I was walking around the neighborhood this past weekend and wanted to chill out in a bookstore and Madison Street Books came up on my Yelp search. It was a great find since I met the very personable owner, Mary, who welcomed me as soon as I walked in. Many of the books on the shelves have little cards with handwritten descriptions that help the customer decide if they would be interested in that particular work. There is a nice little seating area where you can read. At the front of the store near the register are books that are recommended by the staff and I ended up buying a short story collection. I highly recommend Madison Street Books for your next literary purchase! read more

Madison Street Books - Bookstores Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Madison Street Books is a bright and airy West Loop bookshop. They had a wide variety of books, so you can find something for everyone from kids to grown ups. They even had a small selection of bookish gifts and stickers that I enjoyed browsing. I picked up a book and a few stickers that spoke to me. Pricing was comparable to Amazon, but I loved that I got to support a small business instead. I'd come back here again. read more

Madison Street Books - Bookstores Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Wonderful selection and excellent service. Beautiful space with high ceilings. Pristine and well organized. Spacious, open, and bright. Big windows and lots of natural light. Feels good in here! read more

See all

This is a cute bookstore! It has a very cozy feel. I gave it 3 stars because I tried attending the romance book club and didn't love it. The book club was 20 people, which made it feel more like a class than a book club. I'd suggest if a book club is that large, that it breaks up into smaller groups to discuss. I feel like there were only a few people who were very comfortable speaking up and everyone else was a bit quiet as it was intimidating. read more

The staff were friendly and helpful. I thought this shop had a great selection and was beautifully curated.

Fantastic neighborhood book store with a great selection of new titles and all 'round great books. Friendly and knowledgeable staff are there to help. Curated offers, such as the Bespoke Book Boxes, as well as great staff picks and book clubs to suit any taste, including those who love chonkers, aka big books, make this place even more special. read more

EVERY time I stop in for a book the staff is very friendly and very helpful. Staff is knowledgeable and always eager to help you find what it is you're looking for. Whether that's a recommendation or locating and grabbing a specific title off the shelf for you. Love this place!! read more

This is a super cute store that has everything organized and easy to see. I often will get overwhelmed in much bigger stores but this was perfect. The staff were polite and helpful. I spent about 30 minutes just browsing before picking up two new books! Solid selection and honestly I probably could have walked out with at least 10 more books! Pricing was pretty on par with what I expected for a nice book store. Around the same price as what I could find it online and felt better about supporting a small business instead. Well worth the stop in! read more

A gem of the West Loop. The space is well-organized and easy to navigate. Great selection, friendly and helpful service!

My favorite bookstore in Chicago. It's small but mighty. I can always go in and find an interesting read. I'm into non-fiction and their selection is thoughtful and well curated. You can tell they take time to decide what's going on the shelf. My favorite part is their puzzle selection - again, small but mighty. Always find a goodie. It's a little pricey but it's worth the dollar for a local spot like this. Service wise, I've ordered a book here and was notified right when it got in. Very good. read more

Madison Street Books - Street view - Bookstores Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

The staff picks make it easy to find a book if you don't know where to start. I ended up getting a Stephen King book. They have cool bookmarks at the cashier too. It's pretty small but feels cozy and I liked the indie music they had in the background. We also got a food trivia game. read more

See all

I very much appreciate the presence of non- corporate bookstores. I appreciate this establishment had a variety of books from Kerouac,to Octavia Butler, to Afro-centric literature, and to European classics. I initially thought by the extensive collection of books by P.O.C and the large LGBTQ flag which by the entrance this would be a welcoming space. To my disappointment it was not. Upon entering the store, none of the store clerks said hello or gave a friendly nod to greet my boyfriend and I. To give you background I am a Black woman and my boyfriend a Asian male. I continued to strolled through the store browsing. Every person whom walked through the store's entrance was greeted . The store clerk just so happened to greet every Caucasian person who walked over the threshold . I hope this was just a happenstance. Unfortunately, my stay in the Chicago area has been lackluster. The city emits a vibe of nimbyism. Also, a overwhelmingly air of bigotry and racism. read more

This is the best independent new-books store in Chicago. Something for everybody .

I was welcomed warmly by the staff. They found everything I needed for gifts and more. Mary made amazingly precise suggestions for everyone on my list. If all shopping were this easy! read more

Probably one of the cutest book stores in Chicago. Aside from location, the small but mighty business has many books to choose and genre galore but I recommend this place. The people there are helpful and friendly and are willing to help. read more

This is the best neighborhood bookstore! I love how thoughtfully the books are displayed, and the staff is always so welcoming

I was here shopping for a book for a kid's birthday party and was blown away by the children's book selection. So many wonderful books that I ended up buying a few books for my kids too. The owner was so friendly and helpful and wrapped the gift beautifully. She was also busy cleaning and disinfecting. The store is spotless and I feel very happy shopping here. Thank you! read more

Madison Street Books is a WONDERFUL new bookstore in the West Loop. I was thrilled to see a new, independent bookstore opening in my neighborhood. And I was dismayed when their fledgling shop had to close its doors a few days later because of coronavirus-related closures. But listen up! This lovely shop is still fulfilling book orders for curbside pickup, neighborhood delivery, and shipping! I made my first order today (online), and was so impressed when one of the owners called me 8 minutes later to tell me that my books were ready for pickup! We also talked about my book selection, and he let me know about an upcoming event that might interest me. I drove over to pick up my books, which were packaged and ready. I had a socially distant conversation with the two owners, who were warm, welcoming, and obviously very knowledgable about books. I can't wait to experience this shop in its full glory, and see what they've got planned. Independent bookstores matter! Support this local bookstore! Get recommendations from Javier and Mary...not from bots! read more

We are so lucky to have this neighborhood bookstore. The staff is so helpful - I rely on them for book recommendations as gifts and they always nail it. They curated a great 8 books of Hanukkah list for my mother-in-law - such a wonderful and thoughtful gift! I'll be doing a similar quarterly gift for my parents for upcoming birthdays. And of course we LOVE Wednesday mornings with Miss Dawn-Marie. So nice to have fun local classes offered!! Can't say enough good things about Mad Street Books. read more

Great bookstore! So happy to see it join the Madison Row shops. It looks like a used bookstore from the outside, and it might be, but it has a very fresh feel on the inside, interesting titles, well organized, small enough to not be overwhelming, but plenty to choose from. I'm on their mailing list, looks like they have quite the programming schedule as well. About a year late with this myself, but welcome to the neighborhood! read more

Clean, organized and full of really compelling titles. This is not a jumble of books piled haphazardly- their collection has been carefully chosen and the woman at the front desk was very kind and helpful. No pressure. It was a lovely way to close out my holiday weekend! read more

I came here to buy books. I'd love to read any kind of book. Since I have no work today I decided to come here. They have different kinds of books for genre, fiction, drama, romance and many more. They are so organized in their inventory. You can smell the fragrant scent of the book. The atmosphere inside is inviting. You will spend more hours choosing what kind of books you want since they have a lot of good kinds of books. I spent about 2 hours choosing a book. I just choose a romance and fiction genre. The fiction that I chose was recommended by the staff. She said that she read it already and she likes the story. The story was really good. So I bought it and she gave it to me at a reasonable price. Come and visit this books store. read more

Popped in here a couple weeks ago, and was so excited about having a new book store in the neighborhood. Despite wearing a mask upon entry, I was immediately and rudely told by the clerk to either use the hand sanitizer that was available, or put on a pair of gloves. After using the sanitizer, I began wandering around, trying to understand the layout, and find the genres I most enjoy (crime/suspense/thriller). Throughout this time, despite being the only customer, I wasn't offered any assistance. Normally this wouldn't put me off -- however, after having been there about 10 minutes, a young couple walked in, and were treated completely differently. The retail clerk got up and walked over to them, politely asked them to put on a pair of gloves or use the sanitizer "if they didn't mind" and then proceeded to share some information about the bookstore, and offered them a tour to advise them of the layout. As an after thought, he looked over at me and said "oh, and you can join too if you want". I politely followed along for the duration of the tour and then left. Unfortunately, this experience left a bad taste in my mouth, which is a pity, as I would have definitely been a regular customer. read more

I am an old-school reader who prefers to read books in hard copy and not on some electronic device. Like many of us these days, I spend too much time on electronic devices as it is, so physically holding a book is my preference (one less thing I have to charge!). I honestly knew I had a collection but didn't grasp on how much until I recently donated four bankers boxes worth of books to Open Books (they pick up!). Why? Because I like shopping through bookshop.org or at local bookstores, and at the beginning of the pandemic, books came in handy. So now, enter Madison Street Books. Helloooo! They have a great selection of books so neatly organized that you can't help but spend time and browse. It's been a minute of having days of going through aisles/shelves of books like at those bigger stores like Barnes & Noble, Borders, and way back to stores like B.D. Dalton and Waldenbooks (oof, did I just date myself?!). As I was finalizing my purchases, I noticed that a good part of the store contains children and young adult books, as well as greeting cards and gifts. If you're looking for a book or books by a particular author, the employees are willing to help locate and/or order if not in stock. Gotta love that! read more

Was really excited to see an independent book store open in the neighborhood. I love hard copy books and would prefer to give a small business my patronage. We poke our heads in on Friday to see if the store would allow browsing and got SCREAMED at by the retail clerk for not wearing a mask. Keep in mind this retail clerk wasn't wearing a mask when he yelled from inside the store. Forgetting about that we pulled on our masks and went inside any way. There the clerk continued to work, taking his mask off at erratic intervals, including when he rolled his eyes at my question about the availability of some book titles. (Apparently we don't share the same taste in writers). Best of luck to you, hope you find a customer base more aligned with your standards. read more

Loved this bookstore. Well organized, calm atmosphere, and a mix of new books and classics. Got the sense that the collection is carefully curated. A few tags spaced throughout the shelves highlighted certain books and gave brief summaries. Very helpful for the indecisive or curious shopper. I saw a number of authors I really enjoy and some lovely giftable reprints of classics in fancy covers. They also have puzzles and note cards. Definitely a place to grab a gift or the latest from your favorite author. The only thing that could make it better would be a book club. I didn't ask-- does the shop run a book club? read more

Great selection and beautiful store. The children's area is small but really cute. I don't have any more to say but Yelp has a stupid word minimum. read more

I have a bookshelf in my room. I love reading books, that's why I have a collection of different genres of books. I go there every time I want to buy new books. Last time I came here I bought volume 2 of the novel that I read. I'm glad that they have it. Because I have no work yesterday I decided to come here. They have a great selection with lots of different books. They have shelves on the wall and also tables in the middle full of books. I'm the only customer when I'm here. It's easy and peaceful to choose and look for books. I'm so happy that they have volume 3 and volume 4. I highly recommend this book store for you. Come and visit this place and I'm sure you will get good books at an affordable price. read more

Fantastic staff who deserve so much credit! On December 23rd I realized that I had forgotten to send a gift to someone who lives on the north side of Chicago. I called the store and the staff found the book that I was looking for (it was sold out of the big B&N chain bookstore), packaged it and got it delivered by the afternoon of December 24th. Just super nice staff who were a pleasure to work with over the phone and went above and beyond to wrap up the book for a nice Christmas present. Really happy I could support a local bookstore and will definitely aim to shop with them again! read more

Many thanks to Kaitlynn for the excellent customer service she provided. It is a pleasure doing business with Madison Books! Diana B. read more

great book store. very friendly and helpful staff. got me the book i was looking for without the "pilsen community books" attitude.