It may come as no surprise that I have a really short attention span, and so books have about 30 seconds to grab my attention between the blurb and first lines before I wander off to chase butterflies.
This is assuming, of course, that I find a random book in the wild, not one that came highly recommended or others have been talking about. Say I’m stalking the shelves, looking for a victim. I find one that I think maaaaybe. If the blurb sounds like something I’m interested in, and the first line is a doozy, I will pick it up 10 out of 10 times. Is this shallow? Probably. Also very time efficient.
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is supposed to be favorite things to eat/drink while reading, but … I really don’t do either while I read, generally? So look at me, being a rebel and breaking the rules again.
If I’m honest, it’s the one thing I’m really good at! I’m obviously nailing it.
There are some books that capture my attention after a few paragraphs or a few pages in or after the first chapter, but today is dedicated to those rare unicorns that have a first line (or first paragraph) that immediately makes me go, “Yup, I’m gonna read the crap out of this.”
The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t with Her Mind
Status: Read
Thoughts: Teagan pretty much lives up to her first impressions: impulsive, rash, and oh so deliciously sarcastic. This book starts on a bang, and there’s a lot of action throughout.
A Study in Brimstone
Status: Read
Thoughts: I mean, it’s very nice for Watson to start off by apologizing for dooming us all. It shows a certain amount of character. Of course I had to know how exactly he doomed the world. Have I prepped for this?! This is the case where I actually don’t know that it was fully satisfied by this book. I’d say it was half answered in this book, and the rest carried into the remainder of the series, but I do like my series with some sort of underlying thread between them. After all, it takes time to properly doom the world.
Gideon the Ninth
Status: Read
Thoughts: From the moment that I realized Gideon’s dirty magazines were considered important enough to pack when running away sorry, storming off with grace and dignity, I knew we’d get along just fine. And we did! I love this line because it’s a perfect epitome of Gideon’s character, right from the get-go. The rest of the beginning was a little slow for me, but I stuck it out because of the promise of loving Gideon in the long run, and I so wasn’t disappointed.
The Deal of a Lifetime
Status: Read
Thoughts: TL;DR: YES IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE, AND MY FEELS HAVEN’T FORGIVEN FREDRIK BACKMAN YET. T_T I mean … how can you read that and walk away? Obviously, I had to know who this guy killed and why. This book was my introduction to Fredrik Backman, and I intend to read it again this year around Christmas, but I definitely fell in love with all the feels he delivers and the little twists and turns and developments he builds into his stories. When you find out whose life it was … well, I was surprised but also cried ugly tears.
The Astonishing Color of After
Status: Read
Thoughts: Spoiler alert: her mother is a bird. I just loved this because it’s set in the real world, yet the opening lines feel so fantastical, right? It begs the questions of why and how. It beautifully sets up the line that Emily X.R. Pan walks between realism and surrealism.
Zero Sum Game
He was currently punching me in the face.
Status: TBR
Thoughts: ADULT SUPERHERO BOOKS! I mean, that’s what got me on the page in the first place, honestly. The blurb sounds interesting, but that opening? I absolutely love the juxtaposition. Plus, the tone makes me believe the main character will be skilled in sarcasm, and I’m all for characters like that.
Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire
Status: TBR
Thoughts: Already, the stakes are so high, right? I mean, I’ve had bad ideas, and then I’ve had worse ideas, but somehow I’ve managed to avoid fatal ideas. Stephanie doesn’t seem to be that lucky at this point. I just really want to know how they messed up so badly, honestly.
Dead School
Status: TBR
Thoughts: Teenage angst alert! But in a fun way, because gosh, I totally feel this character. Also, it’s funny. Also also, I CAN SO RELATE. My parents are still annoying, and I’m obviously dead on the inside. Clearly, this character and I are going to have good times together.
Nevernight
Status: TBR
Thoughts: This feels like a very Kristoff way to open a book, which makes me love it all the more. First, we’re obviously dealing with lots of stabby, stabby, and that makes me happy! You know, just in case you couldn’t glean that from the assassin on the cover and the mention of assassins in the blurb. Kristoff is obviously pulling no punches in this book. I’m going into this series expecting darker, and this first line definitely gives me hope on that front.
Sworn to the Night
Status: TBR
Thoughts: The blurb definitely caught my attention on this one, and the opening just sold it for me. I like the muted sarcasm, the quiet bitterness disguised as acceptance of the situation. Anyone who’s that calm in a situation like that has either, A, been through some stuff (which I would like to read about, please) or, B, prioritizes sarcasm in all situations. Or both. Either way, I definitely want to find out more about Carolyn.
Love these! And I completely agree with the books I’ve read. I knew as soon as I read the first sentence of The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t that I was going to be in for a crazy ride😁
Yes! I love when you can tell just from the first line that you’re going to love a book. It doesn’t often happen for me, so it’s extra special when it does.
The Deal of a Lifetime sounds like such a great read.
My TTT.
It really is! It’s not a linear story, but it’s just a novella and is written sort of as a letter to this man’s son. So as long as you don’t mind that, it was a super quick read, and I will always forever recommend everything of Backman’s anyway.
Omg Sammie these are ALL AWESOME! The Astonishing Color is obviously big love. And YO, YOU NEED TO READ NEVERNIGHT! Sorry, all caps. Can you tell I’m excited? You’ve got no idea how much stabstabstab you’re in for with this series! It’s amazing haha I also now really want to read all of these books because their opening lines have definitely snagged my attention, especially the Backman book! What an opening 😱
My TTT post
I KNOW I DO, BUT I REFUSE TO DO SO UNTIL I HAVE DARKDAWN IN MY GRUBBY PAWS BECAUSE I REFUSE TO SUFFER WAITING FOR IT. I’m also excited, and my birthday is at the end of the month, so I’m hoping hubby will take the millions of hints I’ve dropped him and buy it for me. xD
You’re such a rebel, and this is basically a huge First Line Friday post and I love it so much! I may steal a couple of these 😉
Please doooo. Steal them all. The more, the merrier. 😉 I’ve seen First Line Friday posts, but I guess I never really knew what the meme was about or anything like that. xD
These are awesome! I need to do a better job at tracking my favorite first lines, because I can’t think of any off the top of my head, but you have some great picks.
I’m going to be honest and say I didn’t pick them off the top of my head. xD I sort of thought of my favorite books and then thought about whether they had good first lines. And that got me about three books. The rest, I winged it and checked Goodreads LOL.
LOL, okay that makes sense! 😀 Still, I want to be better at thinking about whether a book’s first line is good — and a good fit for the book! Sometimes a great first line just doesn’t fit the rest of the book.
That’s also true, and I find that so frustrating! Luckily, I haven’t come across it too often, but sometimes the beginning just doesn’t quite match the rest, and then I feel cheated, like it was almost just a ploy to get a reader’s attention and then here’s the real story I wanted to tell instead.
Agreed, it is fortunately rare. But now I really need to make sure to take a note of those cases where the first line doesn’t match the rest of the book!
Love this post of course! My favorite first lines are the ones that are a bit sarcastic or sort of grim so Zero Sum Game has caught my attention now.
Those are definitely my favorites, too. xD If you read it before I do, I’d be interested to hear what you think of it!
I need to read The Deal of a Lifetime!
I definitely recommend it! It was a really quick read, but it was great.
What Lelynn said! You should so start doing First Line Friday!
Ahhh I should! Maybe. I actually don’t know anything about First Line Friday except that I see it around, and I guess I always assume it’s for, like, your current read or an upcoming read? And I don’t know about you, but I read a lot of stuff with dull beginnings LOL.
Oh no! It isnt that limited at all! Go scroll through mine and click on the link to Becky’s…. they are a blast!
I checked it out, and I might try it this Friday. We’ll really have to see. I’m trying to get ahead in my blogging, but also starting a new job in a couple days, and I just can’t even this week. xD
Congratulations! I hope it is going fantastically!
*Leelynn*
NetGalley email has me all discombobulated
I so enjoyed reading this post! Loved it!
I haven’t read any of these books yet but I’m looking forward to get a copy of Fredrik Backman’s The Deal of a Lifetime. I’ve read two of his works before and both got 5 stars from me. 🙂
I would really love to read Dead School, as well. It’s a really gripping first line!
Anyways, some of the books that got me hooked by their first lines (and was continuously hooked to the end) are:
The Sympathizer – “I AM A SPY, a sleeper, a spook, a man of two faces.”
Memories of My Melancholy Whores – “The year I turned ninety, I wanted to give myself the gift of a night of wild love with an adolescent virgin.”
Cain – “When the lord, also known as god, realised that adam and eve, although perfect in every outward aspect, could not utter a word or make even the most primitive of sounds, he must have felt annoyed with himself, for there was no one else in the garden of eden whom he could blame for this grave oversight, after all, the other animals, who were, like the two humans, the product of his divine command, already had a voice of their own, be it a bellow, a roar, a croak, a chirp, a whistle or a cackle.”
I so recommend everything by Backman! I don’t know which books of his you’ve read, but his novellas are a little less structured than his novels, in that they tend to have more fluid and non-linear timelines.
Oh, those are some great first lines! Who’s Cain by?
I’ve read A Man Called Ove and And Every Morning the Way Gets Longer and Longer…
Cain is by Jose Saramago… I am not an atheist but I enjoy reading his works.
Thanks! I had looked up Cain and a bunch of results came up. I’m gonna check it out. 🙂
Gideon the Ninth is on my TBR and I am so excited to read it! It sounds excellent.
Cora | http://www.teapartyprincess.co.uk
I loved it, but it’s pretty dark, so you have to be okay with that and some gore. 🙂 Hope you enjoy it!
I am a sucker for a good opening line, too. A couple of mine are from Daughter of Smoke and Bone:
“Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love.
It did not end well.”
Happy reading!
OMG I LOVE THAT! I still haven’t read that series. T_T I’m hoping to get to it in December, though, since I have, like, no ARCs for that month (thank goodness) and can hopefully catch up on some things. :3