# 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:** 85
**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:** [July 27, 2021, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1689 "2021-07-27T03:30:01Z")
We entered my apartment, and I flipped on the lights. _A Death in East Berlin_ by Richard Wake ---
**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:** [July 27, 2021, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1690 "2021-07-27T03:34:21Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > > > “Who were the Plantagenets?” > > > > – _The Plantagenets_ , by Dan Jones > > Oops! Omitted the subtitle. The full title of the book is _The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England_, by Dan Jones. If you can find some used copies, I’d highly recommend _A History of the Plantagenets_ by Thomas Costain. The four volumes are _The Conquering Family_, _The Magnificent Century_, _The Three Edwards_, and _The Last Plantagenets_. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2021, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1691 "2021-07-27T03:37:34Z")
And don’t omit _Below the Salt_, also by Costain. ---
**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:** [July 27, 2021, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1692 "2021-07-27T16:18:54Z")
Thanks. Enjoying the Dan Jones so far. In fact, I’ve ordered his follow-up book, _The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors_. But I’ll keep an eye out for those others, as this is a time period I’m very interested in. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1693 "2021-07-28T13:04:57Z")
_“The first shovel-load missed his torso and struck his neck, sending soil flying up his nostrils and into his mouth.”_ - **The Secret Life of Houdini - The Making of America’s First Superhero** , by William Kalush and Larry Sloman ---
**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:** [July 30, 2021, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1694 "2021-07-30T03:55:29Z")
“Twenty-seven hours before she decided to die, Nora Seed sat on her dilapidated sofa scrolling through other people’s happy lives, waiting for something to happen.” _The Midnight Library_ by Matt Haig ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2021, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1695 "2021-07-30T13:41:30Z")
“A tall swordsman and a small one strode out the Marsh Gate of Lankhmar and east along Causey Road.” Leiber, Fritz. Swords Against Death (Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser Book 2) (p. 1). Open Road Media. Kindle Edition. (yeah, I’m re-reading them) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2021, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1696 "2021-07-30T14:11:08Z")
“When a journey begins badly it rarely ends well.” Jules Verne **The Floating Island** ---
**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:** [July 30, 2021, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1697 "2021-07-30T14:28:32Z")
“It was spring of 1915 when the German army first unleashed weaponized chlorine gas on Allied soldiers in World War I.” _Life Finds a Way: What Evolution Teaches Us About Creativity_, by Andreas Wagner. ---
**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:** [August 1, 2021, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1698 "2021-08-01T00:17:50Z")
“In April 2008, Neal Logiudice finally subpoenaed me to appear before the grand jury.” _Defending Jacob_, by William Landay ---
**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:** [August 1, 2021, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1699 "2021-08-01T17:19:48Z")
" ‘Friedman!’ " “I open my eyes and look up.” _Sidetracked_, by Diana Harmon Asher ---
**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:** [August 1, 2021, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1700 "2021-08-01T19:50:04Z")
“It’s been just over a year since we met the up-timers at Alte Veste,” Edgar Neustatter said. _Missions of Security_ - Björn Hasseler (Ring of Fire) ---
**Author:** ![Tabco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tabco/32/7644_2.png) [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2021, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1701 "2021-08-01T19:58:58Z")
“Joe came pedaling into our yard, going like sixty, and did one of those laid down spin stops that throw gravel and grass everywhere.” _The Little Bastards_ - Jim Lindsay ---
**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:** [August 2, 2021, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1702 "2021-08-02T17:16:08Z")
“What will the future be?” _Vivid Tomorrows: On Science Fiction and Hollywood_, by David Brin ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1703 "2021-08-05T11:46:20Z")
“In watermelon sugar the deeds were done and done again as my life is done in watermelon sugar.” In Watermelon Sugar - Richard Brautigan ---
**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:** [August 5, 2021, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1704 "2021-08-05T19:06:24Z")
“Years before the cherry blossoms charmed Collingwood Ingram, there lived a pure albino jackdaw called Darlie.” _The Sakura Obsession: The Incredible Story of the Plant Hunter Who Saved Japan’s Cherry Blossoms_, by Naoko Abe. ---
**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:** [August 8, 2021, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1705 "2021-08-08T12:28:32Z")
“Mid-September in the year of Our Lord’s grace, 1431 had perfect weather, warm and dry.” _The Novice’s Tale_, by Margaret Frazier ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2021, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1706 "2021-08-08T12:38:27Z")
“Raye Means needed someone to give her a chance.” _Overnight Code: The Life of Raye Montague, the Woman Who Revolutionized Naval Engineering_ , by Paige Bowers and David R. Montague. (Yes, I’m reading this at @DendariiDame 's recommendation) ---
**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:** [August 9, 2021, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1707 "2021-08-09T18:01:44Z")
“As soon as she stepped through the gate Lucinda Carlyle knew the planet had been taken, and knew it would be worth taking back.” _Newton’s Wake_, by Ken MacLeod. (This is the best first sentence of a book that I’ve read so far this year.) ---
**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:** [August 9, 2021, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1708 "2021-08-09T18:36:47Z")
“How lucky were they? A heat wave in the middle of the school holidays, exactly where it belonged.” _Case Histories_ by Kate Atkinson [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=84) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=86)