# 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:** 16
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/301 "2018-01-29T19:53:31Z")
> [@Lickety\_Split](#): > > _“It was the day the snow came.”_ > > From “The Snowman”–by Jo Nesbo Man, I hope it is not as abysmally bad as the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2018, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/302 "2018-01-30T00:17:04Z")
Because the first sentence is so short, I added the second as well. Her name was Melanie. It means “the black girl,” from an ancient Greek word, but her skin is actually very fair so she thinks maybe it not such a good name for her. From _The Girl With All the Gifts_ by M. R. Carey. This is the second book in a series about a world in which most people have become zombified by a fungus and are driven to eat other people in order to spread that fungus. Scientists in England are trying to find a way to save the rest of humanity but they’re having a hard time of it. I am constantly amazed at how this author’s writing so completely draws me in. I can’t remember the last time I’ve been so absorbed, especially in the post-apocalyptic genre. The main characters are so well thought out that I can’t think of a single one who’s a cliche. There’s a constant tension between how the different characters interact and how they cope with their dire situation that keeps me wondering what could possibly happen next. ---
**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:** [January 30, 2018, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/303 "2018-01-30T05:03:51Z")
> [@](#): > > The range was not the entire world. _The Hydronauts_, by Carl L. Biemiller An old favorite from the 70s, on its umpteenth reread. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2018, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/304 "2018-01-30T05:12:00Z")
“Sigmund Freud, grunting, prepares to go out upon the dark surface of Venus, effortfully puts on the equipment.” - _The Remaking of Sigmund Freud_, by Barry N. Malzberg ---
**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:** [January 30, 2018, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/305 "2018-01-30T05:42:14Z")
“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_ by David Grann ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2018, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/306 "2018-01-30T16:48:35Z")
“We slept in what once had been the gymnasium.” _The Handmaid’s Tale_. I admit that I am struggling a bit reading this - I understand its cultural significance and I’m up to chapter 18, but it feels kind of dry and I’m having issues getting into it. ---
**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 30, 2018, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/307 "2018-01-30T18:11:59Z")
“Shakespeare was right.” _How the Finch Stole Christmas_, by Donna Andrews. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2018, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/308 "2018-02-07T17:13:26Z")
“It was a ‘come as you are’ party, and ‘all y’all come’.” **Gather Together in My Name** , by Maya Angelou. ---
**Author:** ![kmnoel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ce7236/32.png) [@kmnoel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kmnoel)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/309 "2018-02-13T22:36:12Z")
From _The Friends We Keep: Unleashing Christianity’s Compassion for Animals_ by Laura Hobgood-Oster. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/310 "2018-02-14T00:28:12Z")
“The Time Traveller (for so it will be convenient to speak of him) was expounding a recondite matter to us.” ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/311 "2018-02-14T01:52:12Z")
Two sentences, because the first one is kind of short: > [@](#): > > “Kreee…oww!” The slim flat space craft screamed across the blue void. From _Kemlo and the Space Lanes_ by E. C. Eliott. There’s just so much…_wrong_ with those two sentences. I used to love the _Kemlo_ series when I was a kid, but on re-reading now, they’re…kind of bad. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/312 "2018-02-14T01:58:09Z")
“When I was a toddler, Father tied me to the seat of our rented rowboat.“ from Trash Fish, by Greg Keeler. ---
**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:** [February 14, 2018, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/313 "2018-02-14T13:41:51Z")
“This book begins with a situation where a politician caused a war that changed the world.” _101 Stumbles in the March of History: WhatIf the Great Mistakes in War, Government, Industry, and Economics Were Not Made?_ by Bill Fawcett et al. ---
**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:** [February 14, 2018, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/314 "2018-02-14T14:03:12Z")
“If Zoey Ashe had known she was being stalked by a man who intended to kill her and then slowly eat her bones, she would have worried more about that and less about getting her cat off the roof.” - _Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits_, by David Wong ---
**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:** [February 14, 2018, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/315 "2018-02-14T15:17:09Z")
“The breeding grounds were called Pen Y Fan, after the hard, jagged slash of the mountain at their heart…” _Victory of Eagles_ by Naomi Novik (The actual first sentence is 58 words long, so I stopped at the first comma.) ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/316 "2018-02-14T15:51:27Z")
On Monday, March 23, 1992 at 10:30 a.m. I walked into what I thought was a routine meeting of the Board of Directors of WordPerfect Corporation. _Almost Perfect_ by W. E. Pete Peterson ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2018, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/317 "2018-02-14T23:05:15Z")
The horse and mule live thirty years And nothing know of wines and beers This is actually from the top of page 51 of “The Pocket Book of Jokes”, c. 1945, edited by Bennett Cerf. The book is very crumbly though, so that is the first page still connected to the main body. ---
**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:** [February 17, 2018, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/318 "2018-02-17T08:15:52Z")
“He rode into the dark of the woods and dismounted.” – _The Killer Angels_, by Michael Shaara, his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the Civil War battle of Gettysburg. (I could have used the first sentence in his Foreword, as it’s sort of the start of the novel, but it’s still in Roman numerals, so I decided against it.) ---
**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:** [February 18, 2018, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/319 "2018-02-18T15:41:30Z")
“I was born inside the movie of my life.” _Life Itself: My Autobiography_, by Roger Ebert. ---
**Author:** ![ElmerH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ea924/32.png) [@ElmerH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElmerH)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/320 "2018-02-23T23:15:29Z")
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