Women and Children First bookstore, Andersonville

One of the preeminent feminist bookstores in the country and a longtime fixture of the Andersonville community, Women and Children First (5233 N. Clark St., 773-769-9299) has an excellent selection of titles and a knowledgeable, helpful staff to recommend just the perfect read. It's also open til 9 pm many nights (6 or 7 on others), making it a nice spot to linger and browse while you wait for a table at a nearby restaurant. The bookstore does a brisk online/mail-order business and hosts plenty of author events as well as community functions of interest to lesbians, families, and others in this diverse neighborhood. It's near Reza's and A Taste of Heaven, and it's one of the city's best indie bookstores (along with Unabridged, in East Lakeview).