Happy Monday, Bookworms!
Did everyone have a lovely weekend? I got my Halloween cards ready to send out. I hear the Post Office is having money problems, but it’s not my doing. I send out greeting cards for a multitude of holidays, and some for no reason at all. (Except, you know, Grandma is a good enough reason to send cards on any given Tuesday.) I also made 300 trick-or-treat bags for the little ghosts and goblins that will descend on our neighborhood.
Hey Trick-or-Treaters! Bring it on! Also, I am bad at using my iPhone flash.
My weekend kicked off with another meeting of the neighborhood book club, affectionately known as Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons! (Could someone explain to me exactly what a bon bon is? If there isn’t chocolate involved, I’m going to have to rethink my naming strategy.) This month’s book selection was Eventide by Kent Haruf. This may sound familiar to regular readers because it’s the sequel to Plainsong which I already reviewed.
It’s funny, because they’re in rural Colorado. No “tides” where there are no major bodies of water. Hi, I’m Katie, and I’m overly literal. Let’s make jokes!
Eventide picks up 2 years after Plainsong left off. Possibly my biggest gripe with this book was that the last book ended with a cliffhanger of sorts… There was that awful redheaded kid whose family was going to sue his teacher. Since the teacher was a main character, I was all attached to him and concerned about how things were going to play out. You know how they played out? Neither do I. That asshole kid never showed up in the sequel. Guthrie was still teaching, so I can ASSUME that whatever went down went down in his favor, but I don’t like having to ASSUME things when there’s a perfectly good sequel that could explain them. Sigh.
Otherwise, I loved this book. I think I liked it even better than the original. Is that even allowed? Are sequels allowed to be better? Maybe not in Star Wars (ooooh burn on the pre-quels) but certainly in Holt, Colorado. For a small town, Holt sure has its share of heartbreak. Neglected children, orphans, ranch accidents. Honestly, I haven’t cried this much while reading since Beth March kicked it in Little Women. It felt like a healthy cry though, and I was quite pleased with the way things wrapped up for the residents of Holt.
Eventide shared the same beautiful simplicity of writing that Plainsong did. If you’re interested in an honest, somewhat bleak, but ultimately heartwarming view of small-town America, I recommend both of these books.
So Bookworms, are there any sequels (movies, TV, books, etc.) that YOU liked better than the original? Let’s discuss!
didibooksenglish
Bon bon means candy. No chocolate in that word. I think you’re going to have to alter the name or live with candy. Angry Wives Eating Chocolat (pronounced sho-co-la) I’m not sure. Sounds too sexy to be angry. What do you think? 🙂
Words for Worms
I should learn to speak French. Even chocolate sounds better!
didibooksenglish
It does ad a bit of spice hence making your book ckub au so chic, darling!
Christine
I loved Plainsong! I think that both of the titles are liturgical in some sense – although not being a religious sort, I’m not certain. This post reminds me, though, that I need to get my hands on this book and read it. Kent Haruf is a heck of a writer.
Words for Worms
Oh yes, if you loved Plainsong, you need to read this. Just… Keep a box of tissues handy.
Lyssapants
Let me wait for Zoolander 2 and Anchorman 2 and then I’ll get back to you on that.
Words for Worms
Fair enough.
Quirky Chrissy
The Dark Knight? Terminator? Action movies are known for having better sequels…
What about Halloweentown? Oooh I’m going to blog about that tomorrow!
Words for Worms
Halloweentown! Yesssssssssssssssss!