# 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:** 68
**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:** [December 20, 2020, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1347 "2020-12-20T04:19:44Z")
Yes, so far. I’m up to the 1750s and Franklin’s militia experience just now. ---
**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:** [December 20, 2020, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1348 "2020-12-20T17:03:50Z")
Peanut butter, honey, pesto sauce, toothpaste, and, most painfully, a bottle of single-malt whiskey - these are just some of the liquids I’ve had confiscated at airport security. _Liquid Rules: The Delightful and Dangerous Substances That Flow Through Our Lives_ by Mark Miodownik ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1349 "2020-12-20T23:13:03Z")
The unhappy little home was out in the country, some six miles south of Clanton on an old county road that went nowhere in particluar. _A Time For Mercy_ by John Grisham ---
**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:** [December 20, 2020, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1350 "2020-12-20T23:37:40Z")
“If Benedict and Elvira had not decided to go strawberry-picking in the woods near Lymford one June morning in the year 1193, this story would never have been written.” _The Star and the Sword_ by Pamela Melnikoff ---
**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:** [December 22, 2020, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1351 "2020-12-22T19:07:27Z")
“Our Bible was forged from a crisis of faith.” _Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again_, by Rachel Held Evans ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2020, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1352 "2020-12-22T19:13:54Z")
“Marley was dead to begin with, dead as a doornail.” _A Christmas Carol_, 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:** [December 24, 2020, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1353 "2020-12-24T00:31:16Z")
The rain poured down on London so hard that it seemed that it was dancing spray, every raindrop contending with its fellows for supremacy in the air and waiting to splash down. _Dodger_, Sir Terry Pratchett ---
**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:** [December 24, 2020, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1354 "2020-12-24T21:30:53Z")
“HOO! Woo-hoo HOO!..HOO! Woo-hoo HOO!” _Owl Be Home for Christmas_, by Donna Andrews ---
**Author:** ![plankter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ba0ec/32.png) [@plankter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plankter)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2020, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1355 "2020-12-24T21:43:18Z")
“In the deep wilds of the north, there is a Shrine cut into the mountainside.” _The Unspoken Name_, A. K. Larkwood ---
**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:** [December 24, 2020, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1356 "2020-12-24T23:17:06Z")
“Cow manure?” _The Gift of the Magpie_, Donna Andrews ---
**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:** [December 25, 2020, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1357 "2020-12-25T22:06:32Z")
“The proposal for _Castle in the Sky_ first came from director Hayao Miyazaki on December 7, 1984, nine months after the release of _Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind_.” _The Art of Castle in the Sky,_ ed. by Nick Mamatas ---
**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:** [December 26, 2020, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1358 "2020-12-26T02:00:28Z")
As the year 1956 dawned in Moscow, Joseph Stalin had been dead for nearly three years. _Moscow 1956: The Silenced Spring_ by Kathleen E. Smith A Christmas gift ---
**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:** [December 26, 2020, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1359 "2020-12-26T02:39:29Z")
Research Vessel _Icefall_ Atlantic Ocean 88 miles off the Coast of Antarctica Karl Selig steadied himself on the ship’s rail and peered through the binoculars at the massive iceberg. _The Atlantis Gene_, A G Riddle Xmas present from my daughter – opened it this afternoon, and am now on page 236… ---
**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:** [December 26, 2020, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1360 "2020-12-26T23:07:48Z")
“Book reviewing, like writing, editing, or driving a nitroglycerine truck, is one of those occupations for which no one feels need of much previous training.” _Benchmarks: Galaxy Bookshelf_, by Algis Budrys. (A Christmas present.) ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2020, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1361 "2020-12-28T14:24:35Z")
“well, let’s start with elizabeth shall we, and see where that gets us.” _The Thursday Murder Club_ by Richard Osman ---
**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:** [December 28, 2020, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1362 "2020-12-28T18:06:01Z")
Second Lieutenant White entered the “ready room” and began preparing for the night of battle. _Ashley’s War_, by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon ---
**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:** [December 28, 2020, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1363 "2020-12-28T21:05:31Z")
“Once the queen’s head is severed, he walks away.” _The Mirror & The Light_, by Hilary Mantel ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2020, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1364 "2020-12-28T21:37:42Z")
“He set out after breakfast, on what would be his last day on earth.” _Cold Wind_, by C.J. Box Book #11 in the Joe Pickett series ---
**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:** [December 29, 2020, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1365 "2020-12-29T05:06:22Z")
“A is for AMY who fell down the stairs.” _The Gashleycrumb Tinies_ by Edward Gorey “J.R.R. Tolkien’s fame rests today on his creation of Middle-earth and his bestselling fantasy work, _The Lord of the Rings._” _Tolkien Treasures_ by Catherine McIlwain ---
**Author:** ![Stowed\_Bob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stowed_bob/32/3312_2.png) [@Stowed\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stowed_Bob)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2020, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1366 "2020-12-29T11:51:40Z")
The Deliverator belongs to an elite order, a hallowed subcategory. _Snow Crash_ by Neal Stephenson [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=67) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=69)