Every season
has a reading list.
This one's ours.
A women-owned shop in Chicago — feminist theory, sapphic romance, self-published zines, and the kind of recommendations that follow you home.
— women-owned since 2018, Logan Square, Chicago
Staff Picks — Summer Solstice
Detransition, Baby
Torrey Peters
made me cry on the L train
The Vegetarian
Han Kang
finished it in one sitting, do not start at midnight
Freshwater
Akwaeke Emezi
unlike anything in the store. and that is saying something.
A Memory Called Empire
Arkady Martine
sci-fi for people who think they hate sci-fiStaff Picks
Detransition, Baby
Torrey Peters
The Vegetarian
Han Kang
Freshwater
Akwaeke Emezi
The Pride Shelf
Every queer story that deserves a spine-out display.
Giovanni's Room
James Baldwin
$16
The Price of Salt
Patricia Highsmith
$14
Stone Butch Blues
Leslie Feinberg
$18
Zami: A Biomythography
Audre Lorde
$15
"I built this section because I needed it at 22. Now I build it for everyone who walks in the door." — Maya, co-owner
The Election Shelf
Books for the political moment we're all living through.
How We Fight for Our Lives
Saeed Jones
$17
The New Jim Crow
Michelle Alexander
$19
Are Prisons Obsolete?
Angela Davis
$12
Emergent Strategy
adrienne maree brown
$20
"These aren't comfort reads. They're preparation." — Dani, bookseller
The Winter Shelf
Long nights call for long poems. We have both.
Citizen
Claudia Rankine
$22
The Carrying
Ada Limón
$16
Night Sky with Exit Wounds
Ocean Vuong
$18
Whereas
Layli Long Soldier
$17
"December in the store smells like pine and old paperback. This list matches." — Theo, events coordinator
The Syllabus Your Professor Won't Assign
Build your own feminist canon. We'll help.
Sister Outsider
Audre Lorde
$17
Feminism Is for Everybody
bell hooks
$14
This Bridge Called My Back
Cherríe Moraga & Gloria Anzaldúa
$22
Ain't I a Woman
bell hooks
$18
"Every fall a student comes in saying their professor left out the most important books. Here they are." — Priya, bookseller
Staff picks, personal obsessions,
and the ones we can't stop pressing on people.
Parable of the Sower
Octavia Butler
“I give this to every person who tells me they don't read sci-fi. Butler wrote this in 1993 and it reads like she was watching last week's news. Devastating, necessary, hopeful in the most hard-won way.”
Beloved
Toni Morrison
“I reread this every two years and cry every time. It's the kind of novel that expands your capacity for grief and love simultaneously. There is nothing like it.”
Pachinko
Min Jin Lee
“Four generations of one Korean family in Japan. I read it on a flight and missed my connection. Zero regrets. The kind of saga that makes you want to call your grandmother.”
“Every question ends with ‘oh, and you have to read this one too.’”
Come for the books.
Stay for the wine.
Quarterly Reading Series: Spring Edition
Four local poets read new work. Wine included. Doors open at 6:30. This one always sells out.
Book Club Kickoff: The Summer Shelf
Bring your copy of Detransition, Baby. We'll talk about what it means to build a family outside the script.
Zine Workshop & Release Party
Help fold, staple, and launch the spring issue of our in-house zine. Bring scissors. We'll bring the Xerox.
Author Talk: Saeed Jones
Saeed reads from his new essay collection and answers questions for 45 minutes. Books available for signing.
All events are free unless noted. Wine is $5 a glass or bring your own and we'll pretend we didn't see.
Spend every afternoon here.
Even when you're not here.
Membership at Shelf means being part of a community that reads, argues, recommends, and shows up. $12/month or $120/year. Cancel anytime.
— over 600 members and counting
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Come find your next book.
Browse This Season's ShelfLogan Square · Chicago, IL · Open Tue–Sun 10am–8pm