For its Best of Chicago series, NewCity shared its picks for the "Best Bookstores to Guard Over the Culture."
"As every bibliophile knows, a bookstore is more than a retail outlet; it's a community space--a neighborhood resource, where much more than goods and currency change hands," Newcity wrote. "After the ravages of the nineties bookstore wars, in which the corporate giants made war on the independents, and the subsequent rise of Amazon, which in turn slew the corporate giants, what's left on the landscape are those booksellers who most fully embrace their role as guardians of culture over slaves to the bottom line. You'll find the most notable of these below, along with a few of their historical forebears."