# 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:** 69
**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 29, 2020, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1367 "2020-12-29T15:21:57Z")
“The secret itself was still safe.” _When Worlds Collide_, by Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer ---
**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 29, 2020, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1368 "2020-12-29T17:22:57Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > _When Worlds Collide_ , by Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer Good book – I’ve read it three or four times. Much better than the movie based on it. ---
**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:** [January 1, 2021, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1369 "2021-01-01T02:27:30Z")
“I am neither evil nor deranged.” _Unsolved_ by James Patterson and David Ellis ---
**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 1, 2021, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1370 "2021-01-01T22:23:20Z")
“On May 18, 1860, the day when the Republican Party would nominate its candidate for president, Abraham Lincoln was up early.” _Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln_, by Doris Kearns Goodwin. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2021, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1371 "2021-01-02T03:16:34Z")
“I saw a balloon going 90 miles per hour.” Allie Brosh, _Solutions and Other Problems_ (The new book by the author of _Hyperbole and a Half._) ---
**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:** [January 3, 2021, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1372 "2021-01-03T21:01:48Z")
“Charlie Riggio stared at the cardboard box sitting beside the Dumpster.” – _Demolition Angel_, by Robert Crais ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2021, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1373 "2021-01-06T13:04:47Z")
“This is the story of a man who went away for a long time, just to play a game.” Iain M Banks, _The Player of Games_ (Finally got round to reading this - been on the list for years!) ---
**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:** [January 6, 2021, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1374 "2021-01-06T15:45:34Z")
“I stare down at my shoes, watching as a fine layer of ash settles on the worn leather.” _Mockingjay_, by Suzanne Collins ---
**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:** [January 6, 2021, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1375 "2021-01-06T18:36:01Z")
TNS _Defender_, flagship of BatDiv Ninety-Two, was forty light-months from anywhere in particular, loafing along under half drive and no more than four or five translations into alpha-space, when the atonal shriek of General Quarters howled through her iron bones. _The Apocalypse Troll_, by David Weber ---
**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 6, 2021, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1376 "2021-01-06T20:45:25Z")
“I didn’t see it at the time–how many of us do?–but it all started back in January, a few days into the new year, when I felt compelled to sit down and take stock as, on occasion, I feel the need to do.” _Miss Julia’s Marvelous Makeover_, by Ann B. Ross ---
**Author:** ![WalterBishop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/aeb1de/32.png) [@WalterBishop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WalterBishop)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2021, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1377 "2021-01-06T22:49:56Z")
“Gormenghast, that is, the main massing of the original stone, taken by itself would have displayed a certain ponderous architectural quality were it possible to ignore the circumfusion of those mean dwellings that swarmed like an epidemic around its outer walls.” _Titus Groan_ - Mervyn Peake. Possibly the best written book I’ve ever read. I can’t recommend it enough. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1378 "2021-01-07T00:11:09Z")
“Eurydice.” _The Alexander Inheritance_ - Eric Flint, Georg Huff and Paula Goodlett ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1379 "2021-01-07T00:11:48Z")
“In his amazing adventures, cub reporter Jimmy Olsen has come across some astounding gadgets.” … (What? I’ve been going through my old boxes of comics…) ---
**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:** [January 7, 2021, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1380 "2021-01-07T04:53:22Z")
Title, author and year, **digs**? “From Armsman Roic’s wrist com the gate guard’s voice reported laconically, ‘They’re in. Gate’s locked.’” _Winterfair Gifts_ by Lois McMaster Bujold ---
**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:** [January 7, 2021, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1381 "2021-01-07T18:52:45Z")
London, 12 September 1960 In the early afternoon an unmarked car drove along Great Portland Street on the eastern boundary of Fitzrovia, then still lined with showrooms for the women’s ragtrade. _Dead Doubles: The Extraordinary Worldwide Hunt for One of the Cold War’s Most Notorious Spy Rings_, by Trevor Barnes ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1382 "2021-01-07T19:39:30Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Title, author and year, **digs**? Let’s see… (I’m sitting at the kitchen counter reading it as we speak, trying for some escapism to a more optimistic era) _Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #66,_ cover date January, 1963. Author and artist: Generic silver-age “Supes team” (probably Leo Dorfman and Kurt Schaffenberger) ---
**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:** [January 8, 2021, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1383 "2021-01-08T05:23:36Z")
Thanks! ---
**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 8, 2021, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1384 "2021-01-08T15:18:01Z")
“Everyone has predictions about her future when a baby girl is born, and my parents were no different.” _Poster Child: A Memoir_, by Emily Rapp ---
**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 10, 2021, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1385 "2021-01-10T20:28:12Z")
“I haven’t really told you much about the other doctors in Northmont (Dr. Sam Hawthorne said as he took down the wine bottle and poured the traditional small libation for himself and his visitor), because when I arrived in 1922 I was the only one in town.” _Challenge the Impossible: The Final Problems of Dr. Sam Hawthorne_, by Edward D. Hoch. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1386 "2021-01-11T18:25:41Z")
“The world of fiction writers is a collection of opposites: factions at odds in their beliefs, values, purpose, and way of writing.” _The Emotional Craft of Fiction_, Donald Maass [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=68) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=70)