Out of Oz by Gregory Maguire

We are all familiar with the story of Dorothy, her dog Toto and her adventures in Oz, but what if that wasn't all of the story? Author Gregory Maguire has taken Frank L. Baum's story and twisted it just a bit. What started in Wicked, and continued in Son of a Witch and a Lion Among Men, is now coming to a conclusion with Out of Oz. Fans of the series will want to pick up the last volume, and new readers will be brought up to speed with a great introduction as well as a time line and important events. Keep your eyes peeled to references to the movie and books, as this Out of Oz is jam packed with action, adventure and a lot of cultural references.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

Flavia de Luce is an eleven year old girl who loves chemistry, particularly poisons.  When she discovers a murdered stranger in the backyard of her family’s English mansion she welcomes the chance to solve the mystery.  She manages to do a much better job of it than the local police.  The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is only the first in a series of Flavia mysteries that keep getting better.   The adventures continue in The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag, A Red Herring Without Mustard, and the just-published I Am Half Sick of Shadows. 

It Looked Different on the Model by Laurie Notaro

Laurie Notaro once again opens up and shares snippets from her colorful life again with readers. From battles at the post office to battles in the fitting room, Laurie is up to the same kind of trouble fans are familiar with. New readers looking for something to laugh out will find lots to laugh at as Laurie gives us highlights from her crazy life.

The Grace of Everyday Saints by Julian Guthrie

St. Brigid Church is over a century old and one of San Francisco’s landmarks.   In 1994 the Roman Catholic archbishop decided to close this beautiful and thriving church.  The parishioners banded together to save their church.  This group of dedicated and faithful Roman Catholics is an inspiration.  However, this story will move everyone, not just Catholics.  It is about power and its misuse, and the joy of faith.  The author is a journalist with the San Francisco Chronicle and wrote about this story over many years.  Check out The Grace of Everyday Saints: How A Band of Believers Lost Their Church and Found Their Faith @the library today!

The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly

London, 1888.  Jack the Ripper stalks the foggy streets of London's East End.  Fiona Finnegan and Joe Bristow are deeply in love, engaged, and saving every penny they can to open their own tea shop.  But dark events are at hand that will leave oceans and years between them.  When the Ripper strikes, murdering her mother, and Fiona's father is killed to stop his efforts to unionize the tea workers in Whitechapel, she is forced to flee London to New York to protect her baby brother, Seamie, leaving Joe and everything she knows behind.  An epic love story caught up in a whirl of history, lovers of historical fiction and family sagas will love The Tea Rose.  And when you're done with this page-turner, be sure to check out the rest of the trilogy, The Winter Rose and The Wild Rose!

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Honeymooning in the Scottish highlands in 1945 with her beloved historian husband, Frank, nurse Claire Randall is foraging for plants in the stone circle on Craigh na Dun when she hears the stones scream.  Hurled through the stone and back in time, Claire finds herself wandering in the remote Scottish country on the eve of the Jacobite rising, two hundred years earlier.  Rather abruptly kidnapped by a group of Highland raiders, who are themselves hiding from an English patrol, to dress young Highlander warrior Jamie Fraser's wounds, Claire finds herself inextricably tied to the MacKenzie clan - and Jamie. Unable to return to the stone circle despite all her best efforts, Claire must decide if she can face the future from the past.  A love story with astounding historical scope, Outlander is one of my absolute all-time favorite books.  Jamie will ruin all other fictional men for you (sorry, Mr. Darcy), and Claire's practicality, passion, and fierce devotion to those she loves will have you frantically turning the pages not just through this one, but through six more fabulously fat novels that take Claire and Jamie forward from the Rising to the American Revolution. The 20th anniversary of its original publication, don't let another year go by without adding Outlander to your must-read list!

The Long Song by Andrea Levy

This is the story of a slave woman, July, who was born on a sugar cane plantation in Jamaica at the beginning of the 19^th century.  Although she lives through many hardships--slavery, violence, motherhood, a slave rebellion and the difficulties of life under newly-won freedom, the book describes the horrors of slavery with ironic wit. Humor makes The Long Song an enjoyable read.