# 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:** 193
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3851 "2026-10-14T22:29:44Z")
“If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.” I’m re-reading, _again._ I love this book. ---
**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:** [October 14, 2026, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3852 "2026-10-14T22:44:31Z")
Re-reading what? ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2026, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3853 "2026-10-14T22:49:44Z")
Sorry, I thought it might have been obvious - [The Catcher In The Rye](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/5107.The_Catcher_in_the_Rye) ---
**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:** [October 16, 2026, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3854 "2026-10-16T23:43:00Z")
Ever since childhood I’ve wanted to be abducted by Aliens. _Take Me to Your Leader: Perspectives on Your First Alien Encounter_, by Neil deGrasse Tyson ---
**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:** [October 17, 2026, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3855 "2026-10-17T20:17:36Z")
“The telltale sound of a pistol shot draws the immediate attention of New York City patrolman Henry Schwarz, walking west on Twelfth Street, ready to cross First Avenue.” _Ghosts of Sicily: The True Story of the Naval Intelligence Agents Who Courted the Mob to Fight Nazis in America and the Battlefields of Italy_, by Mark Harmon and Leon Carroll, Jr. “There was a fly walking on Cordelia’s hand and she was not allowed to flick it away.” _A Sorceress Comes to Call_, by T. Kingfisher. ---
**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:** [October 18, 2026, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3856 "2026-10-18T03:14:46Z")
Jacqueline Cochran waited impatiently in her New York City apartment while a group of men in Canada debated her fate. _The Fly Girls Revolt: The Story of the Women Who Kicked Open the Door to Fly in Combat_, by Eileen A Bjorkman ---
**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:** [October 20, 2026, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3857 "2026-10-20T14:51:42Z")
“‘Don’t ring,’ my brother Alfred admonished me.” _The Quivering Tree: An East Anglian Childhood_, by S. T. Haymon “In that place, the wind prevailed.” _Bless the Beasts and Children_, by Glendon Swarthout. ---
**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:** [October 23, 2026, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3858 "2026-10-23T17:01:24Z")
A shilling coin jangled insistently inside an empty tin can, followed by someone whispering ‘Get out, Doug!’ in an urgent hiss. _Zero Night: The Untold Story of World War Two’s Greatest Escape_, by Mark Felton 2011, Lincolnshire, England–Ellie Roman Britain first “invaded” my life on one of the many weekends spent with my grandparents, Mammette and Papa Allan, at their rural Lincolnshire farmhouse. _Things We Found in the Ground: Discovering the History Buried Beneath Our Feet_, by Ellie Bruce and Lucie Gray ---
**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:** [October 23, 2026, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3859 "2026-10-23T21:09:01Z")
“Jacob Goldstein had never really had a vacation, although he had been working hard for more than forty-five years.” _Laughing Through the Years: A New Treasury of Jewish Humor_, retold by David C. Gross “A city is a big crowded place that’s full of small crowded places.” _Thrilling Tales of the Downright Unusual: The Lair of the Clockwork Book_, by Bradley W. Schenck. ---
**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:** [October 25, 2026, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3860 "2026-10-25T17:55:52Z")
This is how it began, and how it would end, on the long pale strand of a Lincolnshire beach in the last hour of sun, the daylight moon small as a kite in the sky. _Five Days Gone: The Mystery of My Mother’s Disappearance as a Child_, by Laura Cumming ---
**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:** [October 26, 2026, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3861 "2026-10-26T16:17:20Z")
“It was a cold, raw day in late March when the three Kowalskis were to leave the State Home and School, and Hedwig Kowalski’s mood matched the day.” _Ready-made Family_, by Frances Salomon Murphy “It was dawn, and the zombies were stumbling through the parking lot, streaming toward the massive beige box at the far end.” _Horrorstor_, by Grady Hendrix. ---
**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:** [October 28, 2026, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3862 "2026-10-28T05:14:40Z")
May 23, 1939 Just off Portsmouth, New Hampshire “The engine rooms are flooding!” _Strike of the_ Sailfish: _Two Sister Submarines and the Sinking of a Japanese Aircraft Carrier_, by Stephen L Moore ---
**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:** [October 29, 2026, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3863 "2026-10-29T03:09:15Z")
It was one of the most notorious murders of its age. _Conan Doyle for the Defense: The True Story of a Sensational British Murder, a Quest for Justice, and the World’s Most Famous Detective Writer_, by Margalit Fos ---
**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:** [October 29, 2026, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3864 "2026-10-29T15:54:11Z")
“The blue-footed booby is an extraordinary-looking bird.” _Why Are Orangutans Orange? Science Questions in Pictures–With Fascinating Answers_, edited by Mick O’Hare “No human could have shaped the thoughts or uttered them.” _Genesis_, by Poul Anderson. ---
**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:** [October 31, 2026, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3865 "2026-10-31T23:31:55Z")
“Diahann Carroll knew how to throw a party.” _A More Perfect Party: The Night Shirley Chisholm and Diahann Carroll Reshaped Politics_, by Juanita Tolliver “So. I’m not in an ideal situation right now.” _Full Speed to a Crash Landing_, a science fiction novel by Beth Revis. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2026, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3866 "2026-11-01T01:43:02Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > “Geography was my best subject. You can imagine how I feel when I read that the average American high school student is likely to identify Alabama as the capital of Chicago.” > > _Piece by Piece_ by Calvin Trillin Thanks to you, I’ll be hearing this via Audiobooks. ---
**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 1, 2026, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3867 "2026-11-01T01:48:40Z")
Hope you like it better than I did. ---
**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 1, 2026, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3868 "2026-11-01T02:42:55Z")
“The year my sister Amy was invited to play Mrs. Claus in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was the same year that Hugh had his hip replaced.” _The Land and Its People_ by David Sedaris (from the essay “Care and Feeding”) ---
**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 3, 2026, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3869 "2026-11-03T20:47:31Z")
“It’s three days before the Moving On and, just like the sun rises and sets whether you see it or not, the Moving On comes around year after year, same as the Warding Off, whether or not you believe in it.” _Curdle Creek_, by Yvonne Battle-Felton “The nineteenth century’s Apollo moon mission was born on a raw and dying January day in 1854 with a meeting between one of New York City’s richest men and one of its poorest.” _Lightning Beneath the Sea: The Race to Wire the World and the Dawn of the Information Age_, by James M. Tabor ---
**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 4, 2026, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3870 "2026-11-04T08:55:01Z")
“Stilwell could hear the plane but couldn’t see it.” -- _Ironwood_, by Michael Connelly [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=192) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=194)