The Return of Tarzan

Written by: Edgar Rice Burroughs

First line: "Magnifique!" ejaculated the Countess de Coude, beneath her breath.

Why you should read this book: Picking up shortly after book one leaves off, this sequel finds Tarzan masquerading as a refined French gentleman, attempting to cope with heartbreak and yearning, and bristling under the laws of man. Depending on his own jungle morality, he makes a terrible enemy of a unscrupulous Russian spy and eventually descends down the evolutionary chain to return to his wild existence. Coincidence upon coincidence stack one atop the other until everything resolves more or less to his satisfaction.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're more into believable narratives than happy endings.