Take the #MyChicagoBookstore Challenge on Independent Bookstore Day 4/29

Apr ’17
29
11:00 am

On Saturday, April 29th Quimby’s Bookstore, along with two dozen independent bookstores all over the Chicago area, are collaborating to make this year’s Independent Bookstore Day (IBD) an event that celebrates the vibrancy of Chicagoland as a dream destination for book lovers. Each store creates its own unique events and Quimby’s is no exception.

Quimby’s is celebrating IBD in two ways. First, we welcome co-authors Steven Nodine and Eric Beaumont will celebrate the release of Brick Through the Window: An Oral History of Punk Rock, New Wave & Noise in Milwaukee, 1964-1984, celebrating our midwest sister city Milwaukee (because hey, let’s show some major metropolises the love on this one-day party). More info on that event at 7pm here.

Secondly, Quimby’s will collaborate with at least 24 stores, jointly sponsoring the #MyChicagoBookstore Challenge, which encourages book lovers to indulge in bookstore tourism by visiting 10 or more stores on that one day.

To begin their trip, readers can pick up a #MyChicagoBookstore carabiner and their first “luggage tag” from the store of their choice (from any of the independent bookstores listed below) with an initial purchase of $25 or more. Get it? “Luggage Tag,” as in Chicago being a dream destination for book lovers? As in, where books take you, somewhere?! SO CLEVER.

Bookstore visits throughout the day (no purchase required) enable them to collect an additional tag at each subsequent bookstore. The payoff comes for visits at the following levels:

  • Visit TEN stores and get 10% off at all bookstores listed below for the ENTIRE YEAR!
  • Visit FIFTEEN stores and get 15% off at all bookstores listed below for the ENTIRE YEAR!  

Also, readers are encouraged to post a snapshot of themselves and their Independent Bookstore Day haul, and enter to win more prizes!

On Instagram Use #CHIBD17

On Twitter: Use #CHIBD17 or @chibookstore

The #MyChicagoBookstore Challenge is being sponsored by the Chicagoland Independent Bookstore Allliance (ChIBA), an association formed last year to raise awareness about the vitality of the area’s indie stores. ChIBA also maintains a Facebook page–#MyChicagoBookstore—where all member stores can post readings and other literary events to create one central “billboard” for literary culture in the greater Chicago area.

#MyChicagoBookstore Luggage Tag Challenge Participating Stores:

Quimby’s Bookstore 1854 W. North Ave, Chicago

57th Street Books 1301 E. 57th St., Chicago

Anderson’s Bookshop (three stores): 5112 Main St., Downers Grove, 26 S. La Grange Rd., La Grange, 123 W. Jefferson Ave., Naperville

The Book Bin 151 Church St., Northbrook

The Book Cellar 4736-38 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago

The Book Stall Chestnut Court, 811 Elm St., Winnetka

The Book Table 1045 Lake St., Oak Park

Bookends & Beginnings 1712 Sherman Ave., Alley #1, Evanston

Bookie’s 2419 W. 103rd St., Chicago

Centuries and Sleuths 7419 Madison St., Forest Park

Magic Tree Bookstore 141 N. Oak Park Ave., Oak Park

Newberry Library Bookshop 60 W. Walton St., Chicago

Open Books (two stores): 905 W. 19th St., Chicago (Pilsen), 651 W. Lake St., Chicago (West Loop)

Powell’s Books Chicago 1501 E. 57th St., Chicago

Read It & Eat 2142 N. Halsted St., Chicago

RoscoeBooks 2142 W. Roscoe St., Chicago

Sandmeyer’s Bookstore 714 S. Dearborn St., Chicago

Seminary Co-op Bookstore 5751 S. Woodlawn Ave., Chicago

Volumes Bookcafe 1474 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago

Wicker Park Secret Agent Supply Co./826CHI 1276 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago

Women & Children First 5233 N. Clark St., Chicago

Allen Callaci Reads From Heart Like a Starfish at Quimby’s 6/29

Jun ’17
29
7:00 pm

Heart transplant recipient and lead singer of lo-fi pioneers Refrigerator Allen Callaci will make his first ever appearance in Chicago to sing a few songs and read from his memoir Heart Like a Starfish (Pelekinesis Press).

Heart Like a Starfish is Callaci’s account of that death-defying journey on which he had been given a 20% chance of survival. Callaci’s wonderfully chaotic tale is filled with music and pop cultural references and is told in a Kurt Vonnegut-esque style that captures the horror, humor and healing of his experience.

Callaci has written for The Huffington Post, BK Nation, Inland Weekly and was selected as Inlandia Institute’s author of the week. Heart Like a Starfish was selected as a recommendation by Small Press Distribution for December 2016.

“An inherent and consistently engaging read from beginning to end, “Heart Like A Starfish” is highly recommended for community library American Biography collections.” – Midwest Book Review, November 2016

“Allen shares his amazing story by locating his personal experience in the midst of a network of relationships that sustain and define his life.” –John Davis (Folk Implosion)

“For any generation… An astonishing story about how close life is to death.” – Claudia Lennear, featured singer in the Oscar-winning documentary “20 FEET FROM STARDOM”

Thurs, June 29th, 7pm – Free Event

Here’s the Facebook Event for you to SHARE with all of the people in the world.

DOUBLE BOOK LAUNCH at Quimby’s! Keiler Roberts Releases SUNBURNING & Jay Ryan Releases NO ONE TOLD ME NOT TO DO THIS, 5/20

May ’17
20
7:00 pm

Keiler Roberts writes autobiographical comics. Sunburning, published by Koyama Press, is her fourth book in the Ignatz winning series Powdered Milk. keilerroberts.com

“Keiler Roberts’ autobiographical graphic memoir captures the feeling of being a parent as well as an artist and writer better than any book I’ve ever read. There are no cliff-hangers or life lessons. It’s more about the texture of being alive: the melancholy, the unexpected small delights, and its unavoidable sense of aloneness. This book is written with insight, intelligence, and a deadpan sense of humor. I loved it.” — Roz Chast

Jay Ryan has been making screenprints and concert posters in and around Chicago since 1995. No One Told Me Not To Do This (Akashic) is his third book collecting his favorite work, featuring prints made between 2009 and 2015, including posters for bands such as Andrew Bird, Shellac, My Morning Jacket, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Hum, St. Vincent, and others, as well as posters featuring Lil BUB, Cards Against Humanity, various bicycle races, film screenings, and pictures of sloths, walruses, and other mammals in states of troubled sleep. With a foreword by master illustrator Aaron Horkey, this volume comprises two hundred screenprints with commentary and original drawings used in the screenprinting process. thebirdmachine.com

Jay and Keiler are friends who live in Evanston and both have daughters in kindergarten.

Sat May 20th, 7pm – Free Event

Share this event with the event invite on Facebook!

New Stuff This Week

Just in! Chronicles of Fortune by Coco Fortune (Radiator Press)! #quimbysbookstorechicago #comics

A post shared by Quimbys Bookstore (@quimbysbookstore) on

Chronicles of Fortune by Coco Picard (Radiator Comics) $20.00 – Originally published as a series of minicomics, this quirky and idiosyncratic adventure of Fortuna, the greatest superhero (tragically stricken with ennui), is now collected into a single volume from Radiator Comics! Coco Picard’s The Chronicles of Fortune follows the lives of Fortuna, and her alter-ego, Edith-May as they learn to cope with loss, recruiting a team of friends along the way! Discover a temperamental stove, a nosy mountain, a goofy crocodile, a loner moth, and a singing goldfish as they lead Fortuna on her greatest adventure! At once charming, sad, funny, poignant, and bizarre, The Chronicles of Fortune keeps one foot in mundane reality.

*ZINES*

Moon Archives vol 1 $12.00

Cheap Toys #19 $2.00

Star Spangled Banner by Joseph Wilcox $3.00

Japan Photo Zine $20.00

Field Study: Notes and Findings In the American Southwest $15.00

*COMICS & MINIS*

Babybel Wax Bodysuit by Eric Kostiuk Williams (Retrofit) $6.00

Good Guy #1 $4.00

Grixly #38 by Nate McDonough $2.00

Rainpuppy by James O’Boyle $12.00 – This happy little dog travels around much like Mary Poppins and encounters several different species of magical creatures upon the way. ~CH

Death Party by Mony Nunez $5.00

Murder Moon by Kristal DiFronzo $8.00

Curled Up Around A Wound by Opal Pence $12.00

Sweaty vol 1 $12.00

Bull Whip #1 All Time Comics by Josh Bayer and friends (Fantagraphics) $3.99

*GRAPHIC NOVELS*

The Artist by Anna Haifisch (Breakdown Press) $19.99 – A hilarious and heart-wrenching comedy exposing the absurdity of the fine art world as experienced by a young artist.

Red Red Rock: And Other Stories by Hayashi Seiichi (Breakdown Press) $26.99 – A definitive, career-spanning collection of stories from one of Japan’s most famous alternative cartoonists, work from 1967 to the early 70s.

*ART & DESIGN*

Alcohol: Soviet Anti-Alcohol Posters, edited by Damon Murray, Stephen Sorrell (FUEL Publishing) $32.50 – Playful yet sobering posters from the 1960s to ’80s in the Soviet Union, from the publishers of the Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopaedias and Soviet Space Dogs.

Stickerbomb Graffiti Journal by SRK $12.99

THE THING Postcard Book: James Franco by James Franco and The Thing Quarterly $14.95 – Are there any hats that James Franco doesn’t wear?

The Box by Brian McMullen $14.95 – Weirdo blank journal that lets you think both in and out of the box for once!

The Tattoo Flash Coloring Book by MEGAMUNDEN $15.99 – Includes a full-color, pull-out gatefold, and two sticker sheets.

*MUSIC & FILM BOOKS*

The New Analog: Listening and Reconnecting in a Digital World by Damon Krukowski (New Press) $24.95 – A radical defense of analog craft in the face of the digital hard sell, from former Galaxie 500/current half of Damon & Naomi. Don’t miss Damon here at Quimby’s on 5/2 with Steve Albini and Bob Weston talking about this book!

Prince: the Coloring Book, edited By Darius James (Feral House) $15.95 – If de-elevator tries to bring you down, go crazy…With crayons. Contributing artists include: Tony Millionaire, Corinne Halbert, Casanova Frankenstein, Mica O’Herlihy, and many more.

*FICTION*

Sorry to Disrupt the Peace by Patty Yumi Cottrell (McSweeneys) $24.00

*LOCAL INTEREST*

Chicago Monumental by Larry Broutman (Lake Claremont Press) $50.00 – Full-color photographs of over 250 Chicago statues, memorials, fountains, and monuments. Comes with 3D glasses for a special bonus section!

Chicago Unleashed by Larry Broutman (Lake Claremont Press) $29.50 – Whimsical, tongue-in-cheek modified photos that combine wildlife with Chicago landmarks created for a children’s hospital. A real lion posing under the Art Institute lions! Hippos in the Chicago River! Kangaroos at Montrose Beach! You get the idea.

Draining Chicago: The Early City and the North Area by Richard Lanyon (Lake Claremont Press) $21.95 – The complicated, ever-changing, and surprising story of draining Chicago by retired executive director of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.

*MAGS*

Wire #398 Apr 17 Residents $10.99

AdBusters #131 vol 25 #3 May June 17 $14.95

Uppercase #33 A Magazine for the Creative and Curious $18.00

Offscreen #16 The Human Side of Technology $20.00

*CHAP BOOKS & LIT JOURNALS*

Number You Are Trying to Reach by Zachary Zalman Green $12.00

All Will be Fragile by Emily Greer #1 $5.50

Asterisms vol 1 An Anthology of Speculative Fiction and Poetry $15.00

New Stuff This Week

Thanks to the lovely and talented CZF co-organizer and zinester Anna Jo Beck for our rockin’ Chicago Zine Fest window installation!

Cinema Sewer #30 Special 20 Year Anniversary Issue $8.00 – From the words of the publisher himself, Robin Bougie: “Well, this is it! The culmination of 20 years of hard work! Issue thirty of Cinema Sewer magazine! YAY! Here’s to another 20 years (hopefully!) When I started CS at the age of 23, I had no idea what was to come, and it certainly wasn’t anything meant to be permanent. It was just yet another mini-comic series, of which I had done dozens of previously. How time flies, and look at how this sleazy little zine has grown…So, let’s have a look at what’s in this special oversized anniversary issue — the biggest ever issue of CS clocking in at 60 all-new pages! The cover is by Ben Newman — don’t worry folks — she’s 20! It even says right there under her young buttcheeks! ^_^ There are interviews with adult star Porsche Lynn, and Keith Prince (the son of AVON films smut legend Phil Prince), and there are dozens of reviews, articles, and comics about vintage cult cinema! Just a few of the films covered are: The Howling, Freeway, A Gun For Jennifer, Super Lady Cop, Whore, Human Condom Woman, Attack of The Beast Creatures, The Running Man, Blood Of Heroes, Star Crash, The Muthers, and the Playboy Roller Disco and Pajama Party TV special!  To top it all off, since this is a very special issue, I’ve done a FULL COLOR over-sized pull-out poster that comes with every issue, which features all the covers from all 30 issues! Hot diggity doggies!” Order it here.

*ZINES*

Schmalz #2 Writing About Jewish Food and Diaspora by Isaac Brosilow $7.00 – Writing About Jewish Food and Diaspora, this issue contains an interview with A, the Secret History of Soviet Matzoh and a recipe for Potato Kugel.

King Dumb Come by Veronica Leto $6.00

I Am Junky Zine $5.00 – Part of an untitled series where the anonymous author uses quotes from their favorite public figures as starting off points for personal essays, this one is dedicated to William S. Burroughs. Love, death, sadness, addiction, pleasure — everything you’d expect from Uncle Bill, proof that his work inspires future generations of writers to mull over the big cut-up questions. -LM

Chew This by Carol Sogard $7.00

Rebel Rain by Veronica Leto $8.00

Crawl by Jesse Fillingham $12.00 – Stunning and exquisitely rendered characters and spaces that create a myth ridden dreamscape. ~CH

Raw, Extremely Necessary Manifesto by Veronica Leto $4.00 – You want your upliftingness to be cool and not cheesy, right? Well here’s your chance to be inspired without all the embarrassment of it feeling all Lifetime channel life-affirming. With quotes commanding the reader to “Protect your passion from all that rat race bullshit, or you will start to shrink small enough to where a few inches of water will threaten your survival” it feels a little bit like reading a punk rock Dale Carnegie. That’s what we all want, right? -LM

*COMICS*

Love and Rockets Magazine #2 by Gilbert and Jamie Hernandez (Fantagraphics) $4.99

Bad Drawings of Garfield #1 by Caroline Cash $5.00 – A cursed image, Garfield might be on drugs and Jon Arbuckle has some pretty heavy revelations about the potential meaning of art. ~CH

Ganges #6 by Kevin Huizenga $8.00 – The Eisner and Harvey nominated and Ignatz winning series is back again. In this mindblowing issue Glenn Ganges’ long battle with insomnia comes to a complicated close. Glenn and his wife Wendy also learn productivity tips from a TED talk in “The 2 Minute Mind”. Every page is a jam-packed jewel retina display of cartooning power.

Work In Progress #3 by August LeRoi $7.00

Thrill Of Living In A Dying Empire #2 by Mission Mini Comix $1.00

How To Talk To Your Doctor About Your Testicles $4.00

*GRAPHIC NOVELS*

Run Comics Oct 2013 through April 2016 by Ryan Burns $20.00

I Am a Hero vol 3 Omnibus by Kengo Hanazawa $19.99

Illustra Sean Year #3 by Sean Dempsey $20.00

Lumberjanes vol 6 Sink Or Swim $14.99

*POLITICS & REVOLUTION BOOKS*

The South Side: A Portrait of Chicago and American Segregation by Natalie Y. Moore $17.00 – Now in soft cover.

*OUTER LIMITS & MAYHEM*

The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple by Jeff Guinn $28.00

In Our Own Image: Savior Or Destroyer? The History and Future of Artificial Intelligence by George Zarkadakis $16.95

*FICTION*

Blood Is Thicker Part One by Silas H. Patterson $16.99

*MAGS*

Maximumrocknroll #407 Apr 2017 $4.99

Juxtapoz #196 May 2017 $6.99

Razorcake #97 Allison Wolfe $4.00

2600 the Hacker Quarterly vol 34 #1 Spr 2017 $6.95

True Crime Mar 2017 $9.99

Shindig #64 Curtis Mayfield $12.99

Nostalgia Digest Spr 2017 William Powell and Myrna Loy $4.50

Skeptic vol 22 #1 2017 $6.95

Laphams Quarterly vol 10 #2 Spr 2017 Discovery $18.00

Rethinking Schools vol 31 #3 Spr 2017 $5.95

High Times Best of #83 2017 Growing Big $6.99

TSQ Transgender Studies Quarterly vol 4 #1 Feb 2017 $12.00

Radical History Review #127 Jan 2017 $14.00

Inked #83 Ryan Ashley Apr 2017 $6.99

New Politics vol 16 #2 $7.00

Skeptical Inquirer vol 41 #2 Mar Apr 2017 $5.99

Horror Hound #64 Mar Apr 2017 $6.99

Atlantis Rising #123 Mar Apr 17 $6.95

GLQ vol 23 #2 Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies Apr 2017 $12.00

Bomb #139 Spr 2017 $10.00

*LIT JOURNALS*

Sobotka Literary Magazine #2 & #3 $10.00 each

Hedgehog Review vol 19 #1 Spr 2017 $12.00