First Sentence- January

I really like to look at the first sentences of books. It is wonderful when one sentence is enough to make you want to read the whole book. I thought I would share the first words of all of the books I started this month to see if the first line alone is enough to make you want to read them. I will be using the first sentence from the first chapter and not from an introduction or prologue.

Middlegame by Seanan McGuire

There is so much blood.

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

In 1815 Monsieur Charles-Francois-Bienvenu Myriel was Bishop of Digne.

Fool Moon by Jim Butcher

I never used to keep close track of the phases of the moon. 

Grieving: A Love Story by Ruth Coughlin

I am new to this thing called widowhood. 

That Which You Are Seeking is Causing You to Seek by Cheri Huber

Overcome evil with good, and falsehood with truth, and hatred with love. 

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

The monster showed up just after midnight. 

Often I am Happy by Jens Christian Grondahl

Now your husband is also dead, Anna.

Gwendy’s Magic Feather by Richard Chizmar

On Thursday, December 16, 1999, Gwendy Peterson wakes up before the sun, dresses in layers for the cold, and heads out for a run. 

Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore

The party flowed with cinematic choreography: plastic cups and beer bottles tilted back in a syncopated rhythm; clusters of guests bobbed heads and danced to a new wave soundtrack as if the floor was a giant trampoline, a ribbon of tipsy laughter running through the room. 

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

Ove is fifty-nine.

I Love My Love by Reyna Biddy

for my mother’s pain,

this is proof that sunshine comes after rain.

Wilder Girls by Rory Power

Something.

Of these 12 opening lines, how many intrigue you enough to want to pick them up?