“The metal roof clattered as I barreled along.”
– In a Country with No Name, by Ron Morris
It was dark, but there were stars upon the water.
“Smoke and Whispers”. A novel by Nick Herron. Bought as it is set on Tyneside, only a few miles from where I am at present.
“The 12:05 A. M. trundled out of Highbury and Islington station and along the line.”
Wobble to Death by Peter Lovesey
“James Bond stood at the middle tees of the eighteenth, on the Sunningdale New Course, enjoying the tranquil normality of a sunny English afternoon in early September.”
Colonel Sun by Kingsley Amis
Ruzukov foundry, Ufa, Russia
July 18, 1637
Izabella Utkin looked up from the desk in her office and grinned.
1638: The Sovereign States, by Eric Flint, Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett
“Dr. Elena Benitez was obsessed with extinction.”
Deadly Memory, by David Walton
“I first saw Mr. Legere when the circus swung through Steubenville, but I’d only been with the show for two weeks; he might have been making his irregular visits indefinitely.”
Midnight Under the Big Top: tales of murder, madness, and magic, edited by Brian James Freeman
First sentence from the first story, The Night of the Tiger, by Stephen King.
“in the inner city
or
like we call it
home
we think a lot about uptown”
good woman: poems and a memoir 1969-1980, by lucille clifton. (Note that this is the beginning of the first poem, “in the inner city”.)
“Things often happened to Gallegher, who played at science by ear.”
Robots Have No Tails, by Henry Kuttner. (Note that this is a collection of short stories, and this is from the first, “The Proud Robot”.)
“If I asked you to guess, a shot in the dark, how many shipwrecks sit at the bottom of the oceans as relics of accidents past, what would you say?”
Sinkable by Daniel Stone
“‘You’ve got no shadow,’ Martina informs me, gazing down at my feet and then shifting her eyes back up to mine.”
Camp Damascus, by Chuck Tingle
“I’m always hurting.”
Crazy From The Heat by David Lee Roth
“The candleflame and the image of the candleflame caught in the pierglass twisted and righted when he entered the hall and again when he shut the door.”
All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
“On the tiny Greek island of Tinos, in the Aegean Sea, the daily ferry from Piraeus shudders into the main harbour.”
Ritual: How Seemingly Senseless Acts Make Life Worth Living, by Dimitris Xygalatas
There were crimson roses on the bench; they looked like splashes of blood.
Strong Poison, by Dorothy L Sayers
“The old ram stands looking down over rockslides, stupidly triumphant.”
Grendel, by John Gardner
“When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.”
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, first published in 1960. The edition I’m reading is a paperback published in 1962, coinciding with the release of the acclaimed motion picture starring Gregory Peck. The book is falling apart at the seams.
So why am I reading such an old book? Well, I began reading it when I was 12 years old, and home sick for a week. My very conservative mother took it away from me, declaring it inappropriate for a child my age. She may have been right, but I never picked it up again.
Then a few years ago, I found the paperback at a book sale. I bought it, intending to read it “someday.” (I amassed a lot of books with the same intention.) Now I’m 71, and retired, and one thing on my bucket list is to read those books (or re-read some of them), making “someday,” now.
I started this quest with a paperback volume of fantastic stories selected by Ray Bradbury, then moved on to “The African Queen” by C.S. Forrester. (It’s a favorite movie.) Wish me luck. I have a couple hundred yet to go.
I’m halfway through “Mockingbird,” and it’s a masterpiece of American fiction. I know how it ends (I’ve seen the movie a couple of times) but I’ve found Ms. Harper’s storytelling skills to be thoroughly engaging.
“Drawing is a curious process, so intertwined with seeing that the two can hardly be separated.”
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain: A Course in Enhancing Creativity and Artistic Confidence–Revised Edition, by Betty Edwards.
XOldies, I’d encourage you to post anything other than the first sentence of a book, its title and author, over in the monthly “Whatcha Reading” thread, rather than here.
Thanks!
“It was our dream house.”
The September House, by Carissa Orlando