What I read this year (May)

26. Avatar: The Last Airbender--The Promise, by Gene Luen Yang (finished May 10). In which Aang and Zuko's Harmony Restoration Movement doesn't go as planned, and Zuko extracts a promise from Aang that makes the Avatar very unhappy. I got to meet Gene Luen Yang at ALA this summer, and tell him how much I love his work--after the Avatar stuff I looked up everything else he ever wrote, and Level Up is probably my favorite. He signed an Avatar poster for me and drew a quick sketch of Appa sticking his tongue out; it's a treasured possession, proudly displayed in my office.

27. Orphan Train, by Christina Baker Kline (May 17). In which an Irish orphan is put on a train to look for someone to take her in, and many years later a foster child does community service by helping an elderly lady clean up her attic. I was invited to join the book club a friend of mine was starting, and this was the first selection. I get the impression that this club is likely to read more of what you might consider "book club" books than my other, quirkier book club. I wasn't expecting to like this one, but I enjoyed it, particularly once I caught the parallel being drawn between the early 20th century orphan and the early 21st century foster child.

28. The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton (May 25). In which Lily Bart consistently chooses money over happiness and ends up with neither. And this was the selection for my other book club this month. Unlike some of the classics we've attempted (looking at you, Henry James), this one was compulsively readable, if depressing at the end.

And that was it for May!