# 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:** 99
**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:** [March 26, 2022, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1970 "2022-03-26T17:12:25Z")
“I suppose you could call _The Pilgrim_ the hillbilly version of _Tommy_ or the country version of a Roger Waters concept album.” –Billy Bob Thorton’s forward to _“The Pilgrim: A Wall-To-Wall Odyssey”_. ---
**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:** [March 28, 2022, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1971 "2022-03-28T03:19:09Z")
“When Baltimore merchant George Peabody sailed for London in 1835, the world was in the throes of a debt crisis.” – _The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance_, by Ron Chernow ---
**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:** [March 28, 2022, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1972 "2022-03-28T14:03:11Z")
“In the box was a belt.” _The Man Who Folded Himself_, by David Gerrold ---
**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:** [March 28, 2022, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1973 "2022-03-28T17:04:01Z")
“The sudden rearmament that followed Napoleon’s escape from Elba had done little to thin the ranks of unemployed sea-officers by the early spring of 1815.” _The Hundred Days_ by Patrick O’Brian ---
**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:** [March 29, 2022, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1974 "2022-03-29T18:25:07Z")
“Norman Logan paid for his apple pie and coffee, then carried his tray toward the front of the cafeteria.” _Alfred Hitchcock Presents: A Month of Mystery_, edited by Robert Arthur. (The above is the first sentence from “The Dusty Drawer” by Harry Muheim, the first story in this anthology.) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1975 "2022-03-29T23:47:38Z")
"There was a stillness in the September-morning air that was like the stillness in the heart of a gliding submarine, engines extinguished to elude the enemy’s listening devices. - _Shut Your Eyes Tight_, by John Verdon. Might be a contender for a Bulwer-Lytton award. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2022, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1976 "2022-04-01T17:32:42Z")
My orders were concise, with hygienic overtones: “Report to the O.S.S. Wash.” _You’re Stepping on My Cloak & Dagger_ - Roger Hall ---
**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:** [April 1, 2022, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1977 "2022-04-01T17:35:07Z")
“I ran as fast as I could.” _The Upside_, by Abdel Sellou ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2022, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1978 "2022-04-01T17:53:51Z")
I’m not reading all of these right now but I just ordered all five to replace the copies I had that were damaged. Long story. _“Colonel Jesse Woods turned off the computer in his office, removed the floppy disk, and carefully slid it into it’s protective sleeve.”_ **1634: The Baltic War** _“I’m telling you Mike, we can do this!”_ **Fing of Fire** _“Stop whining Harry.”_ **Grantville Gazette II** _" “I’ve got a headache”, Anne Jefferson announced\>"_ **Grantville Gazette IV** _Anne Jefferson studied herself in the mirror, theen turned sideways and spent a few more seconds with the examination_ **Grantville Gazette VI** ---
**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:** [April 2, 2022, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1979 "2022-04-02T20:29:05Z")
“Outside , the night blew perfectly foul and all of the Hills had stayed at home.” _The Hills at Home_ by Nancy Clark ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2022, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1980 "2022-04-02T22:04:22Z")
“As he prances on to the stage in _Hamilton: An American Musical_, singing three show-stopping numbers, King George III somehow manages to be comic yet cruel, camp yet sinister.” -_The Last King of America: The Misunderstood Reign of George III_ -Andrew Roberts ---
**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:** [April 5, 2022, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1981 "2022-04-05T19:24:34Z")
“June 12, 1954 - The drive from Salina to Morgen was three hours, and for much of it, Emmett hadn’t said a word.” _The Lincoln Highway_ by Amor Towles ---
**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:** [April 6, 2022, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1982 "2022-04-06T23:23:56Z")
“Jacob Finch Bonner, the once-promising author of the “New & Noteworthy” (_The New York Times Book Review_) novel _The Invention of Wonder_, let himself into the office he’d been assigned on the second floor of Richard Peng Hall, set his beat-up leather satchel on the barren desk, and looked around in something akin to despair.” _The Pilot_ by Jean Hanff Korelitz Just started listening to this book last night. A promising start. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2022, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1983 "2022-04-07T01:44:10Z")
“I do not,” said Monsieur Théophile Daumier, “understand the English.” Excerpt From Thrones, Dominations Dorothy L. Sayers & Jill Paton Walsh > **[‎Thrones, Dominations](https://books.apple.com/us/book/thrones-dominations/id460106889)** > > ‎Mysteries & Thrillers · 1999 This material may be protected by copyright. ---
**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:** [April 7, 2022, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1984 "2022-04-07T15:24:07Z")
“There are two polling places in Haines.” _Of Bears and Ballots: An Alaskan Adventure in Small-Town Politics_, by Heather Lende ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2022, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1985 "2022-04-07T16:21:29Z")
“I have a ball of starlight inside me.” _Victories Greater Than Death_ by Charlie Jane Anders ---
**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:** [April 7, 2022, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1986 "2022-04-07T18:26:12Z")
“The history of these sceptred isles earlier than about 1800 BC is lost in the mists of time.” _Blackadder - The Whole Damn Dynasty_ by Curtis, Atkinson, Elton & Lloyd ---
**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:** [April 9, 2022, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1987 "2022-04-09T18:28:26Z")
“Lita tosses another pinon log onto the fire.” _The Last Cuentista_, by Donna Barbra Higuera. ---
**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:** [April 9, 2022, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1988 "2022-04-09T19:19:40Z")
“I sent one boy to the gaschamber at Hunstville.” _No Country For Old Men_, by Cormac McCarthy ---
**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:** [April 11, 2022, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1989 "2022-04-11T22:50:42Z")
“Mom?” _Murder Most Fowl_, by Donna Andrews [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=98) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=100)