# 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:** 110
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2022, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2190 "2022-09-17T19:48:52Z")
Today the world’s urban population grew by close to 200,000 people. _Metropolis: A History of the City, Humankind’s Greatest Invention_ by Ben Wilson ---
**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 17, 2022, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2191 "2022-09-17T20:51:09Z")
“The following statements were collected over a period of 18 months, during which time the committee interviewed the employees with a view to gaining insight into how they related to the objects and the rooms in which they were place.” _The Employees_, by Olga Ravn. Translated by Martin Aitken ---
**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 18, 2022, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2192 "2022-09-18T13:45:40Z")
“The Large Hadron Collider is a discovery machine.” _Curiosity: How Science Became Interested in Everything_, by Philip Ball ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2022, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2193 "2022-09-18T21:59:34Z")
“The Templars were holy soldiers.” – _The Templars: The Rise and Spectacular Fall of God’s Holy Warriors_, by Dan Jones ---
**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 18, 2022, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2194 "2022-09-18T22:35:10Z")
To clarify, this sentence is not from the author of the book, Philip Ball. It’s a quote from Robert Aymar, the former director of CERN, the European center for particle physics. ---
**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 21, 2022, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2195 "2022-09-21T15:25:51Z")
“Being nice is like leaving your door wide-open.” _The Downstairs Girl_ by Stacey Lee ---
**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 21, 2022, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2196 "2022-09-21T18:52:44Z")
Ooops. nvm… ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2197 "2022-09-22T02:13:48Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > “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 ^ this ---
**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 22, 2022, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2198 "2022-09-22T15:00:56Z")
“In early spring, a friend went for a walk in the woods and, glancing down at the path, saw a snail.” _The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating_, by Elisabeth Tova Bailey ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2022, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2199 "2022-09-22T19:28:07Z")
“Who’s have thought crazy would turn out to be such valuable cargo?” Eyes of the Void, Adrian Tchaikovsky ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2200 "2022-09-23T03:30:46Z")
“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderly again.” Rebecca, Daphne Du Maurier ---
**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 23, 2022, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2201 "2022-09-23T13:57:15Z")
“The voices babbled.” _The Listeners_ by James E. Gunn ---
**Author:** ![MeepersC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meepersc/32/12088_2.png) [@MeepersC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeepersC)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2022, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2202 "2022-09-24T04:19:41Z")
“With frustration and some regret, she studied murder.” _Celebrity in Death_ by J.D. Robb “As the ancient cogwheel train clawed its way up the dizzying incline, Edmond Kirsch surveyed teh jagged mountaintop above him.” _Origins_ by Dan Brown “On a brisk Saturday afternoon in October, the panic returned.” _Rhythms of Renewal_ by Rebekah Lyons (Yes, I do love reading multiple books at the same time - it gives me options based on what I’m in the mood to read daily." ---
**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 25, 2022, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2203 "2022-09-25T14:06:28Z")
"Summer here comes on like a zaftig hippie chick, jazzed on chlorophyll and flinging fistfuls of butterflies to the sun. _Population: 485-- Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time_, by Michael Perry. ---
**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 26, 2022, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2204 "2022-09-26T18:18:19Z")
“The _Surprise_, lying well out in the channel with Gibraltar half a mile away on her starboard quarter, lying at a single anchor with her head to the freshening north-west breeze, piped all hands at four bells in the afternoon watch; and at the cheerful sound her tender _Ringle_, detached once more on a private errand by Lord Keith, cheered with the utmost good will, while the Surprises turned out with a wonderful readiness, laughing, beaming and thumping one another on the back in spite of a strong promise of rain and a heavy sea running already.” _Blue at the Mizzen_ by Patrick O’Brian ---
**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 27, 2022, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2205 "2022-09-27T18:15:22Z")
“That day Pwyll, Prince of Dyved, who thought he was going out to hunt, was in reality going out to be hunted, and by no beast of man or earth.” _Prince of Annwn_, by Evangeline Walton ---
**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 27, 2022, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2206 "2022-09-27T22:14:03Z")
After dark on the night of July 13, 1944, President Roosevelt and his traveling entourage were driven to an underground rail siding on Fourteenth Street in Washington, where they boarded a private train, the “Presidential Special.” _Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945_, by Ian W Toll ---
**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 29, 2022, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2207 "2022-09-29T15:40:06Z")
“Some lands are flat and grass-covered, and smile so evenly up at the sun that they seem forever youthful, untouched by man or time.” _The Immense Journey_, by Loren Eiseley ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2208 "2022-09-29T15:45:21Z")
“I’d like to introduce the Thoreau you don’t know, of don’t necessarily know, or know but perhaps never hear people talking about when people talk about Thoreau.” -_The Thoreau You Don’t Know_ by Robert Sullivan ---
**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:** [October 2, 2022, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2209 "2022-10-02T15:49:58Z")
“Francesca Bassington sat in the drawing room of her house in the Blue Street, W., regaling herself and her estimable brother Henry with China tea and small cress sandwiches.” _The Unbearable Bassington_ by Saki. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=109) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=111)