With Illinois’ stay-at-home order in place through the end of May, some of us are looking to pick up new hobbies — or new books — to kill time, escape the pandemic or dive into a fantasy world. (No judgement here — we think any excuse to pick up a book is a good one.)
We asked a few local book lovers to share their recommendations:
— Al Gini, professor emeritus of business ethics at Loyola University Chicago and author of “The Importance of Being Funny."
— Mary Anne Mohanraj, a clinical associate professor of English at the University of Illinois at Chicago whose new cookbook “A Feast of Serendib: Recipes from Sri Lanka” is now out.
— Danielle Mullen, the owner Chicago’s only black woman-owned bookstore, Semicolon.
We’ve laid out their recommendations below with the available excerpts.
Al Gini
“Author in Chief” By Craig Fehrman | Read an excerpt
“The Splendid and Vile” by Erik Larson | Read an excerpt
“The Confession” by Jo Spain
“Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” by Ben Fountain | Read an excerpt
Mary Anne Mohanraj
“Tender at the Bone” by Ruth Reichl | Read an excerpt
“A Game of Fox & Squirrels” by Jenn Reese | Read an excerpt
“The Lesson” by Cadwell Turnbull | Read an excerpt
“Give a Girl a Knife” by Amy Thielen | Read an excerpt
Danielle Mullen
“The Sellout” by Paul Beatty | Read an excerpt
“Supermarket” by Bobby Hall | Read an excerpt
“All About Love” by bell hooks | Read an excerpt
“Anxious People” by Fredrik Backman
Note: This story will be updated with video.
