73 Books Like Billionaires' Row

The Empire State Building is not only the world’s most iconic skyscraper but is also my personal favorite. No other building captures the spirit of New York in quite the same way. During the Roaring Twenties, it was built from a cocktail of profit and ego.

The developers engaged in a height competition against Walter Chrysler and his skyscraper. It is a better building because of the competition rather than despite it. Tauranac provides a fascinating account of how Al Smith, former governor of New York, and John Raskob, former General Motors executive, decided to enter the Manhattan real estate game in the hopes of making themselves the skyscraper kings of New York. In the process, they changed New York and world history.

From 2000 to 2001, I worked two blocks south of the Twin Towers. During my lunch breaks, I would grab take-out lunches and sit in the plaza of the World Trade Center, with the towers keeping me company. When completed, the Twin Towers generated immense controversy because they were “slum clearance” projects, and a government agency was erecting record-breaking buildings to compete with the private sector.

Gillespie’s book chronicles the creation of the Twin Towers and how the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a port and transportation agency, suddenly found itself as a real estate titan. The book captures a moment in post-World War II New York that will likely never be replicated. It remains a key history in our post-9/11 world.

When I walk through the streets of Manhattan, I’m constantly awed by the variety and density of its buildings. I wonder how such a city could have ever been built. New cities today lack the soul and character. But when you look at why these buildings exist, you see that they are there for a more mundane purpose: as shelter. The Garment District, for example, was created to house massive sweatshops to clothe America. Gotham’s apartment towers enclose the beds on which residents sleep. 

Many of these structures were built by a group of family-run development companies. The founders of these enterprises invariably began as immigrants trying to hustle their way up the economic ladder. They started as teenagers working in the sweatshops or hawking newspapers and, bit by bit, erected their own real estate empires. Tom Schactman’s book tells how entrepreneurial spirit, along with New York’s rapid economic growth,… show more.

I came of age in the 1980s. It was the time when I first discovered my love of New York. It was also a time when America was in the heady throws—partially fueled by cocaine—of an economic and real estate boom. More skyscrapers were erected in Gotham than in any other period, even more than during the Roaring Twenties. It was a time when every developer thought that if they bought a well-located lot, they could turn dirt into gold by building a skyscraper—a post-modernist one at that. 

Jerry Adler’s book follows the up and down fortunes of the young and ambitious New York developer Ian Bruce Eichner as he painstakingly assembled a large lot, raised financing, and erected a skyscraper on Broadway in Times Square. And then, just when he thought he had achieved his greatest glory, the real estate market tanked, and his crowning achievement became a ghost… show more.

Though last on this list, Roarke is by no means “last” in anything. Powerful, confident, insanely wealthy, and oh-so-sexy, Roarke is the epitome of the swoon-worthy alpha male.

Seeing his love for his lieutenant, Eve, I fell in love—and fell hard. I was hooked after book one, and 60 books later, I still can’t get enough.

If mystery and suspense are your thing, this is a who-dun-it that will suck you in quickly. This book totally captivated me from start to finish. I think what hooked me was the way the author took the prologue to actually show the past, and then when the novel started, all the threads of the story were sewn together so beautifully. Full of twists and turns which make a great suspense experience. There is some romantic drama tossed in which is always the icing on the cake for me as well.

I’d do almost anything to seduce a hot billionaire. But waking up at four-thirty in the morning to pretend to be a wake-up call service for my surly boss? No thanks. Four-thirty is pushing it, even for a wanna-be gold digger like me. Luckily for the plot of this book, Lizzie, our heroine, is game.

The premise of this book is pure fun and fantasy wish fulfillment. She’s a lowly social media assistant hiding her identity. He’s a sexy CEO who can’t figure out alarm clocks. Over time, their early morning talks lead to the intimacy and steamy conversations that make an HR rep’s head spin. 

Since I am not in HR, the ethical implications of this relationship didn’t have my head spinning, but I did find myself giggling and kicking my feet the whole time I was reading this book. It’s a light and easy-to-follow romcom with electric chemistry… show more.

I’m recommending this book because my book is part of the Cocky Hero World and is based on Stuck-Up Suit.

Long before my submission was accepted, I’d read Stuck-Up Suit and loved Soraya’s resilience and determination. She stood up for herself and her beliefs. We always knew her moods by her hair color, which was a great quirk to make her even more memorable and to always give the reader insight into her feelings.

Graham Morgan was a sexy billionaire with a traumatic past. As we got to know him, we realized he’s not stuck up but closed off because of emotional pain. We root for Graham to find happiness with the fiery Soraya, an everyday girl with an extraordinary personality.

I personally love twisted relationship books, especially when the antihero is hard to distinguish. This book deals with a marriage that is far from typical. I can't say more without spoilers, but take my word that this makes for a fabulous suspenseful read. If you read a book that makes you want to kick and scream when you finally "get it" then this is a perfect read for you. All I can say about Black Lies is expect the unexpected!

This is the primer for everything Downtown during arguably Downtown’s greatest era. The contributions are first-rate, by people who were on the scene, and it’s a handsome book to hold. If you’re interested in anything from Punk and Patti Smith to Haring, Basquiat, and Afrika Bambaataa, this is the place to start, without nostalgia, agenda, or hype.