Monday, October 8, 2018

Book Beginnings #1


As book bloggers we all love starting a new book, right? Is there anything better than cracking open a new book, or starting that first page on your Kindle? So I was thinking the other day about how some book beginnings are more distinctive than others, and how a good one can really set the tone. And then I thought- why not share some good ones? Now this is subjective, of course, but a post was born- here are some that I particularly liked. 

 The Cats of Tanglewood Forest (Newford, #18)

"Once there was a forest of hickory and beech, sprucy-pine, birch and oak. It was called the Tanglewood Forest. Starting at the edge of a farmer's pasture, it seemed to go on forever, uphill and down. There were a few abandoned homesteads to be found in its reaches, overgrown and uninhabitable now, and deep in a hidden clearing there was a beech tree so old that only the hills themselves remembered the days when it was a sapling."

Ivory and Bone (Ivory and Bone, #1)

"The darkness in this cave is so complete I can no longer see you, but I can smell your blood."

A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire, #5)

"He drank his way across the narrow sea."

Blackbird (Blackbird, #1) 

"The train holds the heat of the sun, even an hour after it has sunk beneath the pavement, pushing its way below the sprawling city. At the Vermont/ Sunset Station, a Chinese woman with a severe black bob leans over the platform's edge, trying to gauge how far away the train is."

Big Little Lies

"That doesn't sound like a school trivia night," said Mrs. Patty Ponder to Marie Antoinette. "That sounds like a riot."
The cat didn't respond. She was dozing on the couch and found school trivia nights to be trivial. 

Number One Chinese Restaurant

"The waiters were singing "Happy Birthday" in Chinese. All fifteen of them had crowded around the party table, clapping their hands. Not a single one could find the tune. A neighboring table turned in their chairs to look." 

Shattered (Slated, #3)

"It doesn't look like much from the outside. But what you get outside is often like that. People, especially, can be so different from what you can see that you'd never guess what goes on in their secret places. What they are capable of. In my case, what lurked within was so well hidden even I didn't know about it."

The Girls in the Garden

"Dear Daddy, 
We moved into the new flat this weekend. It's nice. It's on a quiet street with little houses. You walk into a narrow hallway and if you turn right there are two bedrooms. I have to share with Grace but I really don't mind. You know I never liked sleeping on my own in the old house anyway. Not really. Do you remember? I don't really know how much you remember about things from before. I don't know if you've lost all your memories or or if you're just the same except with all the other problems."

The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)

"When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim's warmth but finding only the rough canvas of the mattress. She must have had bad dreams and climbed in with our mother. Of course, she did."

Planet of Exile

"In the last days of the last moonphase of Autumn a wind blew from the northern ranges through the dying forests of Askatevar, a cold wind that smelled of smoke and snow. Slight and shadowy as a wild animal in her light furs, the girl Rolery slipped through the woods, through the storming of dead leaves, away from the walls that stone by stone were rising on the hillside of Tevar and from the busy fields of the last harvest."

31 comments:

  1. I agree, riveting words or an action-filled sequence gets me excited to get into the book right away. You've listed lots of good ones, Gorgeous Greg! Happy Monday! RO

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  2. That line from Ivory & Bone definitely grabs my attention.

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  3. The line from A Dance with Dragons is brilliant!

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  4. That first line of Big Little Lies hooked me right away. I knew it was going to be a good book. And of course the GoT book line is perfect!

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  5. Hah, love the Big Little Lies opener. Some books really do have attention grabbing intros.

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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  6. I love the first few sentences of a book. I try not to judge a book by them but sometimes you just know it’s going to be good after just one sentence. I particularly like the first bit of Big Little Lies. I knew that book was going to be awesome after that and it was.

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    1. Some books just have it- that electrifying or just grabbing opener!

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  7. I should try doing this more. I'm always highlighting book beginnings.

    Karen @ For What It's Worth

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  8. I really like the one for Ivory and Bone! I think this would be a great way to figure out what to read when I'm having trouble deciding

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    1. I think so too- never thought of that- and that's one of my favorites too!

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  9. BLL! Great opening for sure. Hunger Games is great too.

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  10. How a book begins can make me want to keep reading...or quickly put it back on the shelf. These openers you've chosen are awesome. Especially Ivory and Bone. That sentence totally makes me want to read the book! :)

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  11. I could never pin point what specifically pulls me into a book, but how a book begins plays a huge part into that. Great post!

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  12. Haha, George RR Martin is the best. That’s a great way to start a book.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  13. I love the beginning of that George R.R. Martin book. His beginnings are always so memorable for me.

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  14. Crafting a good opening sentence is an art form. For me, one of the most memorable recently has been the one from City of Lies by Sam Hawke - "I was seven years old the first time my uncle poisoned me."

    ~Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum

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  15. Oooh these are good ones! I mean- I knew from the opening lines that I was all in with The Hunger Games, so I certainly agree with that one! I really like I&B and Shattered too!

    Funny enough, I HATE starting a new book (this is akin to my reluctance to start a new show, I assume). I usually have a feeling of dread, and I assume this is why I have always been so drawn to series? Also, I am weird.

    (Also, that lady REALLY needs to find her fake ex/scam you, huh?)

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  16. The Girls in the Garden sounds intriguing. Big Little Lies was something else, in a good way of course! :)

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  17. I like a book to grab me pretty quickly, in the first chapter or so. I'm not really the type that notices how great or otherwise a first sentence or paragraph is as I'm more into getting an overall feel as to whether I like the book or not!

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  18. I really like Ivory and Bone. And I didn't know that's how GoT started! :) My fav has to be Hell Divers. "The average life expectancy for a Hell Diver was fifteen jumps" LOVE IT :) LOL

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  19. The first one totally seems like your kind of book! Whoa, yeah, the Ivory and Bone beginning definitely sets some kind of tone! I really like the Shattered one too because it's so true, how things can seem so different on the outside vs the inside. Also, I agree with Daniela on her favorite lol. The Hell Divers intro is amazing.

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  20. I've read a couple of these but don't really remember the beginning. I'm horrible at remembering these type of things

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  21. A great book beginning definitely stays with you. I like inviting beginnings, such as the one for The Cats of Tanglewood Forest.

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