Unabridged Books Review

A cozy place with tons of tempting reads, plus even more tempting sale shelves.

Outstanding bookstore with a great selection of ordinary and esoteric books. Really a special place. Fee on street parking; free on Sunday. Three store fronts so its selection is larger than what one might expect. Book readings.

After trying the Amazon bookstore on Southport, I went to Unabridged to find an older memoir, which they had. The staff was friendly and happy to help me find a couple of other books. It is not a used bookstore, so most of the books are sold at the publisher s price, however there were a fair amount of books on sale for $6.00-8.00, particularly in the LGBT section.

I love this place and the staff is super helpful and friendly. I am a teacher and use the bookstore for all my book needs in the classroom, especially to add diversity.

My favorite neighborhood bookstore. The staff is pretty friendly and they post recommendations on the bookshelf.

Very cute store good atmosphere, good selections, helpful staff!

You know it's a good book store because it's always crowded.

After brunch down the street my wife, son, and I took a walk into Unabridged for the first time. The knowledgeable staff helped us immediately and the way the store is laid out really gives a welcoming feeling. My 2 year old son adored the children's section and he happily left with a new flip book that he's been reading almost daily as he's learning his way around the potty. Support your local shops.

Great selection and service and a real staple
Of the neighborhood

Sorry Big Time Bookstores -- Unabridged Bookstore leaves you in the dust! This is my favorite bookstore in Chicago (or elsewhere). Really awesome children's section too.

Lovely bookstore with a very dangerous sale section.

Being a technology addict, I do not go to bookstores often. My wife is a physical book fan. We usually stop at this store on the weekends when we go for an afternoon walk. This place feels like a bookstore that you see in a movie. The staff is very friendly. The selection is very robust. They have a travel section in the basement that is pretty spectacular. Stores like this make me wish I liked physical books more.

Great staff. Helpful and friendly without being pushy. Great remainder specials. Great suggestions.

The only LGBTQ+ owned and operated bookstore you will ever need! This is like heaven on Earth to me. The selection of books here is unreal! The staff always has great recommendations and I also love all of the index cards on the shelves to help guide on some book choices. Also has the cities best travel book section! Unabridged is the place to go to support local businesses.

Really chill place with a great selection. I'm a PKD fan and got caught up in a book with transcripts of interviews right before his death -- pretty cool, and something I'd never seen in other stores.

Don't sit down in that comfy leather sofa unless you want a really awful-looking cat climbing into your lap like he's your best friend. Very sweet animal but not winning any beauty awards =)

So many great titles and authors. My go to book store whenever I'm in the Chi.

Cozy little book store that is down the street from a great breakfast place and up the street from one of the best coffee vendors in the city.

Unabridged is a reason to live or visit Lakeview. Books for all tastes and interests. Go!

Regular standard non-chain bookstore. Ambience is a bit sterile and prices are msrp or higher. Amazon is always the better choice when not in a hurry.

Visiting Chicago and this shop came up in a search for used books. I visited and discovered this is NOT a used book shop! Hope this info helps someone out. I did a quick look around the store and will say their children's book selection is impressive. Many beautiful choices.

Great independent bookstore, great selection, best remainder section in the city.

I love the employee recs and the great deals in the sale section!

This is my favorite bookstore in all of Chicago. It's an indie bookstore with a huge selection and friendly staff. They have a lot of events with local authors and they also feature a decent selection of autographed books. As an added bonus, if you buy books as a gift for someone, they'll even wrap it for you!

Amazing place! Make sure you stop by and support this independent book store!!!!

The Bookrooms
p.s there's a "secret" underground part of the store where there's lots of travel guides and maps, if I recall correctly, when you first enter the store go to your left where the children's books are, then there's like a little doorframe right in front of ya, that's where the hidden map lounge is (I think)

This is a lovely bookstore and their selection is quite large. One of my go-tos in Chicago without question

Awesome Lakeview bookstore that's been around for a while. They have a wide selection, a great downstairs travel section, and frequent speakers/events. I'd recommend coming here to find new books that you weren't looking for.

The cool thing about this book store is that there are reviews from various employees taped next to many of the books. And the reviews are excellently written and very fun to read.

Visited from out of town and this was a great stop. Anyone who likes books should stop in.

Great local book store. Of course prices will run higher than Amazon, but good service and they even have complementary book wrapping for gifts.

One of the the best independent bookstores in chicago! Great selection of books and service.

Unabridged Bookstore is an essential part of any Lakeview shopping experience. They have a large selection of children's and adult literature. The staff is friendly and quite knowledgeable. They have author events, and readings too.

Support this neighborhood treasure by shopping at Unabridged Bookstore.

I appreciate Unabridged Bookstore's large selection of curated literature. During my visit there, I found several intriguing titles that I doubt would have ever been suggested to me through an Amazon algorithm.
Therein lies the charm of a classic brick & mortar bookstore; for a minute we leave our expectations of perfect recommendations and have the chance to explore the brilliantly illustrated covers of strange stories and essays that will transport us around the world and help us investigate foreign ideas, if only we let them.

Unabridged gave me that feeling and it's what I love in a bookstore. It made me excited to read more when I got home. On top of that, it felt fun and had a nice layout.

Because they sell New Books, the prices are a bit higher than what I'm usually after but that won't stop me from visiting their store again in the future.

Unabridged is the best place to shop for books! Being a second grade teacher, I love browsing through the childrens' sections for new books. The people who work there are extremely helpful, too!

Love this book store. Tough to visit it because I like to read the first bit (pages, or a chapter) of a book before deciding to buy, but they unfortunately don't have any real seating.

Perfect place for me to get my books. Fantastic people work here

Great neighborhood bookstore with a friendly staff!

the favorite bookstore of David Sedaris; and aside from the Rizzoli in Manhattan, which won't be there much longer, and the Ptyx in Bruxelles, my favorite too.

Cute bookstore with a great selection. I really appreciate the handwritten notes in the staff picks.

Went in to browse and came out with three books. Couldn't help it. Great selection

This bookstore is wonderful. Being there makes you really happy.

Great book selection and friendly staff. Certain shelves contains staff recommendations, with some books getting a small, personalized description by a staff member. I really appreciate this service because it helps me expand my horizons on other books I otherwise wouldn t think about getting. I ll definitely be coming back soon.

Great bookstore all around -- everything new you might be looking for combined with surprises. My favorite sale section of any bookstore anywhere.

One of my favorite bookstores. The staff are pleasant and very helpful, and I love their handwritten reviews. I pretty much know I'm going to like anything Ed likes.

A great book store with plenty of hard to find indie stuff, a great environment and staff.

When you need a Herman Hesse book.. great store, from classics to children s books. And a wonderful, helpful staff!

Great selection of books and well organized. I can usually find a book I've been meaning to read in the sale section for a good price. I always seem to find a parking spot right in front too.

I love this bookstore! great selection! also their travel section witch is hiding in the basement has lots of books !

Such a calm, lovely place to pick up a book or two on my walk home. They have a great selection and the prices are really reasonable.

This place is amazing. The selection is so good, the people are incredibly nice.

Great little book store. Employees are very helpful.

One of the best locally-owned bookstores in the country. Very knowlegeable staff. If they don't have what you need they will order it for you.

A cute bookshop with good staff recommendations and usually has the latest releases! A huge travel section. If you re looking for anything specific it s best to ask because of the way the store is laid out but once you get the hang of it, it s pretty easy to navigate. I don t recommend going into this store looking for a specific book though. More of a place to explore on your own and stumble upon your new fave. :)

Best bookstore in Chicago, and maybe ever. You could honestly spend hours in here, exploring all of the books and thoughtful reviews provided by staff members. Helpful and friendly staff.

Great bookstore, staff have a lot of knowledge & recommendations.

Awesome selection, friendly and helpful staff, fair prices

This is my favorite neighborhood bookstore in the city, even though I don't live in the neighborhood anymore. Their staff picks are so radically different (and far more interesting) than you'd ever see at Barnes and Noble or any chain bookstore. Also, their travel section (in the basement) is HUGE. Great place to find your lonely planet guides and then some.

they have a great variety of books you can choose from. they also have a beautiful layout. and they also have really good staff.

Lots of new releases and a good amount of books in the sale section. I can spend hours here.

Very nice book store. It's got a good selection. Everything is a bit expensive, but it's an independent book store. Everyone there is well read. And they wrap stuff for free.

Great selection of books, helpful staff, some autographed edditions.

Homey local bookstore with a good selection. Downstairs has a table full of Chicago coffee table books that you could sit and pore over for hours.

Unabridged Bookstore is a quaint store that adds a large number of personalized staff comments to aid book browsers. The place is stuffed with a great variety of titles and has the feel of an old tiime traditional book store.

Agreed Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror literature perfection.

Cozy - lovely cats + Smart, knowledgeable, passionate staff

Happy place.

Unabridged is an awesome independent bookstore with plenty of selections to choose from--plus two floors and cute merch! Don't forget to support your local independent businesses:-)

Could easily spend hours here browsing. Prices are great too. Definitely recommended