Love Books? You Might Hate Me For Saying This
You’d think I’d know better.
To dive back into one of these relationships.
I mean, really.
And yet,
Here I go again.
Thinking,
Hoping,
Kidding myself,
That this time things will be different.
Oh, don’t go all judgey on me, Dear Reader.
Because I know you.
I know from the floods of email you have sent,
That you, Dear Reader, are a reader.
Of books.
Lots of them.
You’ve told me who you like to read,
How, when, why.
And so, like me, I know that you’ve gone there.
Perhaps, still do.
Picked up a sequel.
Ah, yes, the sequel.
That giant tease,
That promise,
That the next book will be as good as the first.
When you know,
I know.
It never is.
I started down this most recent unfortunate path after finding one of those special book a couple months ago.
Loved, loved, loved this novel.
Fell for the main character.
Her quirks.
Her funny lines.
Her way of figuring out what’s important by the end.
I missed her so from the moment I turned the last page.
Like she was my beautiful friend who moved away and stopped returning my calls.
Then, the tease, the hope, the possibility.
The author announced she’d written a sequel.
I couldn’t help myself.
How I wish I had.
Sure enough, this beloved character isn’t as cute, funny, or worth rooting for this time around.
She’s rather annoying.
But I’m in, so we’re going to see this through, she and I.
I’ll give you, there can be exceptions to my officially declared, “No Sequel Rule.”
Trilogies are born as sequels.
I’ve gobbled my share.
I don’t think those count.
A trilogy is really one long book that’s too big to carry around, unless you go for the e-book version.
And let’s not reopen the e-book vs. old-fashioned book debate.
That one about crashed my email inbox.
I will admit a certain fondness for outstanding recurring characters like Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allon.
I go there, I admit it.
And I confess I’m rudely impatient when an author has to use up precious time and space to fill in back story for those who might be jumping in at Book 6.
“C’mon people,” I want to groan. “Please just keep up with the group. If you’d just read the books in order we could move this along a lot faster.”
So what say you, Dear Reader?
Do you sequel?
Or is it possible you’re smart—
You know to hum that old song by Sade?
“Never As Good As The First Time.”
Nope never is.
You need to keep that in mind when tempted to look up your 10th grade boyfriend on Facebook or reach for that sequel to your favorite novel.
These are precious memories best left where they belong.
On the shelf.
What say you?
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