# 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:** 27
**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:** [October 28, 2018, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/522 "2018-10-28T05:10:55Z")
“The imposter borrowed the name of Neville Manchin, an actual professor of American literature at Portland State and soon-to-be doctoral student at Stanford.” – _Camino Island_, by John Grisham ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2018, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/523 "2018-10-28T10:09:13Z")
“When I was small, I didn’t even know that I was a kid with special needs.” ‘The reason I jump’ by Naoki Higashida. This is a truly remarkable book written at age 13 by a boy with ‘non-verbal autism’ (i.e. he can’t speak.) I have Asperger’s Syndrome (sometimes called ‘high end autism’) and this book moved me greatly. If you know someone on the autism spectrum, I strongly recommend this. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2018, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/524 "2018-10-28T19:09:37Z")
In Friday, August 7, 1942, eighty-two U.S. Navy ships manned by forty thousand sailors, shepherding a force of sixteen thousand U.S. Marines, reached their destination in a remote southern ocean and spent the next hundred days immersed in a curriculum of cruel and timeless lessons. _Neptune’s Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal_ – James D. Hornfischer ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2018, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/525 "2018-10-31T21:36:01Z")
_On a muggy Florida night in March 2007, Pete and I walked out onto the stage at the Ford Amphitheater in Tampa._ –Thanks A Lot Mr. Kibblewhite: My Story by Roger Daltrey ---
**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, 2018, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/526 "2018-10-31T22:54:14Z")
“Hercule Poirot smiled to himself as his driver brought the motorcar to a stop with satisfying symmetry.” _The Mystery of Three Quarters_, by Sophie Hannah ---
**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 2, 2018, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/527 "2018-11-02T02:00:35Z")
“The patrol officers had left the front door open.” – _Dark Sacred Night_, by Michael Connelly ---
**Author:** ![Weedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weedy/32/301_2.png) [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/528 "2018-11-02T04:24:17Z")
“Today the end and the gates will swing open to eject me, alone and so-called free.” _Wildcat Falling_, by Mudrooroo ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/529 "2018-11-02T04:30:13Z")
For a president who was not a lawyer, Eisenhower had very firm ideas on the qualities he was looking for in a chief justice. _Eisenhower vs. Warren: The Battle for Civil Rights and Liberties_ by James F. Simon ---
**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 6, 2018, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/530 "2018-11-06T21:16:38Z")
“A convenience store is a world of sound.” _Convenience Store Woman_, by Sayaka Murata. ---
**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 7, 2018, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/531 "2018-11-07T22:11:25Z")
“The time machine was sitting with his feet up on the desk.” _The Enormous Hourglass_, by Ron Goulart ---
**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 9, 2018, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/532 "2018-11-09T04:46:42Z")
Another twofer. From the Introduction: “Around the time that he reached the unnerving milestone of turning thirty, Leonardo da Vinci wrote a letter to the ruler of Milan listing the reasons he should be given a job.” Then Chapter One proper: “Leonardo da Vinci had the good luck to be born out of wedlock.” – _Leonardo da Vinci_, by Walter Isaacson ---
**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 9, 2018, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/533 "2018-11-09T21:38:34Z")
“Wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap;” The first sentence of this book is about five hundred words long and consists of a mother’s (presumably) instructions and reprimands to her young daughter, plus a few arguments back from the daughter. I have stopped at the first semicolon. _At the Bottom of the River_, by Jamaica Kincaid. ---
**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 10, 2018, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/534 "2018-11-10T05:52:33Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > I have stopped at the first semicolon. Amateur. 😛 ---
**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 11, 2018, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/535 "2018-11-11T22:54:37Z")
“Messenger birds launched as one flock from the council platform.” _Cloudbound_, by Fran Wilde ---
**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 17, 2018, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/536 "2018-11-17T00:42:38Z")
“Through broken reeds the creature moved.” _Greybeard_, by Brian Aldiss ---
**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 19, 2018, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/537 "2018-11-19T23:42:35Z")
“It’s been a nice summer,” Dria said to Rob Wayne; then she added with a sigh, “But not half as much fun as last year.” _High Hurdles_, by Janet Lambert ---
**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:** [November 20, 2018, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/538 "2018-11-20T15:05:35Z")
Kris sat in the basement, hunched over her guitar, trying to play the beginning of Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man.” - [We Sold Our Souls](https://www.tor.com/2018/08/23/excerpts-we-sold-our-souls-grady-hendrix/) by Grady Hendrix ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/539 "2018-11-20T18:36:57Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Kris sat in the basement, hunched over her guitar, trying to play the beginning of Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man.” > > - [We Sold Our Souls](https://www.tor.com/2018/08/23/excerpts-we-sold-our-souls-grady-hendrix/) by Grady Hendrix No no no, in a window probably but never in a basement 😉 \*I haven’t play my guitar in ages8 ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/540 "2018-11-20T19:17:22Z")
“I was permitted to record the following but do not doubt that the pertinent Annals will disappear and be read by none forever whilst those of us who lived it forget every instant of love and horror.” - Prologue, _Port of Shadows_, Glen Cook 2018 ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/541 "2018-11-20T19:22:45Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > “There were no windows in the Brin 2 facility–rotation meant that ‘outside’ was always ‘down’, underfoot, out of mind.” > > _Children of Time_ by Adrian Tchaikovsky How is that? I have it on my Kindle list, but haven’t actually started yet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=26) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=28)