Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
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A Book's First Sentence
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"These are some of my favorite smells: toasting bagel, freshly-cut figs, the bergamot in good Earl Grey tea, a jar of whole soybeans slowly turning beneath a tropical sun."Soy Sauce for Beginners by Kirstin Chen
"At eight o'clock in the evening, the Baltimore airport was nearly deserted."Digging to America by Anne Tyler
"She leaves in the darkness before dawn, when she knows the guard, Kenneth, will be asleep, and before the rooster tends to crow."The Atlas of Forgotten Places
I have a general question. If a book has a prologue, is the first sentence of the prologue considered the first sentence? Or is it the first sentence of the first chapter?
"We came like doves across the desert. In a time when there was nothing but death, we were grateful for anything, and most grateful of all when we awoke to another day.The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman
I struggle with that question myself. So I have decided that which ever sentence catches my attention the most, in the prologue or in Chapter 1, would be my choice as the first sentence in the book. Not necessarily correct but the best way I know how to handle the problem.
Katherine wrote: ""We came like doves across the desert. In a time when there was nothing but death, we were grateful for anything, and most grateful of all when we awoke to another day.[book:The Dovekeepers|10950..."
Thanks for reminding me that I need to finish The Dovekeepers. I read about half for a book club a few years ago and then never finished. I did like what I read.
Katherine wrote: "I struggle with that question myself. So I have decided that which ever sentence catches my attention the most, in the prologue or in Chapter 1, would be my choice as the first sentence in the book..."I like your answer.
Katherine wrote: ""We came like doves across the desert. In a time when there was nothing but death, we were grateful for anything, and most grateful of all when we awoke to another day.[book:The Dovekeepers|10950..."
I love that first sentence... please let me know how you like the rest of the book.
Lizzy wrote: "Katherine wrote: ""We came like doves across the desert. In a time when there was nothing but death, we were grateful for anything, and most grateful of all when we awoke to another day.[book:The..."
Lizzy, this book is the most hauntingly beautiful I have ever read. The characters and plot stayed with me long after I finished the book. This is one I would read again every year just because it so emotionally moved me. Keep in mind it is a little over 500 pages. If you have never read it, I highly recommend it.
“The two couples met at a neighborhood block party, the third Saturday in September.”Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson
"When the new King of Camelot intends to kill your true love, kidnap your best friend, and hunt you down like a dog...you better have a plan."A Crystal of Time by Soman Chainani
Mrs. Rachel Lynde lived just where the Avonlea main road dipped down into a little hollow, fringed with alders and ladies' eardrops, and traversed by a brook that had its source away back in the woods of the old Cuthbert place; it was reputed to be an intricate, headlong brook in its earlier course through those woods, with dark secrets of pool and cascade; but by the time it reached Lynde's Hollow it was a quiet, well-conducted little stream, for not even a book could run past Mrs. Rachel Lynde's door without due regard for decency and decorum; it probably was conscious that Mrs. Rachel was sitting at her window, keeping a sharp eye on everything that passed, from brooks and children up, and that if she noticed anything odd or out of place she would never rest until she had ferreted out the whys and wherefores thereof.Anne of Green Gables L.M. Montgomery
Could this possibly be the longest first sentence in a book?
"I still don't know why Sallie and I bothered to go to that party in the forest slope above Aspen." - Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit"The Library at Osthorne Academy for Young Mages was silent save for the whisper of the books in the Theoretical Magic Section." - Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey
“From the observation deck of the Eiffel Tower, the city was spread at Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood’s feet like a gift.”The Red Scrolls of Magic by Cassandra Clare
I don’t know how to make the title a link from the app but that’s ok.
Three of them, hard men, carrying nylon bags, wearing work jackets, Carports and Levi's, all of them with facial hair. Storm Prey by John Sandford
“The afternoon my parents died, I was out shoplifting with Irene Klauson.”The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth
"This is a ghost story. If you're not comfortable with that - if you like the lines between the living and the dead to be a little more cleanly drawn - this is your chance to bail."The Girl in the Green Silk Gown
"It was just by chance he turned down Orchard Street and saw the window when he did."Trust Your Eyes by Linwood Barclay
"I was staring out the classroom window and daydreaming of adventure when I spotted the flying saucer."Armada
Linh arrived on Prosper Station blown by the winds of war, amidst a ship full of refugees who huddled together, speaking tearfully of the invading armies: the war between the rebel lords and the Empire had escalated, and their war-kites had laid waste to entire planets.
- On a Red Station, Drifting
"I was twelve the first time I saw my dead father cross from the kitchen doorway to the hall that led back to the utility room."Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones
"I first heard Personville called Poisonville by a red-haired mucker named Hickey Dewey in the Big Ship in Butte."Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett
This is the first few sentences, since the first one alone is pretty generic.People talk about having an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. I had a pair of imaginary bill collectors, so no matter which way I turned, there was somebody to remind me I needed money. That’s how I ended up on a train at four o’clock in the morning with my nephew and a hundred pounds of weed.
— The Reckless Oath We Made by Bryn Greenwood
"Late one evening toward the end of March, a teenager picked up a double-barreled shotgun, walked into the forest, put the gun to someone else’s forehead, and pulled the trigger."Beartown by Fredrik Backman
"On the afternoon of October 12, 1990, my twin brother Thomas entered the Three Rivers, Connecticut Public Library, retreated to one of the rear study carrels, and prayed to God the sacrifice he was about to commit would be deemed acceptable."I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb
"I see the bastards ahead, fractured by dark and trees."
My Brother's Destroyer by Clayton Lindemuth
"Gwenda was eight years old, but she was not afraid of the dark."
World Without End by Ken Follett
"My father took one hundred and thirty-two minutes to die."
On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
"I had just come to accept that my life would be ordinary when extraordinary things began to happen."Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
" 'It was like dreaming,' said Yetu, throat raw."
The Deep by Rivers Solomon
Oh my gosh! I had no idea there was a thread for this! I've kept a spreadsheet of first lines of the books I read for the past 2 years! Currently: "Now is the time of chestnuts." The Overstory
Donna wrote: "Oh my gosh! I had no idea there was a thread for this! I've kept a spreadsheet of first lines of the books I read for the past 2 years! Currently: "Now is the time of chestnuts." [book:The Overst..."
Why, oh why, did you have to give me this idea? I do not need one more spreadsheet to obsess over.
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“The stranger came out of the sea like a water ghost, barefoot and wearing the scars of his journey.”
The Priory of the Orange Tree
Around the Year in 52 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous (other topics)The Priory of the Orange Tree (other topics)
The Overstory (other topics)
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (other topics)
The Deep (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Rivers Solomon (other topics)Ransom Riggs (other topics)
Louis Sachar (other topics)
Lillian Li (other topics)
Fredrik Backman (other topics)
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An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim"
Ooh, Ursula le Guin has a collection with a very similar premise - dimension-hopping while waiting for a flight. Changing Planes