The first line contest on Authoress Anon’s blog has got me thinking about first lines so I decided to post some of the ones from a random selection of books on my shelves.
A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning
“If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book.”
Angela’s Ashes
“My father and mother should have stayed in New York where they met and married and where I was born.”
Before I Fall
“They say that just before you die your whole life flashes before your eyes, but that’s not how it happened for me.”
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
“Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were prefectly normal, thank you very much.”
Hunger Games
“When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.”
Identical
“When I look into a
mirror,
it is her face I see.”
The Catcher in the Rye
“If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.”
The Help
“Mae Mobley was born on a early Sunday morning in August 1960.”
Thirteen Reasons Why
“Sir?” she repeats.
Twilight
“I’d never given much thought to how I would die–though I’d had reason enough in the last few months–but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this.”
will grayson will grayson
“When I was little, my dad used to tell me, ‘Will, you can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can’t pick your friend’s nose.'”
So tell me. If these had been posted on Authoress’s blog, which ones would have you hooked?