As the leaves begin to change and we put on our sweaters to enjoy everything pumpkin flavored, discover these seven books to really get into the fall season in one of the greatest cities in the world.
- Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares By David Levithan and Rachel Cohn
The story of Dash and Lily is a teenage romance set in the big city. Picture this: it’s the holiday season, and everyone, including your friends and family, decides to leave the city for the break and you’re left alone. While walking the streets of NYC alone, you decide to leave a book in your favorite bookstore, The Strand, that contains hidden clues about who you are and how to find you. Only the right person would be able to find the book, decipher the clues, and meet you. Join Dash and Lily as they complete challenges, re-discover themselves, and form a once-in-a-lifetime connection.
- In the Heights by Quiara Alegría
If you want to read a book about NYC Dominican-American culture in Manhattan, then this is the book for you. This story follows various people who live in Washington Heights as they struggle with class divide, racism, poverty, and the summer heat. Many of them have big dreams, but they are left wondering if it’s even worth it to chase a dream if they can’t imagine leaving the Heights. This book is a story of hope, loss, and love that every New Yorker should pick up.
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
If you haven’t read this book in high school already, I recommend picking it up this fall. Set during the Jazz Age just outside of New York City in Long Island, we learn about the whirlwind life of mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and his relentless obsession with his former lover, Daisy Buchanan. Readers are in for a rich journey filled with gold, glitter, obnoxious parties, and finding the meaning of love in 20th-century America.
- Just Kids by Patti Smith
This astonishing memoir by punk rock singer-songwriter and poet Patti Smith details her relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe during the time of rock and roll, art, poetry, and sexual politics in 1970s New York City. This memoir takes readers on a journey of Smith’s dreams and desires after moving to New York and explores how she and Mapplethorpe create art and make it big.
- My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
Set in New York City in the 2000s, our unnamed protagonist wishes to escape her troubles by embarking on an extended medically-induced hibernation. She believes she has all the resources to be happy–her inheritance, an expensive apartment, and a job at an art gallery. But there’s a dark hole in her heart from pain and trauma in her life. Read this book to go on a journey with a young woman who is trying to take control of her life.
- Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan
A childhood classic, the Percy Jackson series will remain an NYC classic. Though it’s largely set in Long Island, Jackson is originally from Manhattan, and throughout the series he finds his way back during missions. Follow Percy as he discovers that his father is Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea, and he spends time at Camp Half-Blood for other kids like him. Percy and his friends are enlisted to save the mortal and immortal worlds, discover their powers, and try to be “normal” teenagers in the process.
- You by Caroline Kepnes
You tells the chilling story of an NYC stalker-romance. Joe Goldberg is a bookstore owner by day and a serial killer and stalker by night. One day, the unassuming and aspiring writer Genuievere Beck walks in, looking for her next source of inspiration, and Joe falls in love immediately. Read about how Joe will do seemingly anything to get Beck to be his and his alone.