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Canceled events, publishing delays, shuttered bookstores in many ways, 2020 was an awful year for Chicago writers. But it was a fantastic year for Chicago readers, at least when it comes to new fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. To keep this list manageable, I ve limited it to books with a strong emphasis on the city itself. That means you won t see books set elsewhere, like Natasha Trethewey s
Memorial Drive and Kathleen Rooney s
Hood Feminism. Nonetheless, here are my favorite Chicago-focused books of 2020, available at an independent bookstore near you.
1. Sustainably sourced Christmas decorations from Palestinian artisans
Christmas Ornaments
$5
These 100% cotton tree ornaments were sewn in the village of Surif between Bethlehem and Hebron by the Surif Women’s Cooperative. The group was founded in 1983 but traces its roots to 1950 when Mennonite volunteers founded an embroidery program in the village to provide opportunities for refugee women. From Sunbula: “Surif’s Women’s Cooperative is known for their distinct style, using cream-colored ‘mansouri’ cotton fabric instead of the popular ‘eitamin’ cross-stitch canvas. The embroidery patterns are produced by a system of counting threads, a method that gives the embroidery its striking and exact appearance on both sides of the fabric.”