Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I Wish Could Have Had Sequels

Top Ten Tuesday – Top Ten Six Books I Wish Could Have Had Sequels

Okay, guys. Sorry to shortchange you this week. BUT I was struggling to find ten since I read so many books that are part of a series already. My thought process, growing progressively more desperate:

“Atonement by Ian McEwan? Too depressing. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold? But she’s already dead! Roanoke: A Novel of the Lost Colony by Sonia Levitin – Doesn’t the colony disappear at the end?? Come on, Meg!”

So in the end I just gave up (a good life strategy, no?) and just picked the six I felt most strongly about. And I DO have some strong feelings:

(Credit for original weekly feature all to the lovely ladies at The Broke and the Bookish)

1.  Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (and just about any other novel by her… except you, Mansfield Park, go back to your corner)

 

I KNOW you guys are with me on this one! How do know this? Oh, just judging by this tiny sampling of the vast body of P&P continuations/spin-offs, like these that I have read:

An Assembly Such as This, P&P&Z, Austenland

 And these that I still NEED to read:

Why so many vampire/vampyre Darcy's? I do not know, but I'll allow it.

2. The Princess Bride by William Goldman

The actual plot of this novel ends with an ellipsis! Mister Goldman, how would YOU like it if I….

…See? Doesn’t feel great, does it?! Between that, and the taunting inclusion of the “first chapter of the long-long sequel, Buttercup’s Baby,” Goldman is basically rubbing our faces in the fact that we never get a conclusive ending.

3. The Host by Stephenie Meyer

This whole book is a such a struggle between Wanderer and Melanie’s consciousness-es…counciousi? And only at the last second do we get a glimpse of what their lives could be like. This is just one of those books where I want to see what happens when everyone is happy, dammit!

4. Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O’Brien

I read this book for the first time in middle school and it remains one of my all-time favorites. A haunting novel for young adults, it follows sixteen-year-old Ann Bunden as she tries to eke out life as the last person on earth after a nuclear disaster… or so she thinks until John Loomis, a scientist, comes to her valley. But he has a violent past and may endanger Ann’s future. I am fascinated by books about a dytopian future and this one left me wanting to know What. Happens. Next.

5.  Beauty by Robin McKinley

One of the most well-loved (read: most dog-eared, creased, and torn) books on my shelf, I can revisit it over and over again. It was first published in 1978, but as a gorgeous retelling of the Beauty & the Beast fairy tale, it hasn’t aged at all. This novel never fails to take me to my happy place and the only way it could be better is if there were a sequel.

6. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling 

Excerpt from Harry Potter #8: “Now it was Potter's turn to say, "I know. I had to, though - don't you see? I had to. But I'll never do it again, never, never." And with that he leant forward to capture Draco's lips in a fiery kiss, still murmuring, "Never," under his breath desperately.”

Hey, a girl can dream right? And yes, I realize that technically, there are already 6 sequels to HP #1. But it’s not enough, I say! I guess that’s why there’s fanfiction!

…And by the way, that may or may not legitimately be an excerpt from a fanfic that I may, or may not, have written in 2004. Ask me no questions, I’ll tell you no lies.

It just goes to show that when we find a book-world we like, we want to inhabit it forever. What sequels do you wish you could get your hands on?

Love,

Meg

P.S.:

Hark: A Vagrant knows how I feel about Darcy and I bet you do, too.