Dystopias (the opposite of utopias) are popular right now, whether you like The Hunger Games or Divergent. Here are three dystopian novels to come out recently, where the rich get the resources and the meek inherit the dirt. Karl Taro Greenfeld's latest, The Subprimes, melds the ideas of ecological and economic dystopia seamlessly. Subprimes are people whose credit…
Are you ready for the blizzard?
By Betsy
Okay, so we didn't get a blizzard this time, but hey, this is Chicago. You know we're going to get a big snow storm this year. It's just a matter of when. Are you ready? Preparing for a blizzard is the same as preparing for any potential disaster -- be informed, have a plan, make…
Guest Blog: Leslie Parry on Chicago: The City That Gives
By Jennifer
Chicago author Leslie Parry is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her short stories have appeared in VQR, The Missouri Review, The Cincinnati Review, The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories, and elsewhere. Church of Marvels is her first novel. My son is one week old. The morning he was born, I held him, delirious, and gazed out at…
#TBT: Hamlet, a Woman?
By Sarah
In Shakespeare’s day, only men acted in his plays, even playing female characters. 2016 marks the 400th anniversary of the Bard's death, and over the centuries, things have changed. Men and women have played both male and female parts—I even saw an all-female cast of Henry V back in high school. But that was actually nothing new…
Hurray for Hedgehogs
By Liv
Groundhog Day is the first holiday in February, a short month filled with a lot of special days, but Punxsutawney Phil isn't the only cute little critter who spends his winter hibernating and dreaming of spring. Turtles hibernate, bears hibernate, hedgehogs hibernate—wait, hedgehogs? Q: What do you get when you cross a bush and a pig? A…
CPL’s Most Popular Books of 2015
By Stephen
Before we completely shift our focus to the new books coming in 2016, let's take a look back at our most checked out and requested books of 2015. For comparison's sake, you may want to also look at Publishers Weekly's national statistics for 2015, as well as our most popular books of 2014. Are you surprised to learn…
Examining Chicago’s Role in Political Conventions
By Michelle
Even before the groundhog looks for his shadow, the first political contest for 2016 begins. Starting with the Iowa caucus on February 1, the primary season ushers in a year of non-stop television ads and lots of opinions. Thomas Dyja, the author of this year's One Book, One Chicago selection, describes our city’s impact on…
Historical Chicago Newspapers
By Betsy
How's your Chicago History Fair project going? Did you know that the Chicago Public Library has lots of historical Chicago newspapers on microfilm? Some of them go way back, to 1833. That's the Chicago Democrat, the first Chicago newspaper. Back in the 1800's and 1900's, Chicago had more than just two or three newspapers. For…
5 Articles About the Challenger Disaster
By Esme
On January 28, we mark the 30th anniversary of the Challenger disaster. What were the causes of the space shuttle explosion? What would it be to teach from space? What's Challenger's legacy? Find answers to these questions and more by reading these current and historical articles using the CPL's Online Resources. I've also noted if an article is available…
Think Deep Thoughts: Rebecca Solnit
Rebecca Solnit is enjoying a bit of a renaissance with her latest collection of essays: Men Explain Things to Me. The title essay explores how Solnit and women in general tend to assume that men are more knowledgeable on a subject than they are, even when the woman is the expert. This essay gave rise to…
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