The Most-Anticipated Chicago Books of 2025

Whether you’re a longtime book lover or aspire to be one, here’s a list of Chicago books that you should add to your 2025 reading list.

‘Not for Tourists Guide to Chicago 2025’

📘 The latest guide to Chicago features more than 150 neighborhood and city maps. For locals and newcomers alike.

🖋️ Not for Tourists

🗓️ Oct. 1, 2024

‘Isaac’s Song’

📘 Award-winning author Daniel Black returns with an emotional novel about a young queer Black boy in 1980s Chicago.

🖋️ Daniel Black

🗓️ Jan. 14

‘Let’s Call Her Barbie’

📘 A fun new take on the 11-inch giant of American culture, including a few exclusive vintage photos of Barbie.

🖋️ Renée Rosen

🗓️ Jan. 21

‘Afro Sheen: How I Revolutionized an Industry with the Golden Rule, from Soul Train to Wall Street’

📘 The story of Chicago’s very own George E. Johnson, creator of an iconic hair product and founder of the first Black-owned company to be publicly traded.

🖋️ George E. Johnson

🗓️ Feb. 4

‘Deep Dish’

📘 How the Malnati family took a small business on the brink of bankruptcy and turned it into one of Chicago’s most iconic brands.

🖋️ Marc Malnati

🗓️ March 4

‘Blue Island’

📘 Get to know one of the earliest established communities in Illinois just south of Chicago.

🖋️ Jason Berry and Mr. Kevin Barron

🗓️ March 11

‘The Odyssey’

📘 Published by the University of Chicago Press, this new translation brings new life to one of the most iconic pieces of literature.

🖋️ Homer; translation, introduction, and notes by Daniel Mendelsohn

🗓️ April

‘Defiant Acts’

📘 A debut novel about an interracial working-class family in 1990s Chicago.

🖋️ James Stewart III

🗓️ May

‘Death in the Cards’

📘 Award-winning author Mia P. Manansala makes her young adult novel debut with a story about a high school Tarot reader working to solve a mysterious disappearance.

🖋️ Mia P. Manansala

🗓️ May 13

‘Love Is An Open Book’

📘 The latest from acclaimed Chicago-based author Chandra Blumberg.

🖋️ Chandra Blumberg

🗓️ Aug. 12

Correction: Author Jason Berry's name was misspelled in an earlier version of this article.