Charles Oakley memoirCharles Oakley’s new memoir is out, The Last Enforcer: Outrageous Stories From the Life and Times of One of the NBA’s Fiercest Competitors. March 11, 2022
Column: ‘Station Eleven’ and ‘Reacher’ are TV adaptions of books on Biblioracle’s watch listIn “Reacher” getting the big stuff right makes all the difference. In “Station Eleven” it’s a matter of the details that reflect the whole. March 05, 2022
Column: This 8-year-old author should inspire more people to tackle that unwritten bookOver Christmas break, 8-year-old Dillon Helbig of Boise, Idaho, wrote an 81-page illustrated book titled “The Adventures of Dillon Helbig’s Crismis," ignoring reasons others cite for not writing books. February 26, 2022
Bob Odenkirk has a new memoir and a starry career that began here — look at the ways Naperville creeps into his writing. What does he think of where he is now? Some day, when the final history of comedy is written, let it be known that last summer, on the fringes of Netflix, during the cult sketch series “I Think You Should Leave Now,” for three and a half minutes, humanity achieved peak Bob Odenkirk. February 24, 2022
Column: Reading a book at the bar doesn’t make you a loner. (Twitter agrees.)Jeremy Schneider's tweet disparaging bar readers made him Twitter's "main character" and got pushback from those who enjoy fellowship while reading. February 19, 2022
It’s not me, it’s you: These books are about romantic commitments and why they’re a pain. Valentine’s Day is over. They're "Foreverland" by Heather Havrilesky, "Love in the Time of Contagion" by Laura Kipnis and "Pure Color" by Sheila Heti. A therapist friend tells Kipnis that, among her clients, everyone has “a fantasy that other people were doing better.” February 14, 2022
Column: ‘Actually funny’ books? Here are 10 worth a laugh out loudI recently received a plea from a reader asking me to recommend some “actually funny” books. February 12, 2022
Dispute over Waukegan’s Ray Bradbury Collection may be overThe library board reached a consensus during a virtual committee of the whole meeting Tuesday to form a committee, which will include historical society representatives, to loan the collection to the society on a long-term basis so it can be housed in the new Waukegan History Museum. February 09, 2022
Column: From my first forays into Book TikTok, 5 things I’ve learnedOne of my New Year’s reading resolutions was to experience and try my best to understand also known as #BookTok on the short video streaming social media platform. February 05, 2022
After a suicide attempt, a pile of medical bills, an Evanston writer takes on the health care business in ‘Cost of Living’“Cost of Living” is Emily Maloney's riveting new collection of essays about her history with therapists, drugs they prescribed, her chaotic Illinois upbringing and the inevitable cost of health care. February 04, 2022
5 questions with Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on her latest book, ‘Just Help! How to Build a Better World’In "Just Help!" Justice Sotomayor takes young readers on a journey through a neighborhood where kids and adults, activists and bus drivers, friends and strangers all help one another to build a better world for themselves and their community. February 03, 2022
Column: Speculative NFT mania crosses paths with the book world by way of ‘Dune’Buying a book is not the same thing as buying the copyright to a book. Just because I have “Star Wars” on DVD doesn’t mean I can make my own sequel. January 29, 2022
Column: Some books we find life-changing, which started but didn’t end with ‘Bridge to Terabithia’ It’s sort of amazing to consider the power books have to rejigger our deepest selves. I’m looking forward to the next time. January 22, 2022
Hard-knock life: Gary Paulsen, writer of survival stories for kids, is an author worth rememberingRead enough of Gary Paulsen and you’ll think: Well, of course he did that, too. January 21, 2022
What was a Chicago doctor from Houston doing soaked in Champagne in the Bulls locker room? Read his book.It is understandable why Jordan’s name and photo are on the cover of the book. Jordan is, well, Jordan. "The Ball’s in Your Court” is by Michael Lewis, part of the team. January 14, 2022
Column: Norman Mailer may not be well remembered, but no, he was not ‘canceled’The truth is, prior to a brief, recent kerfuffle over a supposed “cancellation” of Norman Mailer, I hadn’t thought about him for a long time. It’s interesting to contrast Mailer’s work with that of Joan Didion. January 08, 2022
6 questions with 14th Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden: ‘I really want to connect with as many people as possible.’Carla Hayden has roots in Chicago, and her experiences have shaped how she manages the world's largest library — the Library of Congress. January 03, 2022
Column: ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ was just named the best book from the last 125 years. What does that mean?My picks in the poll were “Charlotte’s Web,” “Catch-22” and Toni Morrison’s “Beloved,” books which affected me profoundly at the time I read them, and which have shaped my perception of the world since. January 03, 2022
Column: My 4 reading resolutions for 2022, some easier than othersNothing too serious. I think it’s a mistake to make resolutions about significant stuff. January 01, 2022
Column: Some books have special meanings. Let me tell you about ‘My Special Christmas’Christmas is the time of year when I pull out the book that I, personally, have owned the longest. December 25, 2021