Doug Orlando is a conflicted New York City detective with a past, and that gives him a lot of psychological depth. Originally published in 1992, this was one of the best of the wave of gay mysteries. I loved it because the police procedures seemed so authentic and Doug seemed like a guy I’d want to know, and want on my side in case of trouble. 

Brooklyn in the 1930s and '40s comes to life in this pulsating memoir that sets the stage for author Stan Fischler's legendary career as a sports journalist, especially covering the National Hockey League, and author. A masterful storyteller, Fischler is hilarious and smart and has a great memory, recounting corner candy stores and subway rides, his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers, and eccentric relatives and pals. 

Descriptions of stickball games and every nook and cranny of his neighborhood and a fondness for a Gotham Toy Company-manufactured hockey game grab your attention, as do tales from his adventures and misadventures as a drummer in the big-band era. This is a page-turning gem.

Watching reenactors wearing tricorne hats and stockings, I never associated the American Revolution with war atrocities until I read this book. What’s worse is it happened in my own backyard. After the British landed and routed Washington’s fledging army, they occupied Manhattan. 

Their biggest problem was prisoners of war. They were housed in twenty-something “hulked” ships with cannon and sails removed in Wallabout Bay off Brooklyn. Watson focuses on the most infamous of these floating prisons, the HMS Jersey.

His vivid descriptions of the thousand or so men and boys shackled there make for claustrophobic reading. After the war, the Bill of Rights was issued in response to our treatment by the British. The HMS Jersey was sunk–a ghostly reminder of our past.

This is book one of the Lens series, a young adult dystopian thriller. I quickly abandoned the rest of my TBR to fly through the entire Lens series. Riley Taylor is a normal teenager forced into the military out of necessity. But this military isn’t like ours. It’s a death sentence for the impoverished class and criminals recruited under false pretenses.

I loved the good versus evil trope, with the good not being completely good and the evil having redeeming qualities. Life isn’t always black and white, and Cantwell portrays that tension beautifully. The entire Lens series is set in the backdrop of corruption, greed, and overconsumption, having ruined the planet and drowned vast swathes of the American coastline.

Cantwell turned this climate-apocalyptic setting into both a character and a talking point. I’ve read a few series over and over and this one will be joining that list. Fans of… show more.

I read fiction but rarely find it engaging enough to finish a novel. Kissing Kosher, however, captured and kept my interest. 

As a Jew who has enjoyed these in many cities, the author's presentation of her extensive knowledge of New York City's actual Jewish delis and bakeries woven neatly into the story via its fictional main characters and their families delighted me. Some of my interest was in the characters themselves, their quirks, problems, and interactions, all very well-written. 

A major subplot is the health problem of the main character—seriously debilitating endometriosis—which the author also suffers from, so the details, while often painful to read, are specific and authentic. I imagine it's probably a relief to have her condition presented so honestly for those who do suffer. 

The recipes, references, and inclusions of those who need special diets to survive and thrive will also be welcomed by those who… show more.

Robert B. Parker’s Spenser for Hire is among my very favorite mystery novels.

I love the characters, humor, and crimes to be solved in them – but Double Play is not a Spenser book. So why did I choose it? It’s simply because it’s one of the most fascinating historical fiction mysteries I’ve ever read.

I’m a baseball fan and this book which postulates what might have happened to Jackie Robinson in 1947 when he broke in the major leagues told from the perspective of him and his bodyguard (and with gangsters involved) is just outstanding hard-boiled crime noir.

This was another book I could not put down.  

This coming-of-age novel-in-verse beautifully captures the dynamics of survival in tough neighborhoods in a way that honors the humanity and nuance of the community—details that are too often lost in media and forgotten by the people that “make it out.” Through the lens of the Puerto Rican-American protagonist, Sarai, her family, and the neighborhood characters that are all too familiar, I was brought into the heart of pre-gentrified Bushwick, Brooklyn, and Puerto Rican culture to go on Sarai’s journey of self-discovery. We are sitting on the stoop, at the foot of the bed, in the back pew in conversation with Sarai. We see her, we hear her, we love her. And won’t ever forget her. We are left to reflect on what it really means to “make it.”

Set in Brooklyn in 1924 with backstories from New Orleans and Russia, Zeldis masterfully intertwines the stories of three women through dressmaking, friendship, and secrets.

While Bea recreates herself in a new city with her teenage ward, Alice, she befriends a customer, Catherine, a socialite newlywed who yearns for a child. As Bea and Catherine’s friendship grows, Alice feels estranged and runs away. What happens next is a gritty account of how each has to confront their past secrets, bond together to forgive, and become their own chosen family.

The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights taught me about antisemitism, reinvention, tragedy, hope, and fashionable dressmaking experienced as only could be in the ever-evolving world of the 1920s. I eagerly turned and savored each page!

I grew up in Brooklyn, New York in the 1940s and 1950s. As one of New York City’s 5 boroughs it has character and even a mystique about it, and we Brooklynites are often very proud of our heritage.

Until I was about 13 the Brooklyn Dodgers were the zany, irreverent, baseball upstarts who sometimes even won the World Series. And they hired Jackie Robinson, desegregating professional baseball. All of this is to say that when High Ryan published his book, I devoured it as it fused my Brooklyn heritage and my queer identity.

Starting with poet Walt Whitman, he takes us through the writers, the dock workers, the socialists, the communists, the college professors and artists, who were lesbian or gay and both shaped and were shaped by the city, Ryan’s archival research is amazing, and his writing style breezy, and accessible.  Even if you’re not from Brooklyn (!)… show more.

I love cricket with a passion—having lived half my life in England and South East Asia. Thus, the setting of this novel captivated me immediately: a cricket league in Brooklyn where immigrants from across the world gather every weekend.

I loved how that simple premise becomes a lens for exploring friendship, identity, and belonging in a multicultural city. As the characters meet on the cricket field, their lives intersect in surprising ways.

The novel reminded me that communities often emerge through small shared rituals—games, conversations, and gatherings that bring together people from very different histories.