Reading in Chicago: North Side Edition

Connor — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:25:31 +0000

Our homes and our apartments help fulfill the basic human needs of food, clothing, and shelter. We can also read there, and we often do. But sometimes we want to get out, even if we’re only turning pages. Reading in public offers problems and opportunities. There’s nothing quite like reading Sandburg in Ravenswood or Sinclair’s The Jungle under the shadow of the Stockyards Arch on Exchange Ave. Still, too much noise can kill your concentration, and too little is a bit creepy. Distraction is dangerous and obtrusiveness is obnoxious. Waiters and baristas may tap their watches, and the last thing you want to do is get in a scuffle between Sox and Cubs fans resulting in bootprints on your Nelson Algren.

Here’s a short and subjective list of some fine places to read in public on the North Side of Chicago.

Photo by Fritz Geller-Grimm.

1. LINCOLN PARK. Obviously you’ve got to pay attention to the weather, but this seemingly obvious choice is often under-utilized by readers, especially further north.

The zoo is noisy, but, if you can tolerate the kids and squawking geese, the picnic tables are great places for reading interspersed with people (and animal) watching.

Generally, the more remote locations will be more stimulating and less distracting. The dunes and breakwalls surrounding the Magic Hedge (just south of the Montrose Street beach) are often human-free. In warm weather you’ll hear the waves and the songs of hundreds of birds en route through the hedge (one of the most important migratory sites in the area). In the winter, the sound of cracking ice is haunting. Out on the pier, you’re about as far from humanity as you can get in the city.

Finally, Contemplation Point, located between the Foster Street and Hollywood beaches, is a circle of stones in a grove of trees. Alternate horizons are made by the lake and Edgewater Beach. Despite the lovely setting and convenience from Bryn Mawr Ave., this area is often undisturbed.

Photo by Tammy Green.

2. THE CTA. If you commute to work you’re probably CTA’d out by the time you have some free time… but give the L a casual try. For light reading (where occasional distractions will not undermine your plans) grab a seat at an off time and watch the city fly by irritation free. On the north side, the Brown Line takes in the most of the city; you’ll pass the best of the Loop and River North, then cruise through Old Town and the last remnants of Cabrini Green before heading on into Ravenswood and the dynamic neighborhood of Albany Park. If you start at Kimball and ride the ride until it returns, the whole thing takes a bit over an hour. Of course, if you take advantage of free transfers in the Loop you can travel all over the city for as long as you like. Recommended for journals, newspapers, magazines, and maybe the classifieds ads.

Photo by Connor Coyne.

3. CEMETERIES. Does this suggestion sound morbid? It shouldn’t, especially in the summertime. Chicago has some beautiful and historic cemeteries, and while many have become quite crowded, it’s unlikely that the residents are going to complain. Head over to Rosehill or Graceland, St. Boniface or the Montrose Cemetery, find a shady tree and sit down. Listen to the ~~ghosts~~ wind in the branches overhead and keep your eyes open for ravens.

My particular recommendation is the lagoon in Graceland Cemetery. Daniel Burnham is buried here on his own private island, while the Getty tomb stands nearby in opulent filagree splendor. The autumn colors are glorious if you can catch them on a warm day in October, and if the stillness starts to get to you, every so often you’ll hear the rumble of the Red Line plowing through in the distance.

4. BARS. These may be some of the hardest settings for a productive read. People go to bars first and foremost to drink and socilialize. Watching sports, eating, and avoiding SOs are also high on the list. Reading probably falls in between #27 (handing out Chick tracts) and #29 (posing as the Blues Brothers). As a result, few bars are suitable for reading. You have to find the perfect bar. Odds are, there’s one and only one in your neighborhood.

What to avoid: loud speakers (because they correspond to kids out clubbing), large TVs (because they correspond to noisy sports fans), and expensive bars (because they address some significant social function not related to reading). Here’s what to look for: well-lit, emptyish (without being creepy empty), homey, and spacious. Think a low-key Cheers and you’re on the right track. On the North Side, the bar that best fits this description is the St. Andrew’s Inn on Broadway. But there must be others!

5. COFFEE SHOPS. Obviously, the North Side has no shortage of coffee shops. A much higher percentage of them will be suitable for reading than bars. I’ve never been, but I hear good things about New Wave Cafe and Lula Cafe in Logan Swaure (at Milwaukee and Kedzie). Further west there are a number of little Polish and Mexican joints where you can grab a cup of coffee or Sanka and read unmolested (though further west you’ll have to settle for Dunkin Donuts, which don’t always have public bathrooms — a crippling liability for any coffee dispensary).

A lot of people like the Uncommon Ground, the Bourgeois Pig, the Melrose, and Pick Me Up… here’s the problem. While Pick Me Up and the Melrose each have a great vibe and Uncommon Ground is great for musical acts and the like, they’re chronically busy and are, as restaurants, more attentive to their feeding customers. If you choose to read there for any length of time, you might be too distracted to get much accomplished. If you do get your read on, it will probably be at the expense of some waiter hoping for a tip on an entree or some other poor patron waiting for a table. Intelligentsia on Broadway is an attractive alternative.

Further north, options multiply. The Metropolis on Granville, Ennui on Sheridan, The Heartland Cafe on Glenwood, Flourish on Bryn Mawr, and The Coffee Studio are all great finds; you can stumble in any old time, buy a drink, and sit for as long as you like without annoying anyone. A hidden (and very cheap) treasure is Luck’s Bakery on Argyle Street. You can sit all day if you like and spend under $8 on food and coffee.

My favorite cafe for reading in Chicago, however, has to be Kopi, at 5317 N. Clark. There’s an art and a science to reading in this cafe and vegetarian restaurant. The place isn’t large, and tends to get quite busy (see above)… they won’t kick you out, but it wrings the heart to steal a table in such demand. The strategy is to show up at an off hour and to tip generously (I’ll leave a couple dollars at least, even if I only get a coffee). The reward for all this effort is the perfect cathartic reading experience. Kopi — the name taken from the Indonesian word for “coffee” — is a true traveler’s cafe, with a shop full of imported goods at the back, a shelf of travelogues, and clocks giving the times of day from around the world. The kitchen is exposed and feet from the dining area, so the scent of freshly sliced onions and garlic gives the air a refreshing kick, while music in kaleidoscopic varieties pushes and turns your brain’s gears for as long as you stay. Engaged correctly, Kopi is the place to read In Chicago.

Photo by Arthur Sehn.

Obviously this list is very limited and subjective. Feel free to comment with your own ideas for where you like to read on the North Side of Chicago. Down the line, look out for a West and South Side edition of this list.

bkish » Lincoln Park

Reading in Chicago: North Side Edition