I'm about halfway through The Snakewoman of Little Egypt by Robert Hellegna, and its quite good. A young woman released from prison after shooting her abusive husband (she didn't kill him) receives a small inheritance from an uncle who was a custodian at a small college; she goes there, starts classes and a relationship with an anthro professor. Hellegna is a good storyteller. His book The Sixteen Pleasures was a good narrative altho a complete different story.

Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon is the winner of the National Book Award this year, and deservedly so. It's a 'dark horse' (ha ha) selection concerning a little bottom-level race track and five characters that work there, over the course of a year. Even if you don't automatically read all the Nat Book winners read this one.