Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Top Ten Tuesday: Opening Lines


Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

That's right! A Top Ten Tuesday two weeks in a row! The theme this week is Opening Lines. Now, I am not the person who remembers opening lines, no matter how cool they are, with the exception of famous lines. In fact, there is only one that I can think of that isn't one of the obvious ones like Tolstoy or Jane Austen.

Given that I can't come up with many off the top of my head, I am going to bring you the opening lines of the books that I am reading at the moment, and then some of my favourite books off of my shelves.

Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn - This is the opening line that I can roughly paraphrase and it is a doozy as an opening to a historical mystery series. It is also an introduction to Nicholas Brisbane.....what a man.

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.


The Railway Girls by Maisie Thomas - This is one of the books that I am reading at the moment. I will have a review of it up on Thursday.

I don't care what war work I do or where I do it - as long as it isn't here.




Palace of Tears by Julian Leatherdale - This is the other book that I am reading at the moment. And by reading I mean have read the first page, but I will be reading more.

The promise of fire was in the air that morning.


The Lost Love Song by Minnie Darke - One of my favourite book this year, so far.  And I really like this as an opening line for this book.

The love song began it's life, not with a fanfare or a crash of cymbals, but instead with a knock  at a door.

Fire Study by Maria V Snyder - This was the last book I finished. It is the third book in the Chronicles of Ixia series which I started many years ago. I read the first two books and then recently reread them, but this was the first time I read this book. I will be reading the next book soon.

"That's pathetic, Yelena," Dax complained. " An all powerful Soulfinder who isn't all powerful. Where's the fun in that?"


The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley (also published as Sophia's Secret)- Oh how I love this book. One of very few books that I have reread, and that I would seriously consider rereading again.

It wasn't chance. There wasn't any part of it that happened just by chance.



Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati - The opening line to another long time favourite series. Last year I read the first book in the follow up series to this one and it was again excellent.

Elizabeth Middleton, twenty-nine years old and unmarried, overly educated and excessively rational, knowing right from wrong and fancy from fact, woke in a nest of marten and fox pelts to the sightof an eagle circling overhead, and saw at once that it could not be far to Paradise.


Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth  - Another book that I love hard. I actually mentioned this one in last weeks post too so clearly it is on my mind at the moment

I had always been a great talker and teller of tales.




The Summer Garden by Paullina Simons - I don't love this book as much as the first two in this trilogy, but I do however love the way that this opening line both sets the scene for the book to come but also reflects one of the major scenes in the first book. So clever


Once upon a time, in Stonington, Maine, before sunset, at the end of a hot war and the beginning of a cold one, a young  woman dressed in white, outwardly calm but with trembling hands, sat on a bench by the harbor, eating ice cream.


The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams - I have given you lines from books I am reading, that are favourites, and the best book I have read this year, so I thought I would finish with the opening line from a  a book I want to read

Before the lost word, there was another. It arrived in the Scriptorium in a second-hand envelope, the old address crossed out and Dr Murray, Sunnyside, Oxford, written in its place.



So, do any of those opening lines call to you?

42 comments:

  1. Ooh, I like that line from Bitter Greens! I've started making a note of the opening lines of the books I read every month in my monthly summaries. It's fun to look back and read them and also a good way to jog my memory about the books.

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  2. Some of these sound great! I particularly liked your quotes from The Lost Love Song by Minnie Darke and Fire Study by Maria V Snyder. I know I have read other books by Snyder but not that series. Something to look forward to!

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    1. I've just reread the first two books in that series - so good!

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  3. I think I have to go and look up The Dictionary of Lost Words. It seems I love the sound of a lot of what you read! LOL!

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    1. It's only come out here recently Cath. Not sure if you can get it or not.

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    2. Nope... not due out here until April 2021. I'll stick it on my Amazon wishlist and suspect they'll remind me when it's out.

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  4. I have just discovered the merits of ebooks during the shutdown; ebooks are the only library books I could read. Taking down quotes is one of the best parts of reading ebooks. Now I can easily save them. Lovely.

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    1. I am not all that impressed with the amount of online library books we have.

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  5. Wow, Silent in the Grave has a great opening line! Is the rest of that book as attention grabbing?

    My TTT .

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  6. Love these. The openers from Silent in the Grave and Bitter Greens really caught my eye. I wonder what tales that character tells.

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    1. It is a faiiry tale retelling Cheryl!

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  7. Silent in the Grave's opening lines could be included on my list of humorous openers. If you take it that way. Thanks for visiting my blog.

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  8. Are you still reading through the Pulitzers? I noticed your page called Putzing Through the Pulitzers with the photos that turn to reveal the date you read them, I assume. I, too, am attempting to read all current Pulitzers and as many past winners as I want, though I didn't pick that many from past years as you. I am currently reading SO BIG and have THE HOURS on hold from the library. See my list here My Reading Challenges Your post gave me the idea to go back and hyperlink my reviews to the list.

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    1. Hi Anne


      I don't think this was me Anne. A while ago I was doing the Pulitzer Project but nothing as fancy as what you mentioned in your comment.

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  9. I like the beginning to The Lost Love Song and The Palace of Tears.

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    1. I read a bit more of The Palace of Tears today Brooke! It's good so far.

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  10. I have always meant to get to the Study series. I hope you enjoy the next book!

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  11. Great list - I do love the sound of the Dictionary of Lost Words! My TTT is here https://bookloverssanctuary.com/2020/05/26/top-ten-tuesday-opening-lines/

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  12. One of the things I love best about you, Marg, is that you are real. I can't remember any first lines either, except for two famous ones.
    I look forward to hearing what you think of The Dictionary of Lost Words, I think that's a wonderful book.

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    1. No point pretending to be cleverer than I am Lisa!

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  13. I love the opening of Into The Wilderness. I guess I need to read that book.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  14. I love that one about chance. It just feels like a great start to a book.

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  15. Silent in the Grave sounds interesting! I also have heard good things about Poison Study series, need to check that out.

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  16. Oh these are all so GOOD! Some of my favourite books in this list. I skipped this topic as I actually never remember first lines, or actually make note of when I really love a line in a book, be it the first one or even just a random one.

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    1. Neither do I Bree! I had to pull lots of books off the shelves to get these quotes!

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  17. The Lost Love Song- I like that one a lot!

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  18. These are all fantastic lines, but honestly I keep going back to Silent in the Grave and keep wondering what the hell is going on!!?

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    1. It's worth reading the book to find out Verushka!

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  19. I haven't read any of these, but the quotes do sound intriguing. Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.

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  20. The opening line from Palace of Tears by Julian Leatherdale is quite intriguing. Great list! Here's my TTT!

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    1. I just started reading that book and it is really good so far!

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