Posted on by rjonakait

First Sentences

“At high tide on the clear morning of January 10, 1926, to the squalling of circling gulls, the Prinz Valdemar, a five-masted steel-hulled barkentine, weighed anchor.” Christopher Knowlton, Bubble in the Sun: The Florida Boom of the 1920s and How It Brought on the Great Depression (2021).

“With eyes fixed thoughtfully on the slow-moving muddy stream of the River Darling, William Clair lounged in the golden light of the setting sun.” Arthur W. Upfield, The Barrakee Mystery (1929): An Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte Mystery.

“‘Save Your Soul, Turn Back Now’ proclaimed a protest sign at the entrance of the pop-up vaccination clinic at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on January 30, 2021.” Kira Ganga Kieffer, Unvaccinated Under God: Religion and Vaccine Hesitancy in Modern America (2026).

“Her feet were as purple as calf liver.” Douglas Stuart, John of John (2026).

“The brothers smoothed a map on the table in front of them.” Nathalia Holt, The Beast in the Clouds: The Roosevelt Brothers’ Deadly Quest to Find the Mythical Giant Panda (2025).

“When Augustus came out on the porch the blue pigs were eating a rattlesnake—not a very big one.” Larry McMurtry, Lonesome Dove (1985).

“On Wednesday, July 20, 1910, as a light fog drifted along the River Scheldt, Capt. Henry George Kendall prepared his ship, the SS Montrose, for what should have been the most routine of voyages, from Antwerp direct to Quebec City, Canada.” Erik Larson, Thunderstruck (2006).

“Vera Stanhope climbed out of Hector’s ancient Land Rover and felt the inevitable strain on her knees.” Ann Cleeves, The Glass Room (2012).

“No one had any doubt that the bombers would come.” Erik Larson, The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz (2020).

“The city was hers for a single hour, just the one magic hour, only hers.” Robert Crais, The Watchman: A Joe Pike Novel (2007).

“The year my sister Amy was invited to play Mrs. Claus in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was the same year Hugh had his hip replaced.” David Sedaris, The Land and Its People (2026).

“It was a city within a city, a textile mill to weave the gossamer of fantasy on looping looms of celluloid.” Elizabeth Letts, Finding Dorothy (2019).

“Huie Kin grew up in Wing Ning, a tiny village of about seventy people, all from the same clan, tucked away in the hell of Taishan, an impoverished, mountainous county in the Pearl River Delta.” Michael Luo, Strangers in the Land: Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America (2025).

Posted on by rjonakait

First Sentences

“Pa used to say that any piece of history might be made into a tale: it was only a question of deciding where the tale began, and where it ended.” Sarah Waters, Affinity.

“If you visit the lovely Alpine town of Bolsano you will often see long queues outside the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology.” Margaret MacMillan, War: How Conflict Shaped Us.

“The morning one of the lost twins returned to Mallard, Lou LeBon ran to the diner to break the news, and even now, many years later, everyone remembers the shock of sweaty Lou pushing through the glass doors, chest heaving, neckline darkened with his own effort.” Britt Bennett, The Vanishing Half.

“On the morning of Good Friday, April 15, 1927, Seguine Allen, the chief engineer of the Mississippi Levee Board in Greenville, Mississippi woke up to the sound of running water.” John M. Barry, Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How it Changed America.

“Behold the man.” Ian McGuire, The North Sea.

“Once you start to see them, you’ll never understand how you hadn’t noticed them before.” Roman Mars and Kurt Kohlstedt, The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design.

“The small boys came early to the hanging.” Ken Follett, Pillars of the Earth.

“Once on a Wednesday excursion when I was a little girl, my father bought me a beaded wire ball that I loved.” Dava Sobel, Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time.

“Virginia court records for September 18, 1800, mention a certain Mr. Moseley Sheppard who came quietly to the witness stand in Richmond and produced testimony that caused half the States to shudder.” Arna Bontemps, Black Thunder.

“No one had any doubt that the bombers would come.” Erik Larson, The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz.

“A boy is coming down a flight of stairs.” Margaret O’Farrell, Hamnet: A Novel of the Plague.

“When I think about my time in the Senate, I see a broken man.” Adam Jentleson, Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy.

“My town sat on top of a small hill by the side of a river whose banks held only sand.” Phil Klay, Missionaries.