# 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:** 113
**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:** [October 31, 2022, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2250 "2022-10-31T01:38:37Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > A most excellent read by Follett. You will enjoy this one. Third time I’ve read it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2022, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2251 "2022-10-31T02:27:19Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > Third time I’ve read it Heh. I’ve read it twice myself. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2022, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2252 "2022-11-01T16:01:55Z")
“While I have been blessed to have always had a roof over my head and the honor of living with loved ones, when I was growing up, homelessness was a constant spiritual state.” _Our Laundry, Our Town: My Chinese American Life from Flushing to the Downtown Stage and Beyond_, by Alvin Eng. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2022, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2253 "2022-11-01T20:21:32Z")
Prologue: The war with Rome begins not with a clang of swords but with the lick of a dagger drawn from an assassin’s cloak. Chapter 1: Who killed Jonathan son of Ananus as he strode across the Temple Mount in the year 56 C.E.? _Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth_, by Reza Aslan ---
**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:** [November 2, 2022, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2254 "2022-11-02T12:19:37Z")
“Few American presidents have descended from lines more distinguished for public service than the one that produced Benjamin Harrison.” _Benjamin Harrison_ , by Charles W. Calhoun ---
**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:** [November 2, 2022, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2255 "2022-11-02T18:16:05Z")
This is the story of an army, and only that Army – not of the many and various corps, divisions and regiments it contained. _Eighth Army: The Triumphant Desert Army That Held the Axis at Bay from North Africa to the Alps, 1939-45_, by Robin Neillands Executive overreach did not begin overnight. _9 Presidents Who Screwed Up America and Four Who Tried to Save Her_, by Brion McClanahan ---
**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:** [November 2, 2022, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2256 "2022-11-02T20:47:09Z")
“Almost all of the course of human history northwest Europe will forever be a total mystery.” _Lotharingia: A Personal History of Europe’s Lost Country_, by Simon Winder ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2022, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2257 "2022-11-03T17:10:30Z")
“An arch of arterial blood sprayed across Issac Kohen’s blue scrubs, followed by the angry voice of Doctor Oberheuser.” _1637: The Transylvania Decision_ by Eric Flint and Robert E. Walters –Sadly, Mr. Flint passed away in July 2022, so the long Ring of Fire series (over 20 novels and dozens of short stories) may never see a conclusion, or at least a tying up of loose ends, as this is probably the last to bear his name on the title. ---
**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:** [November 3, 2022, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2258 "2022-11-03T19:30:47Z")
> [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](#): > > Sadly, Mr. Flint passed away in July 2022, so the long Ring of Fire series (over 20 novels and dozens of short stories) may never see a conclusion, or at least a tying up of loose ends, as this is probably the last to bear his name on the title. One more: _1638: The Siberian Enterprise_ by Eric Flint, Paula Goodlett & Gorg Huff – Sep 2023 I have _Transylvania_ on hold at the library. Hope not too many people thought to do that before I did… ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2022, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2259 "2022-11-04T15:47:08Z")
I have hopes he made arrangements for the continuation of the series, and left notes dealing with the main line characters. His death wasn’t sudden, so maybe he had time to at least get some sort of resolution lined up. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2022, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2260 "2022-11-05T00:56:59Z")
Most introductory chapters are written in the well-grounded expectation that they will be blithely ignored. _An Exaltation of Larks - The Ultimate Edition_ by James Lipton ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2022, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2261 "2022-11-05T01:08:50Z")
Howl, America, Howl. New book by Os Guinness ---
**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:** [November 5, 2022, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2262 "2022-11-05T19:58:28Z")
“Blast! You scared it away!” _Dashing through the Snowbirds_, by Donna Andrews (Meg Langslow mystery #32) ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2022, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2263 "2022-11-05T22:22:46Z")
Every chapter of _The Spare Man_ by Mary Robinette Kowal begins with a recipe for a drink. For Chapter 1, it’s a martini. The first sentence after the martini is: “Kneeling on the floor of their suite, Tesla Crane could just feel the vibrations of the centrifugal ring as it rotated around the interplanetary cruise ship _Lindgren_.” ---
**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:** [November 7, 2022, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2264 "2022-11-07T13:35:21Z")
“you could not tell if you were a bird descending (and there was a a bird descending, a vulture) if the naked man was dead or alive.” _Revenge_, by Jim Harrison (the first of three novellas of the book “Legends of the Fall”. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2022, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2265 "2022-11-07T15:13:20Z")
“in my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since.” _The Great Gatsby_ by F. Scott Fitzgerald ---
**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:** [November 8, 2022, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2266 "2022-11-08T21:50:10Z")
“I _mean_ it, Stephanie!” Richard Harrington said. _A Beautiful Friendship_ by David Weber ---
**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:** [November 10, 2022, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2267 "2022-11-10T19:48:58Z")
“Buchanan county, Va., in which Hurley is located, is very sparsely settled and is very rugged,” reported the _Washington Post_. _The Man from the Train: The Solving of a Century-Old Serial Killer Mystery_, by Bill James and Rachel McCarthy James ---
**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:** [November 11, 2022, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2268 "2022-11-11T00:10:03Z")
“Space is cruel to the human body.” _In the Quick_ by Kate Hope Day ---
**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:** [November 12, 2022, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2269 "2022-11-12T20:38:49Z")
“Hello, everybody, and welcome to my journal.” _Letters to the Pumpkin King_ by Seanan McGuire [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=112) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=114)