Literature
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Geneva teacher’s novel inspired by Texas education law
Jun 30, 2025 11:59 am - Ellen Jo Ljung, a retired teacher from Geneva, wrote her first novel "Caught in the Crossfire" based on real events faced by public school teachers in Texas and other states due to restrictive laws on classroom discussions.
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‘A place of community’: Keith’s Komix in Schaumburg to shutter after 30 yearsJun 27, 2025 10:25 am - After 30 years as a beloved destination for comic book fans and memorabilia collectors, Keith’s Komix in Schaumburg will shutter this fall.
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Book Review: ‘The Tiny Things Are Heavier’ is a reflection on young adulthood and migration
Jun 23, 2025 5:14 pm - “The Tiny Things Are Heavier,” by author Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo, is a reflection on young adulthood, migration, cultural misunderstanding and family relationships.
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Book Review: A new biography goes long and deep on the rise and fall of rock band Talking Heads
Jun 23, 2025 4:46 pm - Talking Heads fans, rejoice! In “Burning Down the House,” Jonathan Gould has published a comprehensive biography of the seminal band that injected an art school vibe into popular music and forever changed rock ’n’ roll.
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Elmhurst AAUW sale to feature thousands of used books, musicJun 20, 2025 4:43 pm - AAUW Elmhurst is holding its used book sale June 26-29. Thousands of books and more for sale to fund scholarships and programs for women.
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From the murders to manhunt: New book examines ‘human elements’ of Brown’s Chicken killingsJun 20, 2025 4:30 am - A suburban native who was just a kid when the Brown's Chicken murders in Palatine shocked the nation has written a new book he hopes offers new insight into the killings. “It’s focused more on the human elements of the case, and not the gore of the crime itself,” said author Patrick Wohl.
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Book Review: A fingerprint expert obsessed with learning the fate of her missing sister
Jun 17, 2025 6:21 am - Sixteen years have passed since Shaw Connolly’s teenage sister slipped out of their family home in Maine to party with friends and never came home. In author Gillian French’s “Shaw Connolly Lives To Tell,” Shaw isn’t the only one who is obsessed with finding her sister. Someone is obsessed with her.
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Book Review: An aging widow’s European river cruise turns deadly in ‘Murder Takes a Vacation’Jun 16, 2025 12:24 pm - Muriel Blossom began her fictional career as a minor character in 2008, serving as an assistant to private detective Tess Monaghan, the protagonist in 12 of Laura Lippman’s fine crime novels. In “Murder Takes a Vacation,” Mrs. Blossom, as she is always called, gets her star turn.
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Geneva author turns real school headlines into poignant fictionJun 12, 2025 2:00 pm - Ellen Jo Ljung draws on real-life tensions pushing teachers out of classrooms to pen timely fiction debut "Caught in the Crossfire.
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Winfrey’s new book club pick marks the return of an old favorite, Wally Lamb
Jun 10, 2025 10:43 am - For her next book club pick, Oprah Winfrey is highlighting an author she has praised even before she had a book club. Winfrey announced Tuesday that she has chosen Wally Lamb’s new novel, “The River Is Waiting,” the story of a father torn by grief and guilt.