# 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:** 139
**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 19, 2023, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2771 "2023-11-19T21:53:10Z")
“I do not enter cities; I steal into them.” _The Navigating Fox_, by Christopher Rowe ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2023, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2772 "2023-11-20T14:53:46Z")
“The king wishes to be cooked alive, “ the royal secretary said, accepting the proffered saucer and cup and immediately setting both aside. _The Hexologists_, by Josiah Bancroft ---
**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 20, 2023, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2773 "2023-11-20T19:39:20Z")
“In January of 2016 I was given an extraordinary gift.” _The Dress Diary: Secrets From a Victorian Woman’s Wardrobe_, by Kate Strasdin. ---
**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:** [November 20, 2023, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2774 "2023-11-20T21:45:02Z")
“His nickname was Lucky, but Second Lieutenant John Luckadoo felt anything but.” _Damn Lucky: One Man’s Courage During the Bloodiest Military Campaign in Aviation History_ Recommended for anyone interested in the 8th Air Force’s role in the air war over Germany. A good companion read for the upcoming _Masters Of The Air_ miniseries. ---
**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 22, 2023, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2775 "2023-11-22T01:50:54Z")
“Calvin Coolidge came into the world on July 4, 1872.” _Calvin Coolidge – The Quiet President_, by Donald R. McCoy ---
**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 22, 2023, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2776 "2023-11-22T16:48:29Z")
“The two suspects sat on mismatched furniture in the white and almost featureless lounge, waiting for something to happen.” _The Eighth Detective_, by Alex Pavesi ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2777 "2023-11-22T17:33:49Z")
“The marvelous thing is that it’s painless,” he said. “That’s how you know when it starts.” _The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories_ by Ernest Hemingway ---
**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 22, 2023, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2778 "2023-11-22T20:12:53Z")
"Four fifty-three in the morning was too early for anything.’ _City of the Dead_ by Jonathan Kellerman ---
**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 22, 2023, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2779 "2023-11-22T21:50:37Z")
They had assembled in a temporarily unused compartment on the hospital’s eighty-seventh level. _The Genocidal Healer_ by James White (A “Hospital Station” novel). ---
**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 24, 2023, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2780 "2023-11-24T01:58:53Z")
“The night was full of noises.” _Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon_, by Melissa L. Sevigny ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2781 "2023-11-24T16:19:29Z")
“Marley was dead: To begin with.” Charles Dickens, _A Christmas Carol_ ---
**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 25, 2023, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2782 "2023-11-25T21:19:34Z")
“His followers called him Mahasamatman and said he was a god.” _Lord of Light_, by Roger Zelazny ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Burden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/958977/32.png) [@Jack\_Burden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Burden)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2783 "2023-11-26T04:02:58Z")
Love that book, my favorite Zelazny ---
**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:** [November 26, 2023, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2784 "2023-11-26T04:04:53Z")
He preferred to drop the “Maha-” and “-atman” and go by Sam. He never said he was a god. But then, he never said he wasn’t. ---
**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:** [November 26, 2023, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2785 "2023-11-26T04:11:02Z")
Never mind ---
**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:** [November 26, 2023, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2786 "2023-11-26T21:45:53Z")
“Order. ORDER!” _This House_ by James Graham “To the east of Cleveland, just past the ghetto, is a town with a lot of trees called Shaker Heights.” _Little, Crazy Children_ by James Renner ---
**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:** [November 26, 2023, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2787 "2023-11-26T21:54:31Z")
“‘I’m an atheist, I don’t believe there is a God,’ she affirms.” – _The Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion with No Name_, by Brian C. Muraresku. ---
**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:** [November 27, 2023, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2788 "2023-11-27T02:06:03Z")
“Today he would become a god.” _Black Sun_ by Rebecca Roanhorse ---
**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 27, 2023, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2789 "2023-11-27T20:46:08Z")
“Let’s start the way you expect a good disabled memoir or crip story to start: either with my horrible birth or my grave-brave injury.” _Against Technoableism: Rethinking Who Needs Improvement_, by Ashley Shew ---
**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 30, 2023, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2790 "2023-11-30T00:24:56Z")
“The cafeteria was noisy and crowded.” _A Heart for Business_, by Adele de Leeuw [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=138) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=140)