Each year for StoryBall, we pick one aspect of our work toward building a writing community to fundraise for. This year, to celebrate its 10th birthday, we're raising money to keep @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social free and accessible. Please donate if you're able. buff.ly/3bWjofk

A couple pals and I caught the David Byrne “Theater of the Mind” show today. Lots going on there — perspective, memory, consciousness, personal identity. Lots to think about. Well worth the ticket. www.goodmantheatre.org/show/theater...

Even if you’ve lived in Chicago a long time, you can still just, like, go downtown. #chicagorules

Book 24: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, by Taylor Jenkins Reid This is a soapy, twisty romance set in the glitzy, unscrupulous Hollywood of the 50s and 60s and beyond. Not bad, but still not Daisy Jones.

Friday night thunderstorm vibes

It's Friday, and the vibes are impeccable! So here's a friendly Friday reminder that on May 7 at StoryBall, we will fête our 2026 Instructor of the Year, the incomparable Juan Martinez (@fulmerford.com). Get your ticket now to join the celebration of Juan! buff.ly/ZMfBCW6

So Ron Charles wrote about dogs, and so you don't really need to read anything else today to be happy. buff.ly/FG2n78y

Oh wow, this piece. 🥹 We dare you to try to read this and not get a little choked up.

I’m taking this class and you should too. Can’t wait!

I've very old and I thought the Harry Styles song Sign of the Times in Project Hail Mary was some sort of remake of David Bowie's Space Oddity.

Absolutely crushed that appendectomy!

Chicago parents! It only feels like summer out there today, but it's getting to be crunch time to sign up the young writer in your life for a youth summer camp. Seven in-person camps to choose from for grades 4-12. Register now: buff.ly/WiNPVvq #youthsummercamps

Okay I have now seen Project Hail Mary. My two-word review: Hooray, science! (Here’s my slightly longer review of the book, which, yes, is better than the movie: open.substack.com/pub/thenewdo...)

Book 23: This Is Not About Running, by Mary Cain (out 4/28) Another detailed and enraging account of Alberto Salazar's abuse and Nike's full-throated defense of an abuser. #books #booksky thenewdorkreviewofbooks.substack.com/p/this-is-no...

Headed into the weekend like

Update: I was only a little weird. Isn’t it great when a brilliant writer is also an absolutely delightful human?

This morning, I get to go listen to a Pulitzer-winning novelist talk about a book she wrote that literally changed my life. Gonna try not to be weird. Will report back. #books

Today is Local News Day, a national day of action encouraging communities to rally around their local news outlets. For nearly 8 years, readers like you have kept Block Club going. If you value our work, subscribe today blockclubchi.co/3QdzPbP

Over the moon over this honor! I ❤️ @storystudiochicago.bsky.social & I ❤️ their mission!!!

Juan is the BEST -- and this is so well-deserved!

Well, this is a pretty incredible idea. blockclubchi.co/3NTWvNM

What’s the best show streaming right now…and why is it Shrinking?

Partners in Crime, owned by a married couple, aims to provide something for everyone after opening in February.

"If there’s a saving grace in reading this in 2026, it’s the knowledge that...we are no longer willing to brush this under the rug of 'genius,'" Read @fcoffeen.bsky.social's review of “Miami and the Siege of Chicago” by Norman Mailer (Random House Trade, 2016). chireviewofbooks.com/2026/04/06/o...

Book 22: Heroes of the Frontier, by Dave Eggers Who among hasn’t fantasized about cutting all ties, and absconding to the wilderness? Maybe driving a shitty RV around Alaska? Squatting in cabins? These days, that sounds pretty good! #books #booksky substack.com/profile/3501...

Love @biblioracle.bsky.social's piece today. AI cannot read, and AI does not write. Support writers who DO write. biblioracle.substack.com/p/writers-wr...

I’m not religious and neither is my favorite bar.

Word choice is important. We've got to stop equating what AI does to what humans do. AI pukes out a result. AI art does not exist so don't call it that. Humans create. Art can only emerge from suffering and joy and pain and elation and sadness and fear and love.

Love @biblioracle.bsky.social's piece today. AI cannot read, and AI does not write. Support writers who DO write. biblioracle.substack.com/p/writers-wr...

Piece from earlier this week -- I wrote about why I've had trouble reading poetry, and how I hope to change that. buff.ly/yQbkvwk #nationalpoetrymonth

Cool, so just don’t buy shit from Amazon.

On this Good Friday, we solemnly remember...that the Catholic Church could've used a thesaurus.

Someone just posted on our neighborhood FB page that they are a "Clarity Breathwork Facilitator and Intentional Living Coach," and they are looking for clients. Good for this person for building their community and doing what they love. I just...I have so many questions.

Happy National Poetry Month! I have a confession to make: I don't know how to read poetry. I'm only exaggerating a little. I mean, I know how to read poetry. What I don't know is how to understand poetry on the same level I understand prose. thenewdorkreviewofbooks.substack.com/p/i-am-so-so...

Happy National Poetry Month! I have a confession to make: I don't know how to read poetry. I'm only exaggerating a little. I mean, I know how to read poetry. What I don't know is how to understand poetry on the same level I understand prose. thenewdorkreviewofbooks.substack.com/p/i-am-so-so...

Come and get your April showers of books -- the @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social has your April preview with 12 must-read books, including the new story collection FAT SWING by instructor @emmaceisenberg.bsky.social! chireviewofbooks.com/2026/04/01/1... #books #booksky

Hell yeah! Humans can be so awesome sometimes

My whole life is Seinfeld references lately. A guy just came into the bookstore with a big puffy coat like George's and immediately knocked several books off a display. I had to go in the back for a second to pull myself together. Glad he didn't break anything. #bookstorelife

remember how you only had a certain amount of paid hours a month with internet on aol? some of you need that again

Absolute 🔥🔥🔥🔥 from Dave Eggers here in Heroes of the Frontier: “The easiest way to witness the stupidity and misplaced hopes of all humanity is to watch, for twenty minutes, a human using a leaf blower.”

Every April 1, we get to learn which of us don't know where the line is.

Book 21: Boy Erased, by Garrard Conley Conversion therapy is basically torture — and not “torture” in the exaggerated sense of like having to sit through a long boring lecture. ACTUAL torture, as in causing long-term trauma and emotional pain. substack.com/@thenewdorkr... #books #booksky

"Optimizing Narrative Throughput at Scale"😂 roncharles.substack.com/p/ai-platfor...

Today’s Book Riot Today in Books by @jeffoneal.bsky.social is a collection of absolute bangers. Just one great rant after the next. #books #booksky bookriot.com/new-york-tim...

As creative writers, we’re often told to study other books to figure out how they’re built. How can it help us as writers? What can we learn and how can we use these analytical skills to strengthen our own writing? Five in-person classes with Julia Fine start NEXT TUESDAY. buff.ly/tegIb61

And so we land only to find we never left the ground. Most influential 1990s albums to me: 1. Siamese Dream, Smashing Pumpkins 2. You'd Prefer An Astronaut, Hum 3. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Smashing Pumpkins 4. Dirt, Alice in Chains 5. Ten, Pearl Jam

Tickets are on sale now for the trolley and bus routes for Independent Bookstore Day. Grab yours now! www.chilovebooks.com/getting-arou...

Last night, a 10-year-old kid came into the bookstore and got really excited when he saw Heated Rivalry. "Mom, can I get this hockey book?" Mom looked at me and goes, "Is this any good?" Far be it from me to talk you out of that, kid. But I don't think it's going to be what you expect it to be. 😅

HERO

1,238 pages. All right, Knausgaard. Let’s dance…📚