Back in my early Chicago days, I spent hours browsing the shelves of Aspidistra Bookshop on Clark Street. Within those creaky, wooden floors and miles of shelves I found my first collection of Ezra Pound and a gorgeous collection by the Russian poet, Yevtushenko. It was a place where you mined for gems, out-of-print works, first editions, pieces to make your library deep and glittery. Sadly, Aspidistra closed in 1998 and I moved away from Chicagoland in 2018, causing me to lose touch with the bookstore community.
Thanks to USPS losing my passport application, I found myself back in my beloved, first city with a birth certificate in hand and a desire to see what’s new in brick & mortar book-land. Saturday, April 26th is Independent Bookstore Day and I’ve got a jackpot of a recommendation for you! Head to the Fine Arts Building at 410 S. Michigan Avenue, go up one flight of ancient stone stairs and you will see Exile in Bookville.
I haven’t been in a bookstore this cool, this hidden, this well-curated and aesthetically charming since Marchpane, Cecil Court, London.
The Ramirez View
In it’s fourth year, Javier and Kristen Ramirez have created a mash-up of books and music that makes you wonder, Why did I ever order a book from Amazon? When you walk in one of them personally welcomes you, but don’t miss looking up at the Wall of Sound overhead.
The giant windows overlooking Grant Park fill the floor to 12 foot ceiling shelves with natural light giving the store an at home vibe. There are hand-written, thoughtful recommendations by the owners beneath select books. I read a few of these and clearly Javier and Kristen are BIG readers. Nothing feels sterile or impersonal here. Instead, you are in the midst of a passion for developing literary community. There’s a piece of art on the wall that expresses, “To Javier and Kristen, Thank you for bringing books and creating community at Exile.”
Community
“Creating Community.” This is what Amazon and the pandemic stole from us, but bookish die-hards are fighting back and reclaiming ground. According to the American Booksellers Association, 291 Bookstores opened in 2023 and that trend continued in 2024 with an 11% increase. Javier and Kristen’s good friends have just opened a new store in St. Louis called, Leviathan and Javier spoke of how excited he is about their friends joining them and supporting each other in their creative bookselling, community building efforts. He even dreams of writers moving into the Fine Arts Building to grow a Bloomsburyesque community in-house. If I were still in my 20’s. I’d do it!
TBR’s
Of course, one must buy books and introduce Javier to my latest release, House of Honor which was not on-shelf, but he was kind enough to take my picture with it. Hopefully, he’ll add it to their fiction room! My son-in-law has been exhorting me to read, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and Exile had a gorgeous copy of this title. I couldn’t resist, the artist by Ed Vere (ADORABLE) and Emperor of Rome by Mary Beard for my transatlantic flight to Rome next week, Whoot! I budgeted for $100.00 worth of new books and went a little over, but there were many titles I took photos of for later. An album by Cyndi Lauper was tempting but pricey.
Named “Chicagoans of the Year in Books,” 2024 by Chicago Tribune, the Ramirez duo has more going on here then selling books, which is a lot unto itself. In their thank you post for the honor, they acknowledged everyone who has helped grow this literary jewel in the Fine Arts building, including their UPS and USPS delivery friends, ALL of them, named and regarded as “friends.” I left with my TBR stack refreshed and a feeling that all is right with the world because real people still care about each other and what we read and write. Stop by Exile in Bookville at 410 S. Michigan in Chicago this Saturday and celebrate independent Bookstore Day. I’m sure they’ll have all kinds of hot events and maybe, literary cocktails curated just for you, tequila mockingbird anyone?