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Most of my extensive collection of books were found in trash cans around town, which might explain why I have so many copies of "Chicken Soup for the Soul." But that's not the point here. The point here is to give you a list of recommended books about New York City that my Cheapo Pals and I enjoy. If your tastes are similar to ours, (and they must be if you're still reading) maybe you'll like them, too. Clicking on any of the links below will whisk you away to our associates at Amazon.com, where you can buy the selected title. Best of all, we get a little kick-back for any book you buy while you're there. And isn't that better than us approaching you and asking for spare change?

History

		The Curious New Yorker A collection of bizzare facts about New York City. Want to know why coffee cups have a weird Greek design on them? What's the deal with a street called "Avenue of the Americas?" Wondering who the heck Balto the Dog is? The editors of the New York Times' "F.Y.I." column have your answers to these and lots of other questions. It's not a serious history of the city, but in many ways, it's much more fascinating.

		New York: An Illustrated History A compilation of essays put together by Ric Burns, James Sanders and Lisa Ades to accompany the PBS documentary series about the history of New York City. This isn't a complete history of the city (what single book could be?), but it does illustrate some high and low points in the making of New York. The focus tends to be on the positive, because Ric Burns and company are completely in love with New York City.

Architecture

		Guide to New York City Landmarks An excellent guide to New York's architectural history. It includes maps, beautiful photographs and a ton of information on buildings and districts declared historical landmarks by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. This is the kind of book you'll want to take along with you, so you can stand in front of City Hall and regale your friends with facts about the exterior stonework being replaced in 1954.

		Manhattan Skyscrapers If tall towers are your thing, then this is the book for you. It's organized in chronolgical order, from the first tall buildings near City Hall to the recently-opened Conde Nast building in Times Square. It includes some amazing photographs, along with history and commentary about 75 different skyscrapers.

Guide Book

		Frommer's Memorable Walks in New York A very detailed guide to walking around in New York City. There are only 10 or so different tours listed in this book, but each has an enormous amount of detail, giving you estimated times, subway stops near the beginning and end of routes, and fabulous maps. The author seems like the kind of guy you might actually want to walk around in New York with, and his narratives are informative and often amusing.

		Gerry Frank's Where to Find it, Buy it, Eat it in New York This is a highly personal guidebook from a guy who really knows his way around New York City. The book is well-organized and contains a ton of information on restaurants, shopping, touring and everything else you could want to know. The opinions are all Gerry's own, and he includes stuff he likes as well as stuff he doesn't.

		Manhattan User's Guide This stunningly complete guidebook is really meant for people who live in New York (you probably won't need listings of carpet cleaners on your vacation), but there is still plenty of information for visitors. The book includes listings of all kinds of entertainment, restaurants and other services.

		New York's 50 Best: Places to Discover and Enjoy in Central Park This guide to Central Park seems like it might be more useful for NYC residents than tourists, because there's no way anybody could see every site in the park in a short visit. If you do plan on spending a lot of time in the park, though, it's an extremely valuable companion.

		Secret New York Robert Sietsema, a columnist for the Village Voice, has compiled a collection of offbeat recommendations for seeing the City. He has great food recommendations, as well as the kinds of things most guide books ignore, like how to scam the MTA by using your metrocard to score a free round-trip on the subway.

		Time Out New York If you're going to buy just one guide book about New York City, this is the one to get, and we don't just say that because it features an article by us. (Okay, that's mostly why we say it.) They don't focus exclusively on cheap stuff, but they have a fun, hipster sensibility, and their reviews are reliable and entertaining.

Dining

		The Eclectic Gourmet Guide to Greater New York City Our friend Jim Leff, of Chowhound.com, is one of the most intrepid seekers of food on Earth. He travels all over New York in the chowmobile, seeking delicious food wherever it may be. His recommendations are consistently excellent. One caveat: this book was originally printed in 1998 and has not been updated since. Some of the places have closed and others have gone downhill. Still, it's the best guide to New York city dining we've ever read.

		Shecky's Bar, Club and Lounge Guide This brilliant, often funny guide to New York City bars and clubs is way more complete than we could ever be. If we tried to keep up with Shecky's, we'd have to become raging drunks. If you plan on spending a lot of time in bars when you visit New York, this is definitely worth picking up.

		Zagat Survey of New York City Restaurants We're not big fans of the Zagat model, because we don't have any idea whose opinion of a place we're reading, but this is the most complete listing of restaurants around. Because of the sheer number of listings, it's a valuable tool for finding a particular cuisine at a particular price in a particular neighborhood. You might be steered wrong by a person who writes "zippy" "catchy" prose about a "lousy" restaurant, but then again, you might just find a gem.

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