NEW YORK CITY..!!

I was in NEW YORK CITY for four days with my sister Deena, who was taking her granddaughter Maddie.  Our friend Valjean also joined us...and the four of us had a FABULOUS TIME.  It is my intention to blog about our wonderful NYC Girls trip for at least a week...

But, right now, I'm pretty much IN A WELCOME HOME COMA...!!

***************so, until I have a minute to unpack and gather my thoughts... I'm posting a few NYC re-runs...!!

The first time I read a Linda Fairstein book was maybe 15 years ago.

Those were the early days of the TMBC (Tuesday Morning Book Club).  My cousin Linda picked it for our book club and I WAS HOOKED. I don't actually remember that first title -- but there have been many since. At this point, I get five or six chapters into a Fairstein book and realize I've already read it. I thought about writing down the titles of books as I read them...but then again...that feels like work. And reading should be all about the PLEASURE...

At book club -- sharing Linda Fairstein books...

For me -- the BEST thing about her books is that they are always set in New York City. Linda Fairstein was the chief prosecutor in the Sexual Victims Unit for 20 years -- so the mysteries always have that bedrock of authenticity.  So make no mistake -- the crimes can be disturbing.

But she ALWAYS, ALWAYS TEACHES me something unexpected or even shocking about the buildings, people and places of New York City.

I learned so much about the art world as it exists in New York City...

Historical lessons...about Bannerman Castle, Governor's Island, etc.

She writes about an abandoned mental hospital on an island in the East River...

RECENTLY, I read Silent Mercy -- and was delighted when the story took me to the playground of the Cathedral in the Morningside neighborhood -- St. John the Divine. My friends Judy and Steve used to live on 112th Street and Broadway -- and St. John the Divine was just down the street -- on Amsterdam. I spent so many wonderful days in that neighborhood...and an organ concert...one year a Christmas service.

 

The Baptist churches in Harlem used to be Jewish synagogues!

I LOVE HER WRITING. She makes NYC architecture and history a fascinating element to every mystery. Whether she is writing about the NYC Opera, the Mayor's mansion, or the massive underground tunnels that exist beneath some of the largest hospitals in the world -- I always learn something completely unexpected.