Brooklyn's Current Best Selling  
Books ||  Music ||  DVDs  at amazon 
Brooklyn Travel Book at Amazon (28)

The Neighborhoods of Brooklyn by Kenneth T. Jackson (Introduction), John B. Manbeck (Editor), Citizens Committee 246 pages (December 1998) Check out the spirited opinions and the defense

• "I enjoy reading books about Brooklyn, and The Neighborhoods of Brooklyn is about the best I've come across in the last 30 years"
• " But, then we knew from the start that there would be no shortage of strong opinions, this is a Borough of strong people and strong character."

Brooklyn! : A Soup-To-Nuts Guide to Sights, Neighborhoods, and Restaurants
by Ellen Freudenheim 
Paperback - 352 pages Revised edition (June 1999)
Griffin Trade Paperback; ISBN: 0312204469 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.08 x 8.24 x 5.51

• "A complete handbook for the resident or visitor, Brooklyn!includes:Neighborhoods: From hip Williamsburg to classic Sheepshead Bay, every street has a story.
• "This book is a keeper - keep it near the phone or in the car. I'm constantly opening it for addresses, phone numbers or just ideas. Brooklyn is huge and this book brings things down to a manageable size

Brooklyn's Best : Sightseeing, Shopping, Eating, and Happy Wandering in the Borough of Kings
by Alfred Gingold, Helen Rogan
Paperback - 160 pages (November 1998)
City & Co; ISBN: 1885492650 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.47 x 7.50 x 4.27 chapters are short-usually two pages-and conducive to browsing

Artwalks in New York  by Marina Harrison, Lucy D. Rosenfeld Delightful Discoveries of Public Art and Gardens in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island

Caribbean Spice : A Traveler's Guide to Cultural Festivals 
by Natalie T. Pascoe Paperback (December 1998) Depas Pub; ISBN: 0966010124

Food & Drink

The Brooklyn Cookbook (Knopf Cooks American Series, No 7) by Lyn Stallworth, Rod Kennedy (Contributor), Lynn Stallworth Hardcover - 415 pages 1st Ed. edition (September 1991

The recipes work for all cooks, but it is the stories behind them that make the book a true culinary treasure. Arthur Boehm

Lundy's : Reminiscences and Recipes from Brooklyn's Legendary Restaurant by Robert Cornfield, Kathy Gunst
Not only a cookbook but also a coffee table book lavishly illustrated with photos of Brooklyn in the first half of this century and a history of the family behind the   Brooklyn landmark restaurant 
Welcome to Junior's! Remembering Brooklyn With Recipes and Memories from Its Favorite Restaurant by Marvin Rosen, Walter Rosen, Beth Allen (Contributor) Hardcover - 320 pages 1 Ed edition (February 1999)
 "Baking quite possibly the best cheesecakes in the universe, Junior's Restaurant is a legend in its own right.more than 100 recipes, including 7 for cheesecake. Of course, the real cheesecake recipes are a closely guarded secret, but the Rosens share a similar blueprint with us that ensures "you'll soon be experiencing the taste of ecstasy."

AIA Guide to New York City
Paperback - 1024 pages 4th edition (June 27, 2000) Times Books; ISBN: 0812931076 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.71 x 10.01 x 4.98

• a remarkable tome, including more than 5000 buildings and 3000 stamp album style photos of structures in all five boroughs
• over 100 maps of each area, in sufficient detail to be useful for navigation, and a comprehensive glossary and index

Brooklyn Dodgers in Their Original Voices Paperback & CD- 80 pages 1 edition (March 11, 1998

My father really enjoys the rekindled memories of those days, and my son enjoys the tips that these "pros" have to offer.

Baseball's Great Experiment : Jackie Robinson and His Legacy $45.00 Hardcover - 432 pages Expanded edition (June 1997) Oxford
by Jules Tygiel first published in 1983, . In 1947 Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier and became a myth himself. He forever changed the way the game was played and helped the cause of civil rights everywhere. Tygeil

Wait Till Next Year : A Memoir Paperback - 261 pages (June 1998)
by Doris Kearns Goodwin - hardcover  /  softcover || cassette
 From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of No Ordinary Time. "By the time I had mastered the art of scorekeeping, a lasting bond had been forged between my father and me," she writes about the summer of '49.Goodwin's swan song to simpler times rendered with an acute foreshadowing of the social and political complexities to come.

Of Cabbages and Kings County : Agriculture and the Formation of Modern Brooklyn by by Marc Linder and Lawrence S. Zacharias (May 1999)
A timely book as so much political attention today is focused on smart growth. As we  reevaluate urban sprawl and the need for greenbelts or agricultural-urban balance, the lost opportunities of the past loom large.

Brighton Beach Memoirs by Neil Simon - softcover  //  audio cassettes, with play read by Jonathan Silverman, Valerie Harper, Peter Michael Goetz and Max Cresella
"Simon appeals to everyone who appreciates real life and the humor in it. As a teenage boy, I can identify with Eugene Morris Jerome who if he "were given the choice between a tryout with the New York Yankees, and actually seeing Nora's bare breasts for two and a half seconds would have some serious thinking to do."

Now & Then : From Coney Island to Here by Joseph L. Heller - Paperback  /  Hardcover
Brooklyn Gang : Summer 1959 ©1998 save 30%
"new edition of Bruce Davidson's classic study of tough New York youths in the 50's, marks a most welcome and sure-to-be-collected photo book."

Flatbush Odyssey : A Journey Through the Heart of  Brooklyn
 by Allen J. Abel ©1996 "delightful family memoir and exploration of a unique place" 
Brooklyn : People and Places, Past and Present 
©1997 This book brings it all back
I Remember Brooklyn : Memories from Famous Sons and Daughters
 by Ralph Monti ©1991 save 30%
Beyond the Brooklyn Bridge ©1998 by Bernice Carlton
"Wryly funny memoir of a Jewish neighborhood in the '20s...If you remember 'the girls against the boys,' best bestfriends (this week, that is) and what magical people our parents could be, you'll love this book."
When Brooklyn Was the World, 1920-1957
by Elliot Willensky save 30%"Excellent narrative, great photos"
Brooklyn! : An Illustrated History from amazon.com
by ©1996 save 30% Critical perspective of the past published by Temple Press

Fires in the Mirror : Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities
Award-winning writer and solo performer Anna Deavere Smith derived her scripts from interviews with people who experienced or observed New York's 1991 Crown Heights racial riots
Mama Lola : A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn (Comparative Studies in Religion and Society) 
"Takes its place besides Luisah Teish's works as the definitive portraits of Vodou as a strong, empowering force for women"
The Black Churches of Brooklyn (The Columbia History of Urban Life  " offers a fine overview of a too-long-neglected chapter in New York history." NY Times

Brooklyn Authors

Brooklyn resident Paul Auster provides canonical reading for fans of American literature all over the world.

Timbuktu : A Novel by Paul Auster Hardcover - 181 pages (June 1999) || 29+ reader comments ||All reviews
Filtering the homeless experience through the relentlessly unsentimental eye of a dog Auster's most touching, most emotionally accessible book....told with deceptive lightness in persuasive, rhythmic prose
The Times, London, Hugo Barnacle
Why Write? by Paul Auster
"The book is very short (if you can't make it through in a day, try popup books) and the writing flows easily, yet maintains enormous depth. I highly recommend this novel for both its views of man and decadent society of NYC"

Lulu on the Bridge : A Film ||   DVD  by Paul Auster 
starring Harvey Keitel, Mira Sorvino, and Vanessa Redgrave--the romantic story of two lonely, mismatched strangers, transformed into soul mates by the uncanny power of a phosphorescent stone. 
As all Auster's stories do, Lulu on the Bridge combines myth, magic, and reality to uncover truths about the human experience. 

A Drinking Life : A Memoir by Pete Hamill
hardly a story of battling the bottle, a part of his day as natural as sunset; rather, it's another tale of growing up in Brooklyn's evening days, the era of Ebbets Field. That's a tired subject, unless it is done as well as this. From Brooklyn to to his stint with his beloved NY Post to entry into the celebrity life with Shirley MacLaine 

An American Dream hits the target again and again of the male drive to sex, power and adventure. Mailer's real ouvre is the post-war world of urban abandonment and existential adventure. This novel reeks of what the 20th C was all about, and has never been bettered by any author. Oddly, for such a masculine writer, Mailer's understanding is all about intuition and dark intimations.

Death of a Salesman || 29+ reader reviews by Arthur Miller Paperback, Audio Cassette  

•  50th Anniversary Edition (1999) by Arthur Miller Miller won a Pulitzer Prize for the work, which he described as "the tragedy of a man who gave his life, or sold it" in pursuit of the American Dream. After many years on the road as a traveling salesman, Willy Loman realizes he has been a failure as a father and husband.

The Crucible : A Play in Four Acts (Penguin Plays) by Arthur Miller 57+ reviews
Based on historical people and real events, Miller's classic play about the witch hunts and trials in 17th century Salem, Massachusetts, is a searing portrait of a community engulfed by hysteria. Written in 1953, The Crucible is a mirror which Miller uses to reflect the anti-Communist hysteria inspired by Senator Joseph McCarthy's "witch-hunts" in the U.S. Reissue

Kids & Young Adults
Brooklyn Pops Up  

• "A delightfully colorful whimsy. Beautifully designed by an array of talented artists, including Maurice Sendak"

In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak (Illustrator) (recommended for ages 4-8)- hardcover  /  paperback

• Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (Illustrator) (recommended for ages 4-8) - hardcover  /  paperback audio
  Max, a wild and naughty boy, is sent to bed without his supper by his exhausted mother. In his room, he imagines sailing far away to a land of Wild Things. Instead of eating him, the Wild Things make Max their king

It is the first book i buy my family and friends new children, it always has a home beneath my christmas tree, on my book shelf and most of all in my heart.

The Brooklyn Bridge : A Wonders of the World Book (Wonders of the World) by Elizabeth Mann, Alan Witschonke (Illustrator) (recommended for ages 9-12)This book is a classic tale of struggle and triumph, told in a manner that will thrill, fascinate, and inspire--all the more so because every word is true. 36 illustrations, prints, photos. 2 gatefolds.

Carnival (Festivals)
by Clare Chandler
Amazon Price: $20.90
Availability: This title usually ships within 2-3 days. Reading level: Ages 4-8
School & Library Binding - 32 pages (April 1998) Millbrook

Brooklyn Dodger Days by Richard Rosenblum (recommended for ages 4-8)
(recommended for ages 9-12)
Jackie and Me by Dan Gutman, Joe Stoshack (Introduction) 
Jackie Robinson (Baseball Legends) by John F. Grabowski, Earl Weaver (Designer), Jim Murray (Introduction) (recommended for ages 9-12)
Jackie Robinson (Black Americans of Achievement)  hardcover  /  softcover by Richard Scott, Coretta Scott King (Designer), Nathan I. Huggins (Editor) (recommended for ages 9-12)
Thank You, Jackie Robinson by Barbara Cohen, Richard Cuffari (Illustrator), Cuffari Richard (Illustrator) (recommended for ages 9-12)

YOUNG ADULT
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn  || 182+ comments
American classic about a young girl's coming of age at the turn of the century. "A profoundly moving novel" (ages 10 to adult)

Last Summer With Maizon by Jacqueline Woodson (recommended for young adults) Then Maizon is offered a scholarship to a boarding school, where, she's afraid, she might be the only black student.The girls can't go back to last summer, before everything changed. But can they keep their promise to be best friends forever?