Literary Tourism: The Book Cellar in Chicago
While hanging out with Harmony in Chicago, I got to meet their girlfriend Celina! And what better place to get to know someone than a bookstore?
[image description: the storefront of The Book Cellar, which is pale brick with a big picture window. There’s a neon “open” sign in the shape of an open book.]
So that’s how we ended up at The Book Cellar, a cute little shop that also happens to be across the street from some of the best coffee I’ve ever had in my life. I think it was a Turkish coffee shop called Oromo Cafe.
Anyhoo, priorities! Look how cute Harmony (left) and Celina (right) are!
[image description: Harmony, left, wearing blue jeans, a red beanie, and a black leather jacket with red embroidered roses, with their girlfriend, Celina, right, who has short dark curly hair and is wearing orange pants and a cream and orange plaid jacket. They have an arm around each other and are leaning into one another.]
I adored Celina from the moment I met her, especially since I found out that she, too, has great taste in books. She told me about One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston and Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers. Both sound like novels I’d enjoy!
[image description: an aisle in the bookstore with shelves on either side and books filling each shelf.]
I do love a bookstore that’s been filled to the brim as long as it’s organized and easily navigable. The Book Cellar succeeds on all fronts!
[image description: a sliding bookshelf ladder!]
Reader, when I tell you I was tempted, know I WAS TEMPTED.
Sure, there’s a sign that says the sliding book ladder is for staff only, but COME ON. Who could resist?!
The only reason I didn’t get on it is because we’d just gotten to The Book Cellar and I didn’t want to get kicked out because then it’d ruin my friends’ book shopping and probably make a terrible first impression on my best friend’s girlfriend, so I had to curb my enthusiasm. But I’m coming back for you, book ladder! One day!
[image description: a candid photo of Harmony and Celina together in a bookstore aisle.]
Of course, I had to get some pics of the happy couple because they’re just so damn cute together.
[image description: a cardboard cutout of the author John Green wearing a suit. There’s a stick-on name tag that says “Hello! My name is Jesus Christ.”]
I cracked up when I saw this cardboard cutout… But only after I rounded the corner and jumped because it scared me first.
[image description: Harmony and Celina beside a Shakespeare shelf that says “Shakespeare lives here.”]
I snapped this pic as a candid, but Harmony’s half-closed eyes are about how I feel about Shakespeare too.
[image description: stacks of books in boxes in one corner of the store.]
While I’m not in the market for the Bard these days, a book did catch my eye: The Art of Dumpster Diving by Jennifer Anne Moses. I’d never heard of it before, but as a once enthusiastic and still occasionally practicing dumpster diver, I had to have it.
[image description: a table display with Women’s History Month books. Harmony and Celina are standing beside the table, smiling and waving at the camera.]
I do love a good theme-curated display table and since I was visiting in March I was glad to see they were celebrating Women’s History Month. Now if we could just get nonbinary folks our own month…
[image description: A view of the storefront window from inside. There are two cushy chairs surrounded by shelves and tables of books.]
Here’s the thing: Even though I never really sit down in bookstores and read portions of books before I buy them (and I get super annoyed with people who read the books––and bend the spines!!––without buying them), I always appreciate a bookstore with comfy chairs. There’s one simple reason…
If there’s a comfy chair, no one is rushing me out of the bookstore! If I’m with someone who doesn’t love books as much as I do and they get bored, they can sit down and scroll on their phone without rushing me. That wasn’t a problem with Harmony and Celina but in the past it’s been an issue with some friends and romantic partners (which was a sign that it wasn’t going to work out).
[image description: Another wall of bookshelves filled with books. There’s also a small TV at the top of one of the shelves.]
Judging by the presence of the TV and this more open area of the bookstore, I assume this is where they have events like book clubs and signings.
[image description: A look from one end of the bookstore to the other.]
The Book Cellar looked kind of small when I first approached, but once you’re inside you can really see how big it actually is. They’ve squeezed in a lot of books and made good use of the space!
[image description: a red shelf full of puzzles.]
No bookstore is complete without a puzzle section, am I right? I don’t really know how books and puzzles got so intertwined (are there book publishers who also make puzzles? do book distributors also distribute puzzles? is this a way of capturing the audiobook audience without necessarily having to sell audiobooks?) but puzzles in bookstores is pretty ubiquitous. The Book Cellar had several cool-looking literary-themed puzzles. If I had the patience for puzzles I might have gotten one. But between my antsy-ness and having 5 cats that like to swat small things, puzzles are a fruitless venture for me.
I also couldn’t help noticing the sign above the puzzle shelf that says “Dear Friends, we don’t have coasters, so please be sure to keep food and drinks off the books” and I must ask WHAT GODLESS MONSTER IS PUTTING FOOD AND DRINKS ON THE BOOKS???
I mean, I assume they wouldn’t have to put up a sign like that if there weren’t people doing it, but I’m just like, what the hell kind of heathens are coming into The Book Cellar?! I’m definitely that person who, if I saw someone use a book as a coaster or a plate, would calmly move the food off of it, dust off the book, and give the person a dirty look. Mr. Off the Beaten Shelf once tried to squish a bug with a book and I screamed more over that than I did about the spider that was trying to crawl into bed with us.
All in all, I had a lovely time at The Book Cellar. The only thing I’d do differently is make good use of their cafe now that I know they have one.