I miss the city, I want to go back via my favorite genre. I would prefer recs to be queer and/or about women, but not a requirement. Thank you in advance!
Some books I have enjoyed that are set or partly set in NYC:
Patsy by Nicole Dennis-Benn
Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney
by tvqueen
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Go Gentle by Maria Semple. Current Oprah’s book club pick.
A Gorgeous Excitement by Cynthia Weiner
Ooh! I love this question. Some favorites that come to mind quickly for me:
If you’re open to romance (but that’s actually pretty well written), check out Cat Sebastian’s midcentury queer romances set in the 1950s and 60s in New York. “We Could Be So Good” is a good starting place.
“This Time Tomorrow,” Emma Straub. A dose of time travel, but truly it’s a love letter to family and to the city.
Maybe obvious, but: “Brooklyn,” Colm Toibin.
“Let the Great World Spin,” Colum McCann, follows an interconnected web of characters in New York on a single day/week/can’t quite remember in the 1970s.
“Fleishman is in Trouble,” Taffy Brodesser-Akner.
“Manhatten Beach,” historical fiction by Jennifer Egan, set mostly in Brooklyn in the 1940s with a female protagonist.
Not focused on women, but with an expat-exploring-NYC vibe: “Netherland,” Joseph O’Neill.
Not focused on women, but still great: “Harlem Shuffle,” Colson Whitehead. If you like it, you can move on to “Crook Manifesto.”
And if you’re open to memoir: “Just Kids,” Patti Smith. NYC in the 60s and 70s.
Winters Tale by Mark Helprin is a love letter to NYC
The Alienist – Caleb Carr
Let the Great World Spin – Colum McCann
New York 2140 – Kim Stanley Robinson
I’m a NYC native now living in PNW, these feel like home
This rec is top of my mind because I just read it myself: “Rat Bohemia” by Sarah Schulman. It follows a group of queer people living in the East Village during the AIDS crisis. It’s split into four parts focusing on different characters – I found the second part focusing on the gay male character to be the most impactful for me, but the other sections are focused on queer women
My Year of Rest & Relaxation
The City We Became by NK Jemisin (this is New York Public Library’s “Big Summer Book Club” selection!)
…I’m embarrassed to admit that’s all that immediately comes to mind after decades of living here lol
To Paradise.
Just finished Cleopatra and Frankenstein – should fit the bill!