Books about New York City

  1. The Cricket in Times Square

    by George Selden
    A friendship between a mouse, a cricket, and a cat in New York City.

    The story is about a cricket from Connecticut named Chester who gets caught on a train for New York. After stumbling on the subway, Chester ends up in Times Square. Mario Bellini, who helps his ... (Wikipedia)

  2. Rules of Civility

    by Amor Towles
    An ambitious young woman looks to make her mark in 1930s New York, learning the complex rules of high society.

    This sophisticated and entertaining first novel presents the story of a young woman whose life is on the brink of transformation. On the last night of 1937, twenty-five-year-old Katey Kontent is in a ... (Goodreads)

  3. The Brooklyn Follies

    by Paul Auster
    An aging man's journey of self-discovery, revealing the beauty and complexity of life.

    60-year-old Nathan Glass returns to Brooklyn after his wife has left him. He is recovering from lung cancer and is looking for "a quiet place to die". In Brooklyn he meets his nephew , Tom, whom he ... (Wikipedia)

  4. The Ballad of Black Tom

    by Victor LaValle
    A retelling of Lovecraft's "The Horror at Red Hook" from the perspective of a black man in 1920s New York City.

    People move to New York looking for magic and nothing will convince them it isn't there. Charles Thomas Tester hustles to put food on the table, keep the roof over his father's head, from Harlem to ... (Goodreads)

  5. Live from New York: An Oral History of Saturday Night Live

    by Tom Shales
    A behind-the-scenes look at the iconic sketch comedy show, featuring interviews with cast members and collaborators.

    James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales's definitive oral history of, Saturday Night Live, hailed as "incredible" (,Vulture,) and "required reading" (,People,). When first published to celebrate the 30th ... (Barnes & Noble)

  6. Forever

    by Pete Hamill
    A love story of two star-crossed lovers who span the ages, testing the power of eternal love.

    This widely acclaimed bestseller is the magical, epic tale of an extraordinary man who arrives in New York in 1740 and remains . . . forever. Through the eyes of Cormac O'Connor – granted immortality ... (Goodreads)

  7. Breakfast at Tiffany's

    by Truman Capote
    An exploration of love, loss and identity, through the eyes of a young woman in New York City.

    In autumn 1943, the unnamed narrator befriends Holly Golightly. The two are tenants in a brownstone apartment in Manhattan 's Upper East Side . Holly (age 18–19) is a country girl turned New York ... (Wikipedia)

  8. Billy Bathgate

    by E.L. Doctorow
    A young boy becomes a protégé of notorious gangster Dutch Schultz during the Prohibition era.

    Billy Behan is an impoverished Irish American fifteen-year-old living in The Bronx with his crazy mother. One afternoon Billy is present when the Jewish mobster Dutch Schultz arrives to inspect a ... (Wikipedia)

  9. Heat Wave

    by Richard Castle
    Detective solves a string of murders in a scorching summer heat wave in New York City.

    The New York Times bestseller, HEAT WAVE, is a tie-in to the ABC primetime show, CASTLE, that premiered in March 2009. The main character of the show, Richard Castle, is a bestselling mystery writer. ... (Barnes & Noble)

  10. Just Kids

    by Patti Smith
    Chronicles of two young artists in New York City, finding friendship and inspiration in each other.

    In Just Kids , Patti Smith's first book of prose, the legendary American artist offers a never-before-seen glimpse of her remarkable relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in the epochal ... (Goodreads)

  11. City on Fire

    by Garth Risk Hallberg
    A mystery novel set in 1970s New York City, exploring the interconnected lives of its inhabitants leading up to a catastrophic event.

    New York City, 1976. Meet Regan and William Hamilton-Sweeney, estranged heirs to one of the city's great fortunes; Keith and Mercer, the men who, for better or worse, love them; Charlie and Samantha, ... (Goodreads)

  12. Sweetbitter

    by Stephanie Danler
    A young woman's coming-of-age story in the restaurant industry of New York City.

    Tess is twenty-two when she packs up her things in her car and moves from Ohio to New York City. Knowing nothing and no one she stumbles her way into a job at a semi-prestigious restaurant as a back ... (Wikipedia)

  13. 10:04

    by Ben Lerner
    A poet's journey through life, confronting the obstacles of mortality and identity.

    In the last year, the narrator of 10:04 has enjoyed unlikely literary success, has been diagnosed with a potentially fatal medical condition, and has been asked by his best friend to help her ... (Goodreads)

  14. Shopaholic Takes Manhattan

    by Sophie Kinsella
    A young woman's comedic journey to New York City, discovering her true purpose in life.

    The irresistible heroine of Confessions of a Shopaholic and Shopaholic Ties the Knot is back! And this time Becky Bloomwood and her credit cards are headed across the Atlantic.... With her shopping ... (Goodreads)

  15. The Collected Poems of Frank O'Hara

    by Frank O'Hara
    A collection of poems that capture the essence of New York City and the poet's personal experiences.

    Available for the first time in paperback, The Collected Poems of Frank O'Hara reflects the poet's growth as an artist from the earliest dazzling experimental verses that he began writing in the late ... (Goodreads)

  16. The Dollhouse

    by Fiona Davis
    A woman unravels the secrets of a historic New York City apartment building and confronts dark secrets from the past.

    Fiona Davis's stunning debut novel pulls readers into the lush world of New York City's glamorous Barbizon Hotel for Women, where in the 1950s a generation of aspiring models, secretaries, and ... (Goodreads)

  17. Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk

    by Kathleen Rooney
    An elderly woman's journey through the streets of New York, reflecting on her extraordinary life.

    It’s the last day of 1984, and 85-year-old Lillian Boxfish is about to take a walk. As she traverses a grittier Manhattan, a city anxious after an attack by a still-at-large subway vigilante, she ... (Goodreads)

  18. The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge

    by David McCullough
    An in-depth account of the construction of the iconic Brooklyn Bridge.

    Published on the fortieth anniversary of its initial publication, this edition of the classic book contains a new Preface by David McCullough, “one of our most gifted living writers” (,The Washington ... (Goodreads)

  19. Winter's Tale

    by Mark Helprin
    A magical and romantic story set in a mythical version of New York City, spanning over a century.

    Now a major motion picture New York Times bestseller "Utterly extraordinary . . . A piercing sense of the beautiful arising from narrative and emotional fantasy is everywhere alive in the novel . . . ... (Barnes & Noble)

  20. Bright Lights, Big City

    by Jay McInerney
    A young man's journey of personal growth, navigating the chaos of New York City.

    The story's narrator is a 24-year-old writer who works as a fact checker for a highbrow magazine for which he had once hoped to write. By night, he is a cocaine -using party-goer seeking to lose ... (Wikipedia)

  21. All-of-a-Kind Family

    by Sydney Taylor
    Five sisters navigate life in early 1900s New York, learning lessons in love and family.

    Ella, Henny, Sarah, Charlotte, and Gertrude are five sisters growing up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in 1912. The book follows them through a year of their childhood, as they deal with mundane ... (Wikipedia)

  22. The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York

    by Robert A. Caro
    Biography of Robert Moses, city planner and power broker who reshaped New York City.

    One of the most acclaimed books of our time, winner of both the Pulitzer and the Francis Parkman prizes, The Power Broker tells the hidden story behind the shaping (and mis-shaping) of ... (Goodreads)

  23. Murder on St. Mark's Place

    by Victoria Thompson
    In 1890s New York, midwife Sarah Brandt investigates the murder of a young woman in the wealthy St. Mark's Place neighborhood.

    As a midwife in the turn-of-the-century tenements of New York City, Sarah Brandt has seen suffering and joy, birth and death-and even murder. And the crime ridden streets of the teeming city offer ... (Goodreads)

  24. Bellevue: A History of America's Oldest Hospital

    by David M. Oshinsky
    A historical account of Bellevue Hospital, from its founding in 1736 to modern times, detailing its role in shaping American medicine and treating the mentally ill.

    David Oshinsky chronicles the history of America's oldest hospital and in so doing also charts the rise of New York to the nation's preeminent city, the path of American medicine from butchery and ... (Goodreads)

  25. The Emperor's Children

    by Claire Messud
    Three Ivy League graduates navigate their lives in post-9/11 New York City, revealing their flaws and desires.

    In 2001 in New York City three friends, who all showed signs of brilliance in their youth, reach their 30s without having achieved the promise they showed a decade earlier. Danielle Minkoff is the ... (Wikipedia)

  26. Dash & Lily's Book of Dares

    by Rachel Cohn
    A romantic journey of two teens, exchanging dares and exploring New York City.

    “I’ve left some clues for you. If you want them, turn the page. If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.” So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the bestselling authors of Nick & ... (Goodreads)

  27. Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

    by Rachel Cohn
    Two teens in New York City embark on an unforgettable night of music and adventure.

    It all starts when Nick asks Norah to be his girlfriend for five minutes. He only needs five minutes to avoid his ex-girlfriend, who's just walked in to his band's show. With a new guy. And then, ... (Goodreads)

  28. Netherland

    by Joseph O'Neill
    A man's journey through grief, finding solace in the game of cricket.

    Netherland opens on protagonist Hans van den Broek, a Dutch financial analyst living in London with his English wife Rachel, but quickly flashes back to the years Hans spent in New York City before ... (Wikipedia)

  29. Murder on Gramercy Park

    by Victoria Thompson
    In 1890s New York, a midwife and a detective team up to solve a murder in high society.

    As a midwife in the turn-of-the-century tenements of New York City, Sarah Brandt has seen her share of suffering and joy, birth and death. Now, she learns that crime doesn’t discriminate, when the ... (Goodreads)

  30. New York

    by Edward Rutherfurd
    An epic saga spanning centuries of the history and people of New York City.

    Edward Rutherfurd celebrates America’s greatest city in a rich, engrossing saga, weaving together tales of families rich and poor, native-born and immigrant—a cast of fictional and true characters ... (Goodreads)

  31. Queen of Babble in the Big City

    by Meg Cabot
    A young woman's quest to make it in the big city, learning important life lessons along the way.

    Lizzie Nichols is back, pounding the New York City pavement and looking for a job, a place to live, and her proper place in the universe (not necessarily in that order). When "Summer Fling" Luke uses ... (Goodreads)

  32. My Salinger Year

    by Joanna Rakoff
    A memoir of a young woman's experience working for J.D. Salinger's literary agency in the 1990s.

    In 1995, Joanna, an aspiring writer and poet, leaves Berkeley, California and her boyfriend Karl and moves to New York City where she takes a job at one of New York's oldest literary agencies run by ... (Wikipedia)

  33. Lipstick Jungle

    by Candace Bushnell
    Three successful women navigate their careers, relationships, and personal lives in New York City's cutthroat fashion industry.

    In a way, Candace Bushnell's Lipstick Jungle picks up where her career-defining book Sex and the City left off, in the money-soaked, power-hungry, beauty-obsessed jungle that is New York City. This ... (Goodreads)

  34. Breakfast at Tiffany's and Three Stories

    by Truman Capote
    A collection of four stories, including the iconic "Breakfast at Tiffany's," exploring love, loss, and the complexities of human relationships.

    An alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here . It's New York in the 1940s, where the martinis flow from cocktail hour till breakfast at Tiffany's. And nice girls don't, except, of course, Holly ... (Goodreads)

  35. The Swans of Fifth Avenue

    by Melanie Benjamin
    A tale of a rich socialite, her scandalous relationship with Truman Capote and its consequences.

    From the New York Times bestselling author of The Aviator’s Wife comes an enthralling new novel about Truman Capote’s scandalous, headline-making, and heart-wrenching friendship with Babe Paley and ... (Goodreads)

  36. Central Park

    by Guillaume Musso

    Nueva York, 8 a.m. Alice una joven policía parisina y Gabriel, un pianista de jazz estadounidense, se despiertan en un banco de Central Park esposados el uno al otro. Ella lleva su camisa manchada de ... (Barnes & Noble)

  37. All-of-a-Kind Family Downtown

    by Sydney Taylor
    Follow the adventures of five sisters growing up in New York City's Lower East Side in the early 1900s.

    Ella, Henny, Sarah, Charlotte, and Gertrude are five sisters growing up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in 1912. The book follows them through a year of their childhood, as they deal with mundane ... (Wikipedia)

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