Chicago's South Side in a broad swath of concrete, steel, and overpasses, the Dan Ryan Expressway is one of America's busiest, and perhaps most chaotic highways. Yet underneath the cacophony of its ten lanes lies an intriguing world of urban ecology and human networks. In The Dan Ryan Expressway, artist and photographer Jay Wolke unearths an ecosystem unto itself that weaves human and industrial elements into an essential feature of Chicago's identity. Between 1981 and 1985, Wolke shot thousands of photographs on and along the Dan Ryan during the day and night, traveling up and down the expressway in an effort to accurately capture it. In the twenty years since the photographs were taken, Wolke has organized his pictures into a complex and fascinating portrait of this iconic highway, which he characterizes as an "arterial organism" with its own "cycles and flows, causes and effects." The book is a dynamic narrative that explores the Dan Ryan's enormous influence over the people who drive on it, the neighborhoods lined alongside it, and the industrial environs it weaves through. As Chicago transportation officials prepare to launch a massive renovation of the Dan Ryan Expressway, Wolke here presents a historical chronicle of the development of the Dan Ryan and its rapid integration into Chicago's urban life. His photographs create an arresting visual representation of the expressway that provides an important window into the structure of Chicago's urban landscape and culture. The Dan Ryan Expressway ultimately examines where the highway fits within the trope of the American road and explores how it became "a massive expression of the urban lexicon." "As chilling as Blade Runner--unfortunately this is not a dytopian vision set in a distant, fictional future--this is Chicago, and this is America now. The automobile has utterly changed the landscape and our lives--Jay Wolke has found a powerful way to record this historic transformation in this unique, important photographic achievement."--Joel Sternfeld
""Alternative Chicago"" is for the young-at-heart, adventurous, or slightly offbeat Chicago visitor who wants to see more of the city than the homogenous Michigan Avenue shopping district.
New from the "reigning prince of crime fiction"*: For four friends, there's only one thing more dangerous than the men chasing them. Each other.
In just three novels, Marcus Sakey has staked a claim as "an astoundingly good writer,"* one whose believable characters-always ordinary people-face excruciating situations with life- or-death consequences. "The Amateurs" asks a chilling question: Do you get what you deserve, or what you take?
Alex is failing as a father. Ian keeps dangerous secrets. Jenn is pining for adventure; Mitch is pining for Jenn. Four friends just getting by. Every Thursday night they've found solace in a couple of beers and a couple of laughs. But months turn to years, and suddenly a decade is gone. None of them are where-or who-they hoped to be.
And they've decided to do something about it. To stop waiting, and start taking.
But what was supposed to be a victimless crime has become a bloody nightmare. People have been killed. A child is in danger. Ruthless men pursue them with relentless fury. And tensions they thought were long-buried threaten to destroy them. As their whole world begins to unravel, each will have to choose between their own life and the lives of others-including their best friends.
In just three novels, Marcus Sakey has staked a claim as "an astoundingly good writer,"* one whose believable characters-always ordinary people-face excruciating situations with life- or-death consequences. "The Amateurs" asks a chilling question: Do you get what you deserve, or what you take?
Alex is failing as a father. Ian keeps dangerous secrets. Jenn is pining for adventure; Mitch is pining for Jenn. Four friends just getting by. Every Thursday night they've found solace in a couple of beers and a couple of laughs. But months turn to years, and suddenly a decade is gone. None of them are where-or who-they hoped to be.
And they've decided to do something about it. To stop waiting, and start taking.
But what was supposed to be a victimless crime has become a bloody nightmare. People have been killed. A child is in danger. Ruthless men pursue them with relentless fury. And tensions they thought were long-buried threaten to destroy them. As their whole world begins to unravel, each will have to choose between their own life and the lives of others-including their best friends.
The city's blend of cultures created uniquely Chicago culinary delights like deep dish pizza and the Chicago tamale. Dive into music history, outlined by blues, jazz, and even country music, exemplified by the great Muddy Waters and, for a brief period, Louis Armstrong. Embrace Chicago's haunted past, from ghostly wrecks and fires to houses filled with the anger of cheated souls to the remaining vestiges of gangsters like Al Capone. Amazing Chicago shares fascinating stories that are even stranger than fiction. Architectural marvels, landmarks, heroes, villains, and even ghosts are chronicled alongside beautiful photos to tell the story of this incredible city.
More than just a football team, the Chicago Bears are a vital part of Chicago culture. After close to a century of play, the Bears have won more regular season games than any other NFL franchise. Here are tales all Bears fans should read. Here is a book they should all own. With twenty-seven players in the Hall of Fame and fourteen retired jerseys, it's no wonder the Bears are a beloved, storied franchise. But the Bears, like Chicago, are not just people; they are true personalities. In Amazing Tales From the Chicago Bears Sideline, Bears fans will read about the men who have made the Bears one of the greatest teams in pro football and the coaches and players that made them great:
George Halas Walter Payton Dick Butkus Mike Ditka, Richard Dent Dan Hampton, and many, many more
Former Bears star Steve McMichael takes a front row seat in this collection of stories. Readers get an opportunity to relive the glory years of a charter NFL franchise--as seen through the eyes of a legendary player. McMichael covers it all, from training camp misadventures in Lake Forest, Illinois, and Platteville, Wisconsin, and Ditka's locker room tirades to nights on the town with teammates and behind-the-scenes glimpses of historic moments. From first kick-off to overtime play, Amazing Tales from the Chicago Bears Sideline covers some of the franchise's greatest moments and is a must-have for any true Bears fan.
Former Bears star Steve McMichael takes a front row seat in this collection of stories. Readers get an opportunity to relive the glory years of a charter NFL franchise--as seen through the eyes of a legendary player. McMichael covers it all, from training camp misadventures in Lake Forest, Illinois, and Platteville, Wisconsin, and Ditka's locker room tirades to nights on the town with teammates and behind-the-scenes glimpses of historic moments. From first kick-off to overtime play, Amazing Tales from the Chicago Bears Sideline covers some of the franchise's greatest moments and is a must-have for any true Bears fan.
At the time of the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, the United States was fast becoming the world's leading economy. Chicago, the host city, had grown in less than half a century from a village to the country's second-largest metropolis. During this, the Gilded Age, the world's most extensive railroad and steamship networks poured ceaselessly through Chicago, carrying the raw goods and finished products of America's great age of invention and industrial expansion. The Fair was the largest ever at the time, with 65,000 exhibitors and millions of visitors. It has been called the Blueprint of the American Future and marked the beginning of the national economy and consumer culture.
For two generations of Americans, reading Ann Landers's daily column was as important as eating breakfast. For nearly fifty years an entire nation turned to this quick-witted, worldly-wise counselor for advice on everything from dinner etiquette to sex. But who was the woman behind the byline?
Iowa-born Eppie Lederer was first hired by the Chicago Sun-Times to take over the daily advice column in 1955 -- and over the next half-century she helped shape the nation's social and sexual landscape. Award-winning journalist Rick Kogan was Ann Landers's last editor and close friend, and he paints a fascinating, full-bodied account of the triumphs, the wisdom, the courage, and the trials of one of the twentieth century's most enduring icons -- including her painful lifelong feud with her identical twin sister, Dear Abby; her stubborn refusal to shy away from even the most controversial topics; and the tragic breakup of her own thirty-six-year marriage. Filled with remarkable stories shared by people from all walks of life who were profoundly affected by the good sense and guidance of Ann Landers, America's Mom is a moving tribute to a singular woman who has earned an eternal place in our culture ... and our hearts.