First Lines

Paper Lantern Lit has a great post about first pages.  Seriously, if you're a writer, check out their advice.  It rocks!

It also got me thinking about first lines in books.  One of my favorites is from The Great Gatsby: 

In my younger and more venerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.

It's just one line, but it holds so much information.   I've literally made my students discuss this one line for a whole class period before.  It says so much about the narrator, his relationships, his views, and what might potentially happen later in the book.  It amazes me how much just one line can say.

As a writer, the article made me go back and look at the first lines in my books.

CANARY starts:
Your dad will leave you when you are twelve.

CIRCLES starts:
The first time I betrayed my sister was two weeks before she disappeared.

OPERATION PUCKER UP (my MG novel that I hope to hand over to my agent within the next week or two!) starts:
My parents told us during Friday Pizza Night.

What about you?  What are your favorite first lines?  If you are a writer, how does your book start?