Bookworks

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Contributor

Joined 10 years ago

Reasonable prices and an extensive collection of new, used and rare books make this Lakeview shop a browser's favorite.. The Scene
As if influenced by proximity to its retail neighbors in Lakeview, Bookworks has the feel of a hip resale shop. The shop is well-lit, with floor-to-ceiling windows at the front of the store and abundant overhead fluorescent fixtures. With more than 40,000 general titles, the store survives on a diverse, steady diet of locals, Wrigley Field tourists and Chicagoans traipsing up and down Clark Street.

The Goods
Bookworks' solid sports section expands in the summer months with baseball volumes for the Cubs crowd. With well-marked categories that range from science fiction to psychology and history, the emphasis is on contemporary fiction, photography and art. Paperbacks and hardcovers line the shelves, catering to the casual browser and the well-heeled first-edition hunter. The vintage vinyl selection is heavy on jazz and blues, with a smattering of classical and opera tossed in for good measure.

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mitchje

Joined 11 years ago

Books that works -- Bookworks. For several years now Bookworks has been my favorite small bookstore in the city. I like the intelligent selections and the deceptively large stock for such a small space. The latter is probably because they run the place as a store and not a museum of print, and don't fill the shelves with some of the junk other bookstores allow to pile up. And the kicker here is the steady flow of review copies and other "new" books available at remainder-like prices. That plus the store is well-lit, clean and has aisles wide enough to accomodate multiple browsers ... not your typical dusty-attic style used bookstore.