The rules for the contest are as follows:

1. Contest runs from today through November 26th at 11PM Pacific Time
2. Winner will be notified via email at 11PM on the day the contest ends have 3 days to respond with a mailing address. If no response is received in that time, a new winner will be picked.
3. Open to the entire world.
4. To qualify you must recommend me a book that takes place in Chicago. It can be fiction or nonfiction).
5. For extra credit you can:
   a) include your blog's URL
   b) blog about the contest and link back here.

Comment #1: Sunday, October, 26, 2008 at 08:42:49

susan varney

Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago a very riverting read

Comment #2: Sunday, October, 26, 2008 at 10:06:02

Judith

I recommend The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow.

Comment #3: Sunday, October, 26, 2008 at 13:01:51

Amber

I recommend The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. I am originally from Chicago :) So I am glad that you are interested in the city. Our deep dish pizza is legendary!

Comment #4: Sunday, October, 26, 2008 at 14:51:18

Sue Doneff

Chicago Seven

Comment #5: Sunday, October, 26, 2008 at 15:32:48

Gaye McGill

Sara Paretsky sets her VI Warshawski mystery series in Chicago. One book is "Total Recall".

Comment #6: Sunday, October, 26, 2008 at 16:49:20

Desmond

"Chicago", a novel by Alaa Al Aswany

Comment #7: Sunday, October, 26, 2008 at 21:11:20

Rita M

I highly recommend Richard Wright's Native Son which is set in Chicago's South Side during the 1930's.

Comment #8: Sunday, October, 26, 2008 at 22:15:29

christopher harner

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Comment #9: Monday, October, 27, 2008 at 03:53:59

David Bertolo

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre: The Untold Story of the Gangland Bloodbath That Brought Down Al Capone by William Helmer

Comment #10: Monday, October, 27, 2008 at 06:45:07

Thomas Gibson

I recommend:

TALES FROM THE GUTTER
The Man with the Golden Arm (1949), by Nelson Algren

The story: A Division Street hustler, drug addict, and jazz drummer fights for survival in the urban underbelly of post–World War II Chicago.

Comment #11: Monday, October, 27, 2008 at 09:59:55

Carol G

Many of the Father Blackie Ryan books by Andrew Greeley take place in Chicago & all are based there--the series is addictive if nothing else!

Comment #12: Monday, October, 27, 2008 at 10:03:11

Susan C

One of my favorite books is The Dieter by Susan Sussman. It is about a woman who starts gaining lots of weight when she quits smoking after her best friend dies of lung cancer. She lives in the outskirts of Chicago, but works in Chicago. This is a fun story and I would recommend it to anybody with weight issues!

Comment #13: Monday, October, 27, 2008 at 12:26:06

Linda Pinto

The Man With The Golden Arm was set in Chicago. I saw the movie long ago and remember it yet.

Comment #14: Monday, October, 27, 2008 at 14:39:19

carol

The Dresden files books by Jim Butcher take place in Chicago

Comment #15: Monday, October, 27, 2008 at 15:55:07

Susan Smith

The Chicago Killer Joseph Kozenczak

Comment #16: Monday, October, 27, 2008 at 18:06:02

nancy

There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in The Other America by Alex Kotlowitz

Comment #17: Monday, October, 27, 2008 at 19:04:15

judy brittle

The Adventures of Augie March

Comment #18: Monday, October, 27, 2008 at 19:28:38

Robert Doscher

I reccomend:

Theodore Dreiser's "Sister Carrie" ISBN 0-451-52760-7

Comment #19: Tuesday, October, 28, 2008 at 06:01:01

djp

love the ness story from the 20"s

Comment #20: Tuesday, October, 28, 2008 at 10:52:55

ANNE SRODA

I'm now reading The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. Henry lives in Chicago when he's not off time travelling.

Comment #21: Tuesday, October, 28, 2008 at 13:31:09

Kathy Conley

Gang Leader for a Day

Comment #22: Friday, October, 31, 2008 at 22:10:24

Kristi

I would recommend Hunger and Thirst by Daniela Kuper.

Comment #23: Saturday, November, 1, 2008 at 03:10:22

Belinda

Fredric Brown's The Fabulous Clipjoint

Comment #24: Monday, November, 3, 2008 at 15:34:53

Shelley K.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger is one of my favorites. Some people have said that it is "too hard to get into" but my advice is to stick with it...it is worth it.

Comment #25: Saturday, November, 15, 2008 at 02:27:17

RebekahC

I'd love to enter this giveaway for Fatal Vows. For a Chicago setting book recommendation I'm going to suggest The Hat Box Baby by Carrie Brown. My book club read this one earlier this year, and we all really enjoyed it.

Thanks!
RebekahC

Comment #26: Thursday, November, 20, 2008 at 18:30:25

Shirley Younger

A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry

Comment #27: Thursday, November, 20, 2008 at 21:22:02

Renee Caruso

Bright Lights, Big Ass by Jen Lancaster takes place in Chicago

Comment #28: Saturday, November, 22, 2008 at 14:37:47

Kim H.

Storm Front by Jim Butcher. It is a story about the only wizard listed in the Chicago yellow pages. It's a great series if you enjoy supernatural type tales."

Comment #29: Sunday, November, 23, 2008 at 00:57:52

Rita S

The Jungle

Comment #30: Monday, November, 24, 2008 at 21:38:05

Ed Nemmers

"The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Comment #31: Tuesday, November, 25, 2008 at 07:41:44

Cassandra Shuff

The Timer Travelers Wife

Comment #32: Tuesday, November, 25, 2008 at 13:51:47

Kasey Proctor

Blacklist by Sara Peretsky although she has several others with this same character Chicago private eye, V. I. Warshawski.

Comment #33: Tuesday, November, 25, 2008 at 16:18:28

Gabriel J.

Theodore Dreiser's "Sister Carrie"

Comment #34: Tuesday, November, 25, 2008 at 18:24:16

Susan Ledet

To the Chicago Abyss by Ray Bradbury

Comment #35: Tuesday, November, 25, 2008 at 22:32:04

Kim Trepczyk

"The House on Mango Street," by Sandra Cisneros

Comment #36: Wednesday, November, 26, 2008 at 07:45:06

Buddy Garrett

Chicago: City on the Make by Nelson Algren, David Schmittgens and Bill Savage is the best book about Chicago. It covers what makes Chicago the city city Chicago lovers love.

Comment #37: Wednesday, November, 26, 2008 at 14:07:23

Kayce Crews

The 1933 Chicago World's Fair A Century of Progress by Cheryl R. Ganz.

Comment #38: Wednesday, November, 26, 2008 at 15:22:39

Betty Curran

The Razor's Edge by Somerset Maugham

Comment #39: Wednesday, November, 26, 2008 at 16:47:41

Cindy Ellis

Our Ladies of Angels it is about a fire in the school in Chicago where many children and nuns were killed

Comment #40: Wednesday, November, 26, 2008 at 20:26:59

Elizabeth M.

A great book is There Are no Children Here by Alex Kotlowicz

Comment #41: Wednesday, November, 26, 2008 at 23:00:00

Gwenolyn Pilcher

Haunted Heartland: True Ghost Stories So what do you think, is it nonfiction?

Comment #42: Thursday, November, 27, 2008 at 00:58:55

Charlene Kuser

The Anarchist by James Conroy