Chad Pelley Picks 12 Super Sophomore Efforts
They say the second book is the hardest to write. And there’s a few reasons for it. Follow-up pressure isn’t really one of them. It’s the fact you’re never more mid-evolution than in a second book. You’ve learned what you could have done better with the first book, but you haven’t yet learned what you could have done better with the second one. Also, your second one might lack that uninhibited, fearless verve in your first one, as you try and be more refined, working towards that evolution that might not be apparent until number three. So what an awkward place Book Number Two can be for a writer. I mean, there’s that adage, “Everyone has one book in them.” It implies maybe we don’t all have a second book in us. Below are a dozen second books of fiction that I really admired and would highly suggest. Sharp writing, and good reads, that possibly showcase these writers at a unique stage in their evolution.
