# 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:** 117
**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:** [January 4, 2023, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2330 "2023-01-04T19:52:27Z")
“It was spring, and my sister Lisa and I were in her toy-sized car, riding from the airport in Greensboro, North Carolina, to her house in Winston-Salem.” _Happy-Go-Lucky_ by David Sedaris (first line of the first story in the collection, “Active Shooter”) ---
**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:** [January 4, 2023, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2331 "2023-01-04T20:09:08Z")
“When a sailor was swimming on the surface of the open ocean, his horizon was a mere 1.1 miles away.” _A Sea of Words: A Lexicon and Companion to the Complete Seafaring Tales of Patrick O’Brian_ by Dean King et al. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2023, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2332 "2023-01-04T21:16:53Z")
“A merry little surge of electricity piped by automatic alarm from the mood organ beside his bed awakened Rick Deckard.” _Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?_ by Philip K. Dick ---
**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:** [January 6, 2023, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2333 "2023-01-06T14:47:08Z")
“What would happen if the Solar System was filled with soup out to Jupiter?” _What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions_, by Randall Munroe. (Note: The above question is credited to “Amelia, Age 5”.) ---
**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:** [January 7, 2023, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2334 "2023-01-07T23:24:48Z")
“Not any one of us Ashmores–Eubie, Mother, or I, Fayette–will ever forget that summer we got mixed up with all those mules, the wild mountain man, and the moonshiners who were shooting at us.” _Eight Mules from Monterey_, by Patricia Beatty ---
**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:** [January 8, 2023, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2335 "2023-01-08T19:46:29Z")
“President William McKinley arrived in Buffalo, New York, on the evening of September 4, 1901, intent on deflecting history with a speech.” _President McKinley – Architect of the American Century_ , by Robert W. Merry ---
**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:** [January 8, 2023, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2336 "2023-01-08T21:42:08Z")
“Mary MacCandless came up from the underground station, turned left onto Bayswater Road, crossed the busy junction with Park Lane, and stopped to admire the glass and chrome skull rack on Tyburn.” _Quantum of Nightmares_, by Charles Stross ---
**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:** [January 8, 2023, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2337 "2023-01-08T23:28:52Z")
“The doctor rolled a machine into the room and parked it at the foot of my mom’s bed, next to a pair of bassinets with stainless steel legs and transparent plastic cradles.” _Deaf Utopia: A Memoir–and a Love Letter to a Way of Life_, by Nyle DiMarco. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2023, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2338 "2023-01-10T21:59:05Z")
“The problem with wasps is people.” _Endless Forms: The Secret World of Wasps_, by Seirian Sumner ---
**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:** [January 11, 2023, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2339 "2023-01-11T20:00:43Z")
“On the late afternoon of 27 October 1858, a flurry of activity disturbed the genteel quietness of East Twentieth Street, New York City.” _The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt,_ by Edmund Morris ---
**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:** [January 12, 2023, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2340 "2023-01-12T22:26:12Z")
" ‘Can you come into my office?’ " _The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo: A Novel_, by Taylor Jenkins Reid ---
**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:** [January 13, 2023, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2341 "2023-01-13T17:03:53Z")
“Sparrows chirrup and settle on the cold slate shingles of the old shop roof.” _Castles from Cobwebs_, by J. A. Mensah ---
**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:** [January 13, 2023, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2342 "2023-01-13T17:19:50Z")
“For the third time I went over the final additions and subtractions on the first page of Form 1040, to make good and sure.” _And be a Villain_ by Rex Stout. ---
**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:** [January 14, 2023, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2343 "2023-01-14T19:49:24Z")
“The call came through the office landline, through a system that was at least twenty years old and had fought off all technological advances.” – _The Judge’s List_, by John Grisham ---
**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:** [January 15, 2023, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2344 "2023-01-15T00:20:58Z")
“There are a few things we can’t live without.” _My First Popsicle: An Anthology of Food and Feelings_, edited by Zosia Mamet. ---
**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:** [January 15, 2023, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2345 "2023-01-15T03:50:47Z")
“Dear You, the body you are wearing used to be mine.” _The Rook_ by Daniel O’Malley ---
**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:** [January 16, 2023, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2346 "2023-01-16T17:00:19Z")
“The sunshine of a fair Spring morning fell graciously upon London town.” _Something New_ by P.G. Wodehouse. (Note: This is an American edition; the book appears to have been titled Something Fresh when it was first published.) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2023, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2347 "2023-01-16T18:12:44Z")
Yes, “fresh” in American idiom at the time meant a guy who made unwelcome advances on women, so they changed the title in the US edition. ---
**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:** [January 16, 2023, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2348 "2023-01-16T18:37:48Z")
Ten days after the great battle that drove General of the Sea Hisashi Kurokawa and the tattered remnants of his once-mighty fleet from Madras, only two of his little squadron of Grik-built cruisers, _Nachi_ and _Tatsuma_, remained to steam into the port of Cochin. _Deadly Shores_ (Destroyermen #9), by Taylor Anderson ---
**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:** [January 17, 2023, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2349 "2023-01-17T22:22:55Z")
“It was the beginning of the end for the Third Reich.” _The End: The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler’s Germany, 1944-1945_ by Ian Kershaw [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=116) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=118)