Welcome to another Top Ten Tuesday post, thanks to That Artsy Reader Girl. And I’m especially glad to be back after a two-week hiatus—the first, because I was super busy and just didn’t have time to post, the second because my website was down. 😒
But I’m so glad I’m back on board this week, because I love opening lines! In fact, I participate in a weekly feature called First Line Friday, hosted by Hoarding Books blog, so I’m going to be spoiled for choice! But I will try to whittle my selection down to ten favourites. So here goes…
All the stories have been written, including mine.
Lu. Beth Troy
I love this first line because the whole point of this story is to show how this is both true and not true at the same time. There is, indeed, nothing new under the sun, and Lu is caught in the same meaningless cycle as so many others, and yet that doesn’t have to be her story…
Uncle Truck keeps a German shepherd on his farm that’ll eat human fingers if you feed ’em to it just right.
Annabel Lee, Mike Nappa
If that first line doesn’t grab your attention, I don’t know what will!
Being hunted by the monsters she had
created was a terrifying, well-deserved death.
Kings Falling, Ronie Kendig
Ronie Kendig always knows how to suck me in from the first line!
There was a boy called Eustace Clarence
Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, C. S. Lewis
I’ve always loved how much is conveyed in what this first line doesn’t say. There’s so much subtext!
I miss ice cream.
A Single Light, Tosca Lee
Here’s one I figure will resonate with plenty of people!
The story so far:
In the beginning the Universe was created.
This had made a lot of people very angry
and been widely regarded as a bad move.
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Douglas Adams
I love this kind of humour!
There was once a boy named Milo who didn’t know what to do with himself—not just sometimes, but always.
The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster
This story continues on to say: “When he was in school, he longed to be out, and when he was out he longed to be in. On the way he thought about coming home, and coming home he thought about going. Wherever he was he wished he was somewhere else, and when he got there he wondered why he’d bothered.” And all the parents reading this are suddenly nodding and relating to this book… 😄
This is my favourite book in all the world,
though I have never read it.
The Princess Bride, William Goldman
If you enjoy the movie, you have to give the book a go. It’s quite different in some ways, but still so very The Princess Bride. As this first line makes clear!
The human race, to which so many of my readers
belong, has been playing at children’s games from the
beginning, and will probably do it till the end, which
is a nuisance for the few people who grow up.
The Napoleon of Notting Hill, G. K. Chesterton
Well, take that! Lol!
Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive,
were proud to say that they were perfectly
normal, thank you very much.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, J. K. Rowling
Well, so they say… 😉
If you’re willing to admit it, you probably know me
as Raine de Bourgh. Yes, that Raine de Bourgh.
The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck, Bethany Turner
A first line like this hooks me into the story straight away!
I’ve seen a few references to Douglas Adams in this week’s posts, and I’m disappointed I didn’t think to include one on my list! You probably picked my favorite of his. So, so funny.
You and I have four or five of the same opening lines. My TTT Opening Lines
Why is it that I relate to the quote from The Princess Bride so much XD. I definitely get overexcited about sequels and know they’ll be my favorite, haha.
Great list!
My TTT: https://notprimadonna.blogspot.com/2020/05/top-ten-tuesday-why-i-love-historical.html
Some really good ones here! Thanks. (But one person put up some first lines that were so bad, they were funny! I do hope they realized this.)
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader has a great opening line.
Love that Douglas Adams quote. Made me think of Terry Pratchett and now I’m wondering why I didn’t pull those books off my shelf to look for an opening line!
Hey Katie, we have two of the same opening lines on our lists this week: Harry Potter and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and an almost third one: as I have a different Douglas Adam opening lining. Great minds think a like!
Here are my favourite opening lines: https://thebookwormchronicles.wordpress.com/2020/05/26/top-ten-tuesday-26th-may-2020/
I had the Harry Potter one on my list this week too 🙂
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2020/05/26/top-ten-tuesday-265/
Harry Potter seems to be a popular choice this week, I picked it too 😀 I also love the Douglas Adams and Princess Bride quotes!
My TTT: https://www.traversingchapters.com/top-ten-tuesday-opening-lines/
Wow, Annabel Lee has an interesting opening line! That title must be a reference to the Edgar Allen Poe poem, right?!
My TTT .
I saw that Hitchhiker lines a few moments ago in another blog but I think it’s a great opening.
The princess bride – ahhhh, love it.
I like any Harry Potter beginnings but this first line is so perfect for the first book.
Have a lovely day.
I didn’t realize I was missing ice cream until I read that. Great first line!
I love the quote from Voyage of the Dawn Treader! Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.
the Harry Potter one & Dawn Treader one are two of my all-time favorite opening lines! And that line from Lu may be a third. It’s just so good!