Greenberg, Jan. Hudson Valley Harvest: A Food Lovers Guide to Farms, Restaurants and Open-Air Markets. Woodstock, VT: Countryman Press, 2003. This fascinating overview of the regions microterroirs covers everything from heirloom beans to shiitake mushrooms. Chapters are organized by type of food.
Manikowski, John. Wild Fish & Game Cookbook. New York: Artisan, 1997. Not only is Manikowski an accomplished outdoorsman and writer, he also illustrated his own book.
New York State Farm Fresh Guide Metro Region. New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. This free guide to what to expect when and where is available through the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (718/722-2830).
The Valley Table. The Valley Table, Inc. This quarterly print publication maintains an informative website ( www.valleytable.com ) of local culinary news and events.
Zagat. Zagat Westchester County/Hudson Valley Restaurants 20122013. New York: Zagat Survey, 2011. Comprehensive restaurant listings with extensive coverage of Westchester County and select coverage across the valley. This guide does not cover Albany or Saratoga Springs.
Adams, Arthur G., ed. The Hudson River in Literature: An Anthology. New York: Fordham University Press, 1980. This anthology, which includes the writings of James Fenimore Cooper and William Cullen Bryant, provides a good overview of writers who wrote about and were influenced by the Hudson River Valley.
Cooper, James Fenimore. The Last of the Mohicans. New York: Bantam Classics, 1982. The second Leatherstocking Tale and the most popular of Coopers novels, this adventure of the French and Indian Wars in the Lake George region takes place in 1757.
Cooper, James Fenimore. The Leatherstocking Tales. New York: Library of America, 1985. The five books that make up Coopers Tales are set in the Hudson River Valley.
George, Jean Craighead. My Side of the Mountain. New York: Puffin Books, 1988. Many young readers have fallen in love with this story about a boy who runs away from home to the Catskills.
Goodman, Allegra. Kaaterskill Falls. New York: Delta, 1999. This book, about three Jewish families who spend summers in the Catskills, was contemporary novelist Allegra Goodmans first.
Irving, Washington. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Rockville, MD: Wildside Press, 2004. Washington Irving lived in Sleepy Hollow and found inspiration for his writing in local residents and villages.
Irving, Washington. Rip Van Winkle. Hensonville, NY: Black Dome Press Corp, 2003. Irvings classic tale of a very sleepy man takes place in the Catskills.
Chernov, Ron. Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. New York: Vintage Books, 1999. This biography has sections on Kykuit and the Pocantico Hills and gives a good overview of the economy and culture that defined the Hudson River Valley in the 19th century.
Diamant, Lincoln. Chaining the Hudson: The Fight for the River in the American Revolution. New York: Fordham University Press, 2004. This book provides a historical account of defending the river at West Point.
Evers, Alf. The Catskills: From Wilderness to Woodstock. Woodstock, NY: Overlook Press, 1982. This book serves as the definitive history of the Catskills.
Hall, Bruce Edward. Diamond Street: The Story of the Little Town with the Big Red Light District. Hensonville, NY: Black Dome Press, 1994. Hudsons red light district is researched and explained.
Lewis, Tom. The Hudson: A History. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 2005. A professor at Skidmore College tells the story of the Hudson River, from early explorers to modern times.
Rinaldi, Thomas E. and Yasinac, Robert J. Hudson Valley Ruins: Forgotten Landmarks of an American Landscape. University Press of New England, Hanover, NH, 2006. The authors portray lesser-known historic sites and abandoned buildings across the Hudson Valley in photos and text.
Ruttenber, E. M. Indian Tribes of Hudsons River to 1700 and Indian Tribes of Hudsons River 17001850. Saugerties, NY: Hope Farm Press, 1992. These two titles present a thorough history of the Native Americans who first inhabited the valley.
Van Zandt, Roland. The Catskill Mountain House: Americas Grandest Hotel. Hensonville, NY: Black Dome Press, 1991. Roland Van Zandt offers an in-depth look at one of the most famous hotels in the nations history.
Jorrn, Sylvia. Sylvias Farm: The Journal of an Improbable Shepherd. Bloomsbury Publishing, New York, 2004. A Delaware County farmer reflects on her experience of learning to raise sheep in the Catskills.
Mullen, Jim. It Takes a Village Idiot. Simon & Schuster, New York, 2001. A humorous account of an urbanites adjustment to country life.
Boyle, Robert H. The Hudson River: A Natural and Unnatural History. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1979. This is required reading for anyone who takes an environmental interest in the Hudson River.
Burroughs, John. In the Catskills. Charleston, SC: BiblioBazaar, 2007. One of Americas first conservationists and a contemporary of Walt Whitman and John Muir, Burroughs writes about Slide Mountain and his hometown of Roxbury in a collection of eight essays.
Cole, Thomas. Thomas Coles Poetry: The Collected Poems of Americas Foremost Painter of the Hudson River School. York, PA: George Shumway Publisher, 1972. Cole was a poet as well as a painter. More than 100 of his poems and a chronology of his life are included in this edition.
Klinkenborg, Verlyn. The Rural Life. New York: Back Bay Books, 2002. This memoir of life on a farm takes place largely in Columbia County.
Titus, Robert. The Catskills: A Geological Guide. Fleischmanns, NY: Purple Mountain Press, 1998. This must-read for armchair geologists contains basic explanations and recommended field trips.
Henry, Edward G. Catskill Trails: A Rangers Guide to the High Peaks. Hensonville, NY: Black Dome Press, 2000. This pair of trail guides are an essential resource for hikers. Book 1 covers the Northern Catskills, and Book 2 covers the Southern Catskills.
Green, Stella and H. Neil Zimmerman. 50 Hikes in the Lower Hudson Valley: Hikes and Walks from Westchester County to Albany. Woodstock, VT: Countryman Press, 2002. Hikes on both sides of the lower Hudson are detailed, authored by the past vice president and president of the New YorkNew Jersey Trail Conference.
Kick, Peter. Catskill Mountain Guide (Hiking Guide Series). Boston, MA: Appalachian Mountain Club Books, 2002. A guide to more than 90 trails and a pullout map by a local outdoorsman.