By Illinois Radio Network
SPRINGFIELD – A lot of the choices on Illinois’ Top 200 books list are set in Chicago, but the ones that aren’t might surprise some.
Perhaps surprisingly, there aren’t any books about Abraham Lincoln on the list of best books for Illinois’ latest Top 200 list.
There are books about politics, murder, the Civil War, and a witch, a lion, a scarecrow, and girl with her little dog, too.
Chris Willis with the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency said there are some groundbreaking books on the list of Illinois’ best.
“‘The Jungle,’ the book about the meat packing industry in Chicago,” Wills said. “There’s also Mike Royko’s biography of the first Mayor Daley, called “Boss: [Richard J. Daley of Chicago]”. There’s ‘Devil in the White City’ about the Chicago World’s Fair and a serial killer.”
“The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” is also on the list. Wills said the famous tale is an Illinois book that’s set in Kansas.
“The author, L. Frank Baum, lived in Illinois at the time that he wrote the book,” Wills said. “And what’s more, he had a niece who died as an infant and is buried in Bloomington. And her name was Dorothy Gage. And that’s where he got the name Dorothy Gale, for the heroine in his book.”
