Unabridged Bookstore

I love bookstores. I had seen this one on a few lists of the best independent bookstores in the country. It was really nice. Located in Boystown in Chicago, Unabridged Bookstore it's pretty incredible. While being a bit cramped, I feel like it had as much inventory as any Barnes and Noble. Just not as many non-book gift items, which is fine by me. While having all the typical bestsellers, there is a wide selection of local authors, signed books, and an extensive LGBT section. The travel selection was also surprisingly large. I was disappointed to find that there was no public bathroom. I probably would have stayed longer.

My absolute favorite store in the city! They have an entire section dedicated to LGBTQ books. Even the more obscure hard to find books you will find here. I could spend hours here just looking at all of the different books here. It looks small on the outside but don't let that fool you. Every book you could think of inside. Support local book stores!

This is an incredible local legend of a bookstore. They have the best collection of Queer books in Chicago and have been a historical figure in Queer history across the northern neighborhoods of Chicago. They also have excellent monthly book clubs with I believe 5-6 different books each month. I have attended in the past and they are well run & interesting.

Great store with excellent selection, fun curated shelves, and lovely staff. The store has great sections for each genre and a surprising number of signed copies of books across genres. A wonderful bookstore to spend a morning in!

Staff is so knowledgeable and the selection is really great and well-curated. Favorite bookstore in the city by far and grateful for being able to shop local instead of giving money to Amazon for a much less personable experience and identical product.

I love this bookstore. I appreciate the curation and selection of books. There are little write ups for some books which are fun to read and feel inspired by. Great feel inside too, I love it.

Such a good selection of books. great sales and knowledgeable staff with unexpected recommendations. No bathroom and not wheelchair friendly since it's a little right. Basement with only stairs.

One of my favorite bookstores in Chicago! The books are usually new so they’re full price but they have a large sale section as well. But honestly what made me fall in love is the employee review of the book throughout the store! It’s one of my fav things about bookstores to see what other recommend across genres and Unabridged does it right! I absolutely recommend stopping in to check it out!

Unabridged lives up to it's name. There's no censorship happening here. This is my *go-to* bookstore when buying lesbian books or feminist books, such as Lisa Vogel's recently released (yet already iconic) "We Can Live Like This...a Memoir of a Culture" They also can ship the books you buy, which is very helpful in the holiday season Well done and thank you, Unabridged!

Wow what a dreaaaam walked out with three books! Great selection and can wander here for hours, wish it were in my neighborhood! Sale section had some great books, good value. Loved their music/playlist as well.

I (gay male) have been coming here for decades. The new employees no longer align with "unabridged" promise. Recently, I asked if they have a very well researched book about transgender children, risks and benefits of drug and surgical interventions, challenges with current medical practice that hastens the Dutch protocol (psychological evaluation) for Transgender care. The staff told me that the store does not have it in stock. This was shocking given that this is a long-term gay lesbian bookstore. When I asked if I could order it, they said they were unable to do this. I was able to easily get the book at an Evanston family owned bookstore. Also discovered that I could easily order on Amazon. The bookstore has obviously become focused on a single ideological point of view. We LGBT folks are fully capable of reading a wide variety of points of view and interpreting them on their own. We don't need employees of this bookstore filtering what we can and cannot read. I will never buy from this ideological venue again. Many more open-minded opportunities to spend our money throughout Chicago land. Sad to see this.

I love it here. It's the tiniest little bookstore and it's so cozy. They are filled to the brim with books and very detailed suggestions. I highly recommend reading up on their posted staff comments. I definitely found a book that I have been meaning to add to my collection. It's a great spot to wander and chat with friends or other book worms wandering about. It's tiny so you can hear EVERYTHING and everyone's conversations. Don't forget your free bookmark at checkout.

This is my new favorite bookstore in Chicago. Because of the books they have. Because how many things I want to purchase while browsing there. Because its a great bookstore.

A wonderful neighborhood bookstore, a large sale section which is fun to browse through. There's a wide variety for everyone: a large selection of queer/gay books, classics, cookbooks and a downstairs area which has a bunch of travel books!

Good variety of books, not a complete variety and definitely one-sided but a good variety overall. Decently organized. Friendly staff. And the sale rack had some good deals

Awesome bookstore that my husband and I wondered upon after we had turned onto North Broadway when exploring West Belmont. We've been to this section of Chicago before because it is (or was? Idk, it seems the name may have changed based on the streetlight banners and google) known as boystown and being part of the LGBTQIA+ community I like supporting businesses that support the community or are owned by someone who is part of the community. The Unabridged Bookstore has an extensive collection of lgbtgia+ books, including Manga, which caught my eye enough that I want to come back to buy a bunch of books from that section. While looking around my husband and I both found books we wanted. My husband settled on a Spiderman collectable book that was still wrapped in it's plastic (and he may never remove it knowing him). I ended up buying the much talked about Jennette McCurdy book, I'm Glad My Mom Died. I am anticipating enjoying it through tears in my eyes. I look forward to coming back to Unabridged Books soon.

Friendly staff and an excellent selection are key components of a great bookstore. This place has both. Okay so you pay full price for things here. I consider that the cost of having a clean well lit place to peruse and read before purchase. You can't get that online.

A Lakeview business landmark, Unabridged Bookstore has been open since 1980. It's a wonderful bookstore, and one of the few independent bookstores to have survived the retail book business upheaval brought on by Amazon and other discounters. As much as I love a discount, I also love the idea of discovering a book that I didn't know about...and Unabridged Bookstore is set up to give its customers a relaxing place to browse. Hand-written cards with mini-reviews from the staff are placed next to stacks of favored books. Unabridged is the place to go for an excellent, and well-curated selection of LGBTQ, travel and children's books. Support a wonderful small business, and shop at Unabridged Bookstore!

This review is difficult to write. I've loved this bookstore, right next to me, for almost 20 years. It's the rare local bookstore still in business, and I have bought books there as opposed to amazon to support the store. To someone who loves to read, the place is a gem. The handwritten reviews are fantastic, and the selection, while naturally small, is first rate. But the calenders and window displays are offensive and amateur. Don't come here with your children unless you want to explain: 1) what laser ana# bleaching is; and 2) why there are so many calendars in the windows with big hairy naked-except-a-smidge-of-leather men; and 3) why they dont know any of the kids books in the window display for kids. It's sad. A good portion of the window is dedicated to these calendars, usually seen at adult bookstores, and the kids display is almost entirely to help kids understand gender, etc., and features almost none of the great fiction being written for kids. I find the calendars offensive when with my kid. When I am alone, they offend my sense of taste. Such a great bookstore should be above such pandering. The kids books are important to some parents, I respect that. Just make room for some of the other good fiction please (let Kiki shine, come on). Yes its Lakeview. But its not Boystown right there, not meaningfully, so that is no justification. Stand on the corner of Belmont/Broadway. You would never know the real Boystown is a block west on Halsted and then north of Belmont. The staff is also super "snooty." Just sayin'. Ed is awesome though.

A wonderful local bookstore with a terrific selection. Always up to date on new releases and interesting titles. Also a great selection of LGBTQ+ titles and an amazing travel section in the basement that is probably the best in the city. Pick a country or area--they're sure to have it and in several different versions. I love browsing there. Because they sell at listed price I often buy a sale book as well (great sale section); that brings the average cost down!

I love unabridged! The staff is amazing, and the store itself has such a diverse collection of books. They even do book clubs for all different genres. Love this place.

The BEST and biggest sale section you can find at any bookstore. I've never left this place empty handed.

I recommend everyone in the Chicago area to stop here! The bookstore is so cute! From their store layout to the quotes all over the store - I spent 2 hours here! Their staff is great and has wonderful book recommendations. I left with 3 books!

This is my favorite local bookstore in the city. I used to live walking distance but have since moved completely across town (Jefferson Park) but I still come to this book store once a month. I place an order online for pickup (saves me shipping) and on the most recent occasion when I accidentally selected shipping, they knew me well enough to follow up and make sure I had meant to have it shipped (I hadn't and was able to switch it to my normal pickup). Love that my bookstore knows me better than I know myself. Great selection and if they don't have it, they can usually order it and have it for you pretty quickly.

Fantastic! Exceptional inventory and service. Great vibe! Please support this local bookstore!

Great selection and in a super cute area! Would definitely recommend- there is something in there for everyone

A decent collection of book but they don't price match and most of the time they will have to order it for you. Given the lack of price matching you're almost going to find a better option online and probably far faster then the 7 day wait for orders. An average book store I don't see myself going back to. Far better and more affordable options in the city. If you're hoping to find anything related to Jewish literature then this is the last place to look. 9 versions of the KJV but only one Tanakh and it's only part of a 125 dollar collection...

Love this store! I have been coming in and buying the books for the book club that they have( there are 3 or 4 different groups). I'm never able to finish the book in time but I really like this comfortable cool shop. Today I went in and looked at some new books and then ran out to catch a zoom meeting. I later called the shop and Mondo answered the phone. I asked him if I had left this grey basket that I purchased earlier in the morning. He looked and said No, sorry it's not here. My response was a chuckle and I said I probably left it at the coffee shop where I was before the bookstore. When I asked the name of the coffee shop in the corner he told me. I said ok. He asked if I wanted him to go check if the basket was still there. I said sure if you have the time. I was on hold a Few minutes, Mondo picked ip and said that he got it from the coffee shop and would hold it for me! WOW! Kudos to you Mondo for being so kind and helpful!!!

This place is a gem of the city. They have a great collection of books that my wife love. My wife took me here almost every other weekends to buy books with her. It's ridiculous

This is my favorite local bookstore! I am really happy to have a local, independent, and reliable bookstore in the neighborhood to support. The staff is very friendly and always helpful whenever I have a question or need help finding a book. For the few times that they do not have a book in stock that I want, they get it in stock usually within days and much quicker than other bookstores in the area - sometimes so quick, that I am surprised when I get the call saying that it is now available at the store! Which is always a welcome surprise. The store itself is big and you're bound to find something you're interested in if you decide to go inside and look around. I take all my friends that I host from out-of-town here since it is in the heart of the neighborhood. Overall, this is one of my favorite places to visit in Lakeview!

I love this bookstore. The staff recommendations sprinkled around the store are enjoyable to read and informative, and there's a great variety between the different employees. Also very helpful that you can reference their suggestions on the website. Most recently i was there purchasing childrens book, which also had a good selection. the physical layout is cozy, with a wide selection. To my knowledge they just have (paid) street parking, which is par for the neighborhood.

I went to the unabridged bookstore on 12/5/2022. I walked in and was immediately amazed at the size of the store. There is an upstairs and downstairs level. You can find any type of book genre that you may be looking for at this store. I liked that before the bookstore closed they played the song "Closing Time" by Semisonic. The books may be a bit overpriced but if you are in need of a good book I would recommend buying from this store.

Great selection and ambiance. A classic bookstore feel with reasonable prices. The only used bookstore I've been to that has a sale section and it's not just full of garbage books but I've found great books in the sale area and it is not small either.

As an avid reader and book lover, Unabridged is basically my second home in Chicago. In College, Unabridged Bookstore helped expand my horizons as a thinker and as a holistic person. After College, Unabridged Bookstore became my first stop as a middle school teacher for the best books to read with my students and provoke timely and relevant conversations. In graduate school, Unabridged Bookstore helped me find and locate the best possible resources and research materials for all areas of study. In the city if Chicago, Unabridged Bookstore has been a hub for big name authors and providing events to hear/meet such authors. As a gay Christian, Unabridged Bookstore helped me find texts that brought all of my identities and hopes together. Now, in this time of COVID-19, Unabridged Bookstore has kept me sane with a steady stream of book recommendations, easily accessible online ordering, and safe curbside pickup. Furthermore, the Monthly Queer Bookclub over ZOOM has not only been an excuse to read incredible books, but it has been a wonderful time of community and relationship development! All this to say, Unabridged Bookstore has been so much more to me than a place to buy books over the last decade. It has been a part of my chosen family. Thank you for all the memories, great books, and community activities! I look forward to many more memories and good books in the future!

A wonderful bookstore! I visited Chicago last year and happened to walk by it and was excited to find an extensive gay section and beautiful classics! I came back to Chicago this year and made sure to come back! There are complete collections of classics, from penguin classics to Macmillan's collectors library to New York review books classics and more. There are walls of books by/about gay people, lesbians, trans folks, featuring both non-fiction and fiction. This place is a gem!

Beautiful store loved the large lgbt section in the store! Highly recommend even if not in the area

I was so glad to find this wonderful bookstore. The store is bigger than it looks from the outside and they have a large selection of all kinds of books. I went for travel books and they have the best travel book selection I have seen - they have all the standards (Rick Steves, Lonely Planet, Fodors, Eyewitness and more) as well as some less well-known brands and a number of specialty books. And they have a full selection of travelers' language books. I found exactly what I wanted. The staff was very friendly and helpful. A great place for books!

Best bookstore in America, full stop, no caveats. Stop reading the reviews and go visit!

Genuinely shocked I have not already given five stars to Unabridged. It's my neighborhood bookstore and, honestly, my beau ideal of a bookstore. Who even knows how many books I've bought there, especially from their best-in-the-city sale section or because of intriguing staff recommendations. Love it love it love it

They always have cool books in the front windows, but definitely go inside. There you will find that the staff have put little "blurbs" on index cards all over the store, next to books, so you have instant reviews and recommendations. The cards are really fun to read. You will find a great children's and YA book section, as well as all the different genres for adults. I have asked them to climb into the front window more than once, and they are always super nice about it. (I always bought those books!) Marco was the last employee I asked, the other day, and he was great. Don't forget to look at the discounted book section, near children's because there are some great buys there for $5.99-10.99. If you are in Chicago, and you like bookstores, it is worth the trip over to this neighborhood because there are other shops and small places to eat. We will have been in about 4 times over the last year, and will return!

Friendly service and wide selection -- a Boystown fave for years now!

I LOVE this store. Nothing beats the smell and browsing the shelves for a good book. They have a big selection of kids books, cook books, novels, and the basement travel section is incredible. Journals, magazines, photography books, everything. I always find something I like. I've taken to ordering things from them because I believe strongly in supporting local businesses, and they've ordered in so many books for me, even some stuff I don't think is their regular stock. And I love their customer service. I've got two small kids, and they help me out when I need it. And their Staff Pics signs around the store have helped me get a few books I love. And they recently remodeled and rearranged, it looks great inside. Shop here!!!

I walked into this store and I was completely amazed by the sheer collection they had in every genre. Art books(tattoo origins, books by art style), comics are utterly delightful. Employee picks with cute little review blurbs pasted under each book, made me smile. New arrivals to classics, they seemed to have everything. I am not too knowledgeable about kids' books and YA fiction but those sections looked extensive too!!

This indie bookstore, like most, is great in some ways and lackluster in others. They certainly clean up nice. The store is super clean and while cramped their selection is very neatly organized, including their specialized basement section of travel books. Depending on what you're looking for, they either have more titles than you could ever get through, or surprisingly little to nothing. They are big on esoteric current events books, activism-of-the-day material, independent fiction and poetry, cooking titles, art titles, business, psychology, a massive collection of LGBTQ titles, and children's books. They will not have anything on tech or computer use, little on nutrition outside of their understandably small sport and fitness section, or books on writing outside of basic stuff like style and theory. Still, I've found myself browsing forever on the subjects they do have, and there's a lot of value here. The price of books has gotten rather high these days, and it's clear why Amazon and Kindle have cut into bookstores' market share. Unabridged does have a sizable collection of discount books for $6-8ish, though as usual a look at those titles will show you why they were relegated to the discount section. A typical book will run you $20-25, and that's quite a bit for anyone with a book habit and anything less than a lucrative middle class career. I try to buy something at least every 3-4 times I go in, as the price means my expectations for something worth buying are unfortunately pretty high. If you're looking to browse, and your interests match the topics that I mentioned they have in healthy supply, they're absolutely worth a visit.

Was tempted to rate two stars, but decided to give it three because they have a good selection here and I like having an indie bookstore in my neighborhood. I browsed for a couple hours one evening this past January and left with three books! I had only planned to buy one. Their selection is large and varied, they even stock books from small presses. All of that being said, I had an interesting experience there this morning when I went to pick up an order I'd placed online. Things have been stressful lately and I was excited to get two new books! Just a ten minute walk away from me! Awesome! I walked in and gave the gentleman near the front door my first name, perfectly pleasant. He directed me to the top shelf and when I reached for my books the package next to them got caught (on my package) and was about to fall to the floor. From the top shelf. I reached my other hand up to gently stop the other person's package from falling to the ground and I was scolded for that. The man told me to let it go and said that he would take care of it. Alrighty. Pandemic or no pandemic, I wouldn't want another customer to stand by and let books that I had purchased fall to the floor from the very top shelf. I was kind of shocked that I'd been scolded for that and instinctively I finished putting the book on that top shelf. (Side note: why were the shelves packed so tightly??) In response to my reaction the man sighed and glared at me. Then he instructed me to check my bag and make sure the order was correct, which I had done initially when I got my bag, before it had gotten stuck on another customers back. I had peeked into mine to be sure and had seen that my order was right. Still, after all of that, I was being perfectly pleasant. But I could not get out of there fast enough! Yikes. Finally, I got home with my books to see that the hardcover has a small tear along the back corner of the jacket. The book is perfect otherwise and entirely acceptable for me, especially as I am stressed and in need of new books to read. But I would need to return it were I planning to give it as a gift. After seeing their current in store setup I cannot say I'm surprised by the book's condition. Perhaps it fell from a top shelf somewhere. I think I would return to this store only to browse. Next month a book I've been eagerly awaiting (for a few months now) will come out and I'll just get it when I am downtown for a monthly Doctor's appointment. In conclusion: Distinct, large space with a very good selection. Unfortunately the staff could practice better customer service.

I live in Hyde Park, which has one of the most amazing concentrations of bookstores of any American neighborhood known to me, and still I get excited when I come up to Lakeview and have a chance to shop for books here. The thing that sets Unabridged apart is the amazing curation, of both non-fiction and especially fiction, with detailed, vivid, helpful staff recommendations that actually give me a decent sense about whether I would like a book, and a bunch of well-conceived collections in the front room. I always find new books that I want to read here -- and I always buy them on the spot, because it's places like this that make me incredibly grateful that we still have bookstores in this world.

Lovely store, friendly staff, huge selection of books, their sales sections has better deals than amazon and for the most part the books aren't much pricier than amazon has to offer. Huge selection of cookbooks, gay por...i mean lgbt photography albums, good comedy section, while I feel most of the time people would still go for the amazon prize digital shopping experience, we should make an effort to help a nice local store like this stay in the neighborhood so lakeview doesn't seem turn into just coffee shops and sushi restaurants. Maybe some design/ux books could help?

So do you remember that "Twilight Zone" episode where Burgess Meredith plays Henry Bemis, the bespectacled bookworm who survives an A-bomb blast and finds all the time in the world to read only to break his glasses? Loved that show... Anyway, I walked up and down this part of Broadway for three days before I even noticed a bookstore was here, so non-descript is the facade. Yet, when I finally paid attention and went inside, I was impressed with how large the selection is and how friendly the staff is. There's a great travel section downstairs in their basement and even calendars in yet another alcove. They certainly use every inch of their space. Now I suppose you could go to the Borders down on Diversey, but why? Didn't you see "You Got Mail"? Wouldn't you rather support Meg Ryan than Tom Hanks? ...and get your eyes lasered, will ya Henry?

RIP: Heath & M.C., I miss you dearly. One of the last proud few bookstores with a little taste of everything and no attitude. Where else could you find a big children's book section next to a large used (and good!) book section, next to a massive GLBT lit section, next to a classic lit section, next to an alternative porn mag section, next to an erotic photo book section next to the travel guides. One stop stimulation for every organ. The only place to peruse Madonna kid books in one hand and erotic bondage artwork in the other hand. I'm making this sound trashy, but really they have a wide selection of the best and newest lit also, and again lots of great sales. Support the local bookstore, especially when its this good!

I ran across this well-stocked bookstore in Lakeview by accident. They had just what I was looking for. I will return to make more discoveries. The staff was knowledgeable and helpful. Great location with metered street parking near the diner Eggspirence.

This has been my favorite bookstore in Chicago since I walked into it in 2012. I don't get over to it much anymore because East Lakeview is a pain to get to, but it is great. They have a perfect layout. They have a great selection. They have an inspiring travel section in the basement. They also have a large sale section, which I love. Their handwritten notes on recommended books and rankings of most important novels is fantastic. Support your local bookstore!

Great book store, lousy customer relations. A long-time customer, I stopped going there when I was denied use of their restroom. Any shop that cannot extend to me this most basic of human courtesies does not deserve my business.

My favorite bookstore in the city! What a gem! So happy it's in Lakeview. They even have a sale section with some great finds! I always spend at least an hour in here. Friendly, helpful staff. I hope this place sticks around!

I had a really nice experience there yesterday--I was looking for Tolstoy's War and Peace and they had THREE different editions (different translations), including the one I was looking for (Anthony Briggs/Penguin--it is readable, modern, and not at all stuffy). Staff was friendly and helpful. It is also a pleasant place to browse, books are well organized, and a good selection of subjects.

Great sale section and service from staff; the basement with travel section is a must check out

I am mad about book stores and this one is a new fav. Quite a selection and everything is laid out in an easy to navigate fashion. The employee pick selection was helpful as many of the recs were my favs too, so I used their favs as a reference to try two new reads.

Unabridged Books is my favorite bookstore. The staff are friendly and helpful. I have walked around the store for hours, and I always find more than I need. They always have the best new books. And, you can find the classics, cook books, and travel books. They give wonderful recommendations, and the sales section is fantastic.