Book Review - The Unofficial Girls Guide to New York: Inside the Cafes, Clubs and Neighborhoods of HBO'S Girls (ARC copy)

Title: 

The Unofficial Girls Guide to New York: Inside the Cafes, Clubs, and Neighborhoods of HBO's Girls

Author: 

Judy Gelman and Peter Zheutlin

Published Date: 

November 19th 2013

Publisher:

Smart Pop

Official Publisher's website:
http://www.smartpopbooks.com/

Blurb: 

(From Goodreads)
More than just a travel guide, The Unofficial Girls Guide to New York delivers an in-depth look at Girls’ physical and cultural landscape.

Stop in at Café Grumpy and learn how to make a French press coffee the way Ray and Hannah would
Go behind the scenes at Greenhouse, where Hannah and Elijah spend a night out, and meet "iPad DJs” AndrewAndrew
Recreate Jessa and Thomas-John’s Foundry wedding cake, with buttercream icing made from local NYC rooftop honey
Tour the Salmagundi Club, site of Hannah’s cringeworthy reading and one of the city’s oldest and most prestigious art and literary associations
Shop Girls-style in the West Village, Nolita, and beyond
Plus a lot more, from Greenpoint to Greenwich Village, and Bushwick warehouse parties to the Lower East Side gallery scene

It’s the best way to visit Girls’ New York without paying for a plane ticket—or the perfect complement to your next trip.

Featuring 18 maps, 21 recipes, and more than 100 full-color photos

Rating: 

4 Stars Out of 5 Stars

Review:

So I requested to read this book off Netgalley and I got approved. However, the day I got approved was the day after the book was Archived. As such I emailed Jennifer Canzoneri who I would like to thank very much for sending me a copy of this book! Thank you Netgalley, Jennifer, BenBella Books and whoever else I forgot for letting me read this book! I loved it!

Firstly, that cover. I am a sucker for three things. 1. Pink 2. New York 3. Vintage filtering. That cover had it all. And like The Unofficial GIRLS guide to all things New York. Like hell yeah. I had to read this book. And so today I'm gonna write a full review about this wonderful book!

Secondly, disclaimer, I had no idea this was some guide to GIRLS, like a show. I've never watched it at all. However, I felt that it didn't really matter because it still made a lot of sense to me. As mentioned, I really liked the cover. I also liked that the font was appropriate and most of all there were SO MANY PICTURES AND MAPS! In travel books, I look out for pictures and maps stuff because I want to see what the authors are writing about. Also, thank you very much for making it so colorful. The book is gorgeous, the people did a brilliant job with this book.

I found this book better than most travel books because like oh my gosh besides being a travel book. Wait for it.... There are actual food recipes inside. Like whaaaaat. I did NOT expect the authors to add in little bits like recipes for different kinds of foods that can be found in New York in the book. I really just expected a usual kind of guide where they talked about great eating places but in this book they pick one recipe and writes it in the book. So if we ever want to make it ourselves, we have the full instructions in the book, ready at hand anytime. (There is a recipe index at the back of the book and I counted that there are about 30 over recipes in the book!)

This book is sectioned according to different parts of New York I think. There is the Brooklyn section, which then sections of into Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Prospect Heights, Coney Island and Bushwick. So it's really organized. They give page numbers too. In each section, the authors give us more good cafes/restaurants to try. And more different recipes. More pictures and more maps to tell us where each place is. Besides just talking about food, the book talks about buildings, people, shops, etc. At the very back of the book, the index will give you the page numbers if you need to do a quick search. This book seems really accessible, easy to read and just really fun as a whole.

This is a really good book and I found it a pretty enjoyable read. The next time I go to New York I will definitely take this along with me to visit some of the places. Also, I can't wait to try out the recipes in the book. This is definitely a travel book worth buying if you would like to try out great cafes/restaurants and visit different great places in New York City. And if you actually watch the show Girls, I think this wouldn't disappoint either. (: