Christopher Borrelli

Author Becky Spratford at the La Grange Public Library, Dec. 9, 2025, in La Grange. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Chicagoan of the Year in Books: If you’re into horror, thank the librarian Becky Spratford

December 16, 2025 at 5:45 a.m.

She's the unassuming champion behind the rise in horror lit. "To me, Becky is the spark plug, lynchpin, head coach and fairy godmother of horror,” says author Daniel Kraus.

The Karner blue butterfly, which has been placed on the Illinois Endangered Species Protection list, at the Field Museum in Chicago on Nov. 12, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

Illinois has its latest list of endangered species — the end result of many difficult choices

December 9, 2025 at 6:09 a.m.

Illinois is one of a number of states that compile their own lists of endangered species, separate from the federal list. Its creators say it can feel like swimming against...

"Lee Friedlander: Christmas," by Lee Friedlander, “Norman Rockwell’s Christmas,” by Norman Rockwell, “The Uptown: Chicago’s Endangered Movie Palace,” by Robert Loerzel and James A. Pierce and “Chicago’s Holiday Train,” by Daniel Moreno. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Holiday book guide 2025: The best gift books of the season, paired to some very specific people

December 5, 2025 at 2:45 p.m.

The secret to a happy pairing? Being honest about who that person is, not who you want them to be.

Christopher Borrelli’s 2025 top 10 books: "A Guardian and a Thief," by Megha Majumdar, "The Gossip Columnist's Daughter," by Peter Orner, "Sick and Dirty: Hollywood's Gay Golden Age and the Making of Modern Queerness," by Michael Koresky, "Clam Down: A Metamorphosis," by Anelise Chen, "King of Ashes: A Novel, by S.A. Cosby, "Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers," by Caroline Fraser, "Lost in the Dark, and Other Excursions," by John Langan, "Do Admit! The Mitford Sisters and Me," by Mimi Pond, "A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession and Shipwreck," by Sophie Elmhurst and "Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism and the Making of Modern America," by Clay Risen. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

The 10 best books of 2025: Censorship, crime and compassion

December 3, 2025 at 5:45 a.m.

From "Clam Down" to "Murderland," these are the 10 books out of my tall stack of best books of the year that I couldn't get out of my mind. How...

A juice glass, a portrait of the singer Bill Withers by Chicago folk artist C.M. Laster, and a single by early Chicago punk band DV8 are among the items on Steve Albini's Closet, an online auction of the belongings of the Chicago music producer who died in 2024. Astro Boy was one of Albini's favorite pop references. (Provided by Byron Coley)

Catching up with Steve Albini’s Closet, the endless online yard sale of the late Chicago music legend’s estate

November 28, 2025 at 6:45 a.m.

The Chicago record producer and musician who worked with Nirvana, PJ Harvey, the Pixies died in 2024 at age 61. Most of the proceeds of the sale of his stuff...

Claudia von Mallinckrodt records a video of items she found to offer them to her followers Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, in Hinsdale. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Her Rich Goodwill account is TikTok famous for the stuff she finds in Hinsdale’s trash

November 19, 2025 at 5:45 a.m.

Claudia von Thrift doesn't judge those who throw out new Crate & Barrel furniture. Her widely-followed social media accounts are about the joys of the treasure hunt.

Patti Smith performs at the Chicago Theatre on Nov. 17, 2025. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Review: Patti Smith’s ‘Horses,’ live and powerful at 50

November 18, 2025 at 6:10 p.m.

At the Chicago Theatre, Patti Smith and her band tore into “Horses” from top to bottom, and 50 years on, it’s still alternately vivid and elliptical.

The SS Edmund Fitzgerald, shown in a 1959 photo, was carrying a load of 26,216 tons of taconite pellets when it sank during a November storm in 1975. (AP)

A ceremony remembers the Edmund Fitzgerald 50 years later, gales of November included

November 11, 2025 at 2:39 p.m.

Friends and family members gathered at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in Michigan's Upper Peninsula to ring the bell and remember those who died 50 years ago.

Stone artwork depicts a Native American as the Hononegah Community High School Indians mascot at Kelsey Field on the school campus on Oct. 17, 2025, in Rockton. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

Column: Why changing problematic high school nicknames is back in the spotlight — and a lesson in history

November 7, 2025 at 6:00 a.m.

As playoff football games unfold across the state, two prospective bills are resurfacing in Springfield that insist the village of Freeburg, and many other Illinois schools, rethink their problematic nicknames.

Cremation Air, an ash-scattering plane, on display Oct. 29, 2025, during the National Funeral Directors Association Convention at McCormick Place. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

From cradle to grave: There was something for everyone alive and otherwise at the Chicago funeral directors convention

November 14, 2025 at 2:47 p.m.

You can learn a lot about your options for the afterlife at the annual trade show, which recently ended at McCormick Place. It was not a solemn gathering.

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