Opening sentences are our first step inside a story. Some hook us right away while others ease us in. I started keeping track of first sentences years ago. I enjoy looking back on these opening lines and seeing what memories they stir up.
Below you will find the first sentences of books I read in 2021.
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OMG! ~ Tales from a Not-So-Graceful Ice Princess by Rachel Renée Russell
An old woman sits on the beach, a cushion strapped to her bottom, sorting algae that's washed ashore. ~ The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See
I keep my earbuds shoved into my ears on the minibus from Geneva Airport. ~ One by One by Ruth Ware
I wish for chocolate chip cookies, warm. ~ What Mothers Withhold by Elizabeth Kropf
OMG! ~ Tales From a Not-So-Smart Miss Know-It-All by Rachel Renée Russell
Threads of steam rose from the warm tarmac. ~ Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder by T.A. Willberg
It's a widely known fact that most moms are ready to kill someone by eight thirty A.M. on any given morning. ~ Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano
Once upon a time my life was normal. ~ Fairest of All by Sarah Mlynowski
I sat at the table in my cabin, my sister's letter in my hand, and read it for the third time. ~ Russian Cage by Charlaine Harris
The office reeked of nutmeg. ~ A Glimmer of Death by Valerie Wilson Wesley
I have a magic mirror in my basement and I'm going to use it. ~ If the Shoe Fits by Sarah Mlynowski
Alexa Monroe walked into the Fairmont hotel in San Francisco that Thursday night wearing her favorite red hells, jittery coffee, and with a bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne in her purse. ~ The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory
It is the absolute shittiest day for a walk. ~ The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins
Should I pack a bathing suit? ~ Sink or Swim by Sarah Mlynowski
When I was a kid, my aspirations were simple. ~ Becoming by Michelle Obama
OMG! ~ Tales From a Not-So-Happy Heartbreaker by Rachel Renée Russell
Today is the Ritual of Purity. ~ Gilded Ones by Namina Forna
I peered through the slats of the blinds covering the glass on my office door and watched the dark, brooding man in the hallway. ~ The Arrangement by M. Ravenel
OMG!! ~ Tales From a Not-So-Glam TV Star by Rachel Renée Russell
The air beneath Evelyn's paper mask is hot and damp, and even though a shaft of sunlight from the open barn door reveals sawdust swirling in the air, she pulls the mask up to her forehead and allows herself a breath of cool air. ~ The Memory Collectors by Kim Neville
She would come at daybreak - the woman whose letter I held in my hands, the woman whose name I di not know yet. ~ The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
Vision failing, she feels the leaves,
looking for butterly weed, a seedling
from her greenhouse for me take
in my efforts to flower a field. ~ Passiflora by Kathy Davis
I'M LATE! ~ Tales From a Not-So-Happily Ever After by Rachel Renée Russell
My name is Lila Macapagal and my life has become a rom-com cliché. ~ Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala
A spring to never forget ~ From the Inside: The Inner Soul of a Young Poet by Thanvi Voruganti
The past twenty-four hours of my life have been so disgustingly NAUSEATING that actually starting to feel like a . . . puddle of . . . um, cat . . . VOMIT!! ~ Tales From a Not-So-Dorky Drama Queen by Rachel Renée Russell
I am surrounded by forgotten women. ~ The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba by Chanel Cleeton
Borrow-A-Bookshop invites you to live out your dreams of running your very own bookshop in a historic Deveonshire harbour village . . . for a fortnight. ~ The Borrow a Bookshop Holiday by Kiley Dunbar
Okay, I've tried REALLY hard to be polite about all of this! ~ Tales From a Not-So-Happily Ever After by Rachel Renée Russell
"An ill wind moves through Chicago," Lulu said, sniffing the air. ~ Shadowed Steel by Chloe Neill
The summer is made for stoop-sitting
and since it's the last week before school starts,
Harlem is opening its eyes to September. ~ The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Noooooo!! ~ Tales From a Not-So-Friendly Frenemy by Rachel Renée Russell
The majority of urban legends form around a small grain of truth, however misinterpreted or misunderstood. ~ Angels of the Overpass by Seanan McGuire
Until I was twenty, I believed anything
wouldn't happen to me. ~ Anything That Happens by Cheryl Wilder
SQUEEEEEE!! ~ Tales From a Not-So-Secret Crush Catastrophe by Rachel Renée Russell
The first thing the ghost said to Jess was:
Does your mother know you're a pengkid? ~ Black Water Sister by Zen Cho
We were going to get caught. ~ A Peculiar Combination by Ashley Weaver
The train that was delivering Junie to Trout River was just pulling out of the station and gathering speed, and already the compartment was filling up with cigarette smoke and the gregarious sound of sunflower seeds being cracked open. ~ Swimming Back to Trout River by Lina Rui Feng
As she woke up in the pod, she remembered three things. ~ The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
It is not only in our brains that the memories of our lives are laid down. ~ Written in Bone by Sue Black
So much about the world baffled Dr. Trisha Raje, but she was never at a loss for how to do her job. ~ Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev
I hitched the canvas strap holding the watering canister higher up on my shoulder and stretched to get the nozzle into the hanging plant. ~ The Good, the Bad, and the Undead by Kim Harrison
Correction: I, Kelly Quinn, was cleaning. ~ Just Add Magic by Cindy Callaghan
Do you believe in magic? ~ Magic Misfits by Neil Patrick Harris
At first, when Piper scanned the docks and didn't see the familiar rickety white-pine-and-fir fisherman's trawler, she thought nothing of it. ~ The Invisible Husband of Frick Island by Colleen Oakley
Nineteen years before she decided to die, Nora Seed sat in the warmth of the small library at Hazeldene School in the town of Bedford. ~ The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
"He's asking for you, Mrs. H." ~ Murder in the East End by Jennifer Ashley
I took a deep breath to settle myself, jerking the cuff of my gloves up to cover the bare patch of skin at my wrist. ~ Every Which Way But Dead by Kim Harrison
I noticed the first crow when I opened the front door for the cat on the morning of my sixtieth birthday. ~ Becoming Crone by Lydia M. Hawkes
OMG! ~ Tales From a Not-So-Happy Birthday by Rachel Renée Russell
"Please, help me." ~ Death at the Crystal Palace by Jennifer Ashley
"Can you recommend a great book?" ~ I'd Rather Be Reading by Anne Bogel
I'd like to think I'm a good person, but I have no way of knowing for sure. ~ The Stranger in the Mirror by Liv Constantine
I predicted the future on my third birthday. ~ Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop by Rosselle Lim
I'm going to have the MOST. EXCITING. SUMMER. EVER!! ~ Tales from a Not-So-Best Friend Forever by Rachel Renée Russell
The solid thud of David's car door shutting echoed off the stone face of the eight-story building we had parked beside. ~ A Fistful of Charms by Kim Harrison
The sorrowful beasts live in the north-eastern quarter of Yong'an City. ~ Strange Beasts of China by Yan Ge
Dev Deshpande knows the exact moment he started believing in happily ever after. ~ The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun
Maureen Doherty stood at the window of her corner office on the top floor of Boston's William G. Bartlett Building. ~ Be My Ghost by Carol J. Perry
SPLORSH ~ Witch Hat Atelier, Vol 1 by Kamome Shrahama
There's no way . . . ~ Witch Hat Atelier, Vol 2 by Kamome Shrahama
You tremble for naught. ~ Witch Hat Atelier, Vol 3 by Kamome Shrahama
Hammering my fist against the back of my closet wasn't one of my more pleasant dreams. ~ For a Few Demons More by Kim Harrison
"Okay, Violet's Turn!" ~ Witches Get Stitches by Juliette Cross
The enigma arrived in the afternoon post, sealed, smudged, and devastating. ~ The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
Never mix vodka and witchcraft. ~ The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling
Sleeping Beauty is pretty much the worst fairy tale, any way you slice it. ~ A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow
The sky is a stranger color. ~ Cackle by Rachel Harrison
They bind our feed and ankles, tear off our clothes, and douse us with alcohol. ~ The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke
"I'm going to kill her." ~ In the Company of Witches by Auralee Wallace
I leaned over the glass counter, squinting at the price of the high-grade redwood rods, safe in their airtight glass coffins like Snow White. ~ The Outlaw Demon Wails by Kim Harrison
The strange occurrences that threatened to upend my marriage, my adopted city, and the potential happiness of tens of millions of children started on a December morning just nine days before Christmas with a frantic pounding on our bedchamber door. ~ Mrs. Claus and the Santaland Slayings by Liz Ireland.
"You can't leave me," my best friend whispers into the phone, her voice urgent and filled with abject terror. ~ The Christmas Dress by Courtney Cole
"But it's August!" said Carmen into the phone, putting down her book. ~ The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan
All I have are her bones. ~ The Real Valkyrie by Nancy Marie Brown
I pushed against the tavern's massive oak door, but it would no yield. ~ Live Like a Vulcan, Love Like a Wookiee, Laugh Like a Hobbit by Robb Pearlman
Oosh ~ Witch Hat Atelier, Vol. 4 by Kamome Shrahama
Most of us Yard men would say that over time we develop an extra sense for danger close at hand. ~ Down a Dark River by Karen Odden
I am born on a Tuesday at University Hospital
Columbus, Ohio,
USA -
a country caught
between Black and White. ~ Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
"You want me to do what now?" ~ Walking in a Witchy Wonderland by Juliette Cross
this book smells like me ~ Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson
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