My wife and I will be visiting the Gunks for the first time Oct 13-21.

What's the best book or books to get?

And if anyone is interested in a MP East beer night... we're staying in New Paltz for the week.

Andy

Dick Williams' Trapps guide, and Dick Williams' Near Trapps/Millbrook guide if you want to explore some different areas. The Trapps guide alone would give you plenty of climbs. Dick Williams' books have killer descriptions compared to the other options.

I agree the Williams guidebooks are clearly superior in deteailed descriptions and how to find the routes.
Best option is to combine the Williams guidebook with the comments from MountainProject route entries.

Note that if you're looking for difficulty 5.6 or less, the Nears + Millbrook do not have many, so for a single trip could save by not getting that volume - (tho there are three great easy climbs in those sectors).

Ken

What everyone else said. The Williams book. There is also a book by Todd Swain, but it is harder to follow and has shorter descriptions, but has the Trapps, Near Trapps, and Millbrook. Williams is much more descriptive. If you want to go to the popular section of the Near Trapps (Kansas City thru Yum Yum Yab Yum), that section of the cliff isn't too long, the descents are usually walk off north, and the climbs are fairly easy to find if you can locate some of the landmark climbs - Disneyland, Layback, Alphonse, Roseland, Birdland - so you could get by without the book for that area

www.mountainproject.com/v/gunks-guide-book/107769607

everyone was very helpfull and the trip was a blast!