“Now in these days the Lord God had turned His face from the business of men; and the angels who had remained loyal to Him said to one another, we must look after the children of Adam. And they did so, as best they could.”
Between Two Fires, Christopher Buehlman
August 1941: the portly guard’s slumber in the stifling border post outside Swalmen was disturbed by the roar of a high-performance German sports car coming to a halt in front of the red-and-white barrier.
The Traitor of Arnhem: The Untold Story of WWII’s Greatest Betrayal and the Moment that Changed History Forever, by Robert Verkaik
17 April 1941
Even after eight months of heavy bombing on London, Louisa Sullivan hadn’t decided which part of hearing the bomb’s whistle was the worst: the constant whine, which prevented any respite from fear and defied any guess as to its navigation, or the immediate black silence that came in the seconds when it stopped.
The Mitford Secret, the sixth (and last) Mitford mystery by Jessica Fellowes
" Even in this metric age, it was still the thousand-foot telescope, not the three hundred-meter."
— " 2010: odyssey two", by Arthur C. Clarke
Archery was cancelled because Watborn had accidentally shot the cow.
from The Foot in the Crown, Christopher Fowler’s final novel.
“October 24, 1877, was a day of minimal activity in the halls of Congress.”
The Great Sweepstakes of 1877: A True Story of Southern Grit, Gilden Age Tycoons, and a Race That Galvanized the Nation, by Mark Shrager
“The Garden Committee had met to discuss the earth; not the whole earth, the terrestrial globe, but the bit of it that had been stolen from the Gardens in the Square.”
An Episode of Sparrows, by Rumer Godden.
Introduction “I remember when I discovered America”.
Chapter 1 “I have an uncle named James”.
Black AF History - The Un-Whitewashed Story of America by Michael Harriot
This book is wonderful, full of history, written with laughter and well researched - all at the same time. Not your typical “history book”!
“Elwyn Brooks White became a writer while he was still wearing knickers.”
Some Writer!: The Story of E.B. White by Melissa Sweet
“A collision between two vehicles is basic physics.”
Headhunters by Jo Nesbo
“Elfland is the new section of Lunograd.”
Satan’s World, by Poul Anderson, part of his Future History series featuring David Falklyn and Nicholas Van Rijn.
“Thirty Seconds. If they were still arguing, she’d call the cops then.”
Collision of Lies by Tom Threadgill
“I am an American, New York born, but I started to spend some time in London in the 1990s, teaching study-abroad classes.”
Gobsmacked: The British Invasion of American English, by Ben Yagoda
“They used fire, back in the day.”
Death Without Company, by Craig Johnson
"Half-way through the labour of an index to this book I recalled the practice of my ten years’ study of history; and realized that I had never used the index of a book fit to read.”
Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence
“‘Where’s Papa going with that axe?’ said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast."
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
“May in Ayemenem is a hot, brooding month.”
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
“The angel gleamed in the light of Hethor’s reading candle bright as any brasswork automaton.”
Mainspring, by Jay Lake.
Call me Ishmael
May be the hardest book I’ve ever read in terms of language and shear wordiness. I think at one point Melville took 15 pages to describe the color white
Welcome, Morinput! If you’d like to discuss books at greater length, check out this thread (there’s a new one every month): Khadaji’s Whatcha Reading Thread - March 2025 edition
“The story begins before the reporters and the television correspondents flocked to interview the team.”
The Boys of Riverside by Thomas Fuller
When I can find the right tab in my brain… 
Since I am here: “I watched from the porch of The Source as Jake Hillebrand’s Subaru stated to turn onto Jefferson Street.”
Familial Haunts by Madeline Kirby
[Prologue]
A long journey brought us to the first Mongol encampment, after a week in a cramped compartment on the Trans-Siberian Express from Moscow to Ulan Bator, followed by hours of motoring over rugged, roadless terrain in a Toyota Land Cruiser that had known many owners.
[Chapter 1]
The genus Equus, before entering human history with a bang, almost disappeared from prehistory with a whimper.
Two sentences for the price of one! 
Raiders, Rulers, and Traders: The Horse and the Rise of Empires, by David Chaffetz
When he walked away from the small private room and the press conference, moved through the crowded Café Kranzler rrestaurant, and emerged onto the sun-drenched Kurfürstendamm, he felt highly elated.
The Seventh Secret, by Irving Wallace
“The foot would not fit in my briefcase, so I wrapped it in cloth and wrestled it into an old knapsack I sometimes carry with me on expeditions.”
Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
I have a foolish question. When a book has a prologue, what is considered the first sentence? Main text or prologue?
ISTM we had this discussion a while back, and there were two different opinions. I generally use the prologue, while others use the main text starting with Chapter 1.
But I really don’t think it makes a whole hell of a lot of difference!
I generally use the more interesting of the two. Sometimes I use them both, as I did yesterday.