# 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:** 12
**Author:** ![eunoia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eunoia/32/97_2.png) [@eunoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eunoia)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/221 "2017-10-04T01:44:56Z")
Next morning the prince went to his father, the King, and said to him : “No one shall be my wife but she whose foot this golden slipper fits.” Bernard Rudovksy - Are Clothes Modern? An Essay On Contemporary Apparel (1947) (Loving this book!) ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/222 "2017-10-04T04:11:16Z")
“I’m about to throw up.” – _Unbelievable: My Front-Row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History_, by Katie Tur ---
**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 6, 2017, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/223 "2017-10-06T23:36:20Z")
“Hello, parents of Miss Ward’s kindergarten class!” _Class Mom_, by Laurie Gelman. “Dawn came to the Thousand Year Wood.” _Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of Time Lord Verse_, by James Goss. ---
**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:** [October 7, 2017, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/224 "2017-10-07T00:50:34Z")
What France’s deeply saddened ambassador Maurice Paleologue called “world madness” began in Russia, as wars so often begin everywhere, with an outburst of patriotic fervor and outraged national feelings as Petersburgers greeted Germany’s declaration with hysterical outpourings of support for their tsar and country. _Passage Through Armageddon: the Russians in War and Revolution 1914-1918_ by W. Bruce Lincoln ---
**Author:** ![sunstone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunstone/32/3372_2.png) [@sunstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunstone)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/225 "2017-10-07T01:31:30Z")
“The man with the binoculars squirmed forward on his stomach through the sun-warmed brown grass” Hellstrom’s Hive by Frank Herbert. ---
**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 7, 2017, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/226 "2017-10-07T17:59:27Z")
“Wow!” _Gone Gull_, by Donna Andrews ---
**Author:** ![ryobserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@ryobserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryobserver)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/227 "2017-10-07T22:27:03Z")
As I stood there with the sword in my hand, the blade dripping blood on the floor, I couldn’t help but wonder if the blood belonged to my father. _Sir Apropos of Nothing_, Peter David. (The acknowledgments mention Harlan Ellison, “who fixed the opening paragraph”.) ---
**Author:** ![eunoia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eunoia/32/97_2.png) [@eunoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eunoia)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/228 "2017-10-19T11:44:19Z")
There are only two kinds of women in the world of clothing. One buys her clothes made-to-order, the other buys her clothes ready-made. Elizabeth Hawes - Fashion Is Spinach (1938) (free download via [archive.org](http://archive.org)) ---
**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 19, 2017, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/229 "2017-10-19T13:38:00Z")
“_Three?_” From **Split Heirs** by Lawrence Watt-Evans and Esther Friesner. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/230 "2017-10-19T15:32:43Z")
There are a lot of forewords and notes from the author and such, but I think this counts as the first official sentence: “You’re not crazy. STOP CALLING YOURSELF CRAZY,” my mom says for the eleventy billionth time, “You’re just _sensitive_. And … a little … _odd_.” – [**Furiously Happy** by Jenny Lawson](http://a.co/8SHp9V3). Her first book, [**Let’s Pretend This Never Happened**](http://a.co/aU6rZnD), was so funny that it was unsafe to read in public. Highly recommended. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2017, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/231 "2017-10-21T04:08:30Z")
“The Salinas Valley is in Northern California.” – _East of Eden_, by John Steinbeck ---
**Author:** ![4d3fect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/4d3fect/32/9728_2.png) [@4d3fect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/4d3fect)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2017, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/232 "2017-10-21T04:33:14Z")
North of Arles, where the river Rhone divides, a papal legate was assassinated on a January morning in 1208. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2017, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/233 "2017-10-21T05:30:07Z")
> [@](#): > > The path, slanting up through young forest to gray rock and old trees, became a hollow, leaf-filled track at its end. _Fortress of Eagles_ by C. J. Cherryh. > [@](#): > > A computer program is a set of instructions that causes a computer to perform some kind of action. _Python for Kids_ by Jason R. Briggs And two I just finished. > [@](#): > > Nan Killian was surrounded by mayhem. _A Scandal in Battersea_ by Mercedes Lackey > [@](#): > > It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a human assassin in possession of an important mission must be in want of a target. _Vallista_ by Steven Brust ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2017, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/234 "2017-10-21T06:01:05Z")
“This morning Rino telephoned.” —_My Brilliant Friend_ “In the spring of 1966, Lila, in a state of great agitation, entrusted to me a metal box that contained eight notebooks.” —_The Story of a New Name_ “I saw Lila for the last time 5 years ago, in the winter of 2005.” —_Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay_ “From October 1976 until 1979, when I returned to Naples to live, I avoided resuming a steady relationship with Lila—but it wasn’t easy.” —_The Story of the Lost Child_ These four are, collectively, a single narrative:, the Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante. Translated from Italian by Ann Goldstein. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2017, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/235 "2017-10-21T20:56:46Z")
“Hello. My name is Ethan Nichtern. The six-fingered man was my father’s best friend. Prepare to read.” **The Dharma of “The Princess Bride”,** by Ethan Nictern. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/236 "2017-10-23T02:07:49Z")
Welcome to the Liberty Tax Service basic Income Tax Course. ---
**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 24, 2017, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/237 "2017-10-24T18:10:57Z")
“A great photographer insists on writing poems.” _300 Arguments_, by Sarah Mancuso. ---
**Author:** ![BlutEngel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blutengel/32/7323_2.png) [@BlutEngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlutEngel)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/238 "2017-10-25T01:42:00Z")
“Like most forms of corruption, it began with men in suits.” Real Tigers, (Slough House) third book in the series. Mick Heron Reply With Quote ---
**Author:** ![bb49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b38774/32.png) [@bb49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bb49)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/239 "2017-10-26T02:26:53Z")
“Trouble came in the night, riding out of the dust and the darkness.” _Horse Soldiers. By Doug Stanton._ ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2017, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/240 "2017-10-30T16:40:34Z")
“No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream.” _The Haunting_, by Shirley Jackson [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=13)