In line with the hush-hush theme of the Spring Books issue, we asked some Chicago authors—whose soon-to-be-released books involve secrets in some way—to spill the beans about everything from combating writer’s block to exposing hidden information. I think it’s probably easier to keep a secret now than ever before because the stakes have been made more clear. Social interaction has been warped by technological capabilities to the degree that now it’s assumed everyone will share everything....

I hate it when someone acknowledges that Chicago is a wonderful place for architecture, art, music, and food but whines that it’s too difficult to access outdoor adventure or natural beauty here. Sure, we’re not Denver or Seattle or even Minneapolis in that respect. But on top of living next to a watery wilderness in the form of Lake Michigan, we’ve got something many of our peer cities lack: easy access to car-free camping....

The unctuous lounge-lizard croon that marks the singing of Dead Rider’s Todd Rittman has started to fray on the group’s fantastic new album, Crew Licks (Drag City), as if to suggest that his sinister shadiness is getting tangled within his own web of deceit. As usual, it’s often difficult to know exactly what he’s going on about, and when there’s some relatively clear idea at work it’s unsavory: “The Listing” seems to be about some kind of desperation-driven prostitution (replete with samples of an auctioneer at full tilt), while on “When I Was Frankenstein’s” the narrator boasts about carrying a feathery umbrella and wearing a fine cap despite being a monster....

AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar Jeff Samardzija Reader staffers share stories that fascinate, amuse, or inspire us. • About alcoholic woman writers? —Aimee Levitt • About the rebranding of Humboldt Park’s shopping district as “WOW” (West of Western)? —Tal Rosenberg

@kristenkaza Runner-Up React Presents

Corey Wilkes Block-party season is officially here as Do-Division Street Fest kicks off Friday; High on Fire, JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound, Jimmy Whispers, the O’My’s, Screaming Females, Radar Eyes, and Oozing Wound are just some of the acts playing the three-day blowout. But if you’re looking to beat the heat and still catch some live music, there are plenty of other opportunities throughout the week. “On his latest solo album, In the Hollows (Western Vinyl), Dirty Projectors bassist Nat Baldwin plants both feet in the art-pop patch, surrounding his billowy, impatient melodies with precise string arrangements that draw on the talents of violist Nadia Sirota, violinist Rob Moose, and cellist Clarice Jensen, all members of young New York chamber group yMusic,” writes Peter Margasak....

Lee Fields If you’re looking for an unorthodox way to ring in the Sabbath on Friday, I’d recommend going to Concord Music Hall to see Say Anything, who are touring in support of their new album—Hebrews. Show up early for You Blew It! and the Front Bottoms to get a fourth-wave emo fix. “Around the time the mammoth David Comes to Life came out in 2011, I heard a friend compare Fucked Up to the Gin Blossoms fronted by Jamey Jasta from Hatebreed,” writes Kevin Warwick....

Lydia Lunch Outkast will be in Chicago in a little more than a month, but if you don’t have a ticket to Lollapalooza you won’t get to see them here; however, if you’ve got a way of getting up to Milwaukee this weekend you can get tickets to see the fantastic Atlanta hip-hop duo perform at Summerfest on Sunday. If you’re not in the mood for a getaway concert there are plenty of other shows happening in town this weekend....

On Friday, the Portage Theater hosts a rap showcase organized by Lyrical Lemonade, which has come to occupy an unusual position in the local hip-hop scene since music videographer Cole Bennett founded it in 2013. Bennett, now 21, has developed Lyrical Lemonade into much more than an outlet for his video work: today it’s also a rap blog, a show promoter (LL booked Lil Uzi Vert‘s first Chicago show last year), and a clothing line....

Rick Danzl/News-Gazette Nishana Ismail and Tim Deppen, creators of Shadow Last year, when Tim Deppen and Nishana Ismail’s friend and classmate was mugged at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the story was all too familiar: as she was walking through campus in broad daylight, two men came up from behind her, snatched her purse, and fled. Without access to her phone, the woman had to find a random stranger who was willing to call for help....

Various locations eatcba.com Runner-Up New York Bagel & Bialy

WGN Morning News wgntv.com/category/morning-news @WGNMorningNews Runner-Up “Morning AMP” on Vocalo

Barack and Michelle Obama Runner-Up Danny and Liz Maupin

various locations reckless.com Runner-Up Laurie’s Planet of Sound

The latest hot regional dance to take over the country is the Nae Nae, which has outgrown its native Atlanta over the past few months. The jubilant dance had gotten plenty of national exposure through We Are Toonz’ Billboard hit “Drop That #NaeNae,” and, as New York Times critic Jon Caramanica notes, it popped up in this year’s Oscars and on American Idol. But its real crossover moment came in March when Mercer guard Kevin Canevari, well, dropped that Nae Nae to celebrate his team’s victory over Duke in the NCAA tournament....

Sunday night at Thalia Hall, 20 local bartenders were onstage mixing, shaking, and garnishing cocktails rapid-fire while pink-clad spectators cheered at the top of their lungs. Speed Rack, now in its fifth year, is both an international speed-bartending competition for women and a fund-raiser for breast cancer research and education. In each round, the competitors have to make four cocktails as quickly and precisely as possible; in the first round (judged on speed alone) the cut-off time for advancing to the quarterfinals was 48 seconds, says judge Paul McGee, and the winners completed the challenge in 42 or 43 seconds....

If I told you a take-out joint in a Wilmette strip mall served the most exciting Pakistani food north of Granville, would you take the Brown Line, transfer to the Purple Line, ride that to Central, then wait a half hour for the 201 to shove off to Old Orchard Mall before plodding about a third of a mile up Skokie Boulevard for some freshly curdled palak paneer and bhindi that tastes like green fireworks?...