Do first impressions matter? That is a question to ponder for another time surely. There are people that believe that they do matter, a whole lot indeed; and on the other side, there are those who feel otherwise. That first impressions are not all that.
These quotes below are proof of some of the differing opinions about first impressions.
“I can’t believe I thought this was going to be boring. This is great!”
― Denis Markell, Click Here to Start
“A good first impression can work wonders.” – J. K. Rowling
“I don’t know if you‘ve ever noticed this, but first impressions are often entirely wrong.” – Lemony Snicket
But that said, there are book beginnings that linger in your memory for a long while and ending lines that you know you will recall years from now; as well as quotes you would love to insert into conversations every now and then. I have all these; and I truly wish I made a better effort of taking notes and organizing these for future posts, but …
…..since I don’t have them handy, and thinking about them would make it harder, I decided to go into my archives of Book Beginnings posts (a weekly meme I loved taking part in and hope I can get back to once in a while at least going forward) and picked the ones that caught my eye there. And these are all books I loved, and have to reread to review most of them.
First Impressions: Book Beginnings
The List
So here is my list for Top Ten Tuesday over at ThatArtsyReaderGirl. Yes, there are more than ten! I did not forget how to count to ten but found it hard to stop there. I could have continued but for the fact that time, like first impressions, is irretrievable, and I am running out of time right now 🙂
Note: Clicking on the covers will take you to the GoodReads page; on the titles will take you to any previous posts (either review or reference) on my blog. And both my GoodReads and blog posts need updates.
Love and Leftovers
by Sarah Tregay
Wig in the Window
by Kristen Kittscher
‘I thought I’d mastered the art of escape. It was our third midnight spy mission, after all. I knew to oil my bedroom window so it wouldn’t squeak.’
The Entirely True Story of the Unbelievable FIB
by Adam Shaughnessy
The envelopes arrived during the uncertain hours of Thursday morning – those dark, early hours between tomorrow and yesterday, between not-quite-yet and nevermore.
The Goose Girl (The Books of Bayern #1)
by Shannon Hale
She was born Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, and she did not open her eyes for three days.
Brown Girl Dreaming
by Jacqueline Woodson
february 12, 1963
I am born on a Tuesday at University Hospital
Columbus, Ohio,
USA –
a country caught
between Black and White.
How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big
by Scott Adam
Chapter One – The Time I was Crazy
In the spring of 2005 my doctor diagnosed me with a form of mental illness. He didn’t use those exact words, or anything like them, but he did refer me to the in-house psychologist at Kaiser, my health-care organization. I can take a hint.
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
by Ransom Riggs
“I had just come to accept that my life would be ordinary when extraordinary things began to happen.”
Zeb and the Great Ruckus
by Josh Donellan
This is a story made from pieces of all the dreams that you had when you were asleep, but then forgot when you woke up. Some of the most brilliant ideas occur in dreams: songs, poems, stories, inventions.
The Little Prince
by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Once when I was six years old I saw a magnificent picture in a book, called True Stories from Nature, about the primeval forest. It was a picture of a boa constrictor in the act of swallowing an animal.
Cutting for Stone
by Abraham Verghese
AFTER EIGHT MONTHS spent in the obscurity of our mother’s womb, my brother, Shiva, and I came into the world in the late afternoon of the twentieth of September in the year of grace 1954. We took our first breaths at an elevation of eight thousand feet in the thin air of Addis Ababa, capital city of Ethiopia.
The Mysterious Benedict Society
by Trenton Lee Stewart
In a city called Stonetown, near a port called Stonetown Harbor, a boy named Reynie Muldoon was preparing to take an important test.
He plunged through the doorway ahead of him (this ought to be the most direct path to the rear of the house) and, as if by magic, seemed to walk into the very room he had just left. It was cramped, brightly lit, painted black, and he could see a dark doorway in each wall.
Just Like Heaven
by Julia Quinn
Lady Honoria Smythe-Smith was desperate. Desperate for a sunny day, desperate for a husband, desperate—she thought with an exhausted sigh as she looked down at her ruined blue slippers—for a new pair of shoes.
The Shadow Princess
by Indu Sundaresan
Burhanpur
Wednesday, June 17, 1631
17 Zi’l-Qa’da A.H. 1040
The empress’s howl, splintered and exhausted, stretched thinly into the night air and then fractured into little pebbles of sound.
And Now, the End of this Post
Dear reader, what are your favorite first lines from books? I would love to hear from you. Have you read any of the books mentioned above? If yes, your thoughts on them? If no, did the first lines intrigue you enough to pick the book up?
It’s funny when I started Googling the first lines of some of my favorite novels I was like, “Huh. That is NOT a great first line.” And yet, I adored the book! Just goes to show that you can’t necessarily judge a book by its opening line. First impressions are definitely not everything!
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
Great question! 🙂 And I love your picks. There’s something about a good book opening.
benedict Society looks like a lot of fun.
This is a great post. First lines can quite often pull you into the story straight away.
I love that lemony snicket quote!
I take note of my first impressions, but I do agree that they can be wrong. We all have off days sometimes. 🙂
My TTT .
We all rely on first impressions…
Great post, i Normally just need to like the blurb.
Great compilation , have to check them out sometime!
Interesting post. Sometime first impressions can be wrong and at times they are spot on.
Great books, I remember Wig in the Window and The Little Prince from my grandchildren. Before we know it Lia will be reading these books!
Great post. I have started books going into it with the thought of it is going to be a great book and then not liking it. I have also started books thinking ok let’s just start it and see, and then falling in love with it.
Nice post. I agree with you.
Great list, I really enjoyed ‘Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children’. Such a good book and good list!
Excellent book recommendations.