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Chicago Review of Books

@chicagorevbooks.bsky.social

A @storystudiochicago.bsky.social publication! Editor-in-Chief @mbwwelch.bsky.social

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Catapult Book Group@catapultbooks.bsky.social · 43m ago

MAKESHIFT is a must-read book of August! 📚 "Beguiling and mysterious, a dystopic puzzle box. . . Come for Peter Rock’s intoxicating language and stay for this beautiful tale of sisterhood and hope in the face of destruction." — @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social buff.ly/wCr8XgF

12 Must-Read Books of August 2026 - Chicago Review of Books

Come the dog days of summer, when the heat begins to grind you down and the days start to blend, there’s nothing better than encountering a story that will provide a spark of excitement. Maybe a…

chireviewofbooks.com

Chicago Review of Books@chicagorevbooks.bsky.social · yesterday

"Traverses the various facets of life that have become fodder for posting, including chapters on celebration, struggles, home, and grievance." @ansonjtong.com's review of “The Story of Your Life” by Kathryn Jezer-Morton (@vikingbooks.bsky.social) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2026/08/04/y...

You Are What You Post: Kathryn Jezer-Morton’s “The Story of Your Life” - Chicago Review of Books

Since its inception, social media has greedily subsumed our media consumption habits, our concept of the internet, and as Kathryn Jezer-Morton argues, our perceptions of our lives.  The Story of Your ...

chireviewofbooks.com

Chicago Review of Books@chicagorevbooks.bsky.social · 2d ago

"When the heat begins to grind you down and the days start to blend, there’s nothing better than encountering a story that will provide a spark of excitement," our EIC @mbwwelch.bsky.social writes. Read his 12 Must-Read Books of August 2026 below! chireviewofbooks.com/2026/08/03/1...

12 Must-Read Books of August 2026 - Chicago Review of Books

Come the dog days of summer, when the heat begins to grind you down and the days start to blend, there’s nothing better than encountering a story that will provide a spark of excitement. Maybe a littl...

chireviewofbooks.com

Ruth Joffre@ruthjoffre.bsky.social · 5d ago

last call to sign up for my writing magic class at @storystudiochicago.bsky.social! if you're into earth magic, portals, witches, unusual superpowers, and magical creatures, this class is for you. we'll meet online starting next Tuesday, August 4. see you there!

Writing Magic with Ruth Joffre - StoryStudio Chicago

This class is all about magic and how it can shape a story. We’ll explore various magical systems to understand how they work and what impact they can have in our writing.

storystudiochicago.org

Chicago Review of Books@chicagorevbooks.bsky.social · 2d ago

"I wish I could... tell my twenty-three-year-old self she doesn’t need to cling so desperately to her friends. But if anyone had told her that...she might not have written Paradise Pawn." Read Meg Richardson on writing her debut (from @tinhouse.bsky.social) below chireviewofbooks.com/2026/08/02/p...

How Friendship Anxiety Helped Me Write My Debut Novel - Chicago Review of Books

An essay from Meg Richardson on her debut novel, "Paradise Pawn."

chireviewofbooks.com

David Taylor@davidataylor.bsky.social · 2d ago

I'm late but excited by this list from @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social! It includes American Made: Work Stories from the WPA, an "illuminating history of work in America ... Like Studs Terkel’s Working, American Made is a beautiful ode" to people who built America. Foreword @kimkelly.bsky.social

StoryStudio Chicago@storystudiochicago.bsky.social · last mo.

Happy July, writers! Let's read books! The @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social has your 12 must-read books for July, including exciting new novels from Chicago writers Rowan Beaird and @kathleenmrooney.bsky.social! chireviewofbooks.com/2026/07/01/1...

신 선 영 辛善英 Sun Yung Shin@sunyungshin.bsky.social · 6d ago

Thank you, Jennifer Eli Bowen and @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social for this generous interview!

Chicago Review of Books@chicagorevbooks.bsky.social · last wk.

"Understanding the language of race, nation, place has allowed me to become legible to myself, literate in the language of my Korean-adopted immigrant self." Read Jennifer Bowen's interview w/ @sunyungshin.bsky.social on "Heart Eater" (@blacklawrence.bsky.social) chireviewofbooks.com/2026/07/29/h...

Chicago Review of Books@chicagorevbooks.bsky.social · 6d ago

Check out the latest episode of Book Stuffs podcast hosted by @tuckerleg.bsky.social—this time he's talking to Molly Aitken on why the most interesting fiction stories come out of truth. chireviewofbooks.com/2026/07/30/b...

Book Stuff: What Pulls Someone Into a Cult? Writer Molly Aitken on Why the Most Interesting Fiction Stories Come Out of Truth - Chicago Review of Books

I first encountered the writer Molly Aitken on her Instagram. I enjoyed her musings along with her playful and practical advice to writers. I soon read her historical novel Bright I Burn, a fictionali...

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Chicago Review of Books@chicagorevbooks.bsky.social · 6d ago

"Ultimately, Yellow Pine takes the scenic route to advocating for a return to the basics—community, family, and love for thy neighbor." Max Gray's review of “Yellow Pine” by Clare Vaye Watkins (@riverheadbooks.bsky.social) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2026/07/30/y...

The Next Generation of Doomers are Welcomed in "Yellow Pine" - Chicago Review of Books

Our review of Clare Vaye Watkins’s new novel, "Yellow Pine."

chireviewofbooks.com

Chicago Review of Books@chicagorevbooks.bsky.social · last wk.

"Understanding the language of race, nation, place has allowed me to become legible to myself, literate in the language of my Korean-adopted immigrant self." Read Jennifer Bowen's interview w/ @sunyungshin.bsky.social on "Heart Eater" (@blacklawrence.bsky.social) chireviewofbooks.com/2026/07/29/h...

On Belonging and Accidents of Literacy: A Conversation with Sun Yung Shin - Chicago Review of Books

Our review of Sun Yung Shin's new book, "Heart Eater."

chireviewofbooks.com

Chicago Review of Books@chicagorevbooks.bsky.social · last wk.

"Luiselli’s unnamed narrator reflects on how eventually she and her husband will need to be able to tell her children a story with a beginning, a middle and an end." Read Garrett Biggs's review of “Beginning Middle End” by Valeria Luiselli (@aaknopf.bsky.social). chireviewofbooks.com/2026/07/29/n...

Not Quite Time Travel, Not Quite a Ghost Story in “Beginning Middle End” by Valeria Luiselli - Chicago Review of Books

In Valeria Luiselli’s new novel Beginning Middle End, her narrator—a mother writing a novel that sounds awfully similar to Beginning Middle End—determines with her daughter that there are several thin...

chireviewofbooks.com

Megin Jimenez@meginj.bsky.social · last wk.

This book will always have a place on my shelf. It was a privilege to talk to the poet and get a peek “backstage.”

Chicago Review of Books@chicagorevbooks.bsky.social · last wk.

"There’s also this element of valentines that I think is common to sonnets: the forms do very well, simultaneously, with the quotidian and the big stuff." @meginj.bsky.social's interview with John Reed on "Year of Valentines" (Spuyten Duyvil) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2026/07/28/j...

Chicago Review of Books@chicagorevbooks.bsky.social · last wk.

"There’s also this element of valentines that I think is common to sonnets: the forms do very well, simultaneously, with the quotidian and the big stuff." @meginj.bsky.social's interview with John Reed on "Year of Valentines" (Spuyten Duyvil) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2026/07/28/j...

Lying in Bed, Casting Out Spells: A Conversation with John Reed - Chicago Review of Books

Year of Valentines by John Reed is a collection of sonnets, compact and rich. They offer the distinct, greedy pleasure of being legible in one go. They are not boring. A tight motion, a direct gesture...

chireviewofbooks.com

Chicago Review of Books@chicagorevbooks.bsky.social · last wk.

"The question Aira poses is whether the unfinished thought, caught in motion, tells us something that the polished, revised, completed thought cannot." Jamin Stortz's review of “Five” by César Aira (@ndbooks.bsky.social) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2026/07/28/f...

Flight Forward: On César Aira’s "Five" - Chicago Review of Books

César Aira has published over a hundred works, and this number alone tells you something about his method. He calls it la fuga hacia adelante, or “flight forward,” writing without revising, allowing e...

chireviewofbooks.com

Chicago Review of Books@chicagorevbooks.bsky.social · last wk.

"There’s also no one coming to save us, and no one believes more powerfully that we can save ourselves than Christopher Nolan does." @ashhatz.bsky.social's review of the film "The Odyssey" is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2026/07/27/t...

The Godlessness of Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" - Chicago Review of Books

In true Christopher Nolan fashion, The Odyssey is an exploration of memory, collective and individual. The film opens on the face of a modern bard, rapper Travis Scott, telling the tale of a man and h...

chireviewofbooks.com

Chicago Review of Books@chicagorevbooks.bsky.social · 2w ago

"The true goal of the first draft—whether wild, cautious, or in between—is to draw us back into it for further exploration." Steven Wingate's feature on Writing from the Voice is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2026/07/24/w...

Writing from the Voice — What Do You Need from a First Draft? - Chicago Review of Books

There should be a specific name for the exhausted celebratory euphoria writers can feel when we finish the first draft of a project. For me it usually consists of (a) thankfulness that I lived long en...

chireviewofbooks.com

Chicago Review of Books@chicagorevbooks.bsky.social · 2w ago

"Ryan Effgen has given us a solid entry in the family vacation summer read." @ianmacallen.bsky.social's review of “Make Nice” by Ryann Effgen (@aaknopf.bsky.social) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2026/07/23/c...

Collision of One Family's Past and Present in Ryan Effgen's "Make Nice" - Chicago Review of Books

The family vacation provides an ideal opportunity to test those relationships. For writers, the vacation plot is a petri dish filled with parents and children, long-standing and unresolved angst, and ...

chireviewofbooks.com

@somanybooks24.bsky.social · 2w ago

“Nunez likes to walk us through moments when people rush to the edge of a cliff that they may never step back from, then hover there.” In @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social, Steven Wingate reviews Sigrid Nunez’s new short story collection, “It Will Come Back To You” - chireviewofbooks.com/2026/07/14/l...

Lives Behind Veils in "It Will Come Back to You" - Chicago Review of Books

Sigrid Nunez is such a fixture in American fiction that it’s hard to imagine someone not closely encountering any of her nine novels, which have earned her a National Book Award, a Whiting Award, and ...

chireviewofbooks.com

Chicago Review of Books@chicagorevbooks.bsky.social · 2w ago

“t has to be accessible to that kind of reader and not follow Russian syntax, word order, or grammar.” Ian Battaglia’s interview with Michael Katz on his translation of “The Idiot” by Fyodor Dostoevsky (@liveright.bsky.social) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2026/07/22/m...

The Translator’s Voice — Michael Katz on Translating Fyodor Dostoevsky’s “The Idiot” - Chicago Review of Books

An interview with Michael Katz about his translation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's "The Idiot."

chireviewofbooks.com

Chicago Review of Books@chicagorevbooks.bsky.social · 2w ago

"Shows a keen eye for how history and technology shaped, and continues to shape, and reshape, the idea of what a face is and how it is used." @brockkingsley.bsky.social's review of “The Face” by Fay Bound-Alberti (@grandcentralpub.bsky.social) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2026/07/22/s...

So Is Your Face: A Review of "The Face: A Cultural History" by Fay Bound-Alberti - Chicago Review of Books

Our review of Fay Bound-Alberti's new book, "The Face: A Cultural History."

chireviewofbooks.com

Chicago Review of Books@chicagorevbooks.bsky.social · 2w ago

"A very timely exploration of what it means to be a citizen of this world." Gianni Washington's review of “Dooneen” by Keith Ridgway (@ndbooks.bsky.social) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2026/07/22/t...

The Future is the Past is the Future in "Dooneen" - Chicago Review of Books

Keith Ridgway’s novel Dooneen follows writer Bartholomew “Mew” Port, a Dubliner returning home to participate in a literary festival, where he instead finds himself in the midst of a great rebellion. ...

chireviewofbooks.com

Benjamin Dreyer@bcdreyer.social · 2w ago

Hey, ho, my four-part @storystudiochicago.bsky.social copyediting master class is now available on demand! As I recall, I was charming and erudite. 👇🏻

A Copy Editor’s Guide: Four Lessons on the Art, Craft, and Refinement of Prose, with Benjamin Dreyer

Benjamin Dreyer, retired copy chief of Random House and the author of the New York Times bestseller Dreyer’s English, will unpack his capacious bag of tricks, previously secret advice, and all-round b...

storystudioondemand.gumroad.com