Charming suburban Chicago bookstore with smart booksellers and great events
When folks ask where I grew up … well, it’s complicated, so I either give the long explanation of the ten places I lived before I went off to college, or I say “mostly in the Chicago area.” So whenever I get anywhere near Chicago, I try to find a little time to make my way out to see my old neighborhoods (all to the north) and what’s happening on the book scene there. This fall, with my son graduated from University of Chicago and moved to Cambridge, MA and no book tour commitments–I was there for my high school reunion, Lord help me–I decided to rent a car and explore a little farther afield than I’ve made it before.
I went through Northbrook where I stopped at The Book Bin, and then out to Lake Forest, to see an old friend from law school and to poke my head in at Lake Forest Book Store.
I’ve done readings and events at other stores in Chicago, but never at Lake Forest Book Store. I have heard, though, from Melanie Gideon and other authors I’ve come to know, that the author luncheons that they occasionally host are terrific. (Melanie was the guest author at one earlier this summer.) Now I see what she means.
Lake Forest Book Store has been around for at least as long as I have; it was there when I lived in the area, but in a different location than it now is. Now it’s right near the train station, so you can grab a good read on your way home from work. Lots of books enticingly displayed in a charming space with bow windows, and booksellers who know books.
I love walking into stores like this and asking what the booksellers are reading, as I always find new authors that way.
I was delighted to see Melanie’s Wife 22 for sale here–a book I read prepublication and “blurbed,” which if you don’t know the book business means “say how much you like it.” For the record, I said, “Absolutely delicious! What Bridget Jones did for single women, Alice Buckle will do for married ones. Melanie Gideon’s Wife 22 is a fabulously funny contemplation of relationships and parenthood in the twenty-first century.”
And you can get a copy at Lake Forest Books! – Meg
Independent bookstores help new writers find an audience, and keep literature vibrant. If you don’t live near this one, please see the list of others in the sidebar under “Bookstores Worth Browsing.” Don’t see your favorite here yet? Please email me and I’ll do my best to have it featured here.
