Skip to main content

First Lines + Giveaway

Jackie over at Literary Escapism had this First Lines meme up the other day and, because I absolutely love a really killer first line, I figured I'd put one together as well. Jackie included the first lines from a stack of books sitting next to her. I'm going to cheat and give you a few of my all-time favorites. Some are technically the first couple of lines. See if you can guess which books they're from. The first person to get them all right (or the person with the most correct answers) wins! I'll announce the answers and the winner can pick one book from the list of seven.
1. "Three children lay on the rocks at the water's edge. A dark-haired little girl. Two boys, slightly older. This image is caught forever in my memory, like some fragile creature preserved in amber."
2. "To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor."
3. "My name is Elizabeth but no one's ever called me that. My father took one look at me when I was born and must have thought I had the face of someone dignified and sad like an old-fashioned queen or a dead person, but what I turned out like is plain, not much there to notice. More Daisy than Elizabeth from the word go."
4. "Theo, by occupation, was a devil."
5. "On Christmas morning, Rebecca lost her moral virginity, her sense of humor--and her two best friends. But, other than that, it was a hell of a holiday."
6. "When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home."
7. "I am going to pack my two shirts with my other socks and my best suit in the little blue cloth my mother used to tie round her hair when she did the house, and I am going from the Valley."
There you go. Let me know your guesses and, if you put together your own list, I want to see it.

Comments

  1. I didn't know if you wanted these in the comment section or not so I e-mailed them to you!

    teensatthelibrary[@]yahoo[.]com

    ReplyDelete
  2. 1. Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier (Seven Waters Trilogy)
    2. Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn
    3. How I live Now by Meg Rosoff
    4. Westmark by Lloyd Alexander
    5. no clue!
    6. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton - love this book!
    7. How Green Was my valley by Richard Llewellyn

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh cool contest idea!

    Hmm i have no clue for most of them, but here are my guesses:

    1. Wildwood Dancing, Juliet Marillier
    2. Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn (one of the best opening lines EVER)
    3. no idea
    4. no idea
    5. no idea!
    6. The Outsiders, SE Hinton (same as the last line, best ever)
    7. no idea, though it sounds vaguely familiar...

    Hmm, that's not very impressive, is it :p

    ReplyDelete
  4. Man, I didn't know any of these! I must study up, obviously. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Way too hard for me, how I wish the beginning of p&P was here :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. BrittLit, thanks for emailing! I should have specified.

    Thea, it really is one of the best EVER. And THE OUTSIDERS is just plain made of awesome start to finish.

    Elana, lol. They're not necessarily very famous books, but they're all first lines that for one reason or another knocked my socks off and have stuck in my mind for a long time.

    Blodeuedd, sorry! And you're absolutely right. I didn't include classics as I thought they might be too easy, but if I had you would most definitely have gotten P&P in there. As well as A CHRISTMAS CAROL, THE ILIAD, FAHRENHEIT 451, THE CATCHER IN THE RYE, ANNA KARENINA, and MOBY DICK. To name the first 7 that come to mind. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  7. The first one is for sure Daughter of the forest, the 2nd is Silent in the Grave, the 3rd is How I Life Now, and 6 is the Outsiders. (Glad I've read that now...) But I don't know the others!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This was fun, I think I may copy you...again!

    1. Daughter of the Forest
    2. Silent in the Grave
    3. How I Live Now
    4. Westmark
    5. No clue...sounds familiar though
    6. The Outsiders
    7. How Green Was My Valley

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh, fun post! :)
    Unfortunately I have no idea about the majority of them, but they're definitely some good ones!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Liza, not bad. Not bad at all. Though you have read #5. ;)

    Kath, lol. Copy away!

    Samantha, yeah, they're good 'uns all right.

    ReplyDelete
  11. 1. Daughter of the Forest - Juliet Marillier
    2. Silent in the Grave - Deanna Raybourn
    3. How I live Now - Meg Rosoff
    4. Westmark by Lloyd Alexander
    5. The Road Home - Ellen Emerson White
    6. The Outsiders- S.E. Hinton
    7. How Green Was my valley - Richard Llewellyn

    prodhi@live.com

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

You Might Also Like

The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker by Leanna Renee Hieber

This book has made the rounds and no mistake. I started seeing early reviews awhile back and read a few delightful interviews with Leanna Renee Hieber and found myself intrigued to read her first novel-- The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker . I was, therefore, tickled to receive a copy for review from Ms. Hieber and quickly set about settling in. I knew it was a Gothic paranormal mystery of sorts, featuring (among other things) a group of loyal comrades, a private London academy, a bit of magic, an albino, and a swoon-worthy broody professor a la Richard Armitage in North & South . *moment of silence for the awesomeness of The Armitage* And that was the extent of my pre-reading knowledge. That and the fact that I loved the cover with its simple yet moody, midnight blue and its slightly off-kilter, scripty title. Miss Percy Parker is about to embark on an adventure, albeit a much larger one than she imagines. Leaving the convent--the only home she's ever known--a...

Review | The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vols. 1 & 2 by Beth Brower

I feel a bit giddy finally talking to you all about this series. If you'll remember, I fell madly in love with The Q  when it came out a few years ago. Now, Beth Brower is writing The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion — a series of novellas set in London in 1883. Each volume is an excerpt from the incorrigible Emma's journals, and the first two volumes are already available with the third on the way soon. I think they'd make rather perfect pandemic reading. Humorous and charming down to their bones, they're just what the doctor ordered to lift your spirits in this uncertain time that just proves to be too much some days. If you're experiencing one of those days, I suggest giving Volume 1   a go (it's only 99 cents on Kindle, $4.99 for a trade paperback copy). It will surprise exactly none of you that I own print and digital editions of both volumes.  Miss Emma M. Lion has waited long enough. Come hell or high water (and really, given her track record,  both a...

Bibliocrack Review | You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian

If I'm being perfectly honest with myself, I've done a shamefully poor job of addressing my love for Cat Sebastian 's books around these parts. I've certainly noted each time her beautiful stories have appeared on my end-of-the-year best of lists, see:  The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes ,  basically every book in  The Cabots series , and of course  We Could Be So Good .  And the pull is, quite simply, this: nobody is as kind and gentle with their characters and with their hearts than Cat Sebastian. Nobody. I haven't always been one for the gentler stories, but I cannot overstate the absolute gift it is sinking into one of Sebastian's exquisitely crafted historicals knowing that I get to spend the next however many pages watching two idiots pine and deny that feelings exist and just  take care of each other  as they fall in love. I wouldn't trade that experience for the world. Not this one or any other.  Only two things in the world people count b...