03 - A book with a great first line

[Sara]

Oh this one should be fun! There are classics like Rebecca
Pride and Prejudice and Anna Karenina, but I bet there are many, many more!

Listopia link: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

[Mairéad]

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

[Ellie]

Hopefully I'll stumble across a great first line by accident, otherwise my boyfriend was trying to get me to read A Tale of Two Cities.

[Katy]

Anna Karenina has a great first line. I wasn't crazy about the rest of the book:)

[Joy]

There are several lists of "best first line" books out there:

http://americanbookreview.org/100Best...
https://www.ranker.com/list/100-famou...
https://www.buzzfeed.com/sarahgalo/it...

[Sarah]

The two I'm torn between at this point are:

- Fight Club ("Tyler gets me a job as a waiter, after that Tyler's pushing a gun in my mouth and saying, the first step to eternal life is you have to die.")
- A Christmas Carol ("Marley was dead, to begin with.")

[Heather]

A Tale of Two Cities is one of the classics I've chosen to read next year. This sounds like the perfect prompt for it.

[Charlotte]

In my opinion... Beartown

[Stina]

Rebecca is one of my all-time favorites. Maybe I will finally get around to reading Paul Clifford this time.

[Iulia]

I think The Outsiders and The Night Circus would fit here.

[Linda]

This was a book I loved: Rabbit Cake

Its first sentence: “On my tenth birthday, six months before she sleepwalked into the river, Mom burned the rabbit cake.”

Seriously... how can you NOT want to continue reading??

[Jenn]

Never read Rebecca so think I'll go for that one!

[Talie]

If anyone likes YA I found these useful:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/t...
https://www.epicreads.com/blog/breath...

[Shay]

I was coming here to say Rebecca. I loved that book and the first line will always be in my mind. I also think Outlander has a great first line.

[Charlsa]

"I have never begun a novel with more misgiving."
—W. Somerset Maugham, The Razor's Edge (1944)

[Sarah]

"I am finishing up dinner with my family and my fiancé when my husband calls." Totally recommend this one!! One True Loves

[Theresa]

Ellie wrote: "Hopefully I'll stumble across a great first line by accident, otherwise my boyfriend was trying to get me to read A Tale of Two Cities."

I love that book! Have reread it several times.

[Theresa]

The Starless Sea

[Rachel]

"People often shit themselves when they die."

[Nadine in NY]

Rebecca has the very best first line of any book I’ve read.

In second place is The Martian.

[Léa]

I'd recommend Aurelien. The first line truly caught me off-guard!

[Michelle (RavenLily)]

Rachel wrote: "
"People often shit themselves when they die.""

I already planned on reading this, but now I feel like I need to read it now. LOL!!!

[Brianna -]

I'm hoping to just accidentally find an amazing first line

[Sandra]

Talie wrote: "If anyone likes YA I found these useful:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/t...
https://www.epicreads.com/blog/breath..."

Thanks for the links, I think I'm going to read Clockwork Angel!

[Roberta]

Ellie wrote: "Hopefully I'll stumble across a great first line by accident, otherwise my boyfriend was trying to get me to read A Tale of Two Cities."

I love that book, but I read it again recently so I'll look for something else.

[Jayasoorya]

Talie wrote: "If anyone likes YA I found these useful:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/t...
https://www.epicreads.com/blog/breath..."

Thanks for the link. Strange the dreamer is in my TBR. And I love this first line.

“On the second Sabbat of Twelfthmoon, in the city of Weep, a girl fell from the sky.”
– STRANGE THE DREAMER by Laini Taylor

[Johanne]

I like the opening line for Red Sister by Mark Lawrence. I have read it, just thought I´d share.

“It is important, when killing a nun, to ensure that you bring an army of sufficient size. For Sister Thorn of the Sweet Mercy convent Lano Tacsis brought two hundred men.”

[Suzanne]

The ATY Goodreads Group has a topic on first lines here:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I found this one for a book on my TBR:

"On the day I turn seventeen, there is a meeting to decide whether I should have the baby or if sneaking me to a clinic for an abortion is worth the PR risk."

from The Book of Essie

[Nadine in NY]

Johanne wrote: "I like the opening line for Red Sister by Mark Lawrence. I have read it, just thought I´d share.

“It is important, when killing a nun, to ensure that you bring an ..."

Perfect and thank you very much!! This is already on my TBR and I’ve been wanting to read it soon. And I had no idea what I was going to read for this.

[Johanne]

Cool Nadine enjoy! Annabel mentioned it in the Bechdel test, I expect the whole series will fit there. This is also a series I have started not finished.

[Christine]

Stina wrote: "Rebecca is one of my all-time favorites. Maybe I will finally get around to reading Paul Clifford this time."

Ha! I was thinking of adding Paul Clifford to the list but then I was like, "Is it a GREAT first line, or a terrible one?" I personally think that the first clause at least ("It was a dark and stormy night;") qualifies as great, but the rest of the sentence really drags it down!

[Johanne]

I have never actually read A Tale of Two Cities, so I might do that. Then I could pair it with a Tale of Two Kitties for pun (the Dogman books by Pilkey)

[Sarah]

I'm planning to reread the Dark Tower series in 2020, and The Gunslinger has one of my favorite first lines:

"The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed."

[Frogli]

Thanks for the link. Strange the dreamer is in my TBR. And I love this first line.

“On the second Sabbat of Twelfthmoon, in the city of Weep, a girl fell from the sky.”
– STRANGE THE DREAMER by Laini Taylor"

I read Strange the Dreamer this year, absolutely loved it.

[Jennifer]

I read this for the challenge 2 years ago and LOVED it so much.

i>Linda wrote: "This was a book I loved: Rabbit Cake

Its first sentence: “On my tenth birthday, six months before she sleepwalked into the river, Mom burned the rabbit cake.”

Seriously... how ca..."

[Vinay Leo]

I think this might help: 83 Opening Lines Of Famous Books That Will Make You Want To Read Them Now

[Brandon]

This was a tough one for me, as I don't usually preview books before I read them, and I've read most of the famous first line classics that interest me. These are the two I've found to consider so far:

City of Glass by Paul Auster (not Cassandra Clare)
Waiting by Ha Jin

[Lilith]

"The beet is the most intense of vegetables."
Jitterbug Perfume

Best. Book. Ever.

Even better thanFahrenheit 451. Which is really saying something!

[Linda]

I found what I'm going to use for this. I was given The Lies We Told by my mother-in-law to read. I just picked it up and read the first line:

"At first I mistook the severed head for something else."

Ok.. that works! I will put the book back on the shelf and read it in 2020.

[K.L.]

Sandstorm, by James Rollins, starts out on a strong note: "Harry Masterson would be dead in thirteen minutes."

[Britta]

One of my favourite first lines: "It was the day my grandmother exploded."

The Crow Road by Iain Banks. One of my favourite books.

[Darci]

I decided just to go through the books on my bookshelf until I found one with an interesting first line. Surprisingly, it ended up being Seabiscuit: An American Legend.

"Charles Howard had the feel of a gigantic onrushing machine: You had to either climb on or move out of the way."

[Nadine in NY]

Monkiecat wrote: "The Haunted Vagina
first line: "I've been scared to have sex with Stacy ever since I discovered her vagina was haunted.""


Hahahaha you're bringing this book to a new group of readers now!! well done :-)

[Johanne]

Monkiecat wrote: "The Haunted Vagina
first line: "I've been scared to have sex with Stacy ever since I discovered her vagina was haunted.""

That book is also a candidate to "book you picked up because of the title"

[Maryam]

Michelle (RavenLily) wrote: "Rachel wrote: "
"People often shit themselves when they die.""

I already planned on reading this, but now I feel like I need to read it now. LOL!!!"

Same here lol

[Denise]

Little Weirds

"One of my fantasy dimensions is: Strangers on the street see me and think I might be French."

[Jackie]

Vinay Leo wrote: "I think this might help: 83 Opening Lines Of Famous Books That Will Make You Want To Read Them Now"

Thank you!

[SadieReadsAgain]

I have to go with Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca for this. I've known the first line even before I knew the name of the book!

Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.

[Megan]

Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were.

[♞ Pat]

Nadine wrote: "Rebecca has the very best first line of any book I’ve read.

In second place is The Martian."


The Martian hooked me right away with the first line, and I don't even READ Science Fiction!