# What is the first sentence from the book you are currently reading?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858
**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:** 151
### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [June 11, 2024, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3011 "2024-06-11T20:15:03Z")
“First,” said Florio the gangster, “I’m going to cut off your nose and make you eat it.”
_Pulling the Wings Off Angels_, by K. J. Parker (Note: The gangster is speaking to a human, not an angel.)
“Hi! This is a book of pictures and simple words.”
_Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words_, by Randall Munroe
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2024, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3012 "2024-06-12T15:45:02Z")
“I was sitting outside of Will’s store, enjoying a beer with John and Dingus.”
_Gone Fishing_ - Jerry Boyd (Bob & Nikki Book 47)
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2024, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3013 "2024-06-13T18:56:49Z")
“Many have told of Alexander’s conquests.”
_An Elephant for Aristotle_, by L. Sprague de Camp
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### Author:  [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2024, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3014 "2024-06-13T21:55:18Z")
Tuesday, 1:42 PM
The Scarlet Robots of Lemuria had begun to climb the walls of the citadel by the time Dash remembered to check the time.
_Slaves of the Switchboard of Doom: A Novel of Retropolis_, by Bradley W Schenck
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### Author:  [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2024, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3015 "2024-06-13T22:00:47Z")
“Billy Summers sits in the hotel lobby, waiting for his ride.”
- Stephen King, _Billy Summers_
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### Author:  [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2024, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3016 "2024-06-14T00:20:05Z")
> [@Superdude](#):
>
> Stephen King, _Billy Summers_
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Hope you do as well!
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### Author:  [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2024, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3017 "2024-06-14T00:23:43Z")
Oh, I am. It’s a re-read. My third(?) time reading it.
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### Author:  [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2024, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3018 "2024-06-14T00:24:42Z")
> [@Superdude](#):
>
> My third(?) time reading it.
I find no fault with this!
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### Author:  [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2024, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3019 "2024-06-16T01:32:21Z")
“We need you to kill a man.”
_The Cat Who Walks through Walls_, by Robert A Heinlein
“Hi, my name is Mandy,” the waitress said, leaning over and crossing her arms for a cleavage flash.
_Beyond the Ranges_, by John Ringo with James Aidee
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2024, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3020 "2024-06-16T16:07:18Z")
Liked the first one, hated the second. Gave up by Page 84 and deleted it from Kindle.
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### Author:  [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2024, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3021 "2024-06-16T17:55:44Z")
On a certain afternoon, in the late springtime, the bell upon Tunstall Moat House was heard ringing at an unaccustomed hour.
_The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses_, by Robert Louis Stevenson
> [@silenus](#):
>
> Liked the first one, hated the second. Gave up by Page 84 and deleted it from Kindle.
If you mean the Ringo book I mentioned, page 84 i just before the action starts.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2024, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3022 "2024-06-16T18:34:28Z")
> [@SCAdian](#):
>
> If you mean the Ringo book I mentioned, page 84 i just before the action starts.
I couldn’t handle the politics. I could handle Pournelle being a right-wing asshole. Ringo…not so much.
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2024, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3023 "2024-06-16T20:42:09Z")
“Chan Kok Kuan still wasn’t home.”
_The Dragon Behind the Glass: A True Story of Power, Obsession, and the World’s Most Coveted Fish_, by Emily Voigt
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2024, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3024 "2024-06-19T19:02:35Z")
“Sunrise: Bands of pale pink light peek of the horizon of Mars’ eastern sky, a remnant of the days before terraforming created another blue marble in the solar system.”
_Sherlock Mars_, by Jackie Kingon
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### Author:  [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2024, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3025 "2024-06-19T19:30:30Z")
“Away to the Great Plains of America, to that immense Western short-grass prairie now mostly plowed under!”
_Great Plains_ by Ian Frazier
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### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2024, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3026 "2024-06-19T19:30:52Z")
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”
Playing With Myself, by Randy Rainbow
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2024, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3027 "2024-06-20T19:47:22Z")
“Hitchhiking ghost stories can be found in cultures across the world.”
_Angel of the Overpass_, by Seanan McGuire
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [June 23, 2024, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3028 "2024-06-23T23:22:09Z")
“It had become obvious to Toller Maraquine and some others watching on the ground that the airship was heading into danger, but–incredibly–its captain appeared not to notice.”
_The Ragged Astronauts_ by Bob Shaw
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### Author:  [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2024, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3029 "2024-06-24T00:21:25Z")
Nothing could have been better as the day rolled on.
_Gilliard: A Phoenix Tale_ by A. W. Porter
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2024, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3030 "2024-06-25T21:13:02Z")
“In the once-upon-a-time days of the First Age of Magic, the prudent sorcerer regarded his own true name as his most valued possession, but also the greatest threat to his continued good health, for–the stories go–once an enemy, even a weak unskilled enemy, learned the sorcerer’s true name, then routine and widely known spells could destroy or enslave even the most powerful.”
_True Names_, by Vernor Vinge
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