Whether you’re a longtime book lover or aspire to be one, here’s a list of Chicago books that you should add to your 2025 reading list.
📘 The latest guide to Chicago features more than 150 neighborhood and city maps. For locals and newcomers alike.
🖋️ Not for Tourists
🗓️ Oct. 1, 2024
📘 Award-winning author Daniel Black returns with an emotional novel about a young queer Black boy in 1980s Chicago.
🖋️ Daniel Black
🗓️ Jan. 14
📘 A fun new take on the 11-inch giant of American culture, including a few exclusive vintage photos of Barbie.
🖋️ Renée Rosen
🗓️ Jan. 21
📘 The story of Chicago’s very own George E. Johnson, creator of an iconic hair product and founder of the first Black-owned company to be publicly traded.
🖋️ George E. Johnson
🗓️ Feb. 4
📘 How the Malnati family took a small business on the brink of bankruptcy and turned it into one of Chicago’s most iconic brands.
🖋️ Marc Malnati
🗓️ March 4
📘 Get to know one of the earliest established communities in Illinois just south of Chicago.
🖋️ Jason Berry and Mr. Kevin Barron
🗓️ March 11
📘 Published by the University of Chicago Press, this new translation brings new life to one of the most iconic pieces of literature.
🖋️ Homer; translation, introduction, and notes by Daniel Mendelsohn
🗓️ April
📘 A debut novel about an interracial working-class family in 1990s Chicago.
🖋️ James Stewart III
🗓️ May
📘 Award-winning author Mia P. Manansala makes her young adult novel debut with a story about a high school Tarot reader working to solve a mysterious disappearance.
🖋️ Mia P. Manansala
🗓️ May 13
📘 The latest from acclaimed Chicago-based author Chandra Blumberg.
🖋️ Chandra Blumberg
🗓️ Aug. 12
Correction: Author Jason Berry's name was misspelled in an earlier version of this article.
