There’s no doubt about: reading outdoors in Chicago is magical. That’s why this August, Read & Run Chicago is inviting you to soak up the best of the end of the season with three outdoor reading gatherings in three incredible outdoor reading spots—some you may have never heard of—and you’re officially invited.

To understand more the real-life parallels between Makkai’s novel and 1980s Lakeview, Read & Run Chicago hosted three LGBTQ elders after our Book Club Run of The Great Believers in January 2025 in partnership with Gerber/Hart Library & Archives, the largest LGBTQ archives in the Midwest and a resource for Rebecca Makkai.