The stars are the ratings by Amazon.com readers (1-5 stars). When Amazon stars are not available, I have often provided personal commentary.

Becoming American, Being Indian: An Immigrant Community in New York City
Khandelwal / Cornell University
Explores the ways the lives of immigrants from India have evolved over four decades.

Beyond the Melting Pot
Glazer & Moynihan / MIT Press
One of the classic texts on Immigration in New York.

Caribbean New York: Black Immigrants and the Politics of Race
Kasinitz / Cornell
The author compares the experiences of post-1965 West Indian immigrants to their predecessors, demonstrating the increasing deterioration of Afro-Caribbeans' status and power as African Americans began to assert their political options following the Civil Rights movement. Good for Caribbean studies, but can be difficult to follow at times.

Changes and Conflicts: Korean Immigrant Families in New York
Min & Foner / Pearson Education POD
This accessible book studies Korean immigrants in New York: how they have maintained traditional family values since coming to the US and the ways in which these values have been transformed.

Down These Mean Streets
Thomas / Signet (American Library)
A classic memoir about growing up in Spanish Harlem.

From Colonia to Community: The History of Puerto Ricans in New York City
Korrol / University of California
The most comprehensive study of the historical development of the Puerto Rican community in New York City.

Invisible Minority: Brazilians in New York City
Margolis / Pearson Allyn & Bacon
Part of the New Immigrant Series, this book addresses the history of the recent immigration of Brazilians into New York City. While generally from middle and working-class families, these immigrants are often undocumented and resultantly, do not appear in many statistics.

La Storia: Five Centures of the Italian American Experience
Mangione & Morreale / Harper Perennial
A history and in-depth discussion of the social consequences faced by immigrant Italians. This book is a testament to the Italian immigrants and how they transformed the United States.

Little Brazil
Margolis / Princeton University
A nuanced account that captures what it is like to be a new and often “unseen” immigrant in New York City.

Mambo Kingdom: Latin Music in New York
Salazar & Angeloro /Omnibus
When Puerto Ricans were granted U.S. citizenship in 1917, they began moving into “Spanish Harlem.” By 1930, Afro-Cuban music had gained a firm foothold in the city, setting the stage for the mambo, boogaloo, salsa and Latin-jazz scenes that followed. Max Salazar, perhaps the most eminent Latin-music historian in the United States, tells the story of the music and the musicians who made it happen.

The New Chinatown
Kwong / Hill & Wang
Addresses the premise of the 'model minority' and discusses the character of Chinatown's economic boom.

New York Irish
Baylor & Meagher, eds. / Johns Hopkins
This joint project of the Irish Institute and the New York Irish History Roundtable offers a fresh perspective on an immigrant people's encounter with New York City.

New York Public Library Amazing Native American History: A Book of Answers for Kids
Sonneborn / Wiley & Sons
Conceived for grades 6 to 8, this book may provide a useful overview tool. Rather than offering a comprehensive study, this book addresses frequently asked questions about Native American cultures.

Nosh New York: The Food Lover's Guide to New York City's Most Delicious Neighborhoods
Alperson / Griffin
New book from the Nosh Walks maven, Myra Alperson. This is the best ethnic food guide to New York City I have seen. Walk, eat, and enjoy!

(Passport's Guide to) Ethnic New York: A Complete Guide to the Many Faces & Cultures of New York
Leeds / Passport
Useful text with quality commentary and easy-to-use maps. Great resource.

Tea That Burns: A Family Memoir of Chinatown
Hall / Free Press
Rich with the sights, sounds, and sensations of Chinatown past and present, Tea That Burns reads like a novel, but is history at its best.

The Black New Yorkers: The Schomburg Illustrated Chronology
NY Public Library Schomburg Center for Black Culture (Author) / Wiley & Sons
A valuable one-of-a-kind resource. More than 200 striking photographs, rare documents, and vintage illustrations from the Schomburg’s world-famous collection,

When I Was Puerto Rican
Santiago / Vintage
Memoir of the author’s childhood in rural Puerto Rico and her teenage years in New York City.

A Bintel Brief
Metzker (ed.) / Schocken
America’s first “Ann Landers” column, written for the Jewish Daily Forward. These letters provide incredible insight into life on the Jewish Lower East Side.

From Shul to Cool: The Romantic Jewish Roots of American Popular Music
Jacqueline Bassan / Jay Street Publishers
This entertaining and well researched book delves into the personal Jewish histories of popular American composers such as Irving Berlin, Harold Arlen, Rogers and Hart, Jerome Kern, and Leonard Bernstein and demonstrates how their Jewish roots were reflected in their music – and helped to define popular music in America. Using lively prose and even comparative musical notations, the author delineates the connections of Jewish sacred music, folk songs, and even Jewish humor with innumerable popular songs. For me, one incredibly exhilarating leap of the mind occurred in connecting the off-stage whistles that define the tension of the upcoming “rumble” between West Side Story’s gangs – the Sharks and Jets – to the duplicate and emotionally provocative sounds of the shofar (ram’s horn), which sounds each year during the Jewish High Holidays. The book is a treasure trove! Excellent illustrations and musical notations.

Jewish Landmarks of New York
Koppman / Fleet
Out of print. Not a personal or conversational book, but definitely informative.

The Lower East Side Remembered & Revisited: History and Guide to a Legendary New York Neighborhood
Mendelsohn / Lower East Side Press
Superb book with quality research. A “must” for Lower East Side research.

The Other 1492: Jewish Settlement in the New World
Finkelstein / Atheneum
The history of Jewish settlement in New York and elsewhere was directly related to the Spanish Inquisition and the eviction of Jews from Spain in 1492. "Sheds compelling light on historical and religious issues." – Publishers Weekly

"Our Crowd": The Great Jewish Families of New York
Birmingham / Syracuse University
A topical and interesting history of the great German-Jewish families of New York City.

Six Heritage Tours of the Lower East Side
Limmer / New York University Press
Well-edited text, which provides a consistent “voice” to the various walks by different Tour Guides. Good information and maps.

Stardust Lost: The Triumph, Tragedy, and Mishugas of the Yiddish Theater in America
Stefan Kanfer / New York University Press
Thank you Stefan Kanfer! This is the one-of-a-kind book on the Yiddish Theater that I have craved for years!! This very accessible biography of Yiddish Theater traces its origins in Eastern Europe to its great heyday, in the early 20th century, on New York's Lower East Side. The book details the personalities and the issues that were intrinsic to the Yiddish Theatre - which not only aided in the assimilation of Eastern European Jews into American society abut also, in the process, permanently transformed American music and American theatre. This treasure is definitely what’s new (and great!) on the Yiddish Rialto!

When Harlem Was Jewish, 1870-1930
Gurock / Columbia University Press
An impressive and unique recounting of Harlem’s Jewish history. This remarkable text is decidedly worthy of being reprinted. May be difficult to find.

World of Our Fathers
Howe / Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
A classic and readable text on the history of East European Jewish immigration.

Tales of the Yiddish Rialto: Reminiscences of Playwrights and Players in New York's Jewish Theatre in the Early 1900's
Louis Lipsky / Greenwood Press
Personal reminiscences with the names of the major characters changed. Out of print. May be hard to find.