Relaxed Fairyland: Emerald City of Oz

I found my book bag, but too late to finish the library book. (It was a biography of Willie Mays, too detailed to hold my interest.) But now I have a half-finished book from my shelves to hold in reserve, in case I ever have problems finishing my book-a-day goal.

Today I read another fast book -- L. Frank Baum's Emerald City of Oz. I can't remember if I've read it before; I read a lot of them but they tend to mix together. It's possible this is my first read; I noticed when Dorothy's Uncle Henry and Aunt Em started appearing in the background but I think I always wondered how they got there, and the answer is in this book.

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I had fun with it -- both the chapters where Dorothy wanders around Oz with her guardians and some assorted Ozians and find silly villages (Bunville, where everybody and their stuff is made of pastry, and Bunnyville, a land of white rabbits) and then dark subplot with the evil Nomes gathering even eviler allies in hopes of enslaving everyone in Oz. But I liked Ozma's attitude towards them -- watch them approach even when it's boring, and then figure everything will be OK. Which it is. Mari Ness has done an extended series of reviews of Oz books on tor.com; Ness was much more bothered by Ozma's insouciance in the face of desperate danger and defilement. I had confidence in the queen, though.