Book Club

Urban Sandbox @ Comfort Station

2012-02-08T23:25:06Z

This Friday is the Urban Sandbox poetry reading at Comfort Station featuring Kevin Coval, No Se (Team Westinghouse) and hosted by Dan "Sully" Sullivan. Comfort Station Logan Square, 2579 N. Milwaukee, Friday, February 10 at 7:30pm. All ages, $5 cover.

Sarah Becan Releases Graphic Novel Shuteye @ Challengers

2012-02-08T17:39:37Z

Challengers Comics hosts yet another great event for the release party of Sarah Becan's Shuteye Saturday, February 11th. Becan's new graphic novel will be available for purchase, with the opportunity to get it signed. Challengers will provide some beer and wine for those 21 and over as well as snacks for all. Join the party 6pm, Challengers Comics + Conversation, 1845 N Western Ave.

Poet Vittorio Carli @ Quimbys

2012-02-08T16:47:59Z

Poet Vittorio Carli reads from his book, A Passion For Apathy, Saturday, February 11th, at Quimbys. Carli's book experiments with genre varying from beat to the surreal. Carli is joined by Vince Bruckert, Dave Gecic, Lynn Fitzgerald, Bradley Lastname, and others.
Go to Quimby's Bookstore at 7pm, located at 1854 W. North Ave.

Granta Magazine@Women & Children First

2012-02-08T13:00:00Z

Prestiges British magazine Granta will be featuring it's 2012 Winter issue "Exit Strategies" at Women & Children First bookstore. Reading from their work will be Chinelo Okparanta, and Nami Mun. Chinelo Okparanta studied at the Iowa Writer's Workshop and her work is featured in Granta's Winter issue. Nami Mun is the award winning author of Miles From Nowhere, and a professor at Columbia College in Chicago.

Come see Chinelo Okparanta and Nami Mun read as part of Granta magazine's debue of their Winter issue. The event will be held at Women & Children First, 5233 N. Clark St., Friday, Feb 10 @ 7:30pm.

Mahmoud Saeed @ The Book Cellar

2012-02-06T17:53:08Z

Iraqi novelist, and instructor at De Paul University, Mahmoud Saeed will be reading from his latest novel, The World Through the Eyes of Angels at The Book Cellar. Mahmoud Saeed has written over 20 novels, among them, Saddam City.

Join Mahmoud Saeed at The Book Cellar, 4736-38 N. Lincoln Ave, Wednesday, Feb 8 @ 7pm.

Cliff Dwellers Discuss Romance

2012-02-06T16:35:07Z

On Valentine's Day, the Cliff Dwellers Club (a series of discussions sponsored by the Society of Midland Authors) will have local romance novelists Jennifer Stevenson, Sherrill Bodine and Patricia Rosemoor talk about their craft.

Author's Ben Marcus and Sam Lipsyte at SAIC

2012-02-06T15:25:53Z

This Tuesday February 7th, attend the the School of the Art Institute's Spring 2012 Visiting Artists Program series as they invite authors Sam Lipsyte and Ben Marcus. Both will be reading, followed by Q&A. Books will be on hand for purchase and possibly signing. The event begins at 6pm in the Columbus Auditorium, 280 South Columbus Drive.

Bookmarks

2012-02-03T23:30:00Z

Tonight! Kenneth Koskodan signs No Greater Ally: The Untold Story of Poland's Forces in World War II at Centuries and Sleuths.

Tonight! Damian Serbu at Women and Children First.

Saturday! Lawrence P. Jackson discusses The Indignant Generation: A Narrative History of African American Writers and Critics, 1934-1960 at the Newberry Library.

Saturday! Printers Row Live with Wael Ghonim (Revolution 2.0: The Power of the People Is Greater Than the People in Power) at the Art Institute.

Saturday! Catherine Theis and Rebecca Lehmann at Myopic Poetry Series.

Saturday! Jubilee! celebrates two years of The Deadline, a Logan Square literary journal, at Q4 Gallery.

Saturday! Release party for The Point: A Journal of Ideas at High Concept Laboratories.

Myopic Poetry Series: Catherine Theis & Rebecca Lehmann

2012-02-03T00:49:56Z

Get some poetry in before the Super Bowl with the Myopic Poetry Series. Resident Chicagoan and author of The Fraud of Good Sleep, Catherine Theis, will be joined by Rebecca Lehmann author of Between the Crackups, to read their poetry.

Listen to Catherine Theis and Rebecca Lehmann read at Myopic Books, 1564 N. Milwaukee Ave, Saturday, Feb 4@7pm.

Damian Serbu @ Women and Children First

2012-02-01T23:43:51Z

Friday night, Women and Children First welcomes local author Damian Serbu ("the Anne Rice of gay horror"). He'll be reading from his newest The Vampire's Quest: Book II in the Vampire's Angel Series. Women and Children First, 5233 N. Clark, Friday, February 3 at 7:30pm.

Be A World Book Night Giver

2012-02-01T23:08:05Z

There's still time to sign up for World Book Night! A volunteer event designed to get more people reading, World Book Night was started last year in the U.K. and has expanded this year to include the U.S. Not your typical clutter-clearing donation, the idea is to distribute specific, hand-picked books they think more people should read. To participate, you apply and agree to distribute 20 copies of your promised book (don't worry, they'll hook you up; "there is no charge for these special, not for resale editions"). Then, on April 23, 2012 (the UNESCO International Day of the Book), World Book Day ambassadors go forth in their communities to distribute the books to "non or light readers." The deadline to participate has been extended to February 6; click here to apply.

Chicago Zine Fest Fundraiser with Punk Rock Karaoke

2012-02-01T17:20:07Z

On February 3rd, Chicago Zine Fest is holding its last fundraiser before the fest. They team up with Punk Rock Karaoke Chicago, who bring DIY music to a one of a kind karaoke experience. The co-hosts will be Johnny Misfit and Mason Johnson.

The event begins at 9pm at Beauty Bar, 1444 W. Chicago. 21+. There is a $5 cover which goes to the zine fest.

Raising Awareness and Celebrating Expression this Thursday

2012-01-31T20:47:00Z

Though powerfully transporting, reading can also be a grounding force, pivoting us to attention. Two events Thursday, Feb. 2, are prime examples of those that demand we pay notice where it's due. First, check out the Hidden Expressions release party, at the Jane Adams Hull-House Museum. The Transformative Justice Law Project of Illinois is responsible for this new zine, focused on publishing the work of incarcerated transgendered people. The multimedia project includes written work, as well as visual art. The group, which consists of lawyers, social workers and community driven activists, works to promote community driven alternatives to what it describe as "punishment based institutions," that perpetuate institutionalized racism and contribute to oppression of specific groups. The notion that we're no longer living in a race-based society garners deserved opposition from the Law Project. Hop on the Blue Line from here and head to another eye opening event:

With a similar interest in drawing attention to institutionalized forms of racism that often go unacknowledged, Northwestern Law Professor Dorothy Roberts will speak on her book Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-First Century, this Thursday at Revolution Books. Beginning at 6:30, Roberts will address the notion that seeking genetic distinctions on the molecular level is creating a science founded on race that legitimizes institutional violence against minority communities.

Stop by the Hidden Expressions release party from 5pm to 8pm at the Jane Adams Hull House Museum, and then head to Revolution Books at 1103 N. Ashland Ave. to catch Roberts' discussion.

Newcity Lit on Curbside Spendor

2012-01-31T18:00:00Z

Newcity reviews the Logan Square literary journal Curbside Splendor's variety of voices, photos, and areas for improvement and growth.

The Death of the Bookstore as Destination?

2012-01-31T00:41:56Z

Barbara's Bookstore, a long-standing institution in the Chicago literary landscape, recently shut down another store — this time, it lost its UIC location on Sunday, Jan. 8. This comes on the heels, most recently, of closing their store in Oak Park, and previously the location in Old Town. If you want to visit a Barbara's now, you'd better head for the airport - or a hospital or department store. All this seems to have led Chicago writer Robert Duffer to reluctantly note that "it seems like the bookstore as a destination in Chicago is becoming an endangered species."

Really? Curious what those on the front lines of the Chicago bookstore business thought, I made a few inquiries.

"The closure of any bookstore in the country is a sad event, but Unabridged Bookstore is as alive and vibrant as ever," reported Stefan Moorehead, Unabridged's manager and buyer. "The bookstore as destination has not changed. If anything it has only grown since the demise of Borders."

Moorehead isn't the only one who sees the Borders bankruptcy as an opportunity for indies. Tanner McSwain, who recently opened Logan Square's new Uncharted Books, insists independent bookstores "are a hell of a long way from extinct...What I see as endangered, for better or worse, are the large chain stores that provide massive selections of new, pricy titles in direct competition with Amazon. I see indie bookstores are adapting to smaller, more localized, more curated business models."

And when it comes to the fate of Barbara's in particular, McSwain still sees some life. "Let's not conflate the closing of a particular location with [the] chain failing; Barbara's isn't Borders. Just because some locations are shuttering — and it's unfortunate that they are — what I see from Barbara's is adaptation. They recently opened a new location in Burr Ridge, and the kiosk model described in [Duffer's] article is indeed an efficient (and legitimate, I might add) way to sell books and stay afloat. I wouldn't count Barbara's out anytime soon."

Jack Cella, manager of Hyde Park's Seminary Co-op Bookstore, noted that while he's not sure he would say his and other Chicago indie favorites are "thriving," they are definitely "hanging on, thinking about ways to improve [and] trying to remain part of, and contribute to, the Chicago literary (and in our case academic) life."

Cella, hopeful about the sales tax equity movement, knows that the survival of independents ultimately rests on the shoulders of their patrons. Luckily for him, he still encounters, on a daily basis, "people who value coming into bookstores, browsing through books, recommending books [and] talking about books and ideas."

Powell's general manager Ryan Jackson has a theory about why Barbara's has shut down a number of locations — and it has nothing to do with the "bookstore as destination" going the way of the Dodo. The problem, as he sees it, is that those on the corporate side weren't "making smart decisions," notably about their choices of which books to stock. Because of these poor top-down decisions, Barbara's stores simply "weren't carrying great books" and were stocking up, instead, on "sidelines" — such as calenders, stationary, journals and greeting cards.

Liz Mason, manager at Quimby's, feels that while Duffer's concern is "something to think about," Quimby's is "totally" still a destination for readers. "I guess I can see where someone might get [Duffer's] impression. You would probably have that outlook if you were [looking at] a business that was folding...[but] we're lucky because we've got a lot of stuff that you don't normally get at a regular bookstore. The people that shop here wouldn't anticipate that we wouldn't be there [one day]."

Ann Christophersen, co-owner of Women & Children First, is decidedly optimistic. "We independent bookstores certainly face many challenges, but many of us have been able to respond to the changing landscape by making necessary adjustments in our businesses, including selling Google ebooks on our websites at prices competitive with prices at the biggest online retailers."

Her business partner, Linda Bubon, reported that their "Nov./Dec. sales were up 30 percent over last year. We have not seen an increase like this since we moved to [Andersonville] in 1990...For the first time in seven years, we [indie booksellers] are all planning for growth rather than survival."

"The familiar Mark Twain line," concluded Christophersen, "is certainly apt for independent bookstores: 'The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.' Many of us plan to be around for many, many years."