02 - A book you want to read based on the last sentence

[Nadine in NY]

A book you want to read based on the last sentence.


Wow. I think we're all going to have to help each other on this one!!! Right now, all I can think of is "reader, I married him."


Listopia list is Here: A book you want to read based on the last sentence

[Dubhease]

Most of the ones I can think of are classics:

After all, tomorrow is another day. (Gone with the Wind)

It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both. (Charlotte's Web)

He loved Big Brother (1984)

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. (Great Gatsby)

The most modern one I could think of is:
I'm haunted by humans (The Book Thief)

[Dani]

A few I found that seem compelling:
I don’t hate it he thought, panting in the cold air, the iron New England dark; Idon’t. I don’t! I don’t hate it! I don’t hate it!
–William Faulkner, Absalom, Absalom!(1936)

Go, my book, and help destroy the world as it is.
–Russell Banks, Continental Drift (1985)

I never saw any of them again—except the cops. No way has yet been invented to say goodbye to them.
–Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye (1953)

[Doni]

I hate this one. I don't want to preview the last sentence of books before I read the whole book. Who am I, Harry?

[Jennifer W]

Doni wrote: "I hate this one. I don't want to preview the last sentence of books before I read the whole book. Who am I, Harry?"

Lol!

There's got to be a listopia of this already, right?? BRB
Surprisingly, no.

But I did find this article of 100 books with great last lines:
https://americanbookreview.org/archiv...

[Nadine in NY]

Doni wrote: "I hate this one. I don't want to preview the last sentence of books before I read the whole book. Who am I, Harry?"




yeah I confess I hate it too. But I think Dani just saved the day for me by mentioning a Raymond Chandler book. I think that's the book for me!!!!

[Rachel Anne]

A Tale of Two Cities

"'It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."

[Jackie]

I have no idea how I'm going to tackle this! I might go with just retroactively assigning a book to this prompt after I read something with a good last line.

[Kendra]

I did a version of this prompt this year for my ATY rejects challenge, and it turned out to be more difficult than I thought it was going to be. I went with The Wishing Game - "When you gotta scream, you gotta scream"

[Stina]

I may do this for a re-read. I am not much of a re-reader, but there are a few I try to get back to occasionally.

[Jen W.]

I might also do a re-read for this one. I'm looking for an excuse to re-read a couple books before the next one comes out in 2025.

[Denise]

I think this one is intriguing but I don't know how to approach it. I mostly get library books as ebooks, and you can't preview the last line first. Also when I buy books they are ebooks, same thing. I might have to actually enter a book store or library and look around. :) I kind of think that might be the point. Go support your local library or bookstore.

[Katy]

This one bugs me. I don't want to know the last sentence of a book until I get to it. I might have to do like Jen W and do a re read.

[Karen]

Oh, the article referenced above is great - sure I'll find something there.

[Lisa]

I agree with the commenters saying they hate this prompt. I’m against this one on principle.

I do NOT want to know the last line in a book before I read it. I don’t even want to read articles or see comments that give away the last line of a book! Brutal! I think I’ll just twist this prompt to be ‘a book with a great ending’ and then I’ll retroactively assign it. My reading challenge, my rules!

Haha.

[Grace]

The last line of Lonesome Dove is “They say he missed that wh*re.” I have never read it, but based on this last line, I think I might!

[Jennifer W]

I'll probably also slot in a book that ends up having a great last line, even if I don't read it *because* of it.

I might post books' last lines here as I read them (under spoilers), but I don't read the hottest thing... :)

One of the most brutal last lines I've ever read came from the book The Return of the Soldier, (view spoiler)[ "He's cured!" (hide spoiler)], but I don't know that I would have read the book based on that line, and it's a major spoiler.

[Britany]

I'll probably decide which book to use for this one when I finish a book with a great last line! HAH.

[Lilith]

A Spy In the House of Love by Anais Nin.
"In homeopathy there is a remedy called pulsatile for those who weep at music. "

Such a beautiful last line, and I've always meant to read it.

[Katy]

Grace wrote: "The last line of Lonesome Dove is “They say he missed that wh*re.” I have never read it, but based on this last line, I think I might!"

That is my absolute favorite book ever.

[Laura Ruth]

Ishmael gave himself to the writing of it, and as he did he understood this, too: that accident ruled every corner of the universe except the corners of the human heart.
-Snow Falling on Cedars

She said, "You can't tell a gift how to come."
Patience & Sarah

What little balm we have, we have against all odds. Do not walk away in sorrow. Do not be consoled.
Hummingbird House

[Ally]

The Kite Runner - "For you, a thousand times over." That sounds beautiful.

[Erica]

Anyone got a book that ends with The End?

[Alejandra]

Jennifer W wrote: "Doni wrote: "I hate this one. I don't want to preview the last sentence of books before I read the whole book. Who am I, Harry?"

Lol!

There's got to be a listopia of this already, right?? BRB
Su..."

thank you for sharing this! I was so scared to go through my library of books to peek at the last page - I have lots of trouble filtering out visual information, so I thought I'd get so many spoilers! This is a great way to avoid that.

[Joyce]

This one actually falls easily in to place for me. A recent Modern Mrs Darcy podcast featured someone reciting by heart the closing lines of Middlemarch. I have wanted to read more George Eliot since dipping my toe with the brief Silas Marner and this has motivated me to read it.

The podcast is What Do I Read Next? Episode 445 “Startlingly beautiful sentences and perfect last lines”.

[Nadine in NY]

Thank you to Jennifer for that link!!!

I've never read Hemingway, but I've been meaning to get around to it, and I gotta say, this last line intrigues me:

"After a while I went out and left the hospital and walked back to the hotel in the rain."
–Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms


I just finished a fantastic KDrama that packed a serious emotional wallop (Mr Plankton, for anyone who is interested - no it's got nothing to do with SpongeBob; yes it's all I can think about now) and now I'm all in my feels and this line fits my current mood perfectly.

So I think I found my book.


(I know, I already said I was gong to read Chandler - and I will! I know I love his books! but I might use Hemingway for this category now.)

[Nike]

Hmm, I don't know how to solve this. I would never ever start reading a book by looking at how it ends. So will there be a link somewhere of famous last sentences that doesn't spoil the endings?

[Nike]

Jackie wrote: "I have no idea how I'm going to tackle this! I might go with just retroactively assigning a book to this prompt after I read something with a good last line."

That might be a good solution! Thank you! I really wouldn't know how to solve this otherwise, I loath reading the end first!

[Tania]

I have a book on my TBR that I think will be a fun read, and looking at the last sentence I'm good with slotting it here, it's from the Marvel Universe written by fictional character Scott Lang (Ant-Man):
"I'm looking out for you." Look Out For The Little Guy!

[Angie]

I bought My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newson last year hoping it would fit into the PS 2024 challenge for me (it didn't). So I looked up the last line and think it's a great candidate for this prompt:

"Yet here I was, and in the morning, I would open my eyes and go on with my life."

[Chelsea]

I flipped through a bunch of books on my physical TBR and picked The Tangled Lands for this. I bet if I read it later in the year I won't remember anything about what the sentence indicated!

[Cornerofmadness]

honestly I'm just going to my physical tbr pile and picking one that has an interesting last line. That's about all the effort I want to waste on this prompt

[Jennifer]

Maybe we should start a thread of books we have read already that have great last lines and say the book without revealing the sentence?

[Shaina]

Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore

"It was going to be a glorious year."

[Beth F]

Cornerofmadness wrote: "honestly I'm just going to my physical tbr pile and picking one that has an interesting last line. That's about all the effort I want to waste on this prompt"

Yesss...happy to see someone else is thinking along the same lines as me. I'll likely do the same unless I come across one organically. I'm trying to avoid going above 200 unread books on my physical shelf and it's been hovering dangerously close lately so if there's an opportunity to bend a task to suit--I'm taking it!

[GailW]

Jennifer W wrote: "...But I did find this article of 100 books with great last lines: https://americanbookreview.org/archiv...

Thank you! Found what I need that I already own and already have listed for another challenge! "If on a winter's night a traveler", which I've been putting off for years. And it is a great last line!

[Chrissie]

I'm not really fond of that idea. I might just use the "blind date" book I picked based on a first kiss scene at a book convention.

[Ally]

I'm surprised by how many people are so against this prompt. I don't think there's a single last sentence that I've ever read that gave any spoilers away. Nor would I even remember the last sentence after reading it and then the book!

That said, there are a lot of books where the title of the story is the last line of the book (or contains it in some form - there's a GR list for this too). I'm going to read This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel, and shocker! That's the last sentence of the book too... so you already read it when you picked up the book. And, no spoiler.

Also, isn't this connected to a Listopia list then? So, if you really really don't want to read a last line, just go to the List and pick a book that someone thought had a great last line and is basically recommending to you...easy peasy.

[Ally]

Shaina wrote: "Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore

"It was going to be a glorious year.""

Ah, that brings back such a good memory. I loved Oona's story so much! Great book, excellent last line!

[Jennifer W]

Ally wrote: "I'm surprised by how many people are so against this prompt. I don't think there's a single last sentence that I've ever read that gave any spoilers away. Nor would I even remember the last sentenc..."

It's always possible that the last line can be a spoiler. For me, the bigger risk is that something else on the last page will be a spoiler that I will glance at while I'm trying to check the last line. I totally spoiled The Overnight Guest for myself just by checking how many pages were in the book and seeing something that gave away the whole plot on the last page.

That said, I like this prompt. I'll see what other people post, maybe pull from the list I posted, or just read a book that ends up having a great last line.

[Jennifer]

This one is tough because I loathe re-reading books (too many on my TBR for that!), so how on earth am I supposed to know the last sentence to anything I have not read? I think this one is the most frustrating prompt for me on this year's list.

[Pauline]

My problem with this prompt isn't so much the spoiler effect - though I don't like the idea of looking at the last page because, as mentioned above, you might see something else on the page that is a spoiler - but that the way it's worded is a book I "want" to read based on the last sentence. I went through that list of 100 books with great last lines and I have trouble seeing what's so great about them. Maybe in the context of the book they make sense, but read out of context none of them make me want to read the book. I could choose to read one based on someone else's recommendation where they think it's a great last line and a book worth reading, but then I'm reading it based on their recommendation, not based on the last sentence itself.

[Megan]

I'll recommend one since I don't think spoilers are an issue here. I just finished 102 Minutes: The Untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers and enjoyed it (well, as much as I could given the subject matter). The last line of the main text, excluding the afterword and notes and such, is "Above them is only sky."

[Kimberley]

Probably The Book Thief. I have the book on my shelf. I dunno what the last sentence is but it's on the listopia goodreads suggestion list so that will work for me!

[Meg]

Britany wrote: "I'll probably decide which book to use for this one when I finish a book with a great last line! HAH."

Good one!

[Karen]

It's odd how these prompts play in the booklist in my brain... Awoke this morning and this had worked its way up: The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin closed the last paragraph of the first edition, (publication date 24 November 1859), of his On the Origin of Species with this sentence:-
There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.

[Theresa]

A friend had a suggestion: she would (and did) recommend a book she had read recently that had a great last line that ahe thought I would like. It is not a classic but contemporary and I will read it in January.

My suggestion is either the novel Circe or the short story/Nnovella Galatea, both by Madeline Miller. Both have incredible last sentences, and I routinely tell friends when I recommend them not to read theendfirst, not even the last sentence because you need to experience them after reading the book.

[L Y N N]

Jennifer W wrote: "But I did find this article of 100 books with great last lines:
https://americanbookreview.org/archiv..."
This is a great resource! Thanks for posting!

I think I'm going to assume that a book I read in 2025 will qualify to fulfill this prompt, at last IMO! 😁

[Megan]

"After all, tomorrow is another day. (Gone with the Wind)"

This might be the year I re-read (AGAIN, lol) GWTW.

[Monica]

"A book you want to read based on the last sentence.

Wow. I think we're all going to have to help each other on this one!!! Right now, all I can think of is "reader, I married him.""

Wikipedia says: A famous line in the book is at the beginning of Chapter 38: "Reader, I married him." So it isn't the last sentence.

Wikipedia goes on to mention something that happened to Rochester two years after he and Jane got married. So mentioning that they got married wasn't the last sentence in the book.

There is a difference between a memorable sentence and the last sentence.