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Sometimes, it seems like there are almost as many books about New York as there are New Yorkers. Here are a few to bring with you or to read at home to set the mood.


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NONFICTION

Here is New York

E.B. White / Little Book Room, 2000


Originally published in 1949, White's stroll through New York (surely an inspiration for Pete Hamill, below) is still a charming introduction to the city, all these years later.


Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City

Michelle and James Nevius / Free Press, 2009


​Packed with information, this compact history tells the story of New York from the arrival of Henry Hudson in 1609 to the destruction of the World Trade Center in 2001. This is the book tour guides study from, and is a lively, engaging read.


Footprints in New York: Tracing the Lives of Four Centuries of New Yorkers

James and Michelle Nevius / Lyons Press, 2014


Nineteen entertaining essays trace the lives of New Yorkers both famous (Edgar Allan Poe) and forgotten (DeWitt Clinton) looking at their impact on the city while literally following in their footsteps.


Downtown: My Manhattan

​by Pete Hamill / Back Bay Books, 2005


Written in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, Hamill's story--one part memoir one part history--looks at the city he loves with a journalist's practiced eye.


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NEW YORK CITY BOOKS

​​​FICTION

New York

Edward Rutherfurd / Ballantine Books, 2010


Following Rutherfurd's tried and true formula, New York weaves together multiple generations of characters in New York with famous historical events, from the arrival of the Dutch through the present.


The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald / Scribner 2004


Though much of this great Jazz Age novel takes place on Long Island, it is still a quintessential New York book and a riveting tale of love and loss.


Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Jonathan Safran Foer / Mariner Books, 2006


​Young Oskar Schell, reeling from the loss of his father in the World Trade Center attacks, sets out on a quixotic mission across the five boroughs. It captures the mood of the city in the wake of tragedy brilliantly.

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