This Close

This Close
Author: Jessica Francis Kane
Publisher: Graywolf Press
Total Pages: 178
Release: 2013-03-05
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1555970664

This Close, a graceful, moving new collection by the author of The Report *An NPR and Flavorwire Best Book of the Year * How close can we come to love, success, happiness, forgiveness? An older woman, irritated with her wealthy young neighbor's yard "improvements," offers a corner of her lawn to a Croatian immigrant who wants a vegetable garden. A recent college graduate living in New York City finds himself in a strangely entangled friendship with his dry cleaner and her son. A daughter accompanies her father to Israel, where, seeing a new side of him away from her mother, she makes an unusual bargain. Through thirteen stories, some stand-alone, others woven with linked characters, Kane questions the tensions between friendship and neighborliness, home and travel, family and ambition. In writing filled with wit and humor and incredible poignancy, she deftly reveals the everyday patterns that, over time, can swerve a life off course.

This Close to Okay

This Close to Okay
Author: Leesa Cross-Smith
Publisher: Hachette UK
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2023-07-20
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1398718645

'This Close to Okay hits the ground running. Cross-Smith writes tenderly about the trial and error of intimacy and draws you in with enormous warmth and control' - Raven Leilani, author of LUSTER On a rainy October night, therapist Tallie Clark is on her way home from work when she spots a man standing at the edge of a bridge. Without a second thought, Tallie pulls over and convinces him to join her for a cup of coffee. Eventually, he agrees to come back to her house, where he finally shares his name: Emmett. Over the course of the emotionally charged weekend that follows, Tallie makes it her mission to provide a safe space for Emmett. But he isn't the only one who needs healing-and they both are harbouring secrets... As they inch closer to the truth of what brought Emmett to the bridge-and the hard truths Tallie has been grappling with since her marriage ended-could their connection lead to love? This Close to Okay is an uplifting story about chance encounters, and hope found in the most unlikely moments, from a consummate author of emotionally-wrought romance. Longlisted for the 2022 Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award Longlisted for the Goodreads Choice Awards Book of the Month December Pick Good Housekeeping Book Club February Pick Marie Claire Book Club March Pick

This Close to Okay

This Close to Okay
Author: Leesa Cross-Smith
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2021-02-02
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 153871535X

A powerful, vibrant novel about the life-changing weekend shared between two strangers, from the award-winning writer Roxane Gay calls "a consummate storyteller."​ On a rainy October night in Kentucky, recently divorced therapist Tallie Clark is on her way home from work when she spots a man precariously standing at the edge of a bridge. Without a second thought, Tallie pulls over and jumps out of the car into the pouring rain. She convinces the man to join her for a cup of coffee, and he eventually agrees to come back to her house, where he finally shares his name: Emmett. Over the course of the emotionally charged weekend that follows, Tallie makes it her mission to provide a safe space for Emmett, though she hesitates to confess that this is also her day job. What she doesn’t realize is that Emmett isn’t the only one who needs healing—and they both are harboring secrets. Alternating between Tallie and Emmett’s perspectives as they inch closer to the truth of what brought Emmett to the bridge’s edge—as well as the hard truths Tallie has been grappling with since her marriage ended—This Close to Okay is an uplifting, cathartic story about chance encounters, hope found in unlikely moments, and the subtle magic of human connection. ​Longlisted for the 2022 Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award Longlisted for the Goodreads Choice Awards Book of the Month December Pick Good Housekeeping Book Club February Pick Marie Claire Book Club March Pick Most Anticipated by Elle, Today (according to Goodreads), The Millions, She Reads, and Real Simple Recommended by Refinery29, Shondaland, Oprah Daily, Washington Post, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Electric Literature, Bookriot, Parade, Harper's Bazaar, and more

This Close to Happy

This Close to Happy
Author: Daphne Merkin
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2017-02-07
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0374140367

This Close to Happy is the rare, vividly personal account of what it feels like to suffer from clinical depression, written from a woman's perspective and informed by an acute understanding of the implications of this disease over a lifetime. Taking off from essays on depression she has written for The New Yorker and The New York Times Magazine, Daphne Merkin casts her eye back to her beginnings to try to sort out the root causes of her affliction. She recounts the travails of growing up in a large, affluent family where there was a paucity of love and of basics such as food and clothing despite the presence of a chauffeur and a cook. She goes on to recount her early hospitalization for depression in poignant detail, as well as her complex relationship with her mercurial, withholding mother.Along the way Merkin also discusses her early, redemptive love of reading and gradual emergence as a writer. She eventually marries, has a child, and suffers severe postpartum depression, for which she is again hospitalized. Merkin also discusses her visits to various therapists and psychopharmocologists, which enables her to probe the causes of depression and its various treatments. The book ends in the present, where the writer has learned how to navigate her depression, if not "cure" it, after a third hospitalization in the wake of her mother's death.

This Close to the Earth

This Close to the Earth
Author: Enid Shomer
Publisher: University of Arkansas Press
Total Pages: 92
Release: 1992-01-01
Genre: Poetry
ISBN: 9781557282552

The Pope Joan section, 1992 winner of the Eunice Tietjens Memorial Prize from Poetry Magazine

Not This Close (A Rachel Blackwood Suspense Thriller—Book Three)

Not This Close (A Rachel Blackwood Suspense Thriller—Book Three)
Author: Blake Pierce
Publisher: Blake Pierce
Total Pages: 259
Release: 2024-03-18
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 109439596X

Texas Ranger (and part Native American) Rachel Blackwood, fierce and resilient, must cross the harsh Texas landscape while tracking the most notorious serial killers. As a new casino development rolls out on the peaceful shores of Galveston Island, a series of horrific murders unfolds as young women are found buried in the sand of this historic beach. Among the victims are two Native American women. With her ties to the community, the case feels personal, and Rachel will stop at nothing to stop the killer—unless he gets to her first… “A masterpiece of thriller and mystery.” —Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re Once Gone) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ NOT THIS CLOSE (A Rachel Blackwood Suspense Thriller—Book 3) is Book #3 in a long-anticipated new series by #1 bestseller and USA Today bestselling author Blake Pierce, whose bestseller The Perfect Wife (a free download) has received over 20,000 five star reviews. As a child, Rachel felt a connection to her Native American heritage, learning traditional customs and survival skills from the aunt who raised her. Haunted for years by her parents’ mysterious and unsolved deaths, Rachel vowed to find their killer—and protect all other innocent lives from the same fate. A page-turning and harrowing suspense thriller featuring a brilliant and tortured protagonist, the RACHEL BLACKWOOD series is a riveting mystery, packed with suspense, twists and turns, revelations, and driven by a breakneck pace that will keep you flipping pages late into the night. Future books in the series are also available. “An edge of your seat thriller in a new series that keeps you turning pages! ...So many twists, turns and red herrings… I can't wait to see what happens next.” —Reader review (Her Last Wish) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “A strong, complex story about two FBI agents trying to stop a serial killer. If you want an author to capture your attention and have you guessing, yet trying to put the pieces together, Pierce is your author!” —Reader review (Her Last Wish) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “A typical Blake Pierce twisting, turning, roller coaster ride suspense thriller. Will have you turning the pages to the last sentence of the last chapter!!!” —Reader review (City of Prey) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Right from the start we have an unusual protagonist that I haven't seen done in this genre before. The action is nonstop… A very atmospheric novel that will keep you turning pages well into the wee hours.” —Reader review (City of Prey) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Everything that I look for in a book… a great plot, interesting characters, and grabs your interest right away. The book moves along at a breakneck pace and stays that way until the end. Now on go I to book two!” —Reader review (Girl, Alone) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Exciting, heart pounding, edge of your seat book… a must read for mystery and suspense readers!” —Reader review (Girl, Alone) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This Close to Happy

This Close to Happy
Author: Daphne Merkin
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2017-02-07
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0374711917

A New York Times Book Review Favorite Read of 2016 “Despair is always described as dull,” writes Daphne Merkin, “when the truth is that despair has a light all its own, a lunar glow, the color of mottled silver.” This Close to Happy—Merkin’s rare, vividly personal account of what it feels like to suffer from clinical depression—captures this strange light. Daphne Merkin has been hospitalized three times: first, in grade school, for childhood depression; years later, after her daughter was born, for severe postpartum depression; and later still, after her mother died, for obsessive suicidal thinking. Recounting this series of hospitalizations, as well as her visits to myriad therapists and psychopharmacologists, Merkin fearlessly offers what the child psychiatrist Harold Koplewicz calls “the inside view of navigating a chronic psychiatric illness to a realistic outcome.” The arc of Merkin’s affliction is lifelong, beginning in a childhood largely bereft of love and stretching into the present, where Merkin lives a high-functioning life and her depression is manageable, if not “cured.” “The opposite of depression,” she writes with characteristic insight, “is not a state of unimaginable happiness . . . but a state of relative all-right-ness.” In this dark yet vital memoir, Merkin describes not only the harrowing sorrow that she has known all her life, but also her early, redemptive love of reading and gradual emergence as a writer. Written with an acute understanding of the ways in which her condition has evolved as well as affected those around her, This Close to Happy is an utterly candid coming-to-terms with an illness that many share but few talk about, one that remains shrouded in stigma. In the words of the distinguished psychologist Carol Gilligan, “It brings a stunningly perceptive voice into the forefront of the conversation about depression, one that is both reassuring and revelatory.”

The Teacher's Secret: All is not what it seems in this close-knit community...

The Teacher's Secret: All is not what it seems in this close-knit community...
Author: Suzanne Leal
Publisher: Legend Press
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2017-05-15
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1785079085

'Packed with heart and suspense; I absolutely loved it'- Jenny Ashcroft Things aren't always as they seem... A small town can be a refuge, but while its secrets are held, it's hard to know who to trust and what to believe. The Teacher's Secret is a tender and compelling story of scandal, rumor and dislocation, and the search for grace and dignity in the midst of dishonor and humiliation. Suzanne Leal draws us into a public school in the intimate town of Brindle, Australia in which vice principal Terry comes to generational loggerheads with stand-in principal Laurie concerning teachers and their treatment of their pupils. Told over four semesters, this conflict will slowly change their lives. Perfect for fans of The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas, Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty and A Song for Issy Bradley by Carys BrayWhat Reviewers and Readers Say:'Delicately woven• a big-hearted book,' Joanne Fedler&‘Elegantly structured, unsettling, yet with moments of surprising wit,&’ Kathryn Heyman&‘Masterfully constructed, this moving novel warns us of our capacity to make or break the lives of those around us• Drawn with wit and clear-eyed affection, the inhabitants of this wonderful novel will remain with you long after you have put it down.&’ Mark Lamprell&‘A rich interweaving of beautifully drawn characters told so gently and in such exquisite detail that they grew on me until I was lost in their world.&’ Robin de Crespigny'The Teacher&’s Secret is a gutsy yet intricate examination of one of society&’s nightmares, filled with strong characters and relationships interwoven in a storyline that has the reader engrossed to the last page,&’ Robert Wainwright&‘Suzanne Leal writes with her hand on her heart, writing according to its beat• translating the ordinary into the extraordinary. An Australian talent, universally understood.&’ Charles Waterstreet&‘Suspenseful, moving and full of heart. I couldn&’t put it down.&’ Richard Glover&‘An eloquent story of a life thrown into disarray; it drew me in and held me, page after page.&’ Rachel Seiffert&‘Suzanne Leal is a writer of unusual sensitivity, with a rare ability to shed light on the dark tangle of emotional attachments which lies just below the surface of everyday life.&’ John Colle'What a great read! I could not put it down. I can imagine this book being talked about and passed around from teacher to teacher in the school staff room and from parent to parent in the school car park ...' Schooldays Magazine

This Close to Home

This Close to Home
Author: Beth Turley
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2024-05-28
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1534476768

After the death of her mother, Brooke works to revitalize her town's festival in hope that it will help her sister and dad heal and allow them to begin to move on.

I Am This Close

I Am This Close
Author: Eric McCarty
Publisher: iUniverse
Total Pages: 131
Release: 2004-11
Genre:
ISBN: 0595335853

Sometimes we need a more ethereal path to find the inner, divine beauty that is the true essence of who we are. I Am This Close illustrates in sensual, flowing words, a clear, profoundly meaningful way of just how we can rediscover what has been under our spiritual masks for so long...the fact that we are Love embodied, and we are not separate from ourselves...or each other. We are this close...surrender, and let the sacred magic of these words take you on this wonderful journey of the purest of love--your own.