Monday, December 31, 2018

First Sentences of 2018

Below you will find the first sentences of books I read in 2018.

*

Ella visited the laundry room for the first time at half past six on a Saturday morning at the beginning of March. ~ The Wicked City by Beatriz Williams


My name is Tina Adler, and I am an addict. ~ Betrayed by Karen E. Olson


I couldn't stop checking the clock on the wall nearby. ~ Claws for Concern by Miranda James


Her husband's almost home. ~ The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn


The Summer King knelt before her. ~ Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr


Along the journey
we too grew familiar to the night
 and began to love
entirely in Sunday mornings. ~ Sunday Sugar by Q. Gibson


The hacker known as Tracker moves along the sidewalk, a hoodie pulled up over his head, his eyes darting from side to side. ~ Vanished by Karen E. Olson


Brutus was dead. ~ Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews


A man walked into a darkened room, moving on silent feet. ~ Sweep in Peace by Ilona Andrews


A faint chime tugged me out of sleep. ~ One Fell Sweep by Ilona Andrews


There will always be England! ~ The Prime Minister's Secret Agent by Susan Elia MacNeal


Anne can feel the acid churning in her stomach and creeping up her throat; her head is swimming. A Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena


The sweet blood has changed things. Marked in Flesh by Anne Bishop


Kostchei,

We have a problem. ~ The Lost Plot by Genevieve Cogman


I was going to jail.  ~ Pressed to Death by Kirsten Weiss


Back then, all we wanted was the simplest things: to eat good food, to sleep at night, to smile, to laugh, to be well. ~ The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henríquez


"Do you want everyone to hear us?" Hooked on a Phoenix by Ashlyn Chase


Ronan shifted in the saddle, wishing for the thousandth time his heritage had been different.My Tempting Highlander by Maeve Greyson


"Dammit, man!" My Seductive Highlander by Maeve Greyson


For Nate, Saturdays in the spring mean baseball. ~ The Storm King by Brendan Duffy


It was a dark and stormy night. ~ A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle


Energy shimmered into view, at first forming a single rippling, wavering line, then splitting and curving into an arch. ~ Dawn of the Flame Sea by Jean Johnson


Old Nandjed didn't do much weaving anymore; her age-gnarled fingers had lost most of their dexterity. ~ Demons of the Flame Sea by Jean Johnson


Tilly Adams sat in the vet's office staring at the doctor in shock. ~ The Good Luck Sister by Jill Shalvis


The first part Lavinia takes Louise to, she makes Louise wear one of her dresses.Social Creature by Tara Isabella Burton


Joshua.The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy


Anyone who claims there are no stupid questions has never worked in a public library. ~ A Murder for the Books by Victoria Gilbert


In my heart, I always knew he would go; that they would all go, in the end. ~ The Girl From the Savoy by Hazel Gaynor


Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer's wife. ~ The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum


This is a ghost story. ~ The Girl in the Green Silk Gown by Seanan McGuire



King Sref of Cavanos watches me with the deadened eyes of a raven circling a corpse--patient, waiting to devour me the second I let my guard down. Bring Me Their Hearts by Sara Wolf


The clatter of crockery on the flagstone floor broke my heart. Scandal Above Stairs by Jennifer Ashley


It's always warm here: I feel as though I've been swallowed by a huge animal. ~ The Diving Pool by Yōko Ogawa


There is nothing more human than the ghost story. ~ Sparrow Hill Road by Seanan McGuire


She's dreaming in the shallows of sleep. ~ Alchemy by Marie S. Crosswell


Captain Lord Hartley Corry had come to his brother Warren's Shropshire hunting lodge, Hatton Hall, to play cards, drink brandy, and do some shooting with his male friends. ~ The Risk of Rogues by Sabrina Jeffries


The intruder knew it was wrong to be there. ~ Midsummer Night's Mischief by Jennifer David Hesse



I love the smell of sex and brimstone in the morning. Darkest Heart by Juliette Cross


 The energy in the air was palpable.Bell, Book & Candlemas by Jennifer David Hesse


"Blackmail?"Yuletide Homicide by Jennifer David Hesse 


"You know there's no such things as ghosts!" ~ Samhain Secrets by Jennifer David Hesse


Smile!! ~ Smile by Raina Telgemeier


I sit on the edge of the bed waiting, the day I've feared for months finally here. ~ The King Slayer by Virginia Boecker


The baby was small. ~ The Impossible Girl by Lydia Kang



Of all of my many murders, committed for love and for better reasons, the first was the most important. ~ Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye


For Gilene, spring was the season neither of rain nor of planting, but of suffering. ~ Phoenix Unbound by Grace Draven


In the bosom of one of those spacious coves which indent the eastern shore of the Hudson, at that broad expansion of the river denominated by the ancient Dutch navigators the Tappan Zee, and where they always prudently shortened sail and implored the protection of St. Nicholas when they crossed, there lies a small market town or rural port, which by some is called Greensburgh, but which is more generally and properly known by the name of Tarry Town. ~ The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving


warning 1:

This is not 
a fairy witch tale

there are no 
witches. ~ The Witch Doesn't Burn In This One by Amanda Lovelace


Washington Irving got it wrong. ~ The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel by Alyssa Palombo


The ringing of the phone jerked me from my sleep. ~ Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews


Human and cats: two different species with a common language that bridges the divide between them--is such a thing even possible? ~ The Secret Language of Cats by Susanne Schötz


It was the first day of December in Salem, Massachusetts, my hometown. ~ Bells, Spells, and Murder by Carol J. Perry


In 1815, Charles Francois-Bienvenu Myriel was bishop of Digne. ~ Les Misérables by Victor Hugo



"Well, my prince, Genoa and Lucca are no no more than possessions, estates, of the Buonaparte family." ~ War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy


An icy late November breeze rustled the bare branches of the tree along the Serpentine.A Holiday by Gaslight by Mimi Matthews


All through dinner Miss Beatrice Hyde-Clare imagined tossing food at Damien Matlock, Duke of Kesgrave. A Brazen Curiosity by Lynn Messina


The wail and cry of the whistle. Wishing Cross Station by February Grace


I'm standing on the red railway car that sits abandoned next to the barn. ~ Educated by Tara Westover


Walking into the gallery, brightly lit with amazing art on the walls, Alice is almost glad she came. ~ "Hearts in Motion" from Tales of the Fae by L.J. Hamlin


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8 comments:

  1. There are so many books I still need to read mentioned here, their first sentences are interesting as well!

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  2. I just got done visiting Kay and she started writing down the first and last sentences too. I will be stealing from the two of you!

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    Replies
    1. Stacy - It's probably meaningless outside of the reader who read the book, but I find it fun to track and follow. :-)

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  3. Wow, Wendy, what a wonderful project! I am SO into opening sentences that when a book I had (Getting Hooked: Fiction's Opening Sentences 1950s-1990s) got destroyed by water, I eventually replaced it (for twice the price!) because I didn't want to live without it lol I love them all, but the few that stood out for various reasons were:

    This one just flat out made me laugh:
    "Anyone who claims there are no stupid questions has never worked in a public library. ~ A Murder for the Books by Victoria Gilbert"

    From the time I was a child in the Bronx and we would travel to NJ to a man-made lake on weekends, to our then living in NJ and visiting family in NY state, I've been traveling across the Tappan Zee Bridge (now recently replaced with a spanking-new "Governor Cuomo" bridge). I never knew why the bridge was named Tappan Zee till just now, and have traveled through Tarrytown countless times. Never read the book though, just have seen the movie with Johnny Depp:
    "In the bosom of one of those spacious coves which indent the eastern shore of the Hudson, at that broad expansion of the river denominated by the ancient Dutch navigators the Tappan Zee, a...and properly known by the name of Tarry Town. ~ The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving"

    And this one immediately brought to mind a poem I wrote as a child, posted on this page: https://writersideup.com/about/me/
    "warning 1:
    This is not
    a fairy witch tale
    there are no
    witches. ~ The Witch Doesn't Burn In This One by Amanda Lovelace"

    Thank you SO much for taking the time to actually list all of these first sentences. SUCH a joy! :D <3




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    Replies
    1. Donna Marie - I love the opening to Victoria Gilbert's book too. It's true too!

      Thank you for sharing the link to your childhood poem. It's really good! I can see why you thought of it when reading Lovelace's.

      Thank you for visiting!

      Delete

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