L. Frank Baum's Oz Series

The great book and subsequent sequels and prequels which inspired the movie in 1939. I loved the movie, loved the books, and also some of the other film interpretations. Baum tells the story of the inhabitants of the great land of Oz in these books, most notably Dorothy Gale and her rag-tag group of friends.

• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)
• The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904)
• Queer Visitors from the Marvelous Land of Oz (1905, comic strip depicting 27 stories)
• Ozma of Oz (1907)
• Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz (1908)
• The Road to Oz (1909)
• The Emerald City of Oz (1910)
• The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1913)
• Little Wizard Stories of Oz (1913, collection of 6 short stories)
• Tik-Tok of Oz (1914)
• The Scarecrow of Oz (1915)
• Rinkitink in Oz (1916)
• The Lost Princess of Oz (1917)
• The Tin Woodman of Oz (1918)
• The Magic of Oz (1919, posthumously published)
• Glinda of Oz (1920, posthumously published)

Gregory Maguire's Wicked Series

Gregory Maguire is the author of many books, but none so famous as his Wicked series, which is based on L. Frank Baum's Oz books. In this series, he focuses on minor characters from Baum's Oz world and writes their personal stories. The first novel, Wicked, is based on the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wonderful World of Oz and tells her story as though she were the wronged party. The second novel follows the life of Liir, Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West)'s son. In the third installment, Maguire pens life as told by the Cowardly Lion -- known as Brrr in these books. Wicked was also made into a Broadway play of the same name.

• Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1995)
• Son of a Witch (2005)*
• A Lion Among Men (2008)*

*Not yet read