# 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:** 79
**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:** [May 2, 2021, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1568 "2021-05-02T19:45:46Z")
“We in Congress have elected a President to lead us, and not a king.” _Alternate Presidents_, edited by Mike Resnick. (Note: The above sentence is from the first story, “The Father of His Country”, by Jody Lynn Nye. It’s set in an alternate history in which Benjamin Franklin, not George Washington, was the first U.S. President.) ---
**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:** [May 2, 2021, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1569 "2021-05-02T20:47:10Z")
“Marchenko and Parsons circled the bank for sixteen minutes, huffing Krylon Royal Blue Metallic to regulate the crystal as they worked up their nut.” – _The Two Minute Rule_, by Robert Crais ---
**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:** [May 2, 2021, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1570 "2021-05-02T22:04:55Z")
When Red wins, she stands alone. _This Is How You Lose the Time War_ by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone ---
**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:** [May 2, 2021, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1571 "2021-05-02T22:06:32Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > “Our story begins in a run-down bar in Key West, not so many years from now. The bar is not the one Hemingway drank at, nor yet the one that claims to be the one he drank at, because they are both too expensive and full of tourists.” > > _The Hemingway Hoax_ by Joe Haldeman Do me a favor. If you understand the ending of this story when you are done, please explain it to me. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2021, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1572 "2021-05-02T23:11:37Z")
I’ll PM you, so as not to derail this thread. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2021, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1573 "2021-05-03T00:43:10Z")
_**Late July, 1635 Outside of Paris, France**_ The need for secrecy was constant. _1636: The Cardinal Virtues_, by Eric Flint and Walter H Hunt ---
**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:** [May 5, 2021, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1574 "2021-05-05T13:11:29Z")
“This book is a collection of essays, each one on a different subject related to spaceflight. Some short, some long. Some technical, some emotional. Some fact-based, some purely speculative.” _How to Astronaut: An Insider’s Guide to Leaving Planet Earth_ by Terry Virts ---
**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:** [May 5, 2021, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1575 "2021-05-05T21:03:18Z")
Silhouetted by the light he carried to lead the way, the bent man glanced back at Wilbur Craigson and pointed at the crudely mortared wall. _1636: The Vatican Sanction_, by Eric Flint and Charles E Gannon ---
**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:** [May 6, 2021, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1576 "2021-05-06T15:20:39Z")
“Bud Frazier sometimes wandered through St. Luke’s Hospital like a large wraith in a white coat.” _Ticker: The Quest to Create an Artificial Heart_, by Mimi Swartz ---
**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:** [May 9, 2021, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1577 "2021-05-09T17:36:53Z")
“Sweetgrass is best planted not by seed, but by putting roots directly in the ground.” _Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants_, by Robin Wall Kimmerer ---
**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:** [May 9, 2021, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1578 "2021-05-09T18:17:07Z")
Simon came out to the river at least once a week, usually in the predawn light, and walked the bank of the Elbe looking for anything he might scavenge and use or sell. _1636: The Devil’s Opera_ , by Eric Flint and David Carrico ---
**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:** [May 11, 2021, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1579 "2021-05-11T17:28:22Z")
“Freddy’s been murdered, Ludwig, and the police refuse to do anything about it!” “An Aukward Situation”, by Eric Flint First story in _Grantville Gazette VII_, edited by Flint ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2021, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1580 "2021-05-11T20:12:57Z")
“As soon as the alarm went off that Monday morning in August I jumped out of bed and headed for the shower.” Loving John: The Untold Story, by May Pang and Henry Edwards ---
**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:** [May 12, 2021, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1581 "2021-05-12T02:06:41Z")
“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:** [May 12, 2021, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1582 "2021-05-12T20:00:22Z")
“Why are you interested in a master’s degree in library science, William?” _Librarian Tales: Funny, Strange, and Inspiring Dispatches from the Stacks_, by William Ottens. ---
**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:** [May 13, 2021, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1583 "2021-05-13T22:26:12Z")
“She had to leave everything behind.” _The Disappeared_, by Kristine Kathryn Rusch ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1584 "2021-05-14T13:48:31Z")
When the first sarsen stone was raised in the circle of Stonehenge, the land we call England was already very ancient. _Foundation: The History of England From Its Earliest Beginnings to the Tudors_, by Peter Ackroyd. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1585 "2021-05-14T22:56:39Z")
I was born in 1927, the only child of middle-class parents, both English, and themselves born in the grotesquely elongated shadow, which they never rose sufficiently above history to leave, of that monstrous dwarf Queen Victoria. _The Magus_ by John Fowles. Great first sentence, btw. ---
**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:** [May 16, 2021, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1586 "2021-05-16T04:16:47Z")
Indeed it is. Meanwhile: “Frank Meyer closed his computer as the early winter darkness fell over his home in Westwood, California, not far from the UCLA campus.” – _The First Rule_, by Robert Crais ---
**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:** [May 16, 2021, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1587 "2021-05-16T19:37:27Z")
“Three Thousand Miles Ago, Wrangel Island: An eighty-mile-wide swath of volcanic rock, gravel, and permafrost jutting out from the Arctic Ocean, ninety miles off the coast of Siberia, windswept and forbidding.” _Woolly: The True Story of the Quest to Revive One of History’s Most Iconic Extinct Creatures_, by Ben Mezrich. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=78) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=80)