Redwood comes from a long line of female conjurors. When her mother is lynched by a mob, Aidan, a half-Seminole, half-Irish man, finds the body and treats it with reverence. Aidan and Redwood form a lifelong bond that eventually leads to them fleeing Georgia for Chicago after Redwood kills a man who sexually assaults her. Aidan and Redwood explore vaudeville and the burgeoning film industry as they travel. The culture-changing and healing power of music and theater become equally important themes as race and gender politics in Andrea Hairston’s turn of the century, James Tiptree, Jr.-awarding winning fantasy, Redwood and Wildfire.

Readers have long found themselves pulled into books, but what if you could pull things out of them?  That’s the idea behind Libriomancer, a book you should definitely not judge by its unfortunate cover.  Isaac Vainio has the ability to literally reach into a book and draw out an object described in its pages.  This gift comes in especially handy when three vampires attack him in the library.  With the aid of his fire-spider Smudge, Isaac cleverly defeats them and then discovers his battles are far from over.  Author Jim C. Hines, who just won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writing, successfully translates his geekery and tongue-in-cheek humor into a fantastically fun read, sure to appeal to modern booklovers with overactive imaginations and a taste for high adventure.

You don’t have to be a fan of urban fantasy to appreciate the richly detailed setting of Orleans, both Old and New, in Suzanne Johnson’s debut Royal Street.  After the barriers between New Orleans and the Great Beyond are compromised by Hurricane Katrina, the Guardians of the city must work overtime to protect what’s left.  Someone is murdering the soldiers assisting with the recovery, and Drusilla Jaco’s wizard mentor is missing.  To complicate matters, DJ has to put up with a new special-forces-type partner and the return of legendary pirate Jean Lafitte.  Action, humor, magic, and a love for New Orleans are all on display, and Louis Armstrong himself enters the picture in an inspired plot twist.