# 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:** 7\ **Page:** 192
**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:** [September 16, 2026, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3831 "2026-09-16T21:15:27Z")
“Among bird fanciers, there’s an old saying: ‘If horse racing is the sport of kings, then pigeon racing is the sport of the common man.’” _Out of the Clouds: The Unlikely Horseman and the Unwanted Colt Who Conquered the Sport of Kings_, by Linda Carroll and David Rosner “War, thought the kaiser, was the natural order of the world, and only fools thought otherwise.” _1901_, by Robert Conroy ---
**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:** [September 20, 2026, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3832 "2026-09-20T01:14:04Z")
“Dombey sat in the corner of the darkened room in the great armchair by the bedside, and Son lay tucked up warm in a little basket bedstead, carefully disposed on a low settee immediately in front of the fire and close to it, as if his constitution were analogous to that of a muffin, and it was essential to toast him brown while he was very new.” -- _Dombey and Son_, by Charles Dickens ---
**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:** [September 22, 2026, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3833 "2026-09-22T03:05:59Z")
“Do you seriously think I would not be intellectually capable of writing down the story of my life if I wanted to?” _Underground in Berlin: A Young Woman’s Extraordinary Tale of Survival in the Heart of Nazi Germany_, by Marie Jalowicz Simon It was just after five thirty in the evening when a four-engine Halifax bomber lumbered off the runway of the RAF aerodrome in Brindisi. _The Ariadne Objective: The Underground War to Rescue Crete from the Nazis_, by Wes Davis ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3834 "2026-09-22T03:07:51Z")
_“What’s two plus two?”_ _Project Hail Mary_, by Andy Weir ---
**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:** [September 23, 2026, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3835 "2026-09-23T18:22:00Z")
“What _was_ that?!” _Absolute Wonder Woman: The Last Amazon_, by Kelly Thompson “Among the marvels brought ashore from the ship _Vittoria_ when she reached Spain on 6 September 1522, after having completed the first journey around the world, were five bird skins.” _Quest in Paradise_, by David Attenborough. ---
**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:** [September 25, 2026, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3836 "2026-09-25T19:39:10Z")
“I hate this place!” _Gabriel_, by Jean Slaughter Doty “Opera breeds fanatics.” _Opera Wars: Inside the World of Opera and the Battles for Its Future_, by Caitlin 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:** [September 27, 2026, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3837 "2026-09-27T14:01:52Z")
“From a distance it almost looked natural.” _Elysium Fire_, by Alastair Reynolds “If you’re a children’s book author (I’m a children’s book author) people will often ask you if you plan on writing a real book.” _Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children_, by Mac Barnett Note: I am also a children’s book author, and nobody has ever asked me that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=191)