100 Best Chicago Books of All Time

We've ranked the best chicago books using expert recommendations, sales data, and millions of reader ratings. At Shortform, we know books. Our book guides are the best in the world. Learn why.

Becoming book cover1

Becoming

Michelle Obama

5.0
Preview Summary
In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America—the first African American to serve in that role—she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and aro
Barack Obama portraitPiers Morgan portraitMary Burkey portrait Recommended by Barack Obama, Piers Morgan, Mary Burkey, and 3 others.
Barack Obama portrait
Barack Obama

Former USA President

Of course, @MichelleObama’s my wife, so I’m a little biased here. But she also happens to be brilliant, funny, wise – one of a kind. This book tells her quintessentially American story. I love it because it faithfully reflects the woman I have loved for so long. [source]

Piers Morgan portrait
Piers Morgan

Congrats to @MichelleObama on sensational sales of her new book #Becoming. I always take people as I find them & when I met her at the White House, she was a delightfully warm, friendly & genuine lady. A great First Lady & now a best-selling author. https://t.co/nlSUHI01SM [source]

Mary Burkey portrait
Mary Burkey

This is a case where you have to hear Michelle Obama read her story. It’s her story and she puts her whole emotional self into it. [source]

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America book cover2

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America

Erik Larson

4.9
Author Erik Larson imbues the incredible events surrounding the 1893 Chicago World's Fair with such drama that readers may find themselves checking the book's categorization to be sure that 'The Devil in the White City' is not, in fact, a highly imaginative novel. Larson tells the stories of two men: Daniel H. Burnham, the architect responsible for the fair's construction, and H.H. Holmes, a seria
Melissa Jacobs portrait Recommended by Melissa Jacobs.
Divergent (Divergent, #1) book cover3

Divergent (Divergent, #1)

Veronica Roth

4.6
In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For
4

The Time Traveler's Wife

Audrey Niffenegger

4.5
The beloved, mega bestselling first novel from Audrey Niffenegger, “a soaring celebration of the victory of love over time” (Chicago Tribune).

A MOST UNTRADITIONAL LOVE STORY, this is the celebrated tale of Henry DeTamble, a dashing, adventuresome librarian who inadvertently travels through time, and Clare Abshire, an artist whose life takes a natural sequential course. Henry and Clare’s passionate
A.r. Moxon (Julius Goat) portraitGabriel Coarna portrait Recommended by A.r. Moxon (Julius Goat) and Gabriel Coarna.
A.r. Moxon (Julius Goat) portrait
A.r. Moxon (Julius Goat)

“A beautiful, harrowing, thrilling book....It’s a wild ride and a great read.” —Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler’s Wife THE REVISIONARIES Published by Melville House Dec 03, 2019 | 608 Pages | Hardcover https://t.co/cKLZBnrQda [source]

Gabriel Coarna portrait
Gabriel Coarna

Audrey Niffenegger's "The Time Traveler's Wife" and Garth Stein's "The Art Of Racing In The Rain" made me cry. [source]

The Jungle book cover5

The Jungle

Upton Sinclair

4.5
For nearly a century, the original version of Upton Sinclair's classic novel has remained almost entirely unknown.

When it was published in serial form in 1905, it was a full third longer than the censored, commercial edition published in book form the following year. That expurgated commercial edition edited out much of the ethnic flavor of the original, as well as some of the goriest description
Louise Gray portrait Recommended by Louise Gray.
The House on Mango Street book cover6

The House on Mango Street

Sandra Cisneros

4.5
Acclaimed by critics, beloved by readers of all ages, taught everywhere from inner-city grade schools to universities across the country, and translated all over the world, The House on Mango Street is the remarkable story of Esperanza Cordero.

Told in a series of vignettes – sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous–it is the story of a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing fo
Craig Miller portrait Recommended by Craig Miller.
7

The Great Believers

Rebecca Makkai

4.5
A dazzling new novel of friendship and redemption in the face of tragedy and loss set in 1980s Chicago and contemporary Paris, by the acclaimed and award-winning author Rebecca Makkai

In 1985, Yale Tishman, the development director for an art gallery in Chicago, is about to pull off an amazing coup, bringing an extraordinary collection of 1920s paintings as a gift to the gallery. Yet as his career
Nicola Sturgeon portrait Recommended by Nicola Sturgeon.
Insurgent (Divergent, #2) book cover8

Insurgent (Divergent, #2)

Veronica Roth

4.4
One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chos
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration book cover9

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration

Wilkerson

4.4
In this epic, beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a better life.

From 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America. Wilkerson compares this epic
Britni Danielle portrait Recommended by Britni Danielle.
10

Storm Front (The Dresden Files, #1)

Jim Butcher

4.4
HARRY DRESDEN — WIZARD

Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or Other Entertainment.

Harry Dresden is the best at what he does. Well, technically, he's the only at what he does. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal creativity or capability, they come to him for answers. For the "everyday" world is act
11

Small Favor (The Dresden Files, #10)

Jim Butcher

4.4
THE New York Times Bestseller

Harry Dresden's life finally seems to be calming down -- until a shadow from the past returns. Mab, monarch of the Sidhe Winter Court, calls in an old favor from Harry -- one small favor that will trap him between a nightmarish foe and an equally deadly ally, and that will strain his skills -- and loyalties -- to their very limits.
Dark Matter book cover12

Dark Matter

Blake Crouch

4.4
Jason Dessen is walking home through the chilly Chicago streets one night, looking forward to a quiet evening in front of the fireplace with his wife, Daniela, and their son, Charlie—when his reality shatters.

It starts with a man in a mask kidnapping him at gunpoint, for reasons Jason can’t begin to fathom—what would anyone want with an ordinary physics professor?—and grows even more terrifying fr
Jacqui Pretty portrait Recommended by Jacqui Pretty.
Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West book cover13

Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West

William Cronon

4.4
In this groundbreaking work, William Cronon gives us an environmental perspective on the history of nineteenth-century America. By exploring the ecological and economic changes that made Chicago America's most dynamic city and the Great West its hinterland, Mr. Cronon opens a new window onto our national past. This is the story of city and country becoming ever more tightly bound in a system so po
Edward Glaeser portrait Recommended by Edward Glaeser.
14

Native Son

Richard Wright

4.4
Right from the start, Bigger Thomas had been headed for jail. It could have been for assault or petty larceny; by chance, it was for murder and rape. Native Son tells the story of this young black man caught in a downward spiral after he kills a young white woman in a brief moment of panic.

Set in Chicago in the 1930s, Wright's powerful novel is an unsparing reflection on the poverty and feelings o
15

Proven Guilty (The Dresden Files, #8)

Jim Butcher

4.4
There's no love lost between Harry Dresden, the only wizard in the Chicago phone book, and the White Council of Wizards, who find him brash and undisciplined. But war with the vampires has thinned their ranks, so the Council has drafted Harry as a Warden and assigned him to look into rumors of black magic in the Windy City.

As Harry adjusts to his new role, another problem arrives in the form of th
16

Dead Beat (The Dresden Files, #7)

Jim Butcher

4.4
Paranormal investigations are Harry Dresden’s business and Chicago is his beat, as he tries to bring law and order to a world of wizards and monsters that exists alongside everyday life. And though most inhabitants of the Windy City don’t believe in magic, the Special Investigations Department of the Chicago PD knows better.

Karrin Murphy is the head of S. I. and Harry’s good friend. So when a kil
17

White Night (The Dresden Files, #9)

Jim Butcher

4.3
The inspiration for the Sci Fi channel television series

In Chicago, someone has been killing practitioners of magic, those incapable of becoming full-fledged wizards. Shockingly, all the evidence points to Harry Dresden's half-brother, Thomas, as the murderer. Determined to clear his sibling's name, Harry uncovers a conspiracy within the White Council of Wizards that threatens not only him, but h
18

The South Side: A Portrait of Chicago and American Segregation

Natalie Y. Moore

4.3
Mayors Richard M. Daley and Rahm Emanuel have touted and promoted Chicago as a "world class city." The skyscrapers kissing the clouds, the billion-dollar Millennium Park, Michelin-rated restaurants, pristine lake views, fabulous shopping, vibrant theater scene, downtown flower beds and stellar architecture tell one story. Yet, swept under the rug is the stench of segregation that compromises Chica
19

Summer Knight (The Dresden Files, #4)

Jim Butcher

4.3
For the 1st printing edition of this ISBN, see here.

HARRY DRESDEN -- WIZARD

Lost items found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates.
No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or Other Entertainment

Ever since his girlfriend left town to deal with her newly acquired taste for blood, Harry Dresden has been down and out in Chicago. He can't pay his rent. He's alienating his friends. He
20

Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul

Karen Abbott

4.3
Step into the perfumed parlors of the Everleigh Club, the most famous brothel in American history–and the catalyst for a culture war that rocked the nation. Operating in Chicago’s notorious Levee district at the dawn of the last century, the Club’s proprietors, two aristocratic sisters named Minna and Ada Everleigh, welcomed moguls and actors, senators and athletes, foreign dignitaries and literar
21

Grave Peril (The Dresden Files, #3)

Jim Butcher

4.3
An alternative cover edition with a different page count exists here.

Harry Dresden - Wizard
Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or Other Entertainment.

Harry Dresden has faced some pretty terrifying foes during his career. Giant scorpions. Oversexed vampires. Psychotic werewolves. It comes with the territory when you're
22

Fool Moon (The Dresden Files, #2)

Jim Butcher

4.3
Harry Dresden--Wizard
Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or Other Entertainment.

Business has been slow. Okay, business has been dead. And not even of the undead variety. You would think Chicago would have a little more action for the only professional wizard in the phone book. But lately, Harry Dresden hasn't been able
23

Turn Coat (The Dresden Files, #11)

Jim Butcher

4.3
Accused of treason against the Wizards of the White Council, Warden Morgan goes in search of Harry Dresden in a desperate attempt to clear his name and stop the deadly punishment from taking place in this latest thrilling addition to the Dresden Files series.
24

Sister Carrie

Theodore Dreiser, Donald Pizer

4.3
When a girl leaves her home at eighteen, she does one of two things. Either she falls into saving hands and becomes better, or she rapidly assumes the cosmopolitan standard of virtue and becomes worse.'

The tale of Carrie Meeber's rise to stardom in the theatre and George Hurstwood's slow decline captures the twin poles of exuberance and exhaustion in modern city life as never before. The premier e
Simon Winchester portrait Recommended by Simon Winchester.
Allegiant (Divergent, #3) book cover25

Allegiant (Divergent, #3)

Veronica Roth, Joel Tippie (jacket)

4.3
The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered - fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she's known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.

But Tris's ne
26

Death Masks (The Dresden Files, #5)

Jim Butcher

4.3
Harry Dresden, Chicago's only practicing professional wizard, should be happy that business is pretty good for a change. But now he's getting more than he bargained for:

A duel with the Red Court of Vampires' champion, who must kill Harry to end the war between vampires and wizards...

Professional hit men using Harry for target practice...

The missing Shroud of Turin...

A handless and headless corpse
Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets book cover27

Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets

Sudhir Venkatesh

4.3

The story of the young sociologist who studied a Chicago crack-dealing gang from the inside captured the world's attention when it was first described in Freakonomics. Gang Leader for a Day is the fascinating full story of how Sudhir Venkatesh managed to gain entrée into the gang, what he learned, and how his method revolutionized the academic establishment.

When Venkatesh walked into an abandone

Mark Zuckerberg portraitGabriel Coarna portrait Recommended by Mark Zuckerberg and Gabriel Coarna.
Mark Zuckerberg portrait
Mark Zuckerberg

Founder/Facebook

I'm still working my way through The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined, which is an amazing book so far — about how violence has declined throughout history due to effective governance, the growth of commerce and the spread of ideas. I see a lot of Facebook's work in these themes. The more we all have a voice to share our perspectives, the more empathy we have for each other and the more we respect each other's rights. Similarly, the more we benefit from global commerce and the services others provide us, the greater our incentive is to keep each other safe as it improves our lives. Gang Leader for a Day is loosely related to the themes Better Angels in that it explores what life is like for those who don't live under effective governance. I'm looking forward to reading this and finishing up Better Angels. [source]

Gabriel Coarna portrait
Gabriel Coarna

Sudhir Venkatesh's "Gangleader For A Day" significantly adjusted how I think about a bunch of stuff: poverty, economics, society, etc. [source]

28

Changes (The Dresden Files, #12)

Jim Butcher

4.3
Long ago, Susan Rodriguez was Harry Dresden's lover-until she was attacked by his enemies, leaving her torn between her own humanity and the bloodlust of the vampiric Red Court. Susan then disappeared to South America, where she could fight both her savage gift and those who cursed her with it.

Now Arianna Ortega, Duchess of the Red Court, has discovered a secret Susan has long kept, and she plans
29

Boss: Richard J. Daley of Chicago

Mike Royko

4.3
"The best book ever written about an American city, by the best journalist of his time."-- Jimmy Breslin

New edition of the classic story of the late Richard J. Daley, politician and self-promoter extraordinaire, from his inauspicious youth on Chicago's South Side through his rapid climb to the seat of power as mayor and boss of the Democratic Party machine. A bare-all account of Daley's cardinal s
30

City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America

Donald L. Miller

4.3
The epic of Chicago is the story of the emergence of modern America. Here, witness Chicago's growth from a desolate fur-trading post in the 1830s to one of the world's most explosively alive cities by 1900.

Donald Miller's powerful narrative embraces it all: Chicago's wild beginnings, its reckless growth, its natural calamities (especially the Great Fire of 1871), its raucous politics, its empire-b
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance book cover31

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

Barack Obama

4.3
Nine years before the Senate campaign that made him one of the most influential and compelling voices in American politics, Barack Obama published this lyrical, unsentimental, and powerfully affecting memoir, which became a #1 New York Times bestseller when it was reissued in 2004. Dreams from My Father tells the story of Obama’s struggle to understand the forces that shaped him as the son of a bl
Robert McCrum portrait Recommended by Robert McCrum.
32

Will Grayson, Will Grayson

John Green, David Levithan

4.3
Will Grayson meets Will Grayson. One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two strangers are about to cross paths. From that moment on, their world will collide and lives intertwine.

It's not that far from Evanston to Naperville, but Chicago suburbanites Will Grayson and Will Grayson might as well live on different planets. When fate delivers them both to the same surprising crossroads,
33

Chicago: City on the Make

Nelson Algren, Studs Terkel

4.2
This 50th anniversary edition has been newly annotated by David Schmittgens and Bill Savage with explanations for everything from Chicago history to slang to what the Black Sox scandal was and why it mattered.

In this slender classic ... Algren tells us all we need to know about passion, heaven, hell. And a city. - From the introduction by Studs Terkel

Nelson Algren (1909 - 1981) won the National Bo
34

Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, #6)

Jim Butcher

4.2
For Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, there have been worse assignments than going undercover on the set of an adult film. Dodging flaming monkey poo, for instance. Or going toe-to-leaf with a walking plant monster. Still, there is something more troubling than usual about his newest case. The film's producer believes he's the target of a sinister entropy curse, but it's the women
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter book cover35

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

Erika L. Sánchez

4.2
Perfect Mexican daughters do not go away to college. And they do not move out of their parents’ house after high school graduation. Perfect Mexican daughters never abandon their family.

But Julia is not your perfect Mexican daughter. That was Olga’s role.

Then a tragic accident on the busiest street in Chicago leaves Olga dead and Julia left behind to reassemble the shattered pieces of her family.
36

Skin Game (The Dresden Files, #15)

Jim Butcher

4.2
Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, is about to have a very bad day…

Because as Winter Knight to the Queen of Air and Darkness, Harry never knows what the scheming Mab might want him to do. Usually, it’s something awful.

He doesn’t know the half of it…

Mab has just traded Harry’s skills to pay off one of her debts. And now he must help a group of supernatural villains—led by one of Har
37

Side Jobs (The Dresden Files, #12.5)

Jim Butcher

4.2
Here, together for the first time, are the shorter from Jim Butcher's DRESDEN FILES series — a compendium of cases that Harry and his cadre of allies managed to close in record time. The tales range from the deadly serious to the absurdly hilarious. Also included is a new, never-before-published novella that takes place after the cliff-hanger ending of the new April 2010 hardcover, Changes.

Contain
38

My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, Vol. 1 (My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, #1)

Emil Ferris

4.2
Set against the tumultuous political backdrop of late ’60s Chicago, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters is the fictional graphic diary of 10-year-old Karen Reyes, filled with B-movie horror and pulp monster magazines iconography. Karen Reyes tries to solve the murder of her enigmatic upstairs neighbor, Anka Silverberg, a holocaust survivor, while the interconnected stories of those around her unfold. Wh
39

Ghost Story (The Dresden Files, #13)

Jim Butcher

4.2
When we last left the mighty wizard detective Harry Dresden, he wasn't doing well. In fact, he had been murdered by an unknown assassin.

But being dead doesn't stop him when his friends are in danger. Except now he has no body, and no magic to help him. And there are also several dark spirits roaming the Chicago shadows who owe Harry some payback of their own.

To save his friends—and his own soul—Ha
40

The Coast of Chicago

Stuart Dybek

4.2
The stolid landscape of Chicago suddenly turns dreamlike and otherworldly in Stuart Dybek's classic story collection.

A child's collection of bottle caps becomes the tombstones of a graveyard. A lowly rightfielder's inexplicable death turns him into a martyr to baseball. Strains of Chopin floating down the tenement airshaft are transformed into a mysterious anthem of loss.

Combining homely detail
41

A People's History of Chicago

Kevin Coval, Chancellor Bennett

4.2
Known variously as “‘the Windy City,”’ “‘the City of Big Shoulders,”’ or “‘Chi-Raq,”’ Chicago is one of the most widely celebrated, routinely demonized, and thoroughly contested cities in the world.

Chicago is the city of Gwendolyn Brooks and Chief Keef, Al Capone and Richard Wright, Lucy Parsons and Nelson Algren, Harold Washington and Studs Terkel. It is the city of Fred Hampton, House Music, and
Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago's South Side book cover42

Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago's South Side

Eve L. Ewing

4.2
“Failing schools. Underprivileged schools. Just plain bad schools.”

That’s how Eve L. Ewing opens Ghosts in the Schoolyard: describing Chicago Public Schools from the outside. The way politicians and pundits and parents of kids who attend other schools talk about them, with a mix of pity and contempt.

But Ewing knows Chicago Public Schools from the inside: as a student, then a teacher, and now a s
43

Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth

Chris Ware

4.2
This first book from Chicago author Chris Ware is a pleasantly-decorated view at a lonely and emotionally-impaired "everyman" (Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth), who is provided, at age 36, the opportunity to meet his father for the first time. An improvisatory romance which gingerly deports itself between 1890's Chicago and 1980's small town Michigan, the reader is helped along by thousa
Ev Williams portrait Recommended by Ev Williams.
44

City of Scoundrels: The 12 Days of Disaster That Gave Birth to Modern Chicago

Gary Krist

4.2
The masterfully told story of twelve volatile days in the life of Chicago, when an aviation disaster, a race riot, a crippling transit strike, and a sensational child murder transfixed and roiled a city already on the brink of collapse.

When 1919 began, the city of Chicago seemed on the verge of transformation. Modernizers had an audacious, expensive plan to turn the city from a brawling, unglamoro
45

An American Summer: Love and Death in Chicago

Alex Kotlowitz

4.2
From the bestselling author of There Are No Children Here, a richly textured, heartrending portrait of love and death in Chicago's most turbulent neighborhoods.

The numbers are staggering: over the past twenty years in Chicago, 14,033 people have been killed and another roughly 60,000 wounded by gunfire. What does that do to the spirit of individuals and community? Drawing on his decades of experie
46

Cold Days (The Dresden Files, #14)

Jim Butcher

4.2
You can't keep a good wizard down - even when he wants to stay that way.

For years, Harry Dresden has been Chicago's only professional wizard, but a bargain made in desperation with the Queen of Air and Darkness has forced him into a new job: professional killer.

Mab, the mother of wicked faeries, has restored the mostly-dead wizard to health, and dispatches him upon his first mission - to bring dea
47

Chasing Vermeer (Chasing Vermeer, #1)

Blue Balliett

4.2
When a book of unexplainable occurrences brings Petra Andalee and Calder Pillay together, strange things start to happen: seemingly unrelated events connect, an eccentric old woman seeks their company, and an invaluable Vermeer painting disappears. Before they know it, the two find themselves at the center of an international art scandal, where no one — neighbors, parents, teachers — is spared fro
48

The Nix

Nathan Hill

4.2
A hilarious and deeply touching debut novel about a son, the mother who left him as a child, and how his search to uncover the secrets of her life leads him to reclaim his own.

Meet Samuel Andresen-Anderson: stalled writer, bored teacher at a local college, obsessive player of an online video game. He hasn't seen his mother, Faye, since she walked out when he was a child. But then one day there she
A Raisin in the Sun book cover49

A Raisin in the Sun

Lorraine Hansberry

4.2
"Never before, in the entire history of the American theater, has so much of the truth of black people's lives been seen on the stage," observed James Baldwin shortly before A Raisin in the Sun opened on Broadway in 1959.

Indeed Lorraine Hansberry's award-winning drama about the hopes and aspirations of a struggling, working-class family living on the South Side of Chicago connected profoundly with
The Good Girl book cover50

The Good Girl

Mary Kubica

4.2
I've been following her for the past few days. I know where she buys her groceries, where she works. I don't know the color of her eyes or what they look like when she's scared. But I will.

One night, Mia Dennett enters a bar to meet her on-again, off-again boyfriend. But when he doesn't show, she unwisely leaves with an enigmatic stranger. At first Colin Thatcher seems like a safe one-night stand.
51

American Pharaoh: Mayor Richard J. Daley - His Battle for Chicago and the Nation

Adam Cohen, Elizabeth Taylor

4.2
"This is Chicago, this is America." With those words, Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley famously defended his brutal crackdown on protesters at the 1968 Democratic convention. Profoundly divided racially, economically and socially, Chicago was indeed a microcosm of America, and for more than two decades Daley ruled it with an iron fist. The last of the big city bosses, Daley ran an unbeatable politic
52

Division Street: America

Studs Terkel

4.2
Division Street, Studs Terkel’s first book of oral history, established his reputation as America’s foremost oral historian and as “one of those rare thinkers who is actually willing to go out and talk to the incredible people of this country” (in the words of Tom Wolfe).

Viewing the inhabitants of a single city, Chicago, as a microcosm of the nation at large, Division Street chronicles the thought
53

The Adventures of Augie March

Saul Bellow

4.2
Augie comes on stage with one of literature’s most famous opening lines. “I am an American, Chicago born, and go at things as I have taught myself, free-style, and will make the record in my own way: first to knock, first admitted.” It’s the “Call me Ishmael” of mid-20th-century American fiction. (For the record, Bellow was born in Canada.) Or it would be if Ishmael had been more like Tom Jones wi
Sharp Objects book cover54

Sharp Objects

Gillian Flynn

4.1
Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker faces a troubling assignment: she must return to her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. For years, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed in her old bedroom in her fa
Jessica Northeyshaw portrait Recommended by Jessica Northeyshaw.
55

It Had to Be You (Chicago Stars, #1)

Susan Elizabeth Phillips

4.1
The Windy City isn’t quite ready for Phoebe Somerville -- the outrageous, curvaceous New York knockout who has just inherited the Chicago Stars football team. And Phoebe is definitely not prepared for the Stars’ head coach Dan Celebow, a sexist jock taskmaster with a one-track mind. Celebow is everything Phoebe abhors. And the sexy new boss is everything Dan despises -- a meddling bimbo who doesn’
Eloisa James portrait Recommended by Eloisa James.
56

Loving Frank

Nancy Horan

4.1
I have been standing on the side of life, watching it float by. I want to swim in the river. I want to feel the current.

So writes Mamah Borthwick Cheney in her diary as she struggles to justify her clandestine love affair with Frank Lloyd Wright. Four years earlier, in 1903, Mamah and her husband, Edwin, had commissioned the renowned architect to design a new home for them. During the construction
57

A Long Way from Chicago (A Long Way from Chicago, #1)

Richard Peck

4.1
Join Joey and his sister Mary Alice as they spend nine unforgettable summers with the worst influence imaginable--their grandmother!
Bossypants book cover58

Bossypants

Tina Fey

4.1
Tina Fey is one of of the world's greatest comic writers and performers. Here she reveals all, and proves what we've all suspected - you're no one until someone calls you bossy.
Sheryl Sandberg portrait Recommended by Sheryl Sandberg.
High-Risers: Cabrini-Green and the Fate of American Public Housing book cover59

High-Risers: Cabrini-Green and the Fate of American Public Housing

Ben Austen

4.1
Joining the ranks of Evicted, The Warmth of Other Sons, and classic works of literary non-fiction by Alex Kotlowitz and J. Anthony Lukas, High-Risers braids personal narratives, city politics, and national history to tell the timely and epic story of Chicago’s Cabrini-Green, America’s most iconic public housing project.

Built in the 1940s atop an infamous Italian slum, Cabrini-Green grew to twenty-
60

Chicago

Brian Doyle

4.1
On the last day of summer, a young college grad moves to Chicago and rents a small apartment on the north side of the city, by the lake. This is the story of the five seasons he lives there, during which he meets gangsters, gamblers, policemen, a brave and garrulous bus driver, a cricket player, a librettist, his first girlfriend, a shy apartment manager, and many other riveting souls, not to ment
61

Some Girls Bite (Chicagoland Vampires, #1)

Chloe Neill

4.1
They killed me. They healed me. They changed me.

Sure, the life of a graduate student wasn’t exactly glamorous, but it was Merit’s. She was doing fine until a rogue vampire attacked her. But he only got a sip before he was scared away by another bloodsucker–and this one decided the best way to save her life was to make her the walking undead.

Turns out her savior was the master vampire of Cadogan Ho
62

The Litigators

John Grisham

4.1
The partners at Finley & Figg—all two of them—often refer to themselves as “a boutique law firm.” Boutique, as in chic, selective, and prosperous. They are, of course, none of these things. What they are is a two-bit operation always in search of their big break, ambulance chasers who’ve been in the trenches much too long making way too little. Their specialties, so to speak, are quickie divorces
Yes Please book cover63

Yes Please

Amy Poehler

4.1
In Amy Poehler’s highly anticipated first book, Yes Please, she offers up a big juicy stew of personal stories, funny bits on sex and love and friendship and parenthood and real life advice (some useful, some not so much), like when to be funny and when to be serious. Powered by Amy’s charming and hilarious, biting yet wise voice, Yes Please is a book full of words to live by.
Die Trying (Jack Reacher, #2) book cover64

Die Trying (Jack Reacher, #2)

Lee Child

4.1
Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here

In a Chicago suburb, a dentist is met in his office parking lot by three men and ordered into the trunk of his Lexus. On a downtown sidewalk, Jack Reacher and an unknown woman are abducted in broad daylight by two men - practiced and confident - who stop them at gunpoint and hustle them into the same sedan. Then Reacher and the woman are switched into
65

The Third Coast: When Chicago Built the American Dream

Thomas L. Dyja

4.1
A cultural history of Chicago at midcentury, with its incredible mix of architects, politicians, musicians, writers, entrepreneurs, and actors who helped shape modern America

Though today it can seem as if all American culture comes out of New York and Los Angeles, much of what defined the nation as it grew into a superpower was produced in Chicago. Before air travel overtook trains, nearly every c
66

Lost Chicago

David Garrard Lowe

4.1
30th Anniversary

These dazzling, poignant pages recreate the magical built environment that thrilled generations of Chicago residents and visitors alike before falling victim to the wrecking ball of “progress.”

Here are the grand residences and hotels, opulent theaters, legendary trains, and state-of-the-art office buildings and department stores—including the world’s first skyscraper. Here too are
67

A Lot like Love (FBI/US Attorney, #2)

Julie Jame

4.1
ISBN: 9780425240168 updated version found here

The FBI wants her cooperation...

As the daughter of a billionaire and the owner of the city's top wine store, Jordan Rhodes is invited to the most exclusive parties in Chicago. But there's only one party the FBI wants to crash: the charity fundraiser of a famous restaurateur, who also happens to launder money for the mob. In exchange for her brother's r
68

Indemnity Only (V.I. Warshawski, #1)

Sara Paretsky

4.1
Meeting an anonymous client late on a sizzling summer night is asking for trouble. But trouble is Chicago private eye V.I. Warshawski's specialty. Her client says he's the prominent banker, John Thayer. Turns out he's not. He says his son's girlfriend, Anita Hill, is missing. Turns out that's not her real name. V.I.'s search turns up someone soon enough -- the real John Thayer's son, and he's dead
69

The Paris Wife

Paula McLain

4.1
A deeply evocative story of ambition and betrayal, The Paris Wife captures a remarkable period of time and a love affair between two unforgettable people: Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley.

Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness—until she meets Ernest Hemingway and her life changes forever. Following a whirlwind courtship
Wai Chee Dimock portrait Recommended by Wai Chee Dimock.
Route 66 Travel Guide: The Complete Mother Road Companion: Large Easy-Read Maps in Driving Order, Field-Verified Diners & Motels, Hidden Gems & the Story Behind Every Mile, Chicago to Santa Monica book cover70

Route 66 Travel Guide: The Complete Mother Road Companion: Large Easy-Read Maps in Driving Order, Field-Verified Diners & Motels, Hidden Gems & the Story Behind Every Mile, Chicago to Santa Monica

Holloway Press

4.1

Have you ever dreamed of driving Route 66, only to be let down by guides with tiny maps, closed attractions, and directions you can't trust? Tired of "ultimate" guides that overpromise, then leave you stranded—forced to buy three more books just to piece together the real road? What you want is simple: an honest, field-verified guide that lets you truly experience the Mother Road—its living histor

71

The Girls of Murder City: Fame, Lust, and the Beautiful Killers who Inspired Chicago

Douglas Perry

4.1

The true story of the murderesses who became media sensations and inspired the musical Chicago

Chicago, 1924.

There was nothing surprising about men turning up dead in the Second City. Life was cheaper than a quart of illicit gin in the gangland capital of the world. But two murders that spring were special - worthy of celebration. So believed Maurine Watkins, a wanna-be playwright and a "girl r
72

Death in the Haymarket: A Story of Chicago, the First Labor Movement and the Bombing That Divided Gilded Age America

James Green

4.1
On May 4, 1886, a bomb exploded at a Chicago labor rally, wounding dozens of policemen, seven of whom eventually died. A wave of mass hysteria swept the country, leading to a sensational trial, that culminated in four controversial executions, and dealt a blow to the labor movement from which it would take decades to recover. Historian James Green recounts the rise of the first great labor movemen
73

The Man With the Golden Arm

Nelson Algren, William J. Savage Jr., Daniel Simon, Kurt Vonnegut, Studs Terkel

4.1
Nelson Algren's devastating of that savage, subterranean world go gamblers, junkies, alcoholics, prostitutes, thieves, and degenerates remains unsurpassed as an authentic portrait of human depravity.

Only a master like Algren could create such a passionate and dramatic novel of so daring a theme as a man's struggle against dope addiction.

THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM, the bestseller on which Otto Pre
74

Chicago: A Biography

Dominic A. Pacyga

4.1

Chicago has been called by many names. Nelson Algren declared it a “City on the Make.” Carl Sandburg dubbed it the “City of Big Shoulders.” Upton Sinclair christened it “The Jungle,” while New Yorkers, naturally, pronounced it “the Second City.”

At last there is a book for all of us, whatever we choose to call Chicago. In this magisterial biography, historian Dominic Pacyga traces the storied past

75

To Sleep with the Angels: The Story of a Fire

David Cowan

4.1
On a grey winter day in December 1958, one of the deadliest fires in American history took the lives of ninety-two children and three nuns at a Catholic elementary school on Chicago's West Side. The blaze at Our Lady of the Angels School shocked the nation. It left many families physically and psychologically scarred for life, destroyed a close-knit working-class neighborhood, and sowed popular su
76

So Big

Edna Ferber

4.1
Winner of the 1924 Pulitzer Prize, So Big is widely regarded as Edna Ferber's crowning achievement. A rollicking panorama of Chicago's high and low life, this stunning novel follows the travails of gambler's daughter Selina Peake DeJong as she struggles to maintain her dignity, her family, and her sanity in the face of monumental challenges. This is the stunning and unforgettable “novel to read an
Working: People Talk about What They Do All Day and How They Feel about What They Do book cover77

Working: People Talk about What They Do All Day and How They Feel about What They Do

Studs Terkel

4.1
Studs Terkel records the voices of America. Men and women from every walk of life talk to him, telling him of their likes and dislikes, fears, problems, and happinesses on the job. Once again, Terkel has created a rich and unique document that is as simple as conversation, but as subtle and heartfelt as the meaning of our lives.... In the first trade paperback edition of his national bestseller, P
Barack Obama portraitEv Williams portrait Recommended by Barack Obama and Ev Williams.
78

Electric Arches

Eve L. Ewing

4.1
Blending stark realism with the surreal and fantastic, Eve L. Ewing's narrative takes us from the streets of 1990s Chicago to an unspecified future, deftly navigating the boundaries of space, time, and reality. Ewing imagines familiar figures in magical circumstances, and identifies everyday objects - hair moisturizer, a spiral notebook - as precious icons.

Her visual art is spare, playful, and poi
79

1919

Eve L. Ewing

4.1
Poetic reflections on race, class, violence, segregation, and the hidden histories that shape our divided urban landscapes.

The Chicago Race Riot of 1919, the most intense of the riots that comprised the “Red Summer” of violence across the nation’s cities, is an event that has shaped the last century but is widely unknown. In 1919, award-winning poet Eve L. Ewing explores the story of this event—wh
Sherrilyn Ifill portrait Recommended by Sherrilyn Ifill.
80

Relish: My Life in the Kitchen

Lucy Knisley

4.1
A vibrant, food-themed memoir from beloved indie cartoonist Lucy Knisley.

Lucy Knisley loves food. The daughter of a chef and a gourmet, this talented young cartoonist comes by her obsession honestly. In her forthright, thoughtful, and funny memoir, Lucy traces key episodes in her life thus far, framed by what she was eating at the time and lessons learned about food, cooking, and life. Each chapte
81

Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1)

Simone Elkeles

4.0
A fresh, urban twist on the classic tale of star-crossed lovers.

When Brittany Ellis walks into chemistry class on the first day of senior year, she has no clue that her carefully created 'perfect' life is about to unravel before her eyes. She's forced to be lab partners with Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, and he is about to threaten everything she's worked so hard for: he
The Most Fun We Ever Had book cover82

The Most Fun We Ever Had

Claire Lombardo

4.0
A multigenerational novel in which the four adult daughters of a Chicago couple--still madly in love after forty years--recklessly ignite old rivalries until a long-buried secret threatens to shatter the lives they've built.

When Marilyn Connolly and David Sorenson fall in love in the 1970s, they are blithely ignorant of all that's to come. By 2016, their four radically different daughters are each
83

Steelheart (The Reckoners, #1)

Brandon Sanderson

4.0
Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics. But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his will.

Nobody fights the Epics...nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics,
84

Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago

Eric Klinenberg

4.0
On Thursday, July 13, 1995, Chicagoans awoke to a blistering day in which the temperature would reach 106 degrees. The heat index, which measures how the temperature actually feels on the body, would hit 126 degrees by the time the day was over. Meteorologists had been warning residents about a two-day heat wave, but these temperatures did not end that soon. When the heat wave broke a week later,
85

Never a City So Real: A Walk in Chicago

Alex Kotlowitz

4.0
The acclaimed author of There Are No Children Here takes us into the heart of Chicago by introducing us to some of the city’s most interesting, if not always celebrated, people.

Chicago is one of America’s most iconic, historic, and fascinating cities, as well as a major travel destination. For Alex Kotlowitz, an accidental Chicagoan, it is the perfect perch from which to peer into America’s heart.
86

The Wright 3 (Chasing Vermeer, #2)

Blue Balliett, Brett Helquist

4.0
Spring semester at the Lab School in Hyde Park finds Petra and Calder drawn into another mystery when unexplainable accidents and ghostly happenings throw a spotlight on Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House, and it's up to the two junior sleuths to piece together the clues. Stir in the return of Calder's friend Tommy (which creates a tense triangle), H.G. Wells's The Invisible Man, 3D pentominoes, and
87

Building Stories

Chris Ware

4.0
After years of sporadic work on other books and projects and following the almost complete loss of his virility, it's here: a new graphic novel by Chris Ware.

Building Stories imagines the inhabitants of a three-story Chicago apartment building: a 30-something woman who has yet to find someone with whom to spend the rest of her life; a couple, possibly married, who wonder if they can bear each othe
88

The Shining Girls

Lauren Beukes

4.0
In Depression-era Chicago, Harper Curtis finds a key to a house that opens on to other times. But it comes at a cost. He has to kill the shining girls: bright young women, burning with potential. Curtis stalks them through their lives across different eras until, in 1989, one of his victims, Kirby Mazrachi, survives and starts hunting him back.

Working with a former homicide reporter who is falling
Chicago Bucket List: 150 Unforgettable Adventures Across Iconic Landmarks, Hidden Gems, Historic Neighborhoods, Riverwalk Highlights, Street Art, Underground Secrets, Urban Wonders & Local Favorites book cover89

Chicago Bucket List: 150 Unforgettable Adventures Across Iconic Landmarks, Hidden Gems, Historic Neighborhoods, Riverwalk Highlights, Street Art, Underground Secrets, Urban Wonders & Local Favorites

Parker Colven

4.0

Chicago is more than a skyline—it is a city of unforgettable neighborhoods, legendary architecture, lakefront escapes, cultural landmarks, hidden passages, historic streets, and local experiences waiting to be discovered.Chicago Bucket List is a practical and inspiring guide to 150 remarkable destinations across the Windy City, carefully organized to help first-time visitors, returning travelers,

The Route 66 RV Travel Handbook: The Complete Mile-by-Mile Road Trip Planner | 250+ RV-Friendly Routes, Campgrounds, Hidden Gems, Historic Attractions, Scenic Detours, and Budget Tips book cover90

The Route 66 RV Travel Handbook: The Complete Mile-by-Mile Road Trip Planner | 250+ RV-Friendly Routes, Campgrounds, Hidden Gems, Historic Attractions, Scenic Detours, and Budget Tips

Roy Hastings

4.0

NOW! Discover Route 66's Hidden Gems, Historic Landmarks, and Most Memorable Stops Without Wasting Time, Money, or Missing the Real Mother Road!Dreaming of Driving America's Most Legendary Highway... But Not Sure Where to Start?Worried You'll Reach the End of Route 66 Only to Discover You Missed the Places Everyone Talks About?For most travelers, planning a Route 66 road trip feels overwhelming.Wi

91

The Cubs Way: The Zen of Building the Best Team in Baseball and Breaking the Curse

Tom Verducci

4.0
With inside access and reporting, Sports Illustrated senior baseball writer and FOX Sports analyst Tom Verducci reveals how Theo Epstein and Joe Maddon built, led, and inspired the Chicago Cubs team that broke the longest championship drought in sports, chronicling their epic journey to become World Series champions.
It took 108 years, but it really happened. The Chicago Cubs are once again World
92

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life.: Essays

Samantha Irby

4.0
Sometimes you just have to laugh, even when life is a dumpster fire. With We Are Never Meeting in Real Life., "bitches gotta eat" blogger and comedian Samantha Irby turns the serio-comic essay into an art form. Whether talking about how her difficult childhood has led to a problem in making "adult" budgets, explaining why she should be the new Bachelorette--she's "35-ish, but could easily pass for
93

Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty

G. Neri, Randy Duburke

4.0
In August of 1994, 11-year-old Robert “Yummy” Sandifer — nicknamed for his love of sweets — fired a gun at a group of rival gangmembers, accidentally killing a neighborhood girl, Shavon Dean. Police searched Chicago’s southside for three days before finding Yummy dead in a railway tunnel, killed by members of the drug gang he’d sought to impress. The story made such an impact that Yummy appeared o
94

Something About You (FBI/US Attorney, #1)

Julie James

4.0
Fate has thrown two sworn enemies...

Of all the hotel rooms rented by all the adulterous politicians in Chicago, female Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Lynde had to choose the one next to 1308, where some hot-and-heavy lovemaking ends with a death. And of all the FBI agents in Illinois, it had to be Special Agent Jack Pallas who gets assigned to this high-profile homicide. The same Jack Pallas who
95

Chicago Poems

Carl Sandburg

4.0
96

Friday Night Bites (Chicagoland Vampires, #2)

Chloe Neill

4.0
Vamps in Chicago!

You’d think headlines like that would have provoked the fine citizens of the Windy City to take up arms against us bloodsucking fiends. Instead, ten months later, we’re enjoying a celebrity status reserved for the Hollywood elite—fending off paparazzi only slightly less dangerous than cross and stake-wielding slayers. Don’t get me wrong, Joe Public isn’t exactly thrilled to be liv
Ghost Boys book cover97

Ghost Boys

Jewell Parker Rhode

4.0
Twelve-year-old Jerome is shot by a police officer who mistakes his toy gun for a real threat. As a ghost, he observes the devastation that’s been unleashed on his family and community in the wake of what they see as an unjust and brutal killing.

Soon Jerome meets another ghost: Emmett Till, a boy from a very different time but similar circumstances. Emmett helps Jerome process what has happened, o
98

Crossing California

Adam Langer

4.0
Set in Chicago's Jewish neighborhood of West Rogers Park, this is the story of three families--adults and children alike--coming of age during the tumultuous, turbulent days of the Iran hostage crisis. At the close of the 1970s, the Rovners, the Wasserstroms, and the Wills-Silvermans will have to shed their pasts to cross into that new, shining decade of hope: the 80s.
99

111 Places for Kids in Chicago You Must Not Miss

Amy Bizzarri and Susie Inverso

4.0
- The ultimate insider's guide to Chicago - Features interesting and unusual places not found in traditional travel guides - Part of the international 111 Places/111 Shops series with over 250 titles and 1.5 million copies in print worldwide - Appeals to both the local market (9.5 million people call Chicago home) and the tourist market (over 60 million people visit Chicago every year!) - Fully il
100

Twice Bitten (Chicagoland Vampires, #3)

Chloe Neill

4.0
Merit, Chicago’s newest vampire, is learning how to play well with others. Other supernaturals, that is. Shapeshifters from across the country are convening in the Windy City, and as a gesture of peace, Master Vampire Ethan Sullivan has offered their leader a very special bodyguard: Merit. Merit is supposed to protect the Alpha, Gabriel Keene—and to spy for the vamps while she’s at it. Oh, and luc