Literary Tourism: Roscoe Books in Chicago, Illinois

My travels for my book, Midwest Shreds, took me to Chicago, a city I hadn’t been to in many years. And the last time I visited, which I believe was in 2013, I don’t think I went to any bookstores. A shame!

I happened to be in town on Memorial Day weekend, so I spent much of my time trying to coordinate interviews with the skaters I wanted to talk to for the book, some of whom were out of town on vacation and doing family stuff for the holiday. It was logistically challenging trying to pack so much into a short visit, but I had some time on my last day in town to go to a bookstore. My Airbnb happened to be close to Roscoe Books, so I popped in!

I love a good picture window storefront on a bookstore. It’s fun to see all the good books they have before you even get inside.

I know sunlight can bleach the color out of book covers and yellow the pages, but I can’t help myself. I love a bookstore with natural light. Windows make a space so much more relaxing and welcoming.

I’m personally not one for political memoirs (though I don’t think there’s anything wrong with them), but when I see Barack and Michelle’s memoirs on the shelves I know I’m in a good place.

Frankly, if I see conservatives’ memoirs displayed, even if the bookstore has an otherwise great selection, I have some questions!!

Funnily enough, when I took the picture above I didn’t notice Two Dollar Radio’s Vegan Cookbook in the background, but now I do! The publisher Two Dollar Radio opened a bookstore in Columbus called Two Dollar Radio Headquarters where they serve fantastic vegan food. So I’ve probably had most of the dishes in the cookbook and can attest to their tastiness.

How adorable is the children’s nook! The mural painter did a lovely job. I’m a terrible visual artist and have tried hand lettering, so I can tell you it’s not easy to get hand painted letters so crisp and uniform.

I bet a lot of great storytimes happen around this chair!

Here’s a better look at the mural. I’m a big fan!

Roscoe Books is pretty small, but it’s well-curated so you can still spend a good amount of time browsing.

I was also super impressed with the bookseller who was working the day I went in. I’d heard about this YA novel called Bruised and knew it was about roller derby, but I couldn’t remember the author. I asked the bookseller and she knew exactly where it was within like five seconds, without even having to look it up on the computer. It was the fastest I’d ever seen a bookseller find a book.

For the curious, the novel is Bruised by Tanya Boteju.

I hope you’ll stop by Roscoe Books the next time you’re in Chicago! You’ll be glad you did. (It’s also fairly easy to find parking in the area, so that’s a plus.)

I’ll be sharing more Chicago bookstore stuff in the coming months/over the next year because one of my best friends is moving to the city to pursue her MFA. I’ll be visiting her and we’ll be bookstore hopping all over town, so stay tuned!