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What 'Chicago Tonight' Is Reading This Summer

Daniel Hautzinger

Need some new book recommendations for the summer? Discover some of the books the Chicago Tonight​ is reading right now, from a sweeping family saga to a clear-eyed memoir of race to a book of chatty but opinionated essays by a Chicagoan.

What Classic Novel Character Are You?

Daniel Hautzinger

Are you adventurous like Tom Sawyer? Fierce like Jo March? Just like Atticus Finch? Indomitable like Celie? Find out which classic literary character you are and get a reading list for your personality from The Great American Read's list of America's best-loved novels.

How a Harry Potter Fan Reimagined the Characters As She Saw Them

Daniel Hautzinger

Chicago native Eliyannah Amirah Yisrael is an ardent Harry Potter fan who wanted to extend her time with the characters she loved, so she made a web series about a 25-year-old Hermione, using her love of reading and power of empathy to reimagine Hermione in her image.

Can You Guess the Book by Its Cover?

Daniel Hautzinger

We're always being told not to judge a book by its cover, but in this case you should: can you identify 20 books from The Great American Read's list of America's 100 favorite novels by just their covers? Test your knowledge here, and get reading!

Beyond 'Little Women': Louisa May Alcott's Other Writings

Daniel Hautzinger

Louisa May Alcott may be best-known for her classic Little Women, but she also wrote racy potboilers in which women transgress societal norms under a pseudonym that wasn't traced to her until decades after death, as well as children's fables and moralisti young adult books.

America's Favorite Novels, in TV Form

Daniel Hautzinger

PBS loves books. From Masterpiece adaptations of classic novels to documentaries about authors, literature plays a big role in our programming. As we celebrate reading with The Great American Read, discover which of America's favorite novels, plus some other worthy books, can be seen on TV.

How Many of America's 100 Favorite Books Have You Read?

Daniel Hautzinger

PBS's The Great American Read has created a list of America's 100 most-loved novels, ranging from classics to sci-fi to romance to humor. See how many you've read, before the series premieres and voting on America's favorite book opens on May 22.

12 Iconic Works of Chicago Literature

Daniel Hautzinger

When the rest of the world thinks of Chicago, it's often in terms borrowed from literature: "Hog Butcher for the World," a city of slaughterhouses, a gritty, working-class town. What are some of the most iconic literary depictions of the city?

Hunting for the Treasure of – and in – Books

Daniel Hautzinger

“I have spent most of my life in a perennial quest to convince people that reading a book is actually worthwhile,” Amy Brent says. In her show Amy's Book Hunt, she proves that books can be exciting by tracking down rare books in unlikely places.

National Book Lover's Day... On PBS

Daniel Hautzinger

Explore upcoming adaptations of books on PBS, from beloved classics to contemporary novels, on National Book Lover's Day. In development are versions of one of the most famous American novels, an English book with a familiar star, and a liberating story set in the 1920s.
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