Intro: The Heart of the Hood Ravenswood, the community that unites two north-side "community areas." By Ed Zotti

History: Celery, Ceramics, and Conrad Sulzer The story—or stories—of Lincoln Square and North Center By Ann Keating

Politics: The Grand Old Party's Last Stand Before Daley's minions moved in, a Republican reformer called the shots in Lincoln Square and North Center. By Ben Joravsky

Lincoln Square & North Center Listings: Bars, education & recreation, galleries, GLBTQ, lit, movies, music, parks, performing arts, restaurants, shopping, volunteering

More Neighborhood Guides Ukrainian Village/East Village South Loop Logan Square Uptown Rogers Park & West Ridge

Lit

Sulzer Regional Library Named after Conrad Sulzer, a Swiss immigrant farmer who settled in the area in the 1800s (see cover story), the library, larger than neighborhood branches, features collections specializing in north-side neighborhood history. Mon-Thu 9 AM-9 PM, Fri-Sat 9 AM-5 PM, Sun 1-5 PM, 4455 N. Lincoln, 312-744-7616, chipublib.org. —Jerome Ludwig

The Book Cellar Lots of independent bookstores have charm, but the Book Cellar has it in spades. To wit: a friendly, committed, knowledgeable staff; a comfortable little lounging area in the front windows with plenty of daylight, a cafe serving better-than-average sandwiches, salads, and soups along with coffee drinks, teas, and sodas and a really nice selection of wines by the glass and beers by the bottle. There’s sidewalk seating during nice weather, and the store’s event calendar is packed with readings and discussions. And yeah, they sell books too. The store celebrates its fifth anniversary on Sunday, June 28, with cake and a 20-percent-off sale. Mon, Wed-Fri 10 AM-10 PM, Sat 10 AM-11 PM, Sun, Tue 10 AM-6 PM, 4736 N. Lincoln, 773-293-2665, bookcellarinc.com. —JL

Ravenswood Used Books Owner Jim Mall says he used this spot as a warehouse for his antiques business until switching to books six or seven years ago. He estimates the shop has 15,000 to 20,000 books, “maybe more,” in all categories “except romance novels.” The appealingly claustrophobic space is fun—albeit challenging—to browse, and you’ll have to here: titles are arranged by subject but good luck finding any organizing principle beyond that—including alphabetization. Round a corner and you’re likely to be confronted with a Mexican mask or a quirky lamp or some odd knickknack, and books are stacked row behind row on the shelves, in piles on the floor, and on stereo speakers nearly up to the tin ceiling. Happy hunting. Mall keeps a bookish blog at chibooks.blogspot.com. Daily noon-6 PM, 4626 N. Lincoln, 773-593-9166. —JL

Variety Comic Book Store It’d be easy to miss the door to this basement-level shop (est. 1975) if it weren’t flanked by a wide, door-height mural of comic-book superheroes. Inside is an unpretentious (staff included—no Simpsons Comic Book Guy here) space jam-packed with thousands of comics, collectible as well as new, in racks and boxes and towering piles, along with a small section of graphic novels. It’s closed on Mondays for the summer. Tue, Sat noon-5 PM, Wed noon-7 PM, Thu noon-6 PM, Fri noon-6:30 PM, Sat noon-5 PM, Sun noon-4 PM, 4602 N. Western, 773-334-2550. —JL

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