Chapter & Verse

Books · Carbondale, Illinois · Est. 1998

A bookshop that still believes in browsing.

New, used, and rare books on the Strip in Carbondale — deep shelves, honest recommendations, and a chair by the window that has heard twenty-five years of good arguments about endings.

Browse Staff PicksAsk Us to Order a Book
SectionNew Releases
SectionUsed & Rare
SectionKids' Nook
SectionLocal Authors

Staff Picks

Read & Argued Over In-Store

Maren Recommends

The Salt Road Home

by Eleanor Voss

“A river-town novel that earns every tear. For anyone who has left Southern Illinois — and anyone who stayed.”

$17.99Fiction · Paperback

Dev Recommends

A Field Guide to Vanishing Birds

by Thomas Aldercroft

“Part memoir, part field guide, entirely beautiful. The chapter on the Shawnee in spring alone is worth it.”

$24.95Nature · Hardcover

June Recommends

The Midnight Bake-Off

by Clara Beaumont

“A cozy mystery with real stakes and a sourdough starter named Gerald. Our book club fought over the ending for an hour.”

$16.99Mystery · Paperback

This Week, Every Week

Tue

Storytime in the Kids' Nook — 10 AM. Picture books, a rug full of toddlers, and coffee for the grown-ups.

Thu

Silent Reading Night — 6 to 8 PM. Bring any book. We dim the lamps, silence the register bell, and read together, quietly.

Sat

Chapter & Verse Book Club — 11 AM. One title a month, no homework energy. November's pick is listed at the counter.

Our Story

Chapter & Verse was opened in 1998 by Helen Marsh, a retired Carbondale English teacher who believed a college town deserved a bookshop that was not a textbook annex.

Helen still shelves on Saturday mornings. The shop now carries her former students' novels in the Local Authors section — which, she will tell you, was the whole point.

From Our Readers

Counter Conversations
★★★★★

“Asked for one recommendation and left with three perfect books. They know their shelves cold.”

Samir P. · Carbondale
★★★★★

“Silent Reading Night is my favorite hour of the week. A whole room reading, nobody performing.”

Laura G. · Murphysboro
★★★★★

“Ordered an out-of-the-way poetry collection on Monday. It was waiting for me Wednesday, with a note inside.”

Ben H. · Makanda

The Shop

819 S Illinois Avenue
Carbondale, IL 62901

Hours

Mon – Sat · 10a – 8p
Sun · 12p – 5p

Orders & Questions

(618) 555-0171
counter@chapterverse.example