New reads for December

Sometimes a book from a small press, or even the rare self-published book, makes it big and becomes a mainstream favorite. It's happening more and more often. But the fact is, it's still hard to find that great gem of a novel from non-mainstream, small or independent publishers. They just don't have the marketing budgets that the big houses, like Penguin or Norton, have at their disposals. You have to really be looking out for them.

Lucky for you, as your library's fiction selector, I am looking out for them. This month I thought I'd highlight some titles from emerging authors or smaller presses that might've otherwise slipped by without your notice. These are books that are getting some amazing reviews by seasoned critics. So give the little guy a chance and check out these great novels today.

1. Crooked River by Valerie Geary (William Morrow Press)

Still grieving the sudden death of their mother, Sam and her younger sister Ollie McAlister move from the comforts of Eugene to rural Oregon to live in a meadow in a teepee under the stars with Bear, their beekeeper father. But soon after they arrive, a young woman is found dead floating in Crooked River, and the police arrest their eccentric father for the murder. Told in Sam and Ollie's vibrant voices, Crooked River is a family story, a coming of age story, a ghost story and a psychological mystery that will touch reader's hearts and keep them gripped until the final thrilling page.

2. Sometimes the Wolf by Urban Waite (William Morrow Press)

Patrick Drake tried to lead an upstanding life and maintain some semblance of financial stability, until his wife grew ill and they were in danger of losing everything they'd worked for. Single-handedly raising his family in a small mountain town, he was soon hit with money troubles, fell in with some unsavory men--and then was caught and convicted of one of the biggest crimes in local history. Twelve years later Patrick is out on parole under the watchful eye of his son, Bobby, who just happens to be a deputy sheriff in his father's old department.

3. All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews (McSweeney's)

Elf and Yoli are sisters. While on the surface Elfrieda's life is enviable (she's a world-renowned pianist, glamorous, wealthy, and happily married) and Yolandi's a mess (she's divorced and broke, with two teenagers growing up too quickly), they are fiercely close - raised in a Mennonite household and sharing the hardship of Elf's desire to end her life. After Elf's latest attempt, Yoli must quickly determine how to keep her family from falling apart, how to keep her own heart from breaking, and what it means to love someone who wants to die.

4.  The Forgers by Bradford Morrow (Mysterious Press)

The rare book world is stunned when a reclusive collector, Adam Diehl, is found on the floor of his Montauk home: hands severed, surrounded by valuable inscribed books and original manuscripts that have been vandalized beyond repair. Adam's sister, Meghan, and her lover, Will, a convicted if unrepentant literary forger, struggle to come to terms with the seemingly incomprehensible murder. But when Will begins receiving threatening handwritten letters, seemingly penned by long-dead authors, but really from someone who knows secrets about Adam's death and Will's past, he understands his own life is also on the line.

5. Citizens Creek by Lalita Tademy (Atria Press)

Cow Tom, born into slavery in Alabama in 1810 and sold to a Creek Indian chief before his tenth birthday, possessed an extraordinary gift: the ability to master languages. As the new country developed westward, and Indians, settlers, and blacks came into constant contact, Cow Tom became a key translator for his Creek master and was hired out to US military generals. His talent earned him money-but would it also grant him freedom? And what would become of him and his family in the aftermath of the Civil War and the Indian Removal westward?