# What is the first sentence from the book you are currently reading? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [April 20, 2017, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858 "2017-04-20T16:51:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 109
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2022, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2170 "2022-09-03T13:50:52Z")
There were few places lovelier in Nazi-occupied Europe that May than Normandy in north-west France. \*_Normandy '44: D-Day and the Epic 77-Day Battle for France_, by James Holland ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2171 "2022-09-04T14:13:28Z")
“At the corner drugstore my neighbors and I can now buy a line of romantic novels written according to a formula developed through market research.” _The Gift: How the Creative Spirit Transforms the World_, by Lewis Hyde ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2022, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2172 "2022-09-06T17:45:11Z")
“Abner Marsh rapped the head of his hickory walking stick smartly on the hotel desk to get the clerk’s attention.” _Fevre Dream_, by George R. R. Martin ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2022, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2173 "2022-09-06T18:36:06Z")
“Until the early nineteenth century few tools existed to detect a toxic substance in a corpse.” _The Poisoner’s Handook_ by Deborah Blum. Excellent book. Highly recommended. I’d like to see this as supplemental reading for American history courses. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2022, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2174 "2022-09-06T20:18:43Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > _The Poisoner’s Handook_ by Deborah Blum. > > Excellent book. Highly recommended. I’d like to see this as supplemental reading for American history courses. Seconded, an excellent read. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2175 "2022-09-07T16:23:32Z")
“There is dust, and then there is dust.” _Beeswing: Losing My Way and Finding My Voice 1967-1975_, by Richard Thompson ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2176 "2022-09-07T16:41:28Z")
Ooo, I missed that he’s done an autobiography. And Beeswing is my favorite of his songs. Perfect. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2177 "2022-09-07T20:35:02Z")
Yeah, Beeswing is my favorite too. I highly recommend the book. My only complaint is that it ends in 1975. Let me know what you think. mmm ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2178 "2022-09-07T20:38:17Z")
Maybe he’ll do a follow-up? ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2179 "2022-09-07T21:46:22Z")
That’s what I thought. But then, he just wrote “Beeswing” in 2021, so I think it’s unlikely. Hope I’m wrong. mmm ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2180 "2022-09-07T21:49:04Z")
Yeah, I did notice the publication date. Maybe he felt he said all he had to say. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2181 "2022-09-08T20:48:09Z")
“As you may know, there is an academic body called the Science Fiction Research Association.” Benchmarks Revisited: F&SF “Books” Columns 1983-1986, by Algis Budrys. (This sentence comes from the first review, of _Bridges to Fantasy_, Slusser, Rabkin, and Scholes, eds.) ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2182 "2022-09-08T23:43:05Z")
“An ant and an elephant shared a romantic night together, but the next morning the ant awoke to find the elephant dead.” _A Seal Walks Into a Club_ - Nick Harris ““Damn”, said the ant. One night of passion and I spend the rest of my life digging a grave!” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2183 "2022-09-09T19:07:44Z")
“There were no windows in the Brin 2 facility - rotation meant that ‘outside’ was always ‘down,’ underfoot, out of mind.” _Children of Time_ by Adrian Tchaikovsky ---
**Author:** ![plankter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ba0ec/32.png) [@plankter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plankter)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2184 "2022-09-11T23:07:47Z")
“Marion Adamopoulos.” _Terminal Alliance: Book One of the Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse_ by Jim C. Hines ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2022, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2185 "2022-09-11T23:34:53Z")
Beth Cummings sat upright, lifted suddenly from sleep, and not sure why. _Miracles on the Water_, by Tom Nagorski (She was awakened by the torpedo that hit the ship she was on.) ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2022, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2186 "2022-09-12T21:30:54Z")
That’ll do it. “‘I would like to be on good terms with all animals,’ remarked the woman, to her daughter.” _Grand Union_ by Zadie Smith (This is a story collection, and this sentence comes from “The Dialectic”.) ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2022, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2187 "2022-09-13T20:44:01Z")
“It’s hard to think of a place in Wyoming where the wind doesn’t reign supreme; where the sovereignty of sound doesn’t break through the parks of the Bighorns with a hoarse-throated howl.” _Land of Wolves_ by Craig Johnson ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2022, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2188 "2022-09-15T17:41:58Z")
“Imagine learning to talk from recordings rather than people.” _Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language_, by Gretchen McCulloch ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2022, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2189 "2022-09-17T16:58:56Z")
"Once upon a time on a small, watery, excitable planet called Earth, in a small, watery, excitable country called Italy, a soft-spoken, rather nice-looking gentleman by the name of Enrico Fermi was born into a family so overprotective that he felt compelled to invent the atomic bomb. " _Space Opera_ by Cat Valente (rereading for book club) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=108) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=110)