You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion
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Currently Reading First Lines


"He has a curious way of moving through his rubbish. He leans into it, skimming down the corridors like a fearless biker on a hairpin bend."


"He has a curious way of moving through his rubbish. He leans into it, skimming down ..."
I have that on my wishlist. I'll have to see how you make out with it.

This is the first line of Chapter 1:
"The winds carried dust to every part of the great cities; left it on roofs and windowsills and even streets."
I thought I was getting into a story about the dust storms of the 1920/1930s. Nope - this is a story set in some distant future. Science-fiction > Dystopia. Awesome!

"The Salinas Valley is in Northern California. It is a long narrow swale between two ranges of mountains, and the Salinas River winds and twists up the center until it falls at last into Monterey Bay"
The description goes on for a some pages. Steinbeck could really paint a picture.

"The Salinas Valley is in Northern California. It is a long narrow swale between two ranges of mountains, and the Salinas River winds and twists up the center unti..."
Yes he could Gavin - hope you're enjoying it - great book!

"There are two versions of the events of 1887. One is very well known, but the other is not."

Can't wait to get into this one. I loved News of the World


" On the afternoon of August 23, 2014, Tanya Harris wheeled her younger brother, Cameron, to the Biz-E-Bee store on the corner of Reconfort Avenue and Division Street in Biloxi, Mississippi."


"On the fifteenth day of December in the year of our Lord 1664, a great light bloomed in the dark sky and crept slowly and silently across the blackness: a comet."

"Under certain circumstances are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."

"Under certain circumstances are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.""
Is that at 4:00 pm, or when?


"Dear Mr Wrexham,
I know you don't know me but please, please, please you have to help me."

Me too! They hook you in straight away as you immediately think "what on earth is going on?!"

The first line of the prologue is, "I received a letter from his daughter the other day." (Sounds sort of bland.)
The first line of Chapter One is, "In the summer of 1940, when I was nineteen years old and an idiot, my parents sent me to live with my Aunt Peg, who owned a theatre company in New York City." (Still sounds kind of bland.)

The first line of the prologue is, "I received a letter from his daughter the other day." (Sounds sort of bland.)
The first line of Chapter One ..."
Certainly doesn't suck you in! Hope it picks up when it gets going.

The first line of the prologue is, "I received a letter from his daughter the other day." (Sounds sort of bland.)
The first line of Chapter One ..."
I agree. It's not the best opening. Hopefully the rest of the book makes up for it.

"Just out of reach, just beyond you: the rush and froth of the surf, the sharp smell of the sea, the crisscrossing shape of the gulls, their sudden, jarring cries. An ordinary day in Area X, an extraordinary day - the day of your death - and there you are, propped up against a mound of sand, half sheltered by a crumbling wall."
Now, that>/i> sucks one in!

So far, it's an interesting read. I can't help compare what was common place in 1940's to today, especially with the Me Too Movement.


Oh that brings back memories! Enjoy.


"It was the sort of thing one hopes momentarily that one has not really seen - because life would be so much more convenient if one hadn't."
I'm quite enjoying this so far. Lord John is one of my favourite characters from the 'Outlander' series and it's nice to learn more about him and what makes him tick in these books.


"You've got to say this for desperation: it makes you much more open-minded."

"That early morning in October, the baby's wails mingled with the cool wind that blew through the trees, with the birdsong, and with the night's insects saying their farewell."

"That early morning in October, the baby's wails mingled with the cool wind that blew through the trees, with the bi..."
Beautiful writing!

"The girl stood drenched in blood in the middle of the graveyard. "
Hmmm - that's pretty much how the first book in the series started out.

The Willows in Winter

OK - so it was the first two lines ; )

Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao's Revolution

A pocketful of crows by Joanne Harris

A pocketful of crows by Joanne Harris"
I have enjoyed all of her books, that I have read, so far. I have this one on my TBR list.


"When Ross MacLeod pulled the trigger and brought down the pheasant, he had no way of knowing he’d killed himself. And billions of others."

"When Ross MacLeod pulled the trigger and brought down the pheasant, he had no way of knowing he’d killed himself. And bill..."
I added it to my TBR.

"When Ross MacLeod pulled the trigger and brought down the pheasant, he had no way of knowing he’d killed himself. And bill..."
Interesting!


"Love is fragile, my mother once said. It can break."

I'll start Succubus Blues today.

The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz

Books mentioned in this topic
The Spider (other topics)Slaughterhouse-Five (other topics)
Did You Ever Have a Family (other topics)
Call the Canaries Home (other topics)
The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Ewers Hanns Heinz (other topics)Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (other topics)
Rick Riordan (other topics)
Sarah Rees Brennan (other topics)
Salman Rushdie (other topics)
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"'What's it going to then, eh?'"
There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim, Dim being really dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar making up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening, a flip dark chill winter bastard though dry."
I'm starting to learn some of the slang, but the first few pages took me like an hour to get through.