03 - A book with a great first line

[Nadine in NY]

Miranda wrote: ""In five years, the penis will be obsolete."

Steel Beach, by John Varley."


LOL! If I wasn't already committed to Red Sister, I'd be penciling this one in (because I enjoyed Varley as a teen, and have not read this book yet)

[SueAnn]

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

One of my least favorite of the "classics".

[nitisha]

I think I'll read The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch.
"The 12th of October was a good day for a killing"

[Alex]

1.4.2020


"I'm pretty much fucked.
That's my considered opinion.
Fucked.
Six days into what should be the greatest two months of my life, and it's turned into a nightmare."

[Mel]

I think I'm going to go with The Secret History for this, because this opening line is fabulous: "The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of our situation. "

[Kristen]

"By the time Alex managed to get the blood out of her good wool coat, it was too warm to wear it."

Ninth House

I wish I hadn't already read this, or I'd read it for this prompt!

[Megumi]

Just finished A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn and decided to use it for this prompt (originally going to use Pride and Prejudice because ❤)

"I assure you, I am perfectly capable of identifying a phallus when I see one."

[Kelly]

My recommendation is The Last Good Kiss by James Crumley. "When I finally caught up with Abraham Trahearne, he was drinking beer with an alcoholic bulldog named Fireball Roberts in a ramshackle joint just outside of Sonoma, California, drinking the heart right out of a fine spring afternoon."

[KC]

Just re-read Neuromancer by William Gibson for the fourth or fifth time for this prompt: "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel."

[Andrea]

Seveneves by Neal Stephenson:

"The moon blew up without warning and for no apparent reason."

[Armel]

I think I’m finding the current book I’m reading very interesting. Though I am just beginning this new poetic book, Citizen attracts my attention as an influence on bondage and several different topics that coexist. Looking forward to more and will keep you guys updated.

[Swati]

themreadsbooks wrote: "I recommend Fahrenheit 451 for this prompt.
"It was a pleasure to burn.""

I am thinking about the same one. It's been on my TBR forever.

[Crumb]

Here is a book that I just came across after reading a friend's review:

The Line: "It’s easier to kill a man than a gator, but it takes the same kind of wait"

Call Your Daughter Home by Deb Spera

[Beth]

The Princess Bride by William Goldman. “This is my favorite book in all the world, though I have never read it.”

[Mahi]

Beth wrote: "The Princess Bride by William Goldman. “This is my favorite book in all the world, though I have never read it.”"

Thank you for this! I had no idea it had such a good first line and I've wanted to read it for the longest time.

[Heather]

Since I've decided to DNF A Tale of Two Cities at 50% because life is too short to read any more Dickens, I need to replace my book for this prompt. I'm going to try reading The Wild Girl by Kate Forsyth.

The first line of the book is an epigraph: "And the maiden changed herself into a rose which stood in the midst of a briar hedge, and her sweetheart Roland into a fiddler." I also really like the first line of the story: "'Wild by name and wild by nature,' Dortchen's father used to say of her."

[Ilham]

Looks like it’s time for me to re-read Pride and Prejudice :D

[Britany]

Finished AND my first ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ of 2020

No Exit by Taylor Adams

My Review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

First Line: "Screw you, Bing Crosby."

[Mahi]

I read All Systems Red for this prompt and I definitely recommend it to everyone! It's a quick read too.

First line: "I could have become a mass murderer after I hacked my governor module, but then I realized I could access the combined feed of entertainment channels carried on the company satellites."

[Leanne]

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

"There is a pirate in the basement. (The pirate is a metaphor, but also still a person.)"

Technically two lines but there are parentheses and I'm going to say it counts.

[Heather]

"My husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it." Lying in Wait

[Karin]

Andrea wrote: "Seveneves by Neal Stephenson:

"The moon blew up without warning and for no apparent reason.""

Yes, and it's good all the way through, albeit rather unbelievable at times. PLUS it's about women in STEM if you opt for that.

[Rachel]

Sarah wrote: "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 ..."

I went with The Winters, which is inspired by Rebecca and begins with the line "Last night, Rebekah tried to murder me again." It was definitely an attention-grabbing line, and I loved that it was a reference to the original first line.

[Nadine in NY]

Heather wrote: ""My husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it." Lying in Wait"


Good one!

[Maria Hill]

Alli Cooper wrote: "1.4.2020


"I'm pretty much fucked.
That's my considered opinion.
Fucked.
Six days into what should be the greatest two months of my life, and it's turned into a nig..."

LOL I forgot that opened so well!

[Lee]

I starting reading a book and when I saw the first line, I thought that will fit this category! The book.... The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan

"The problem with good things that happen is that very often they disguise themselves as awful things."

[Bridget's Quiet Corner]

Stillness Speaks by Eckhart Tolle

"When you lose touch with inner stillness, you lose touch with yourself."

[Kate]

If you like beautifully written memoirs, Let's Take the Long Way Home: A Memoir of Friendship by Gail Caldwell begins:

“It’s an old, old story: I had a friend and we shared everything, and then she died and so we shared that, too.”

[Ashleigh]

Would this prompt be open to interpretation? Is this for one that has a publicly accepted great first line, or a personal choice of what a great line is?

[Katy]

Ashleigh wrote: "Would this prompt be open to interpretation? Is this for one that has a publicly accepted great first line, or a personal choice of what a great line is?"

Personal choice as to what you think is a great line.

[Karin]

Ashleigh wrote: "Would this prompt be open to interpretation? Is this for one that has a publicly accepted great first line, or a personal choice of what a great line is?"

It has to be personal choice, but be sure it's one you think is great. Many books, even good ones, have more generic opening lines, or opening lines that aren't great even if the first paragraph is great or good altogether.

Great first lines are like Best Books lists--subject to opinion :)

[Emi]

Freshwater by akwaeke Emezi
"The first time our mother came for us we screamed."

[Dani]

"The problem with your best friend dying is that there's no one to sit with you at funerals."---Undead Girl Gang

Not my usual book, but Kayla from booksandlala loved it so I'm giving it a go and it happens to have a great first line.

[Angelina]

The idea really came to me the day I got my new false teeth.
George Orwell

Just reading this and loving it
Coming Up for Air

[Leona]

"Send the bill to my husband". Wild, Wild Rake by Janna MacGregor

[Brandon]

"There I was, staring at my doom...surely; this was a fate worse than death."

1st line of Murder Lo Mein by Vivien Chien

[Shelley]

I went with I Capture the Castle with the opening line of "I write this sitting in the kitchen sink". The story was a really pretty time line of the main character growing up so having it start in such a childish way really fit the feeling of the book.

[L Y N N]

Maria Hill wrote: "Alli Cooper wrote: "1.4.2020


"I'm pretty much fucked.
That's my considered opinion.
Fucked.
Six days into what should be the greatest two months of my life, and it..."

I own this book and have been wanting to read it for what seems like forever! But this...this really motivates me! :)

[poshpenny]

Nadine wrote: "Off topic: I LOVE sci-fi, but I have never read Scalzi!! I'm not quite sure where to start, he has so many that have great reviews - which book do you recommend first?"

I didn't think I liked reading sci-fi until I read Scalzi. Probably because of his use of humor in the ones I read first. I also started with Redshirts. I'm not a huge Star Trek fan, but this was really fun. Bonus points that the audio is read by Wil Wheaton. (As are they all.) Right now I'm anxiously awaiting the final book in the Interdependency series, which is full of women who get to be actual people.

[K.L.]

Mahi wrote: "I read All Systems Red for this prompt and I definitely recommend it to everyone! It's a quick read too.

First line: "I could have become a mass murderer after I hacked my governor..."

This is a perfect book for this prompt!

[Tracy]

Dani wrote: ""The problem with your best friend dying is that there's no one to sit with you at funerals."---Undead Girl Gang

Not my usual book, but Kayla from booksandlala loved it so I'm giving it a go ..."

I love Booksandlala :-)

[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 "A Tale of Two Cities"! Just do it!

[Trisha]

I first started reading, “She rides shotgun” by Jordan Harper for another prompt for the challenge, but the first line was haunting and really did speak to the theme of the book. I read it in one night and couldn’t put it down!

“His skin told his history in tattoos and knife scars.”

[K.L.]

Feed, by M. T. Anderson, has a great first line. "We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck."

[Dea]

I ended up reading Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani for this one. When I read the first line, I knew this was the right prompt for it!

"My sweetest dreams unfold when my eyes are wide open, after I roll my sleeping mat and begin my morning chores."

It's a wonderful yet painful novel, based on interviews with girls and young women kidnapped by Boko Haram (northern Nigeria) who escaped or were freed.

[Dea]

K.L. wrote: "Feed, by M. T. Anderson, has a great first line. "We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck.""

Feed is an excellent book! It's eerie how well it has held up. I first read it eight years ago, then reread it in November (for the reread prompt.) It's even more timely and hauntingly plausible now. I know it's YA, but I give it a big thumbs up for adults, too.

[Wendy]

I ran across this while looking at something else and thought it might be useful since the first line is actually listed for you.

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/...

[Megan]

Heather wrote: ""My husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it." Lying in Wait"

I love that my reaction to that line was raised eyebrows and an inner "Oh okay!" lol

[Rachel]

‘When I found my husband at the bottom of the stairs, I tried to resuscitate him before I ever considered disposing of the body’.

The Passenger by Lisa Lutz

[Julia]

Just stumbled across the best first line I've ever read:

Dear Reader,
Your body is perfect. Yes, yours. Exactly the way it is, right now in this second.

It's from The (Other) F Word: A Celebration of the Fat and Fierce by Angie Manfredi and others.


In case you need some positivity and acceptance in your life: Read this book!!!