 | Chicago Books & Music Reviews | Tips 1 - 8 of 8 |  |
 | |  |  | Books & Music: "Indie" Bookstores Are My Favorite | Tip Rating:   |  |  | |  |
I don't know about you, but I always love to visit new bookstores when I travel, especially independently owned bookstores. For those of you who also enjoy independent bookstores, I've compiled a list that I have used. Hope it helps.
1. Barbara's Bookstores
a. 111 North State Street(at Marshall Field's)
b. 1218 South Halsted Street (at University of Illinois Chicago)
c. 1100 Lake Street (Oak Park)
d. 233 South Wacker Drive (Sears Tower-Lower, Level 1)
e. 201 East Huron (Northwestern Hospital)
2. Powell's Bookstores
a. 828 South Wabash Avenue(Burnham Park) [Near Hilton Chicago in South loop. This is more of a retail warehouse with just about everything you'd want]
b. 1501 East 57th Street (Hyde Park) [In University of Chicago neighborhood and thus quite scholarly. Located near the Museum of Science and Industry]
c. 2850 N. Lincoln Avenue (North/Lakeview)[strong in Art, Architecture, and Photography, rare books, children's section, lots of fiction, and a coffee bar]
I use "c" the most because it specializes in used, rare, and discounted books. This is a rather academic bookstore.
3. Women & Children First (Andersonville)
5233 North Clark
Don't be misled by the name. You don't have to be a kid or a woman to enjoy this fantastic bookstore. It's ranked among the country's finest bookstores. It's quite large [30,000 books in stock]. The staff is just wonderful and willing to help in any way possible. They really back Chicago area writers, and they schedule many interesting events, readings, and signings.
4. Booklegger's
2935 North Broadway
Books, Cds, videos, books on tape and any other book-related items. They offer philosophy, literary classics, and contemporary fiction as well as coffee table books. They also buy used books.
5.Bookworks
3444 North Clark
This store has parking available behind the shop. They buy CDs, LPs, and Ephemera.
This is really a BARGAIN BOOKSTORE. They sell new and used books and CDs, cassette tapes, vintage photographs, etc. They also have first-edition, fine bindings and hard-to-locate books.
"Beat Poet" fans will love it here. Most things are at least 10% off list price.
6.Bookman's Corner
2959 North Clark
They have reasonable prices; thus, they have been a favorite in the neighborhood since 1975. Books are everywhere. On skyhigh shelves, stacked on the floor, and anywhere else they can be secured. Unfortunatedly, it takes you longer to find books here because they are grouped by category rather than title. At times, you find a box outside the store advertising, FREE.
7.After Words Books
23 East Illinois Street
This is a downtown Chicago bookseller that is independent and they focus on service. They will order whatever you need. They also sell used books. [lower level] They offer Internet access for an hourly rate. If you sign up for their birthday program, you get a $5.00 coupon on the month of your birthday!
It's a comfortable place; a place to relax, to browse, and to sit down and read.
It's located next door to the Jazz Record Mart.
8. Sandmeyer's Bookstore
714 South Dearborn Street
This is a family-owned and operated store located in Printer's Row. It has the greatest travel section, and I love the children's section, too.
The price depends on the specific store you select. Leave a Comment Theme: BooksAddress: See Text
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| | | | Books & Music: Powell's Books | Tip Rating:  | | | | |
If you are a book lover and don't mind your books used or are looking for something out of print, Powell's near the University of Chicago campus has a good selection and low prices, skewed more towards cultural and academic offerings-big sections on philosophy, classical and medieval history, literary criticism, and American history including several shelves on Chicago history. You'll also find a fiction section, vintage mysteries, science fiction and a fairly large children's section. You can search their stock online at the website below or order online.
Other independent bookstores in the area include Seminary Co-op Bookstore at 5757 S. University Avenue and Chicago's oldest bookstore, O'Gara & Wilson at 1448 E. 57th St. which is one block from Powell's.
If all that reading makes you hungry, there's an Edwardo's Pizza at 1321 E. 57th St. and Medici's at 1327 E. 57th St. both very close to Powell's.
Hyde Park open 9 am-11 pm daily. Leave a Comment Theme: BooksAddress: 1501 E. 57th Street, Hyde ParkPhone: 773-955-7780Directions: Near the University of Chicago campus Two other locations: 2850 N. Lincoln Ave (Lakeview), 828 S. Wabash Ave (South Loop)Website: http://www.powellschicago.com/
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| | | | Books & Music: Giant used book sale | Tip Rating: | | | | |
June 9-17, 2007, Bargain weekend June 16-17, 2007, every book 50 cents!
Every year in June, Little City (formerly run by Brandeis University) sponsors a used book sale held in the parking lot of Old Orchard mall in Skokie, organizers estimate that there are 400,000+ books for sale this year. I always come home with a sack of books so I started bringing a back pack and canvas bag to make it easier to cart them around. The really serious shoppers sit in line in their lawn chairs waiting to get in, grab one of the shopping carts and sprint to whatever section they want to deplete, the guy in front of me today spent $80 which at 50 cents a book is 160 books!!!!
If you need to grab a bite before or after shopping, there are several decent chain restaurants at the mall including Maggiano's (Italian), Cheesecake Factory and California Pizza Kitchen.
The book sale was virtually the same in 2007 when Little City took over, Brandeis organizers threw in the towel after 48 years of putting it on because they simply couldn't find enough volunteers to work it.
Bargain weekend or bargain days is usually the last two days of the sale when everything goes for 50 cents Leave a Comment Theme: BooksDirections: Parking lot, Old Orchard Mall, Skokie, IllinoisWebsite: www.littlecity.org
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| | | | Books & Music: Museum Shopping | Tip Rating: | | | | |
I'm a culture vulture so one of my favorite things to do is shopping at museums! Since the Art Institute of Chicago is one of my favorite museums in the world and has tons of my favorite works of art I couldn't resist buying a few arty, inexpensive items to bring back home.
After a day wandering through the Art Institute with shrimp56, we did what was natural and ended our visit shopping in the museum gift shop!
Bought Terry & myself coffee mugs (Caillebotte's painting for me "Paris Street: Rainy Day", and "Nighthawks" for Terry), a 2008 Edward Gorey (he's famous for his Addams Family comic strip) calendar for Terry, and an %L[http://tinyurl.com/2eraqfr /> ]Odilon Redon Christmas ornament which was on sale. See the round face in the lower left corner? That was made into an ornament. Redon seems a big influence on Neil Gaiman, a writer Terry & I both love. I also picked up a 2008 calendar for a dear friend of mine, madaboutparis, who has a degree in art history.
Photo: September 2007
For everything above I spent less than $50; not a bad haul! Leave a Comment Theme: ArtAddress: 111 S Michigan Avenue, Chicago, ILPhone: 312-443-3600Directions: East Loop, on Grant ParkWebsite: http://www.artinstituteshop.org/
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| | | | Books & Music: For the VT member | Tip Rating: | | | | |
This tip is for Chicago VTers, not for visitors. Perfect for all your European language needs, you can buy books and magazines, videos and more, all in the major languages of Europe. They also have a selection of travel books in English, children's games and other curios. Thyey wil have a language dictionary for almost any European language no matter how small. Catalan anyone?
Books and magazines primarily in French, German, Spanish, Italian and Russian, with smaller sections for other languages. Especially helpful for the VT member are the tutorials and self-teaching aids. Things like flashcards and phrasebooks, reference dictionaries and software.
Normal prices Leave a Comment Theme: BooksAddress: 832 N State St.Phone: 312-335-9677Directions: Gold CoastWebsite: ww.europaforeignbooks.com Other Contact: europabooks@ameritech.net
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