Books

Find out what to read next from our coverage of books, authors, publishers and all things reading and writing.

From science fiction to romantasy, these are the books our staff are recommending to friends and family this holiday season.
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Released in February, ‘James & Nikki: A Conversation’ features samples from a 1971 discussion between Giovanni and writer James Baldwin.
Nikki Giovanni was called “the princess of Black poetry.” She spent decades as a literary celebrity, writing books for children and adults and sharing blunt and conversational takes on everything from racism and love to space travel and mortality.
It took the patient sleuthing of a rare books and manuscripts curator from the Newberry Library to unravel the mystery of the lost books — some printed decades before Shakespeare penned his first play.
Sandra Jackson-Opoku’s family moved into the Trumbull Park Homes in the ‘50s, where they encountered hatred from white neighbors and where Frank London Brown chronicled the struggles of Black lives and desegregation.
Matheson transports readers to the sets of quite a few of his Hollywood gigs in the enjoyable and illuminating memoir, “Damn Glad to Meet You: My Seven Decades in the Hollywood Trenches.”
“Everything is more fun together, we think. And so we found that about cooking,” says Sonja Overhiser.
Courtney Roker Laga is a recipe developer and culinary school graduate who has worked in two Michelin-starred restaurants, including Café Boulud in New York City.
New primer by three Chicago pros helps writers navigate in the AI era.
Thousands of book lovers picked up new and used books and met authors while writers exchanged ideas and reconnected at the 39th annual event. The event continues Sunday.
Art
Alison Saar, who has designed other prominent works, says her decision to surround the bronze sculpture with chairs is full of symbolism.
In the 1990s, the then company CEO launched what became a nationwide empire of “superstores” that combined a chain’s discount prices and massive capacity with the cozy appeal of couches, reading chairs and cafes.
The Democratic National Convention is bearing down on us, and after that, it’ll be Thanksgiving before you know it.
The bookseller has pushed back the store’s opening before, citing “unforeseen site conditions.”
Jason Smith and Rachel Weaver opened the shop in July 2003. They say they can no longer devote care and devotion to curate titles. No closing date has been set, but all books will be discounted another 10%.
‘It’s another nice year,’ the beloved Chicago children’s musicmaker says of her milestone.
In jazzy style, Paramount+ show lays out the feds’ bungled attempts to destabilize Communist Cuba, all of its material backed up by government files and solid journalism from author and former Sun-Times reporter Thomas Maier.
Whitmer will be the keynote speaker at the Illinois Democratic Party’s annual top fundraising event in September in Chicago, the Sun-Times has learned.