# 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:** 141
**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:** [December 13, 2023, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2811 "2023-12-13T23:14:40Z")
_The castle at Fotheringhay, about sixty miles northwest of London, Wednesday, February 8, 1587_ The day had dawned incongruously fair, the soft rays of the winter sun gradually diffusing the darkness to illuminate the forbidding aspect of the vast medieval fortress, nearly five centuries old, that dominated the surrounding landscape. _Daughters of the Winter Queen: Four Remarkable Sisters, the Crown of Bohemia, and the Enduring Legacy of Mary Queen of Scots_, by Nancy Goldstone Early one evening in the autumn of 2010, my wife Margaret and I stood in front of Carlisle railway station in the far north-west of England with two loaded bicycles and a one-way ticket from Oxford. _The Debatable Land: The Lost World Between Scotland & England_, by Graham Robb ---
**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:** [December 14, 2023, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2812 "2023-12-14T00:56:33Z")
“The question of interaction is a crucial one in many areas, including for the purposes of understanding certain psychological, social, and economic phenomena.” _In a Flight of Starlings: The Wonders of Complex Systems_, by Giorgio Parisi (in collaboration with Anna Parisi, and translated by Simon Carnell) ---
**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:** [December 15, 2023, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2813 "2023-12-15T00:45:35Z")
“Here’s how I want the phony little conniving, no-talent, preppiewad asshole of an editor to die: I lace his decaf with Seconal and strap him down in such a way that his head is fastened to my desk and I thump him at cheery intervals with the carriage of my Olympia standard.” _You Gotta Play Hurt_ - Dan Jenkins ---
**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:** [December 15, 2023, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2814 "2023-12-15T00:50:16Z")
“One of the ones I can see told me it is already the year 1951.” _Horse of a Different Color: Stories_, by Howard Waldrop (The above sentence is from the first story, “Why Then Ile Fit You”.) ---
**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:** [December 15, 2023, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2815 "2023-12-15T01:51:24Z")
“Are there people in this modern, technology-driven world who enjoy flying?” _Flight or Fright_ edited by Stephen King and Bev Vincent ---
**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:** [December 16, 2023, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2816 "2023-12-16T21:09:25Z")
“I saw my teenaged daughter Madison standing on the sidewalk in front of our house as I pulled into the driveway.” _The Skeleton Stuffs a Stocking_, by Leigh Perry. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2023, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2817 "2023-12-18T22:31:33Z")
“Let’s say you want to visit the era when the most powerful predators in history attacked the largest land animals the planet has ever seen.” _How to Survive History: How to Outrun a Tyrannosaurus, Escape Pompeii, Get Off the Titanic, and Survive the Rest of History’s Deadliest Catastrophes_, by Cody Cassidy. ---
**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:** [December 19, 2023, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2818 "2023-12-19T17:04:34Z")
“I was in the office when the Gene slid back into normal space.” _Kid Stuff (Bob & Nikki Book 41)_ - Jerry Boyd ---
**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:** [December 19, 2023, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2819 "2023-12-19T17:09:23Z")
“This morning I heard the name Black Mamba for the first time, and it made me remember some dreams.” Let Him In, by William Friend ---
**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:** [December 20, 2023, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2820 "2023-12-20T00:51:53Z")
"Jame Retief, Second Secretary and Consul of the Terrestrial Embassy to Quopp, paused in his stroll along the Twisting Path of Sublime Release to admire the blaze of early morning sunlight on the stained glass window of a modest grog shop wedged between a stall with a sign in jittery native scrip announcing Bargain Prices in Cuticula Inlays, and the cheery facade of the Idle Hour Comfort Station, One Hundred Stalls, No Waiting. **Retief’s War** by Keith Laumer ---
**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:** [December 22, 2023, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2821 "2023-12-22T01:32:06Z")
“In the Linkings, the system was listed as Tren.” _The Galaxy, and the Ground Within_, by Becky Chambers ---
**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:** [December 23, 2023, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2822 "2023-12-23T18:11:54Z")
The rat screamed. _The Forge_, by S M Stirling and David Drake I came alert, fists raised, an electric jolt of adrenaline surging through me. _The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England_, by Brandon Sanderson ---
**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:** [December 25, 2023, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2823 "2023-12-25T05:19:42Z")
“In April, millions of tiny flowers spread over the blackjack hills and vast prairies in the Osage territory of Oklahoma.” – _Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI_, by David Grann ---
**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:** [December 25, 2023, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2824 "2023-12-25T22:03:18Z")
“Bosch had the letter propped on the steering wheel.” _Resurrection Walk_ by Michael Connelly ---
**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:** [December 26, 2023, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2825 "2023-12-26T00:56:30Z")
“Oh, and money was an issue for both of them when they were growing up.” _Dickens and Prince: A Particular Kind of Genius_, by Nick Hornby ---
**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:** [December 26, 2023, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2826 "2023-12-26T19:09:31Z")
It’s either “No matter where you are at this moment, you can probably spot some spider silk.” (Preface) or “The ancient Greeks imagined the common ancestor of all spiders as a human, a girl named Arachne.” _Spider Silk: Evolution and 400 Million Years of Spinning, Waiting, Snagging, and Mating_, by Leslie Brunetta and Catherine L. Craig. ---
**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:** [December 26, 2023, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2827 "2023-12-26T19:31:03Z")
“Cleveland is not the city it used to be.” _What’s the Deal with Deadman’s Curve? And Other Really Good Questions about Cleveland_ by Jim Sweeney “Hi, I’m Santa.” _Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Sleigh_ by Mo Willems “My earliest memories are of living on the streets amongst the garbage and ignored decay.” _Penny_ by Karl Stevens ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2023, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2828 "2023-12-27T00:01:01Z")
_Goddess, sing of the cataclysmic wrath of great Achilles, son of Peleus, which caused the Greeks immeasurable pain and sent so many noble souls of heroes to Hades, and made men the spoils of dogs, a banquet for the birds, and so the plan of Zeus unfolded-- starting with the conflict between great Agamemnom, lord of men, and glorious Achilles._ This is from the new translation of **The Iliad** by Emily Watson. At over 700 pages, it’s pretty hefty, but something I’ve never read all the way through. I even had it in my Christmas-wish list. I know the basic story, but not all of the smaller parts. I’ll be reading summaries of the 24 books as I go along just so I don’t get totally lost. Wish me luck. ---
**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:** [December 27, 2023, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2829 "2023-12-27T14:23:24Z")
“Elsewhere in the city of Neapolis, people were getting ready for the party.” _Firefly: Carnival_, by Una McCormack ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2023, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2830 "2023-12-27T14:28:20Z")
“I speed across Sugar Island in the Jeep I share with my sister.” Warrior Girl Unearthed, by Angeline Boulley. Actually just finished it; highly recommend. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=140) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=142)