Your Librarian
Browsing the Stacks
Main library can be quite the labyrinth and books are often on the move, but below you will find the best areas of the library to browse books related to English. Also, every book listing on the library website has a "Locate" feature that will show you a more precise location.
Please note: Some items you find in the library catalog may be listed as being at "Oak Grove Library Center," our off-site book storage location. These books and journals can still be requested and will be delivered to Main Library for checkout usually within a day.
- Call NumbersLearn more about how the library organizes its book collection and which numbers correspond to which subjects and disciplines.
- Book Nook / Leisure ReadingA selection of new and popular works of fiction, poetry, memoir, essay, criticism, etc.
- 3 SouthAmerican and Canadian literary history & criticism, poetry, drama, fiction, essays, etc.
- 4 SouthEnglish, Old English, and German literary history & criticism, poetry, drama, fiction, essays, etc.
- 4 EastFrench, Italian, Spanish & Portuguese, Latin, Greek, Slavic, East and Southeast Asia, African, and Native/Indigenous literary history & criticism, poetry, drama, fiction, essays, etc
Ordering Books
Your librarian purchases books for the collection on a regular basis, however, often times there are books you need for a class or your research that we miss. To place an order for a book, simply fill out the "Purchase Suggestion" form or email any details you have to josh.honn@northwestern.edu. Once the book has been ordered, received, and processed you will be sent an email letting you know its ready to be picked up and checked out.
If you are looking to purchase books for your personal collection, I recommend the following local bookstores and online retailers:
- AlibrisPremier online marketplace for independent sellers of new and used books, music, and movies, as well as rare and collectible titles.
- Bookends & BeginningsNew and used bookstore located in downtown Evanston.
- Bookshop.orgOnline book retailer and excellent alternative to Amazon.
- Myopic BookstoreMutli-level used bookstore located in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago.
- Pilsen Community BooksNew and used radical bookstore located in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago.
- Quimby's BookstoreA bookstore dedicated to zines, graphic novels, magazines, art, etc. located in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago.
- Semicolon Bookstore & GalleryBlack woman-owned bookstore and gallery located in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago
- Skunk Cabbage BooksBookstore and community workshop space offering new books and local artist’s goods that remind us of human’s own place in our more-than-human world.
- Unabridged BookstoreNew bookstore with excellent sale section located in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago.
- The UnderstudyA book and coffee shop that hosts script readings and events with local theaters
Interlibrary Loan
Interlibrary Loan (ILL) is a quick and cooperative way to receive scans of articles or book chapters as well as physical books from other libraries. To request an item via ILL, log in to your account and click on the "Place a Request" link. For more information or to contact the ILL department, please visit the Interlibrary Loan website.
Book Reviews
To find reviews of books, plays, and other media, use the "Reviews" filter in the library catalog. Here is an example search for book reviews of Toni Morrison's novel Beloved. To make things easier, click on the example search link and simply enter the title you are interested in finding review of. Other places to find reviews include:
- American Periodical SeriesFull text database of American periodicals that began publishing between 1740 and 1900, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children's and women's magazines, and many more. For those periodicals that continued to publish after 1900, coverage is extended well into the 20th century.
- Anarchist Review of BooksThe Anarchist Review of Books publishes intelligent, non-academic writing with an anti-authoritarian perspective. We are dedicated to transforming society through literature and through open, incisive critique of the media, politics, history, art and writing that shape our world.
- British Periodicals OnlineThis resource provides online access to 400 British periodicals from the late seventeenth to the early twentieth century. Subject areas covered include literature, philosophy, history, science, the fine arts and the social sciences. All titles are full text searchable and contain high-resolution facsimile page images.
- Choice ReviewsChoice Reviews gives subscribers immediate access to a comprehensive archive of almost 200,000 reviews representing a quarter-century of scholarship.
- Los Angeles Review of BooksThe Los Angeles Review of Books magazine was created in part as a response to the disappearance of the traditional newspaper book review supplement, and, with it, the art of lively, intelligent long-form writing on recent publications in every genre, ranging from fiction to politics.
- New York Review of BooksThe New York Review of Books is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of important books is an indispensable literary activity.
- Times Literary Supplement"Every week, we publish book reviews, book extracts, essays and poems from leading writers from around the world. We cover far more than just literature, featuring major articles on subjects from anthropology to zoology, philosophy to politics, comedy to psychology. We are the only major English-language publication to review books published in other languages, including French, Spanish, German, Italian and Russian. Each week, we also review the latest in fiction, film, opera, theatre, dance, radio and television."
Dissertations
- ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global This link opens in a new windowWith more than 2 million entries, PQD&T offers comprehensive listings for U.S. doctoral dissertations back to 1861, with extensive coverage of dissertations from many non-U.S. institutions. A number of masters theses are also listed. Thousands of dissertations are available full text, and abstracts are included for dissertations from the mid-1980s forward.