Nice people! They have some really cool things for cheap…read moreprices! I liked the books and movies they had! Worth a nice stop by!

I was hoping for a few Sue Grafton books for my mom. I found that and a ton more…read more Stepping in to this store it's easy to imagine that we are a nation of readers. Every worker here seems to share a passion for books and the energy is infectious. I had to cut myself off, close my eyes, and slowly step away from the stacks. They also have some art and crafting supplies, paper goods, and vinyl. The prices are low and I think there might be some categories of people who qualify for discounts.

I finally visited unabridged bookstore! It is definitely worth the hype. This place is HUGE,…read morehousing so many different genres, authors, and books for everyone. Browsing for books is one of my favorite past times and I could have spent a loooot of time in here. Being a mom to a two year-old I especially love looking for new books for him. I was able to find one of my favorites here-- where the wild things are. We have since read it every single night before bed for the past two weeks. It continues to be a smash hit. I also grabbed him one of the books from the little critter series that I loved as a kid. He really likes that one too. I only had about 15 minutes to look around, so I definitely need to make another trip to dedicated to finding some books for myself, but I was happy to support this local shop by purchasing some classics for my kiddo.

I have very mixed feelings about this bookstore…read more If you're a big reader of fiction, as I am, you'll find the selection to be first-rate. There are large sections devoted to Penguin Classics, Modern Library, NYRB, and so forth, and a good selection of mystery, horror and science fiction novels. But the non-fiction side of the shop is pathetic. The guiding principle seems to be, "we only stock books that will make our readers comfortable. Books that will tell them what they already think they know. Books that won't challenge them. Books that will teach them nothing new." The entire purpose is to offer customers only those world views that they're already in agreement with -- uniformly Leftist, naively "socialist," anti-capitalist, and anti-Western civilization. And, needless to say, there's a heavy emphasis on sentimental Palestinianism. It's a suffocatingly narrow-minded approach. A bookshop should be a place to discover new ideas and new perspectives. Not a place to have one's dated orthodoxies and narrow-minded perspectives confirmed. If you're in search of books that will confirm your biases and comfort you in your prejudices, it's the bookstore for you. If you want to be intellectually challenged, you'd be better off going to Barnes and Noble, which carries a wide range of authors with differing viewpoints. (Yes, a "big chain" bookstore is more indie than the indie competition!) It has wider aisles too, and friendlier and less condescending clerks.

Grabbed coffee and browsed books on a pleasant winter Sunday. Lots of options for all the…read moredifferent types of readers. Vibe was community -oriented and family friendly. Good coffee!! Purchased a few post cards here too. Loved the art!

Whiled away an hour this morning at the Book Cellar, a great little coffee/book shop in Lincoln…read morePark. Nice book selection, good coffee, and friendly service with a laid-back, old world vibe. Good WiFi.

Awesome place to get great reads - for travel, anytime reading, and up-cycled gifts. Love to bring…read morethe kids and have them make a cash transaction with the helpful volunteers. A hidden gem in downtown Wilmette!

I love this place. Anytime I'm in the Chicago area, I have to go here, I find so many treasures. I…read moreeven had to get an extra suitcase on my flight back to Houston just to take back all the amazing finds. Books are so amazingly priced, that if you love books, you must visit. Cash is preferred, but you can pay by card upstairs at the front desk.

Cute. Family friendly. Had a nice visit there. It was our first, we'd consider going backread more

This store is great and ordering online is easy and efficient. Books arrive on time and well…read morepackaged for a decent price.

Small but mighty! This cute bookshop is tucked away on the 2nd floor of the Fine Arts building,…read morewhich is an excursion in and of itself because it has the last manually operated public elevator in Chicago. The bookshop also has a special view overlooking Grant Park to Lake Michigan. I've been to Exile for an event before (which they had in a separate space) and I recently stopped in again to browse their books. I can appreciate their collection is thoughtfully and uniquely curated, with prices on par with the average independent bookstore in Chicago. I also like the handwritten summaries and recommendations for standout books. They are not going to have everything because they're in a small space but I was able to find both a popular book that was on my wishlist and also a book I'd never heard of before that piqued my interest, so I purchased both. I also love that they're open every day of the week, which makes it easy to pop by!

What a cute little bookstore. I was too uncool to listen to Liz Phair but the store's name is an…read morehomage to the raised-in-Chicago artist's album Exile in Guyville. Anyway, I brought my toddler to a show at the Studedekbaer downstairs and we thought we'd explore a bit of the building. Heading up to the bookstore in the building was of course part of that plan. It's tiny but mighty and they have a surprisingly large selection. They also had a really interesting coffee table book called The Fine Arts Building that I had to talk myself out of buying. Instead, we bought a copy of Roald Dahl's The Enormous Crocodile, which they had in stock because the show was playing downstairs. I'll keep an eye on their events and since I now know it's here, may pop in when I'm downtown in my office. No parking since it's downtown--unless you want to pay for parking--but it's just near the CTA and south side Metra lines.

First of all, the new space on Western is lovely, a very old-timey used bookstore without the dust…read more Excellent selection and if you've ever been to Powell's in Portland, it's sort of a mini-Powell's in breadth and depth of books offered. On the other hand, I brought six books in great condition and not run of the mill (for instance, an extra copy I had of the recently published complete notebooks of Camus), and the buyer gave me $12.00 in credit for the whole stack. She also explained that the online account I set up before the move doesn't sync with the store's new account system. If I wanted to redeem the credit, I'd have to come into the store. So much for convenience. Here's a suggestion: use my credit to help an in-store customer who doesn't have enough of their own to buy a desired book. Honestly, I won't mind. BTW, Ramona the exquisite husky spirit of Uncharted Books no longer visits the store. According to the frugal buyer, because Ramona is older now, it's harder for her to tolerate customers' comings and goings. Love you, Ramona, and thank you, Tanner, for sharing her with us. Finally, if you'd like to help Uncharted Books besides shopping in person, you can find them on bookshop.org.

Great prices and a very unique assortment of books in this small shop. They only offer cash for…read more"antiquarian" books, aka over 100 years old and very collectible. If you want to sell your typical used books to them, you will receive store credit. But I think they're pretty generous with the credit they give you. It's nice to have credit and just walk in and pick something out and they ring it up on your tab. It almost feels like getting a new book for free. When I don't know what I want to read next, this is a great place to go. Service is super friendly. If you have an idea of what you want but aren't finding it, just ask! Street parking is pretty open outside using the Park to Pay app. Felix Lectio!

I was walking around the neighborhood this past weekend and wanted to chill out in a bookstore and…read moreMadison 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!

Madison Street Books is a bright and airy West Loop bookshop. They had a wide variety of books, so…read moreyou 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.

This bookstore is the creation of my wife, Nina B., and the store's devoted and talented…read morestaff--just to make clear my conflict of interest at the outset of this review! I have watched over the years (since 2014) as Bookends & Beginnings has morphed from a dream into beautiful reality, but it is still the product of Nina's mind and her dreams. The new location next to Fountain Square was cut from whole cloth. It began as a large empty piece of real estate all painted in white--a blank canvas!--and was transformed into what it is today: a carefully planned and executed space on two levels painted in dark teal, gold, and white, with a hand-picked selection of over 10,000 books arrayed attractively and intelligently. (Not to mention a reak carousel horse and a giant paper-maché giraffe.) The striking floor-to-ceiling mural, the work of her two graphic-artists sons, presides over the store and is visible day and night. You really should check out Bookends & Beginnings, if you don't know it already!

It was a nice surprise that the bookstore was still open after our post-dinner treat. It's always…read morefun to browse, and the store is very attractively laid out, with book covers gleaming and beckoning like inviting gems. I found a new book from my to-read list, coveted a cute display of Studio Ghibli merch, smiled at the witty cards, and soon my companions and I amassed a stockpile of items to purchase and so they gave us a nice tote. Maybe next time we'll skip dessert and head straight here (must check hours to see when the bar is open).