While a number of Black bookstore owners said they were grateful for the increase in business, they worried that this sudden interest in certain books would only put a temporary Band-Aid on the much more pervasive problem of systemic racism in the U.S.
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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.