I thought it'd be fun to join in on the Thursday 13 link up! It'll be my first time. This week I'm going to list 13 opening lines (not including the prologues) of yet unread fiction books sitting on my shelves, all patiently waiting for me to read them! I usually prefer nonfiction over fiction, but these are books I am planning to delve into beginning now and throughout 2019! If I find a story that pulls me in in the first few chapters, I will mostl likely finish it in short order. I am a rather picky reader, though!
Which opening line intrigues you most? If you leave your answer in the comments, I'll tell you what the title is :)
1. There was a time, and it was many years ago now, when I had to stay in a hospital for almost nine weeks.
2. In the watery dimness of a December afternoon, the attic looked dismal and a little spooky.
3. I first heard of Antonia on what seemed to me an interminable journey across the great midland plain of North America.
4. I told you last night that I might be gone sometime, and you said, Where, and I said, To be with the Good Lord, and you said, Why, and I said, Because I'm old, and you said, I don't think you're old.
5. Because the three Plumbs had agreed on the phone the previous evening that they should not drink in front of their brother Leo, they were all - unbeknownst to one another - sitting in separate bars in and around Grand Central, savoring a furtive cocktail before lunch.
6. The cell squeezed her, and the air was hot and fetid.
7. I was sitting in a taxi, wondering if I had overdressed for the evening, when I looked out the window and saw Mom rooting through a Dumpster.
8. This wouldn't be the first time Kathleen Seymour left home and never returned.
9. Anyone in the neighborhood could tell you how Michael and Pauline first met.
10. In Beulah, Iowa, widow women all over town garden in clothes of deceased husbands.
11. The first time Cora heard the name Louise Brooks, she was parked outside the Wichita Library in a Model-T Ford.
12. "I'm fine," said the woman. "There's nothing wrong with me."
13. My name is Ruth.
This sounds like a cute meme. I'll have to check it out.
ReplyDeleteActually all the first lines were intriguing, but I'm going with #1. Will be curious what book that came from.
betty
The line comes from the book My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout. Thanks for commenting!
DeleteI've read #1 & #13, I think. (My Name is Lucy Barton and The Book of Ruth, right? Or maybe it's The Red Tent.) I find #8 intriguing.
ReplyDeleteHi and thanks for popping by! You were right about #1, but #13 is Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson.
DeleteAt first glance I thought your name was Ruth! #8 intrigues me, which let's you know I like a good mystery. I love opening lines and closing lines too. I'm playing T13 too!
ReplyDeleteHi Colleen! Thanks for visiting my blog :) #8 is the first line from All She Ever Wanted by Lynn Austin.
Deleteoh, my. I want to read them all.
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful first 13, and greetings...
Thanks, Mittens! I'll post all the book titles in the next day or so! I'll wait for a few more to choose their faves.
DeleteThis is my first time too with Thursday 13. :-) I like your list, which I might copycat one Thursday. With my list of books, of course. #10, #11, and #7 intrigued me the most. I may have read #3.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by! My list of books is in the post after this one. #7 is not fiction, but a memoir. But I do consider it a story, so I included it.
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