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First Lines + Giveaway

Jackie over at Literary Escapism had this First Lines meme up the other day and, because I absolutely love a really killer first line, I figured I'd put one together as well. Jackie included the first lines from a stack of books sitting next to her. I'm going to cheat and give you a few of my all-time favorites. Some are technically the first couple of lines. See if you can guess which books they're from. The first person to get them all right (or the person with the most correct answers) wins! I'll announce the answers and the winner can pick one book from the list of seven.
1. "Three children lay on the rocks at the water's edge. A dark-haired little girl. Two boys, slightly older. This image is caught forever in my memory, like some fragile creature preserved in amber."
2. "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."
3. "My name is Elizabeth but no one's ever called me that. My father took one look at me when I was born and must have thought I had the face of someone dignified and sad like an old-fashioned queen or a dead person, but what I turned out like is plain, not much there to notice. More Daisy than Elizabeth from the word go."
4. "Theo, by occupation, was a devil."
5. "On Christmas morning, Rebecca lost her moral virginity, her sense of humor--and her two best friends. But, other than that, it was a hell of a holiday."
6. "When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home."
7. "I am going to pack my two shirts with my other socks and my best suit in the little blue cloth my mother used to tie round her hair when she did the house, and I am going from the Valley."
There you go. Let me know your guesses and, if you put together your own list, I want to see it.

Comments

  1. I didn't know if you wanted these in the comment section or not so I e-mailed them to you!

    teensatthelibrary[@]yahoo[.]com

    ReplyDelete
  2. 1. Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier (Seven Waters Trilogy)
    2. Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn
    3. How I live Now by Meg Rosoff
    4. Westmark by Lloyd Alexander
    5. no clue!
    6. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton - love this book!
    7. How Green Was my valley by Richard Llewellyn

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh cool contest idea!

    Hmm i have no clue for most of them, but here are my guesses:

    1. Wildwood Dancing, Juliet Marillier
    2. Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn (one of the best opening lines EVER)
    3. no idea
    4. no idea
    5. no idea!
    6. The Outsiders, SE Hinton (same as the last line, best ever)
    7. no idea, though it sounds vaguely familiar...

    Hmm, that's not very impressive, is it :p

    ReplyDelete
  4. Man, I didn't know any of these! I must study up, obviously. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Way too hard for me, how I wish the beginning of p&P was here :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. BrittLit, thanks for emailing! I should have specified.

    Thea, it really is one of the best EVER. And THE OUTSIDERS is just plain made of awesome start to finish.

    Elana, lol. They're not necessarily very famous books, but they're all first lines that for one reason or another knocked my socks off and have stuck in my mind for a long time.

    Blodeuedd, sorry! And you're absolutely right. I didn't include classics as I thought they might be too easy, but if I had you would most definitely have gotten P&P in there. As well as A CHRISTMAS CAROL, THE ILIAD, FAHRENHEIT 451, THE CATCHER IN THE RYE, ANNA KARENINA, and MOBY DICK. To name the first 7 that come to mind. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  7. The first one is for sure Daughter of the forest, the 2nd is Silent in the Grave, the 3rd is How I Life Now, and 6 is the Outsiders. (Glad I've read that now...) But I don't know the others!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This was fun, I think I may copy you...again!

    1. Daughter of the Forest
    2. Silent in the Grave
    3. How I Live Now
    4. Westmark
    5. No clue...sounds familiar though
    6. The Outsiders
    7. How Green Was My Valley

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh, fun post! :)
    Unfortunately I have no idea about the majority of them, but they're definitely some good ones!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Liza, not bad. Not bad at all. Though you have read #5. ;)

    Kath, lol. Copy away!

    Samantha, yeah, they're good 'uns all right.

    ReplyDelete
  11. 1. Daughter of the Forest - Juliet Marillier
    2. Silent in the Grave - Deanna Raybourn
    3. How I live Now - Meg Rosoff
    4. Westmark by Lloyd Alexander
    5. The Road Home - Ellen Emerson White
    6. The Outsiders- S.E. Hinton
    7. How Green Was my valley - Richard Llewellyn

    prodhi@live.com

    ReplyDelete

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