Recs if you like An American Summer: Love and Death in Chicago...

I FEEL IT! books set in Chicago or where Chicago is important in some major way. fiction and non-fiction.

round up of fiction books set in Chicago (for most or all of the story) or nonfiction books about the city

The J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize is an annual $10,000 award given to a book that exemplifies, "literary grace, a commitment to serious research and social concern." The prize is given by the Nieman Foundation and by the Columbia University School of Journalism.