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New York Books: The Best Books Set in the Empire State
By: Angela & Melissa
Updated:
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, we may earn a referral fee from qualifying purchases.Whether you’re participating in our Read Around the USA Challenge or simply found your way to our website researching books set in New York, we’ve curated a diverse list of highly-rated titles about the Empire State! If you’re looking for another state, check our comprehensive list of books set in every state.
Literary Themes in New York Books
From Manhattan’s skyscrapers to the Adirondacks’ wilderness, New York’s diversity spans urban and rural extremes. New York City dominates the state’s literature with stories of ambition, immigration, art, finance, and countless other themes. Upstate New York offers contrasting settings in the Finger Lakes, Catskills, and small cities. The state’s literary heritage is vast, spanning every genre and era.
The Best Books Set in New York
We started with a list of over 300 books set across New York state, from Manhattan to Niagara Falls. While we worked hard to narrow it down to a diverse list of highly-rated books we think you’ll enjoy, we know this is far from a comprehensive list of New York reads.
Before I Forget
Book Summary
Twenty-six-year-old Cricket’s life is about to change in a big way. She currently works for an eccentric woman’s wellness company in Manhattan and lives with roommates to make ends meet. Her older sister, Nina, lives with their aging father, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, at the family home in the Adirondacks.
Cricket has avoided the home she loves for a decade. When she was 16, a tragedy occurred, and it’s easier for her to avoid the painful memories. But now Nina has an incredible opportunity to conduct medical research in Stockholm, which means decisions about Dad’s care must be made. It’s time for Cricket to face the realities of both the past and the future as she returns to Catwood Pond.
About the Author
We found this comment from the author on Goodreads that explains her personal connection to this storyline: “My father had Alzheimer’s and died when I was in my early thirties. It was a topic that I wanted to write about, but it took me a while to figure out an angle that felt fresh and unexpected. I wanted to honor the emotional truth of what it means to navigate Alzheimer’s, but I also wanted to tell a story that was whimsical and fun to read. A tricky balance to strike, for sure.
Pick This Book If…
If you love page-turning novels that feel like they have a fresh and unique perspective, this is a quick read at 274 pages. Melissa loved it and was surprised it didn’t get more attention when it was released.
It’s also a perfect book for New York, as the decision between living in Manhattan or a more remote location in the Adirondacks is a big one in the book, with characters considering the pros and cons of each location.
The Masterpiece
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
99% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
For most New Yorkers, Grand Central Terminal is a masterpiece of architectural design, but for Clara and Virginia, it represents something entirely different.
For Clara, in 1928, teaching at the Grand Central School of Art was the stepping stone to her future. In a time when there was public disdain for a woman artist, Clara is determined to succeed in her dream of creating cover art for Vogue. But she and her friends will soon be blindsided by the looming Great Depression that may destroy the entire art scene.
By 1974, Grand Central had declined to a dangerous place full of pickpockets and drug dealers, and it was at the center of a lawsuit that would decide if the terminal should be preserved or demolished. Virginia, who had recently taken a job in the Grand Central information booth, stumbles upon an abandoned art school within the terminal and discovers a striking watercolor that opens her eyes to the elegance beneath the decay. She sets out to find the artist and finds herself drawn into the battle to save Grand Central.
More NYC Books By Fiona Davis
We both LOVE New York City, and that makes Fiona Davis one of our favorite authors, as all of our titles have connections to important buildings in NYC. If you’ve already enjoyed the Masterpiece, any of her other novels would also be great picks. You can read a synopsis of each one in our Fiona Davis Author guide. We’ve also listed them below, along with the building at the center of each story.
The Dollhouse – The Barbizon Hotel
The Address – The Dakota
The Masterpiece – Grand Central Station
The Chelsea Girls – Chelsea Hotel
The Lions of Fifth Avenue – New York Public Library
The Magnolia Palace – Frick Mansion
The Spectacular – Radio City Music Hall
The Stolen Queen – Metropolitan Museum of Art (also partially set in Egpyt
Home of the American Circus
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
Book Summary
Freya had been working as a bartender in Maine, but after an emergency left her short on cash, she headed back to her hometown of Somers, New York. In Somers, she could at least stay in the house she inherited from her estranged parents without worrying about rent.
She’s shocked to learn that her 15-year-old niece, Aubrey, has been living secretly in the derelict home. While she intended to lay low in Somers, Freya is not only reconnecting with Aubrey, but also encounters childhood friends, familial enemies, and old flames around town.
Throughout the story, Aubrey and Freya begin to repair both the home and their relationship, and readers slowly learn the difficult reasons Freya initially fled from Somers.
Our Thoughts on This Book
From the first chapters of this novel, Melissa was invested in Freya’s life and deeply curious about her backstory, along with Aubrey’s, which are slowly unveiled throughout the novel. It walks the line perfectly between being a character study and a page-turning read.
In addition to the characters’ lives and determination to stop generational trauma, there is also an interesting side story woven into the novel. You’ll learn the history of Somers’ most famous resident in the early 1800s, “Old Bet,” an elephant owned by Hachaliah Bailey, co-founder of Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Larkin also wrote The People We Keep, which we both rated 5 stars. It’s largely set in Upstate New York, so it would also be a great choice if you can’t get your hands on this newer release.
With Love from Harlem
Book Summary
Jazz prodigy Hazel is only 23, but she’s already a film star and fierce advocate for civil rights. When she encounters Harlem’s electrifying preacher-turned-politician, Adam Clayton Powell Jr, he’s the perfect other half to create a Harlem power-couple…except for the fact that he’s already married.
Over the next 17 years, their affair turns into a marriage, but things don’t get any easier. Hazel’s star is rising in the Jazz world, and Adam is elected to Congress. What is Hazel willing to sacrifice for her family, and what will she refuse to give up?
What to Expect in This Book
This is a romantic, history-rich drama that features many real people from 1940s Harlem beyond Hazel Scott and Adam Clayton Powell Jr, including Billie Holiday, Langston Hughes, and James Baldwin.
While much of the book takes place in the 1940s, Hazel and Adam’s story also includes the 1950s and the impacts of McCarthyism and segregation.
Grace of the Empire State
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
When the patriarch of the O’Connell family died in a workplace accident within months of the Stock Market Crash of 1929, Grace’s family lost nearly everything. But she was at least making money as a dancer while her twin brother had a well-paying, but dangerous, job on the beams of the Empire State Building.
Life threw them another twist when Grace’s club closed, leaving her without income, and her brother was injured on the job. And if he can’t work, his entire four-person crew would be out of a job.
But Patrick has an idea. Could Grace use her time in the circus to take his role on the beams? She’ll have to pretend to be him, but they are twins…Could it work?
Why This Was One of Our Favorites
We’ve both been lucky enough to visit the top of the Empire State Building and see photos of the construction process, but reading this book gave us new perspectives on both the Empire State Building and this pivotal time in NYC history.
We were both very impressed with this debut novel, and Angela, who is a huge fan of musical theater, hasn’t stopped thinking about how wonderful it would be to see a stage production that combines the ballet of Grace’s past with the intricate choreography of the steelworkers for whom every move is a matter of life and death precision.
The God of the Woods
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
In 1961, the only son of a family that owns a summer camp in the Adirondacks disappeared while hiking and was never found. Now, in 1975, a camp counselor discovers that the family’s daughter, thirteen-year-old Barbara, is missing. Are the tragedies related?
As soon as they realize Barbara is not in her bunk, a frantic search is launched. The investigation is deeply layered, with Barbara’s counselor, Louise; her bunkmate, Tracy; her mother, Alice; and a young, female detective, Judyta, each sharing a compelling perspective along the way.
What to Expect in This Book
This is a more dimensional read than a standard thriller, with complex themes of motherhood, class, and sexuality explored as the investigation unwinds the past in an effort to understand the present.
This layered, slow-burning book uses a nonlinear timeline, shifting between timelines to reveal new aspects of the story. Readers say the two timelines are seamlessly woven together, and the book’s pace accelerates through twists and turns.
If I Ruled the World
Book Summary
At a prestigious fashion magazine in 1999, Nikki is the only Black editor on staff. She thought her hard work had her on the path to becoming editor-in-chief, but her boss says, “Black girls don’t sell magazines.” Tired of being limited at the magazine, Nikki takes her career into her own hands with a major pivot to Sugar, a struggling hip-hop music and lifestyle magazine with untapped potential.
She has six months to turn things around, which will include both late nights at the office and parties with the era’s most influential bad boys. Her almost-impossible task is complicated further by Alonzo, her powerful ex, who is determined to destroy Sugar. But she’s lucky to have a circle of loyal friends to help her along the way.
Reader Thoughts on This Book
While this book is highly rated overall, some readers are frustrated by the main character repeatedly making poor decisions with men, despite being brilliant at work.
The Collected Regrets of Clover
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Clover had an unusual childhood, with her Kindergarten teacher passing away during a reading of Peter Rabbit. Then, her parents passed away while traveling, and she started a new life with her grandfather in New York City. She continued to be fascinated by death and was studying different cultural traditions abroad when she received the terrible news that her grandfather had passed away alone in his office.
Clover commits to preventing others from dying alone by becoming a death doula. She only takes one patient at a time, so she can be more present for her clients than hospice workers. Whether she’s only holding their hand or hearing their regrets about life, she is present to honor them in their last moments. Her only friend is actually her grandfather’s friend, Leo, who is very concerned that when he is gone, Clover will be alone. Between his friendship-matchmaking and a fiesty new client, can Clover shift her life focus outside of work from the dying to a new life of her own?
Our Thoughts On This Book
Melissa highly recommends this book for anyone who loves the heart of Fredrik Backman and characters like Eleanor Oliphant or Albert Entwistle, who have been loners for much of their lives.
While the book’s concept sounds heavy on death and grief, the novel is very much about life. It’s a rare book that Melissa wanted to read again immediately, while also wanting to give it a hug.
Lake Effect
Book Summary
In 1977, Nina lived in Rochester, New York, with her husband and her teenage daughter, Clara. When a recently divorced friend gives her a copy of The Joy of Sex, it becomes impossible for Nina to ignore the lack of intimacy in her marriage. She finds herself craving more, and finds it via an intoxicating fling with a neighbor. But in doing so, she risks the reputations of both families and ends up unraveling her daughter’s world just as Clara is on the cusp of adulthood.
Years later, Clara works as a food stylist in New York City. She has never quite been able to move past the long-ago scandal of her mom’s affair. When she returns home for a family wedding while still wrestling with her own demons, she makes a decision that turns her life upside down.
Thoughts on This Book
While Angela really enjoyed Sweeney’s last novel, Good Company, it didn’t quite hit the mark with many readers. However, the early reviews of Lake Effect are singing its praises, and we are looking forward to diving into the family drama.
This promises to be another novel where you won’t always agree with the characters’ decisions, but oftentimes those books provide the very best discussion opportunities!
It’s a Love Story
Book Summary
As a kid, Jane was “Poor Janey Jakes,” the punchline character on a sitcom. As an adult, she’s become a Creative Executive at a studio and is embracing her “fake it ’til you make it” mantra.
Unfortunately, she might have taken this strategy too far. In a desperate moment, trying to get her first film approved, she accidentally told a big fib. Jack Quinlan is a huge pop star, and she said he agreed to write an original song for the soundtrack.
While Jane did know Jack twenty years ago, she hasn’t spoken to him since her first kiss with him two decades ago. Now she has to do the unthinkable and spend a week on Long Island with her former crush, Dan, a pompous cinematographer, who has an in to reunite her with Jack so she can convince him to write the song.
About the Setting
Traveling east from Manhattan transports you to a totally new environment, the peninsula of Long Island, which includes popular summer vacation destinations like the Hamptons, Montauk, and Fire Island.
The Last Days of Night
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
98% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
In 1888, New York, the streets were still lit by gas lamps, but the promise of the light bulb loomed. However, the switch to electric light brought an additional complication: both George Westinghouse and Thomas Edison claimed to have invented the lightbulb.
A young lawyer, Paul Cravath, is thrust into the world of New York high society when he agrees to defend Westinghouse in a lawsuit brought by Thomas Edison. Edison has spies and vast resources, including the backing of J.P. Morgan. How can they fight against such a force?
When Paul meets Nikola Tesla, he may have found the secret to defeating Edison. But winning requires risks.
Our Thoughts on This Book
We both really enjoyed all the different aspects of this novel, from the inventions and legal battle to the feeling of being in 1880s Manhattan. Melissa’s husband also read it and rated it highly.
The Last Days of Night was a Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Historical Fiction in 2016.
The Sun Down Motel
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
97% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
This atmospheric, dual-timeline thriller, with a side of the paranormal, is a perfect pick for fans of the suspense and horror genres.
In 1982, 20-year-old Viv worked as a night clerk at the Sun Down Motel. She was hoping to save enough money for a move to NYC, but something isn’t right at the hotel, and she’s determined to find out what it is.
In 2017, 20-year-old Carly grew up hearing the story of her aunt Viv’s disappearance from the Sun Down Motel thirty-five years before. When she visits the motel, she soon finds herself entangled in the mystery of the haunted motel.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
95% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Francie Nolan needed to be made of stern stuff from her earliest days. Growing up in the Williamsburg slums of Brooklyn, New York, demanded fortitude, precocity, and strength of spirit – and Francie has each of these in spades.
Neighbors often scorn her for her family’s erratic and eccentric behavior, including her father’s taste for alcohol and her Aunt Sissy’s habit of marrying again and again without the formality of divorce. No one, least of all Francie, would say that the Nolans’ life lacked drama.
What to Know Before Reading
This classic book isn’t a plot-driven page-turner; instead, it offers a poignant, at times meandering look at life in the 1910s. It captures a unique time and place and deeply resonant moments of universal experience.
A Fall of Marigolds
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
98% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
September 1911. On Ellis Island in New York Harbor, nurse Clara Wood cannot face returning to Manhattan, where the man she loved fell to his death in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. Then, while caring for a fevered immigrant whose own loss mirrors hers, she becomes intrigued by a name embroidered onto the scarf he carries…and finds herself caught in a dilemma that compels her to confront the truth about the assumptions she’s made.
September 2011. On Manhattan’s Upper West Side, widow Taryn Michaels has convinced herself that she is living fully, working in a charming specialty fabric store, and raising her daughter alone. Then, a long-lost photograph appears in a national magazine, and she is forced to relive the terrible day her husband died in the collapse of the World Trade Center Towers, which was the same day a stranger reached out and saved her. But a chance reconnection and a century-old scarf may open Taryn’s eyes to the larger forces at work in her life.
Thoughts on This Book
Melissa chose this book during the first year of our Decades Reading Challenge, and since that time, over 100 of our readers have read it, with nearly all rating it highly. One reader states, “I really appreciated the juxtaposition of the fire in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory and the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers.”
In 2024, Melissa was able to tour the hospital on Ellis Island, where so much of this book was set. She highly recommends the “hard hat” tour if you’re ever in the area after reading this book.
Pomona Afton Can So Solve a Murder
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Pomona is a spoiled Upper East Side hotel heiress who has just stumbled out of a gala to find her grandmother’s body. This wasn’t a shock because her grandma was meaner and more paranoid than likable. In fact, she was so paranoid that her will included a clause that all assets be frozen if she died an “unnatural” death.
Pomona is suddenly locked out of her penthouse with nowhere to go…except to Gabe, the son of her former nanny. He also needs the family money unfrozen because it includes his mom’s retirement funds. Can Pomona figure out the cause of death so she can return to her privileged trust fund life? Or will her time with Gabe help her learn that there is more to life than money?
Have You Seen Luis Velez?
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Raymond is a shy Black teen who feels like he doesn’t fit in anywhere – not with his complicated family, and not at school. Mildred is a blind 92-year-old Holocaust survivor living alone since her caretaker disappeared. When Raymond meets Mildred in his apartment building, she introduces herself with the question, “Have you seen Luis Velez?”
Raymond begins to help Mildred with her weekly errands to the banks and the grocery store, and also hopes to help her track down Luis. In a short time, they’ve formed an unlikely friendship. Raymond demonstrates that for every terrible act, there’s a mirror image of kindness. And Mildred helps Raymond see that even when life is difficult, there is always hope.
What to Expect in This Book
This heartwarming story will overwhelm you with the kindness of the characters, give you new hope for humanity, and encourage you to be your best. Each page is a sweet testament to the rewards that can come when you take time for others – whether that be opening your door to their questions, or simply walking them to the grocery store.
The book balances these positive moments with struggles and very hard times for different characters. Melissa finished the book quickly because after every chapter, you can’t wait to find out what happens next.
The Truth and Other Hidden Things
Book Summary
On one surprising day, Bells Walker learns that her husband Harry has been denied tenure at his Manhattan University, her IUD has failed, and they’re having a third child. When Harry gets a new job at a Hudson Valley college, Bells imagines a farm-to-table utopia based on stereotypes of the region.
However, what she finds in their new town of Pigkill, New York, is not at all a Utopia. To vent, she starts an anonymous blog under the name County Duchess, where she details the activities of hypercompetitive parents and kombucha-drinking hipsters. As her readers grow, she loves having a place to say all the things she’s been thinking about life as a wife and mom.
But when she uncovers a scandal and a post goes viral, everyone wants to know the identity of the County Duchess, which puts Harry’s job, her children, and her friendships at risk.
New York
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
In this epic historical fiction novel, Edward Rutherfurd weaves together more than 400 years of New York City history. From the humble beginnings of a fishing village, through the Revolutionary War and later the Civil War, onto the Gilded Age, and throughout the 20th century, you’ll see New York like you never have before. This book tells tales of battle, romance, and family struggles through the eyes of the rich and the poor, the native-born and the immigrants.
Consider This Before Reading
This hefty novel comes in at more than 850 pages, but if you have the time to invest, you’ll get a big dose of New York history alongside excellent fictional character development.
Harlem Rhapsody
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
93% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
While much of the country was experiencing social unrest in 1919, Harlem felt different. This corner of New York was filled with Black pride, as evidenced in the music, theater, fashion, and arts. Positioned right in the heart of this renaissance is a literary editor for a preeminent Negro magazine named Jessie Redmon Fauset.
The magazine’s founder and editor, W.E.B. Du Bois, tasked Jessie with discovering promising young writers whose words could change the world. Jessie wastes no time finding 16-year-old Countee Cullen and 17-year-old Langston Hughes. She also discovers Nella Larson, who becomes one of Jessie’s best friends.
In the 1920s, subscriptions to the already notable magazine soared, and every Black writer in the country vied for the opportunity to be published in The Crisis. Jessie’s career is taking off, but her relationship with her married boss, W.E.B., threatens to jeopardize it all. At a time when she faces both overwhelming sexism and racism, Jessie will have to find a way to balance her drive and her desires if she hopes to preserve her legacy and achieve her ambitious dreams.
Our Thoughts on This Book
Victoria Christopher Murray has co-authored two of our favorite books from recent years, The Personal Librarian and The First Ladies, so Melissa couldn’t wait to dig into Harlem Rhapsody, but didn’t initially walk away from this one at the top of her list because it felt a bit longer than necessary. However, when thinking back on the books she’s most glad she picked up in the first half of the year, this one easily makes the list because she learned so much about many important literary figures.
This historical fiction novel is based on the real life of Jessie Redmon Fauset. Those interested in digging deeper into the true stories and literary works behind this novel will be excited to learn that every edition of The Crisis is available online. Whether you want to simply browse the covers or read the pieces referenced in the novel, you’ll find them a great supplement to the book.
There’s Something About Mira
Book Summary
Mira’s life is unbelievably perfect. She has her dream job and a fiancé everyone adores. Her future seems to be turning into what she has always imagined. She’s not even upset when she has to go on her engagement trip to New York City alone because her fiancé has a schedule conflict. Again.
The simple trip changes her life in more ways than she could imagine. She reconciles with her brother Rumi and his partner Saket, who fled their parents’ judgments years ago. She also finds a ring and becomes obsessed with finding the owner. When her social media post about the ring goes viral, she’s connected with a broody reporter, Krish, who goes on a surprising adventure with Mira to trace their way back to the original owner.
What to Expect in This Book
While you may see this book advertised as a Rom-Com or get those vibes from the cover, most reviewers point out that it is neither romance nor comedy but instead a story of self-discovery and culture as a child of South Asian immigrants, with large doses of characters coming to terms with past trauma.
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
92% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
In 1994, at age 7, author Qian Wang moved with her family from China to America. Before the move, her parents were successful professors. Despite the Chinese word for America, Mei Guo, meaning beautiful country, life is much harder for the family here. Her parents overstay their visas and are not in the US legally, which means they must find work in sweatshops instead of classrooms.
Qian escapes to libraries to avoid the teachers and classmates who shun her limited English. Over time, she’s able to master English through her study of books like The Berenstain Bears and The Babysitters Club and begins to glimpse some of the magic of New York City, like Christmas at Rockefeller Center. However, her world changes again when her mom gets sick.
This memoir gives a unique insight into the hidden life and struggles of children trying to thrive in a place where they must also remain hidden in many ways.
Our Thoughts on This Book
Both Book Girls were teenagers in the 1990s, so Angela found it especially powerful to read about Qian Julie’s experiences growing up in that decade. Her sweatshop experiences, for example, were things we grew up thinking only happened in other countries when, in fact, they were part of Qian Julie’s reality in the United States. While Angela really enjoyed this memoir, some readers found it difficult to read about Qian Julie’s traumas, including her father’s abusive treatment of her cat.
Qian Julie went on to graduate from Swarthmore College and Yale Law School, and became a partner in a law firm with her practice focusing on civil rights litigation.
The Colony Club
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
In 1902, Daisy Harriman’s residence in NYC was undergoing renovations while Daisy and her family were staying at their summer home in Newport. When she needed to take a quick trip back to the city, she was astonished when the Waldorf Astoria refused to rent her a room because she was an “unaccompanied woman.”
Her outrage at this Victorian-era rule inspired her to create the first social club for women in New York, similar to the men’s clubs that hosted educational speakers and included sleeping quarters. At the same time, Nora is finishing her architecture training, and Elsie is a stage actress with an eye for design.
The paths of the three women collide as part of the Colony Club project, and there is a surprising murder along the way that leads to the “Trial of the Century.”
The book is told as 92-year-old Daisy is interviewed in 1963 about her many trailblazing achievements, including being President Kennedy’s first Citation of Merit Award winner.
Historical Context
This historical novel is based on the real Florence “Daisy” Jaffray Hurst Harriman and the founding of her Colony Club in NYC. Today, the Club has approximately 2,500 members. While men are allowed as guests, only women are allowed to be members.
Many other characters in the book are also real, so we recommend finishing the book before researching the real lives, including the murder victim and the trial, to avoid spoilers.
Last Summer at the Golden Hotel
Book Summary
For more than sixty years, the Goldman and Weingold families – best friends and business partners – have summered together at their jointly-owned Golden Hotel in the Catskills. But now, the facilities are falling apart, and they have an offer from a developer. Should they renovate, or is it time to sell? Everyone, including the grandchildren on both sides, wants a say in the future of the property during the family reunion.
While this family saga is condensed into only a few days, you’ll also see flashbacks to the glory days of the property and glimpses into the complicated lives of many of the family members.
Consider This Before Reading
If you loved the setting of family summers at resort camps featured in movies and TV like Dirty Dancing and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, this would be a great choice!
That said, there are also a lot of side characters and storylines to keep track of. If you prefer linear reads with fewer characters, it might not be the best pick.
The Matchmaker’s Gift
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
96% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Even as a child in 1910, Sara recognized that she was a gifted Jewish matchmaker and a seeker of soulmates. But on New York’s Lower East Side, this profession is dominated by devout older men who see a talented woman as a threat to their traditions and livelihood.
Two generations later, Abby is a successful Manhattan divorce attorney with some of the city’s wealthiest clients. When her beloved Grandma Sara dies, Abby inherits her collection of handwritten journals in which Sara recorded details of her matches. The pages seem to provide Abby with more questions than answers, including why the work she once found so compelling suddenly feels inconsequential and flawed.
Why We Think You’ll Love It
When we saw this novel described as “a captivating, exhilarating, feel-good, heartwarming, and magical historical fiction with the loveliest characters,” we immediately added it to our TBRs.
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Sawyer is a twenty-something trying to make it in New York, working as an assistant for a publishing company. She’s engaged to her college boyfriend but is extremely lonely in the summer of 1999, as her fiancé keeps working longer and longer hours…with a female coworker named Kendra.
Kendra’s boyfriend, Nick, has the same concerns about the endless hours Kendra is spending at work with Sawyer’s fiancé. After a rough first meeting, Sawyer and Nick form a friendship through their AOL Instant Messenger chat. Soon, they are spending every Friday afternoon exploring the city together.
Consider This Before Reading
Reviewers praise the audiobook version of Summer Fridays. Readers who don’t enjoy this novel cite the cheating in the storyline as something they couldn’t get past, so if that’s also a dealbreaker for you, skip this one.
Readers have noted that the novel offers a nostalgic glimpse into the publishing industry of the late 1990s. Overall, the book is deeper than a typical romance and leaves plenty to think about.
Ready or Not
Book Summary
Eva grew up in the Midwest with a traditional family that never really got her. She feels much more at home in her cozy Brooklyn apartment, and she’s inching closer to her dream career. Her romantic life, on the other hand, isn’t much to write home about. She’s come to expect men to disappoint her, but what she didn’t expect was to discover that she’s expecting a baby after an uncharacteristic one-night stand.
The unplanned pregnancy begins to affect every relationship in her life. The baby’s father is supportive but conflicted. And Eva is feeling disconnected from her best friend, Willa, just when she needs her the most. Surprisingly, it’s Willa’s older brother, Shep, who steps up to help.
As her pregnancy progresses and winter turns to spring, Eva discovers that family and love can sneak up on you when you least expect it.
Our Thoughts on This Book
When we first spotted this book, we were immediately drawn in by the beautiful cover with its springtime in New York vibes. Though the book is set over nine months, the focus on new beginnings is what really stands out.
This book reminded Angela of a classic rom-com movie in all the best ways. It’s set in one of our favorite places and totally swoon-worthy, but the characters are also loveably realistic. Angela also appreciated that this book provided such an intimate look at the ups and downs of pregnancy rather than just using it as a plot point and glossing over it.
You’ll be rooting for every one of these characters to find their way.
The Great Gatsby
Book Summary
Although initially not the most popular book of the 1920s, a century later, The Great Gatsby is considered a classic of 1920s literature and a quintessential novel of the Jazz Age.
The mysteriously wealthy Jay Gatsby, who is obsessed with the beautiful and unattainable debutante, Daisy Buchanan, plays host to lavish parties on Long Island at a time when The New York Times noted: “gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession.” The book paints a portrait of the Roaring Twenties, with all of its excess, idealism, and social upheaval.
Book Summary
Abby is 33 and has made peace with her plus-sized body. She is engaged to Mark, who she met at a summer weight loss camp 15 years earlier. Abby feels like she’s headed toward the happy life she’s dreamed of…but also like something isn’t quite right.
When she gets a last-minute invite to join a cycling trip from New York City to Niagara Falls, she hopes the journey will give her a chance to reflect on her life and relationship. Things get complicated when Sebastian, a former one-night stand, is also on the trip. But she’s determined to keep her distance from his playboy ways. Even more distractingly, her mom, Eileen, who Abby blames for her former body insecurities, shows up for the ride.
Over the next two weeks and 700 miles, new friendships are formed, truths come to light, and Abby is forced to reconsider everything she believes about herself, her mom, and love.
About the Setting
The bike trip in this novel travels along the real Empire State Trail, which crosses New York from NYC to Niagara Falls, giving a glimpse of the state’s wide variety of landscapes.
NOTE: Readers who don’t enjoy this book dislike the storylines of abortion, cheating, and/or the main character being unlikable and self-absorbed. If any of those are dealbreakers for you, we’d recommend skipping this one.
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
96% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
It’s New Year’s Eve 1984, and 85-year-old Lillian Boxfish decides to walk all ten miles to the party she plans to attend. Along the way, she looks back over her long life in the city. Her walk is both a quintessential New Year’s Eve reminiscence and a love letter to New York City.
In the 1930s, Lillian was a copywriter at Macy’s and worked her way up to become one of the highest-paid ad women in the country. Throughout her life, she’s seen a lot in her changing city and country, from the Jazz Age to the onset of the AIDS epidemic and from the Great Depression to the birth of hip-hop.
Why This Book Made the List
As Lillian encounters signs of the city changing, it prompts memories of her life and career. Her memories highlight fifty years of NYC history.
Book Summary
If you delight in those moments when you discover the perfect dress that boosts your confidence, you’ll adore this NYC novel. A renowned designer is retiring and has released what’s acclaimed as the “It” dress of the season. Throughout the book, you’ll meet nine different women who procure the dress and witness how it influences their lives.
Some women are deserving of this almost magical dress, while others may not be. The tales of how each woman acquires the dress are frequently humorous, but then you’ll see how it impacts their lives in significant ways. As you read, you’ll visualize each moment as if you’re watching a classic rom-com film.
Other Books to Consider
Author Jane L. Rosen also has several other good books set in New York, including On Fire Island and Seven Summer Weekends.
Read Around the USA – Books Set in Other States
We hope you enjoyed this list of books about New York and found some great titles to add to your TBR. If you’re participating in our Read Around the USA Challenge, be sure to check out our alphabetical index of books set in each state.
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Printable Version of This Book List
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