Skip to main content

Bookstore review: Exile in Bookville

The first feelings I had while walking into Exile in Bookville (Fine Arts Building, 410 S Michigan Ave suite 210, Chicago, IL 60605) were of light and belonging. The bright winter sun came through the large windows, dappling across a myriad of intriguing titles.

I started on the right of the bookstore (as oriented from when you walk in) and spied several books on witches, witchcraft, folklore, and the general occult that I was particularly drawn to. A tad overwhelmed by the choices that appealed to me, I made my way to the middle room. While there were beautiful titles, notebooks, and records abound, none caught my eye as much. Then I moved onto the final room and was once again flooded with a sense of belonging.

Shelf after shelf, there were titles that I had heard of, had read and loved, and that piqued my interest. I grabbed a book I had been meaning to read Murder in the Dressing Room (a murder featuring a drag queen as the amateur sleuth) by Holly Stars (a drag stand-up comedian and writer). However, I made note of several other titles (but, I do have a budget after all).

I then returned to the section that had overwhelmed me. After looking at the books again, I approached the register to ask for advice. I was torn, I told the bookseller, and wanted her recommendation. She quickly and knowledgeably told me about the witchcraft books I was torn between and which she'd recommend if I was only picking one. She then told me about a few of the other books that had caught my eye, including one on cursed objects. The author of the cursed objects book had also written a book on cults which also caught my eye. I read the author's bio and learned that he, J. W. Ocker, had also written a book about cryptids. I asked the bookseller if they had that book and she said no, but that now that she knew of it, she would carry it.

Ultimately, I added Ocker's book Cursed Objects: Strange but True Stories of the World's Most Infamous Items to my pile and went to check out. The bookseller was kind enough to include a freebie of Eerie Legends: An Illustrated Exploration of Creepy Creatures, the Paranormal, and Folklore from around the World by Ricardo Diseno and Steve Mockus to my bag.

Overall, I highly recommend Exile in Bookville. The space is immaculate and welcoming, the books are a great mix of the familiar and the intriguing unknown, and the staff is knowledgeable and friendly.

(Prompt by Kimisha Cassidy)

Exile in Bookville logo

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

15 facts about my dad

Just been thinking about some lighthearted facts I know about my dad lately. When he was young, he had a goldfish named Lysander He introduced me to Star Trek At Christmas, he would tear up at It's a Wonderful Life He used to send me articles from his Yahoo email account that he thought I'd like We used to play a game called "Nightmare" where he would lie down and we'd jump around (and sometimes on) him He would clip possible recipes for us to try out of newspapers and magazines We bought him a Paddington Bear to take on trips because we feared he'd be lonely and he always took it He had teddy bears for three different holidays We once had such a hilariously difficult time building a gingerbread house that when some frosting ended up on the counter, I plopped a gumdrop on it and we laughed until we cried He and his sister were born about 11 months apart We would try recipes from Top Chef He kept gifts I made him, even when they weren't great At Christmas, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

15 things you'll think about during your dad's latest hospital stay

This is meant to be a related piece to "15 things to do in your dad's hospital room," "15 Things You Find in Your Dad's Hospice Room," and "15 Things You Find When You Clean Out Your Dad’s Apartment" .  The Christmas lights at the nurse's station that should really have been switched for saccharine cupids by now What team decided to hang up a clearly labeled DRAFT safety sign Who comes up with the aliases they seem to use for trauma patients and how they decided on Redstone for your dad That his skin either looks like a bruised elephant or like sickeningly conflicting colors of thin paper mache Where you can possibly get food--you're shaky The patient in the ER somewhere with a lot of ammo, but no gun, or so they say Why the staff is being so happily loud and swearing...it feels discordant The used bandaid and gauze that are left on the floor of his ER room as he moves to his hospital room...the last proof he was there Having to do this a...
Post a Comment
Read more

15 things to do in your dad's hospital room

This is meant to be a related piece to  "15 Things You Find in Your Dad's Hospice Room" and "15 Things You Find When You Clean Out Your Dad’s Apartment" . Tell yourself you can panic later (you'll likely never find the time to, but it'll help) Wear a mask because he's immunocompromised (and besides, you've been out trying to live a life which means you could've caught something) Turn on the Olympics because he can't use a remote anymore and no one has helped him (besides, it's always on these days and he at least used to enjoy it) Practice your sanitized answers to his questions (he won't remember them, but no need to alarm him about in his life, your life, or the world for even a moment) Try not to be in the way of the nurses (you'll fail) Sit on the bed because there is no where else to (and realize your arm is resting against his urine jug) Worry that his bed should be alarmed when he gets up to go to the bathroom (he make...
Post a Comment
Read more