Book picks similar to
Swimming Across the Hudson by Joshua Henkin


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At the Sign of the Naked Waiter


Amy Herrick - 1992
    Navigating the mysterious path from childhood to adulthood, Sarah encounters a naked, winged man, rivalrous ghosts, and gods disguised as beggars.

The Man Who Wrote the Book


Erik Tarloff - 2000
    From the author of "Face-Time" comes an engaging, hilarious, sexy romp of a book about a college professor's unorthodox take on the academic imperative to publish or perish.

A Year of Lesser


David Bergen - 1997
    But Johnny is more than tickled when he finds out Loraine is pregnant with his child. An almost-saved Christian, a not-quite-sober alcoholic and part-time lover of Loraine, Johnny is not sure where his wife Charlene fits into this complex love triangle of women, men, desires and truth. He's even less sure where Chris, Loraine's teenaged son, and Melody, Chris' pregnant girlfriend, belong in his life as a husband, lover, and volunteer coordinator of the town of Lesser's teen drop-in center.A feed supply salesman whose history extends only as far as he can remember, Johnny longs for a spiritual salvation, but finds beauty and truth in the soft, warm flesh of the women he loves. Charlene's final, fiery truth lies in her inability to come to terms with Johnny's earthly morality.An extraordinarily talented new author, Bergen achieves a finely tuned balance in his work: his tone is realistic, shot with ironic insight, replete with astonishing, but seemingly casually placed universal truths, seamlessly woven into an absorbing story of people struggling with their souls in a small prairie town.

Little Follies: The Personal History, Adventure, Experiences and Observations of Peter Leroy


Eric Kraft - 1992
    Among the books surrounding him, he began to dream...of a nameless boy, sitting on a dilapidated dock in the warm sun of a summer day, playing a game: He was trying to bring the soles of his bare feet as close as he could to the surface of the water, without touching it.That boy became Peter Leroy, and from Kraft's dream grew one of the most delightful, unusual projects in contemporary literature. Funny, touching, witty, mythic, and profound, Kraft's novels, featuring Peter, his friends and family, and the seaside town of Babbington create an alternate reality-a world in which we see ourselves, darkened and wavering, as reflected by deep water.Little Follies gathers nine Peter Leroy novellas into one volume: the perfect introduction to an irresistible cycle of books by an author sometimes compared to Cheever, Proust, Twain, Borges, Russel Baker, and Garrison Keillor, but who is uniquely Eric Kraft.

Rocket City


Cathryn Alpert - 1995
    Reminiscent of such modern classics as Cowboys Are My Weakness and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, with a touch of Geek Love thrown in for good measure, Rocket City is a deliciously original and strangely moving novel of alienation in America's Southwest.

Beaming Sonny Home


Cathie Pelletier - 1996
    Her mother committed suicide, her husband slept with her best friend, and she can't stand her three selfish daughters. But she does love her son, Sonny, who nevertheless plunges her into deep despair when he takes two women and a poodle hostage in his ex-wife's trailer.

On the Night Plain


J. Robert Lennon - 2001
    His father has mysteriously disappeared, and Grant’s brother, Max, a lifelong rival, takes off on the day Grant returns, leaving him with a sickly flock and a pile of debt. When Max returns a year later with a young woman named Sophia, a contest of will begins between the brothers, reviving ghosts that Grant had hoped were banished from the homestead.

Seeing Calvin Coolidge in a Dream


John Derbyshire - 1996
    He and his wife, Ding, are the parents of an infant and enjoy a contented marriage; he develops a fond obsession with President Calvin Coolidge, the taciturn New Englander whose wry wit and wisdom delights Chai. One day, a chance discovery leads him astray: He learns that a lover from his youth is now in Boston, living with her husband and their son. The son is Chai's very image, and the staid banker is inflamed by the implications of the resemblance. Confused by his emotions, he becomes determined to revive the affair. How Ding schemes to win back her wayward husband--and teach him the necessary truths about love--forms the plot and beguiling conclusion to John Derbyshire's tale.

He Say, She Say


Yolanda Joe - 1996
    T.J. is the object of her affection, a jazz pianist who prefers to keep his romances casual--but who may be facing the real deal in Sandy. Bebe is Sandy's confidante, a bank supervisor who is struggling through her self-imposed "sex sabbatical". Speed is T.J.'s father and best friend, a man who isn't too old to learn a few things from his son. Together these four weave a funny, touching, and vivid tale of coping with the ups and downs of everyday life in Chicago that readers won't soon forget.

Into Love and Out Again: Stories


Elinor Lipman - 1987
    These wry and sassy tales illustrate the vulnerable heartbeat beneath the brash style of the eighties. Behind their professional self-assurance, Elinor Lipman's characters question and fear, search and yearn for that most elusive of commodities--love.

The Weight of Birds


Amanda Lewis - 2020
    

First Confession


Montserrat Fontes - 1992
    Their theft tragically unleashes a series of events, among them murder and suicide.

Summer's Reunion


Dora Hiers - 2020
    Beer and bitterness destroyed his marriage to his high school sweetheart, but he’s a changed man now. Solid, stable and sober, he’s finally ready to start a family of his own. But the only woman he can imagine spending his forever with filed divorce papers on him eight years ago.When Rowan Albright faces her groom at the end of the aisle, this time they’re not the ones getting married. She never stopped loving Mannix, but his weekend beer binges to mask the deep-rooted grief tore at the very fabric of her soul, especially since alcoholism decimated her family. But Aunt Ellie says he’s clean now, so when Mannix’s beloved Gramps offers her a job in the family business, she jumps on it. Working together will reveal her ex-husband’s change of heart, right? Or destroy hers…Is faith, hope and love strong enough to rebuild what was lost? Will God give them a second chance at love and a future, or will both their hearts be shattered once again? Will theirs be a summer reunion or a summer to forget?

Error Code Love


Suman Bhattacharya - 2013
    But my Karma won’t let me, I have to compensate for what I’ve done.”Kolkata, 2008 Driven by a crazed love, Dev, our next door shy software engineer commits the biggest mistake of his life. Over 72 marathon hours, he loses his education, career, love, and life by a single act of madnes.Bengaluru 2012 Years later, Dev reaches Bengaluru in search of a better life. Destiny brings him face to face with his first love once again. He chases the same impossible dream only to find himself burning and failing in love. On the verge of losing everything that mattered, Dev fights his sense of practicality and his crazy, but limitless ‘Love’.Let’s find out who wins!Error Code Love takes you on an epic journey through the roads of friendship, jealousy, obsession, mistakes, redemption and love. It raises questions allied to grey areas of teen emotions and lets you find the answers within.

Chasing Down the Night (Crater Lake Series Book 3)


Francis Guenette - 2015
    Nothing could be further from the truth. Long-time resident, Izzy Montgomery juggles the stress of a new job with her burgeoning home life. Family dynamics go into overdrive when Alexander and Cynthia launch plans to build a home nearby and Liam’s sister, Fiona shows up to do an internship with the local doctor. Lisa-Marie and Justin are back for the summer and sparks fly. While crusty, old Reg keeps sawmill production booming, Beulah runs the organic bakery and plans the First Annual Caleb Jenkins Memorial Ball Tournament. Bethany discovers her own hidden talents working with young people at Micah Camp. As a nine-year-old’s dreams reflect a dangerous reality, many encounter issues from the past. This is a novel for all those who work at building family ties by strengthening the traditional and creating the new. Chasing Down the Night explores a wide-ranging emotional landscape while highlighting the many aspects of day-to-day, rural life. Tears and laughter are inevitable.