Having lived in NYC for a year, and in its suburbs for much of my life, I’ve had a shifting perception of the city as I’ve oscillated between being mostly annoyed with it as a non-resident and loving it as a resident. As a born Muscovite, I had a natural tendency to compare NYC to Moscow, as well as to Boston, the city of my alma mater Boston University. It goes without saying that they’re all quite different beasts, but New York was the first city in which I was completely free to do whatever I wanted post-graduation.

That sort of freedom is both liberating and frightening, because as opposed to a life of school year/summer/next school year for the past 16 years (aside from my gap year), you don’t necessarily know what you’re doing in 6/12/18 months here. While I’m still working it all out, and I likely will be for quite a while, I’ve found a lot of guidance and focus in the books that I’ve read since moving here.

Here are some selections.