I have been in New York twice, and it was an experience, both times; hence why everybody wants to go and go back, and even live there although life is absurdly expensive XD However, imagine the possibilities of your Editorial Job walking down the street with your Starbucks coffee! Perfection! – at least in our dreams -.

New York is a multicultural city, and you can find anything there! Any kind of food, story, entertainment, and job! But, do we know anything about the city origins? Well, the island of Manhattan was discovered by navigator Henry Hudson, English explorer, back in September 4, 1609. There are multiple landmarks named after him, like the Hudson River – highly popular for Percy Jackson and What if It’s us -. New York is one of those cities that was born twice since almost 1 hundred years later, the Great Fire of New York happened (1776).

Knowing this, let’s go over some stories that will change your life and will help you know New York a bit more!

A little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

I have seen so many people falling into a deep depression and reading slump after finishing this book. They don’t know what to do with themselves after finishing this 32-hour book (832 pages) but based on the 4.31 score of 282,172 ratings in Goodreads? It is worth it!

Four classmates from a small Massachusetts college move to New York to make their way, they’re broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition. There is kind, handsome Willem, an aspiring actor; JB, a quick-witted, sometimes cruel Brooklyn-born painter seeking entry to the art world; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their center of gravity.

Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success, and pride, but their greatest challenge is Jude… and his traumatic life.

The Godfather by Mario Puzo

So, there is a movie… in case you didn’t know about The Godfather called The Godfather! – laugh…this is a joke – I tried to watched it but fell asleep so I might not be the best person to talk about the highly claimed and beloved saga!

A searing portrayal of the Mafia underworld, The Godfather introduced readers to the first family of American crime fiction, the Corleones, and their powerful legacy of tradition, blood, and honor. The seduction of power, the pitfalls of greed, and the allegiance to family—these are the themes that have resonated with millions of readers around the world and made The Godfather the definitive novel of the violent subculture that, steeped in intrigue and controversy, remains indelibly etched in our collective consciousness.

The Assistants by Camille Perri

Entry-level jobs asking like 25 years experience and paying low wages, forcing people to move away from big cities to afford a living! Or at least that is what you see on the internet, so how do you make more money? – this is a book that I already bought when writing this! –

Tina Fontana is a thirty-year-old executive assistant to Robert Barlow, the CEO of Titan Corp., a multinational media conglomerate. She’s excellent at her job, but after six years of making reservations and pouring drinks from bottles that cost more than her rent, the glamour of working for this company in New York has completely faded, contrary to her student loan debt has not.

When a technical error with Robert’s expense report presents Tina with the opportunity to pay off the entire balance of her loans with what would essentially be pocket change for her boss, she hesitates. Then other assistants with crushing debt and fewer scruples approach her to say that they want in. But what are the implications of doing this?

American Psycho by Easton Ellis

This is another face of New York, and for you, another movie to watch! Yes, this has another movie! – mind-blowing, right? – Jokes aside, this is a modern Gothic story that approaches the new fairs of New York society!

Patrick Bateman is twenty-six and he works on Wall Street, he is handsome, sophisticated, charming and intelligent. He is also a psychopath. Taking us to head-on collision with America’s greatest dream—and its worst nightmare—American Psycho is bleak, bitter, black comedy about a world we all recognise but do not wish to confront.

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

Storytime! I remember that I was taking calls in Audible when this book was published, and EVERYBODY called for this book, and I never understood why nor listened to it… and now, I cannot find the moment to start reading it! – yes, it was published in 2013… so what? –

Theo Decker, a 13-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don’t know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by his unbearable longing for his mother, he clings to one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the underworld of art.

Fun fact 2! There is a movie adaptation of this book too! You can find int in Amazon Prime Video… at least the US Prime video XD

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

One of Sylvia Plath’s masterpieces! Plath is known for her tragic end, life, but outstanding writing too! Dive into this novel with precaution and keep close attention to it, and read within the lines to discover the corners of Sylvia’s mind and tragedy.

The Bell Jar chronicles the crack-up of Esther Greenwood: brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under—maybe for the last time.

Esther’s breakdown with such intensity that her insanity becomes completely real and even rational. Such deep penetration into the dark and harrowing corners of the psyche is an extraordinary accomplishment and has made The Bell Jar a haunting American classic.

The Alienist by Caleb Carr

In case you haven’t notice, we started this list from the present to the past! Let’s get to know New York from different point of views and life struggles and this is not different! This time we go back to 1896 to a more “Victorian” city!

Newspaper reporter John Schuyler Moore is summoned by his friend Dr. Laszlo Kreizler—a psychologist, or “alienist”—to view the horribly mutilated body of an adolescent boy abandoned on the unfinished Williamsburg Bridge. From there the two embark on a revolutionary effort in criminology: creating a psychological profile of the perpetrator based on the details of his crimes. Their dangerous quest takes them into the tortured past and twisted mind of a murderer who will kill again before their hunt is over.

If this does not give you Jack the Reaper vibes, then I don’t know what to say… Also! Fun fact, you can listen to this story and then compare your experience with the Netflix adaptation, who imaged it better?

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

I started this book because my partner said I should read it. Sadly, I couldn’t finish it because I had to cancel Kindle Unlimited, and back then, it was part of the plan. The story goes around Oskar and his little adventures in the big and dangerous city of New York, dangerous for a kid wandering around alone. 

Nine-year-old Oskar Schell has embarked on an urgent, secret mission that will take him through the five boroughs of New York. His goal is to find the lock that matches a mysterious key that belonged to his father who died in the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11. This seemingly impossible task will bring Oskar into contact with survivors of all sorts of an exhilarating, affecting, often hilarious, and ultimately healing journey.

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City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert

It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

Between the Wold and Me by Ta-Nehisi COates

A Woman is no Man by Etaf Rum

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