First Lines

Posted on by scott

There is a mini-cult of first lines among us writers. The first line is sort of like the lobby of the book: the first thing you see, coloring all subsequent impressions. It’s one place where you’re truly allowed to show off.

So we writers like to geek out on first lines. We get all excited about collecting and trading them, having top-ten lists and all-time faves. We even reveal our chapter first lines in advance as tiny spoilers.

As many people have spotted, Uglies, which begins:

The early summer sky was the color of cat vomit.

pays homage to the opening of William Gibson’s Neuromancer:

The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.

I bring this up now because of this article on io9 discussing great science fiction first lines. It’s cool to read all these lines all together, and of course it doesn’t hurt that they include my adult novel, The Risen Empire, which opens with:

The five small craft passed from shadow, emerging with the suddenness of coins thrown into sunlight.

Oddly, io9 calls this line “a little adjective-heavy.” Dudes, it only has one adjective, the word “small”!

So for the sake of deep analysis, here are all my YA novel first lines:

The Uglies Series
Uglies
“The early summer sky was the color of cat vomit.”

Pretties
“Getting dressed was always the hardest part of the afternoon.”

Specials
“The six hoverboards slipped among the trees with the lightning grace of playing cards thrown flat and spinning.”

Extras
“Moggle,” Aya whispered. “You awake?”

Midnighters Series
The Secret Hour
“The halls of Bixby High were always hideously bright on the first day of school.”

Touching Darkness
“At last, everything was sorted out.”

Blue Noon
“Bixby High’s late bell shrieked in the distance, like something wounded and ready to be cut from the herd.”

The New York Trilogy
So Yesterday
“We are all around you.”

Peeps
“After a year of hunting, I finally caught up with Sarah.”

The Last Days
“I think New York was leaking.”

Soon I’m going to expand on this post, and talk about why I started books with these lines. In the meantime, I’d be interested to hear from you about them

Plus: What are your favorite first lines? Pick any novel you want, except mine!

568 thoughts on “First Lines”

  2. So anyway…I agree, a first line is always what draws the reader in or pushes them away. Personally, my favorite first line of yours is the Uglies one. It’s funny and something about it makes you want to know more.

    My favorite first line from books that are not yours is the one from “The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle” (amazing book, by the way.) This is it:

    “Not every thirteen-year-old girl was accused of murder, put on trial, and proven guilty. But I was just such a girl.”

    I love that first line because it really attaches you to the book; you want to find why she was convicted of murder and what is going to happen to her. That is one of the greatest book starters I have ever read; even though I read that book two years ago, I still remember the opening line by heart as clearly as if I was looking at the book now.

  4. I have two favorite first lines.

    From “Goose Chase” by Patrice Kindl
    The king killed my canary today.

    From “The Great Good Thing” by Roderick Townley
    Sylvia had an amazing life, but she didn’t get to live it very often.

    Also, I finished reading “The Last Days” last night, and I LOVED its first line.

  5. I’d have to say, some of the best first lines I’ve ever read came from “A Series of Unfortunate Events” try this one from “The End” (yes, an amazing title of a book, I know…)

    If you have ever peeled an onion, then you know that the first thin, papery layer reveals another thin, papery layer, and that layer reveals another, and another, and before you know it you have hundreds of layers all over the kitchen table and thousands of tears in your eyes, sorry that you ever started peeling in the first place and wishing that you had left the onion alone to wither away on the shelf of the pantry while you went on with your life, even if that meant never again enjoying the complicated and overwhelming taste of this strange and bitter vegetable.”

    yes, that is all one sentence.

    One of my other favorites is from “Best Friends for Never”, A Clique novel.

    “Massie Block hated herself for looking so beautiful.”

    Kind of makes you a little intrigued about the character, doesn’t it?

    Because I’ll totally make the Top 100. 😉

  9. I agree with Kenzie-la, PS: THANKS SCOTT FOR THE NEW POST SINCCE I’VE BEEN BUGGIN U ABOUT IT FOR DAYS

  10. Don’t take Io9’s commentary with a lot of weight, it’s a site that patronizes their own readers and does a poor job of proofreading let alone editing it’s own content. They seem to work more towards a story quota than critical thought.

  12. also I agree with Sell-wa, I’ve also read the True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle and the first line is fawesome

  16. i don’t know what my favorite non-Scott-la first line is.. hmmmm… i’ll get back to ya on that.

  17. You could argue this is not the first line of a story since it’s the first line of the introduction, but when you think about it, you read the introduction first. So from the Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
    “The Opera Ghost really existed.”

  19. Jonathan Carroll has the best first lines. Ever. Pretty much all of his books… Here are just three:

    “The Axe Boy lived downstairs.” (Bones of the Moon)

    “I’d just bitten the hand that fed me when God called again.” (Outside the Dog Museum)

    “Never wear yellow pants or cheap leather.” (The Wooden Sea)

  20. Hey, does this include first lines you’ve written yourself? Because even though I’m only fourteen, I like to write stories and such. I’m going to include a few of my own opening lines, because I want to know if they’re good or not…

    1. “It was a humid, sweltering evening of summer.”

    2. “The queen walked swiftly through the forest, dry twigs and dead leaves crunching under her feet.”

    3. “Cassandra. Wake up!”

    4. “It started out completely ordinary.”

    5. “The night was bitterly cold.”

    6. “Sunlight streamed through a curtain-drawn window and danced teasingly upon the glass before trickling all the way in, illuminating the scene that lay inside.”

    Can I have some of you people’s opinions? Are any of those opening lines good?

  22. hmmm
    my favorite first lines
    i hav it down to a top 2
    in the book
    Model:A Memoir -by:Cheryll Diamond
    “Their are 6.5 billion people on this planet, 16 of them are supermodels.”
    and in the book
    Digital Fortress-by:Dan Brown
    “It is said that in death, all things become clear; Ensei Tankado now knew it was true.”
    no idea y
    they r just such great openings
    and obviosly
    even though i cant say yours
    From Uglies
    “The sky was the color of cat vomit”
    my number 1 fav of all time.

  23. As much as I love first lines to books, I love ending lines even more.

    I write a little…and here are some of my favorite ending lines/beginning lines…

    Beginning line:
    “A cloud had touched the earth.” (i.e., fog. Did I still this from somewhere? No…no I think I came up with it. Somehow I think it’s linked to Uglies, though…lol)

    Here’s my favorite ending line to one of my stories. It’s the first chapter’s last line…But you’ll need some of the story, first…

    “Everybody on the planet is born with a mark.
    It is located directly above the naval, atop where the being was once connected with a mother. This Marking plainly illustrates what one needs to know to live today. It tells you of your strongest attributes. It represents the occupation you will hold in your future. And for each mark, there is an individual school. Six, in all, for that individual to learn about their options in their specialty, to find out what they are most interested in.
    Those that bear the talent of words become authors. Those who have mastered numbers are mathematicians. There is the Mark of Strength – that designates warriors, or the men that use their power to create the swords and shields for those warriors. The Mark of Imagination designates an artist, in many shapes and forms, whether it’s within designing characters for video games or for those who design the buildings that those holding the Mark of Strength will then construct. There is the Mark of Intelligence, and there is the Mark of Musicians.
    There have been no signs or patterns within the studies that scientists have conducted in regards to the attributes being acquired from either mother or father. The Marking seems to be fitted to an infant in an individual act that scientists are today trying to learn to manipulate for our own benefit. There has been no success thus far.
    The reason the scientists have been studying the Markings so closely is due to the occasional fluctuations in today’s society. Sometimes we do not have enough warriors, enough leaders, or our entertainment runs short if a creative human hasn’t been brought to life in an extended period of time.
    Yes. The Markings are truly a wondrous gift that has bestowed itself upon us. It writes our story. It gives us hope. It aids every one it touches. Helps us all.
    And I am the first to be born without it.”

    More beginning lines…
    “There was a big, white dragon.” (Talk about adjective heavy. Only two, but still.)

    ““No! Stop! STOP!” Maiya was screaming at the top of her lungs, constricted near the sidewalk of the busy intersection, thrusting her body forward to escape. “No! My dad! Dad! Get up!””

    That’s about it…I wish I had better ones…But I do appreciate a good starting line to a book…I think they’re important to bring readers in, however, the ending line is what keeps them reading an author’s material!

  24. Sella-wa::::

    Number 4 is kind of clichè, number 5 really has a strong impact on feel, number 6 is descriptive in a good way – the scene you’re trying to show is very clear and sturdy. 3 reminds me of Extras, 1 uses good words but I’m not sure I like it for the beginning of a book, and 2 makes me eager to find out what’s going to happen next. “Queen” is so powerful.

    I don’t know why I decided to tell you what I thought of each beginning line in that order, but I did lol.

  25. my favorite book endings are the endings to all the books in the Uglies series, especially Tally’s Manifesto at the end of Specials, does anyone agree?

  26. by the way I just started reading So Yesterday (by Scott-la too) and i think its icy so far

  28. Haley Rae:

    Thanks for the great feedback! 😀

    I agree with whoever said that ending lines can be powerful, too. I’ve actually only finished one of my stories, and this is the ending line:

    “And just for a moment, Kayla could have sworn she saw the ghostly outline of a painted-blue cruise ship, with billowing sails and tall, grand masts, floating eerily above the trees.”

    That’s the ending to the first line #4 that I posted earlier (“It started out completely ordinary.”) It’s a ghost story.

  29. I love starting my stories with action, or describing the scene with great detail. 🙂 It raises interest and stuff.

  30. One of my favorite first lines is from Perfect You by Elizabeth Scott

    “Vitamins ruined my life.”

    My friend and I were cracking up when we read this and she made me lend her the book afterwards lol.

  31. I like either action pack-y lines or funny lines, not that I usually judge a book by it’s first line.

  32. Like for example, i started out one of my stories with:
    “L.O.V.E (in a girls mind) Lovely, Over dramatic, Vunerable, Emotional.
    L.O.V.E (in a boys mind) who knows.
    Love = pathetic
    I wrote down on my paper and leaned back in my chair. Jenny leaned over my shoulder to see what i wrote and a wave of perfume washed over me.
    “Eh maw gawsh, you don’t believe in love, Paige?” She sniffed. I ignored her comment; of course i didn’t believe in love. The only thing guys wanted was sex, and then they leave you. Just like my dad left my mom…”

  34. “The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed” Steven King “The Gunslinger”

    “Ahab was neither my first husband, nor was he my last” Sena Jeter Naslund “Ahab’s Wife”

    and, of course, the classic

    “Arms, and the man I sing” Virgil “The Aenied”

  35. My favorite firt line is from James Patterson’s Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment. It reads, “The funny thing about facing imminent death is that it really snaps everything else into perspective.” Another favorite of mine is from Stephanie Meyer’s New Moon which is indeed a letter.

  37. Shan-la, that beginning is good!

    Jui, that’s the beginning of Eclipse, Not New Moon…but I loved that beginning too!

  38. I’m going to give more of my favorite beginnings that I wrote:

    1. “It was a humid, sweltering evening of summer. The sky was tucked in with a dark, indigo blanket of night. A handful or stars were scattered across it, sparkling and shining brilliantly. A silent, still calm was set upon the normally busy city, as if the world was holding its breath for something to happen.”

    2. “The queen walked swiftly through the forest, dry twigs and dead leaves crunching under her feet. She hurried on anxiously, glancing behind her. She had a place to be- and the forest was not a good place to be- alone- at night.”

    3. “The night was bitterly cold. The temperature had dropped from the evening’s warm 80 degrees straight down to a frigid 50. Darkness had brought a surprising chill, as if wanting to unbalance everyone with the sudden cold. But the stars still shone as bright as ever, overly twinkling, as though impossibly trying to touch the straw thatched roofs of the mud huts in the village. Of course, this supposed attempt ailed no success.”

    Tell me if you like any of them!

  39. Ironically, I just started a story to play around with, and was thinking about the first line. Always a good omen when you start a book with “Umm” in my opinion.

    And oh, do I love the first line of the first Midnighters. Classic.

    Yeah…hmmm…other good first lines…can’t honestly say I remember any. I do like the first paragraph or so of Jonathan Stroud’s first Bartimaeus book, for total weird sarcasm. But I can’t think of any right now, especially because OMFG DOCTOR WHO SEASON FINALE IS ENDING RIGHT NOW IN HUGE REUNIONS AND AMAZING AWESOMENESS AND OMG.
    Um, by which I mean I’ll be back later.

    I did like the first line of every chapter thing. That was cool.

    Is it really, really, really egotistical if I like my first lines the best? They’re just some of the ones I remember. Like a short story I wrote which will one day spin off into a novel “There was a dead crow on Lazarus Grey’s lawn.”

    OMG I LOVE DOCTOR WHO.
    umm, sorry about that.

  42. Omg, Jui, i love the maximum ride series! its amazingggg. prolly my fav series i’ve ever read really.

  43. Oh yeah, first lines are awesome! 🙂 Here are some of my favorites:

    1. Leap of Faith by HM Queen Noor- “I first met my future husband through the lens of a camera…” (the future husband is the king of Jordan btw 😉

    2. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer- “I’ve never given much thought to how I would die.”

    hmmm… that’s all I can think of right now.

  44. Sella-wa, i loved the 1st and 3rd one. it set the scene well. very enticing. 🙂
    I have a few others of my own as well:
    1.

  46. whoa, didn’t mean to press enter and not put anything up. 🙂 lol! well here’s what i was going to write:
    1. I held my breath and pushed myself up against the wall. For sure i had been caught; they wouldn’t let me get away again. I could make a dash, but that might disturb the molecules in the air and attract their attention. Even the slightest bit of movement would; a vampire can sense anything. I watched as the shadows moved slowly across the sewer’s walls.
    “Got ya.” a voice snickered, and the vampire jumped down from the ceiling and knocked me out.” <– this is from one of my stories where the world is infested by vamps, and there’s one living human among them and he’s struggling to survive.

  48. OMG Shan-la that’s really, really, really intriguing and exciting! I would definitely read more!!

  49. lol thanks! 🙂 i got that idea when i started watching Buffy, and every second i would ask my dad “Is she a vamp?” or “Is that person a vampire?” and then i was like “Omg i should write a story about if the world was vamp-infested and there was only one human left!”

  50. Okay. quite honestly Scott-sami “the sky was the color of cat vomit” was the only first line i EVER fell in love w/.
    other than yours my fave has to be
    “Not so pretty in death are you?” it’s from Dead of Night.
    Personally i like beginings to grab you, tie you to a chair and force you to read the book, like this.

    “This is very odd, doctor,”
    “Yes, I know, get her prepped, stat,”
    “Yes doctor,”
    “My goodness people! Move faster its life is at stake!”
    “That ‘it’ is my sister! My sister Tristine! Oh my gosh!”
    “Sir, go to the waiting room,”
    “No! I can’t g-….”

    yeah, book i’m working on. sry for the longness.

  51. Also, I like how about half of the people so far have totally ignored the phrase “except me” and picked Scott Westerfeld first lines. I mean, it’s true that TLD has one of the best first lines of all time…

    My other favs…
    The Morganville Vampires series (by Rachel Caine) has some great first lines. Like the first book, Glass Houses.
    “On the day Claire became a member of the Glass House, someone stole her laundry.”
    or the fourth book, which is have right next to me, and is a sort of nonspoiler spoiler.
    “It was hard to imagine how Claire’s day—even by Morganville standards—could get any worse… and then the vampires holding her hostage wanted breakfast.”

    Or Sabriel by Garth Nix (the first line of the first chapter, not the prologue): The rabbit had been run over moments before. Because DUDE.

    I like the Tithe opening line, but I don’t know it off the top of my head. Something about Kaye dropping a cigarette in her mother’s beer.

    I like short first sentances…and shocking ones…first lines that take up more than one line make me start to skim unconciously a little, and that’s not a good start to a book. Ones that go straight into the action are good too, summarizing a sort of weird situation, but that’s sometimes a little over-the-top. Shortness is my favorite quality, really. Something bold and one-linish.

  52. Abigail-wa, that’s good! 🙂 love the line, “That ‘it’ is my sister! My sister Tristine! Oh my gosh!”

  56. Yeah, the Abhorsen series rocks hardcore. Can’t wait for the new ones. Why is 2010 so far away? *sob* Hey, at least they’re coming at all…

    …and will, presumably have great first lines, because I’m totally on topic here.

  57. Thanks Abigail-wa ^,..,^
    Lol, i know Serafina Zane! too farrrr -,..,- major bogus! but hey, at least they’re on their way. lol, that rhymed ^,..,^ The only thing Garth Nix could’ve done better on was description. Good thing i have a vivid imagination, otherwise i don’t think i could’ve read those books w/o being lost. lol ^,..,^

  58. Eh, i like his style, I think it’s pretty vivid. The magic system is pretty complicated, true, but it’s also one of my favorites.

    And I can’t wait to finally read Clariel. Oh, how I wondered over that sentence “Back when she was an Abh–” in multiple rereads.

  59. Same here.
    Clariel, lol, i love the names! they’re all similar. with the ‘riel’ at the end. it’s unique and cool

  61. joseph! good god, did you read the whole dark tower series? favorite books ever, literally fell in love. you probably didnt cry, but i bawled my eyes out and i agree completely with you about that first line. =]

  62. Np, Jui.

    Wow it’s funny…we’re only on 60 comments and we’re already starting to get off-topic. lol.

  64. i like The Last Book In The Universe’s first line…
    “If you’re reading this, it must be a thousand years from now. Because nobody around here reads books anymore.”
    Also, one of mine:
    “Pockets are the perfect place for a pack of Post-its. Why has no one else noticed that?”

  65. Robert J. Sawyer likes to point out that the William Gibson line about the sky over the port being the colour of a television tuned to a dead channel has completely reversed its meaning since it was written. When Gibson wrote it, it conjured up a grey, foggy kind of sky. Now, of course, a television tuned to a dead channel usually shows a bright, sunny blue!

    Cat vomit, fortunately, is the same yesterday, today and forever.

  66. First lines are kinda like pick-up lines if you think about it. Ha, Ha.
    The line is what makes or breaks it.
    One of my favorite first lines is from a book called “Cirque Du Freak” by Darren Shan.
    “I was in the bathroom at school, sitting down on the toilet, humming a song.”
    I thought that line was pretty funny.
    Another one of my favorite first lines is from a book called “Full Tilt” by Neal Shusterman.
    “It began the night we died on the Kamikaze.”

  67. Lot’s of good ones here and on the other list. This is a long post. Just trying to throw out some that I didn’t see listed.

    We can’t reference your books. No fair! 🙂

    Shortest:
    “Kato Died First.” – Heart of the Comet – Gregory Benford and David Brin – one of my favorites

    Short:
    “All right. He’s dead. Go ahead and talk to him.” – Distress – Greg Egan

    “Only the most paranoid clients phone me in my sleep.” – Quarantine – Greg Egan

    “I know, I know — it seemed crazy that the alien had come to Toronto.” – Calculating God – Robert J. Sawyer

    Medium:
    “‘That one,’ said Father Sylvester, pointing to a Japanese whore with tiny breasts and soft legs, her legs wrapped in crepe bandages so fine as to be almost transparent, ‘she’s perfect . . . ‘ – redRobe – Jon Courtenay Grimwood

    Long:
    The day war was declared, a rain of telephones fell clattering to the cobblestones from the skies above Novy Petrograd. Some of them had half melted in the heat of re-entry; others pinged and ticked, cooling rapidly in the postdawn chill. An inquisitive pigeon hopped close, head cocked to one side; it pecked at the shiny case of one such device, then fluttered away in alarm when it beeped. A tinny voice spoke: “Hello? Will you entertain us?” – Singularity Sky – Charles Stross
    Space outside the attack cruiser Beezling tore open in five places. For a moment anyone looking into the expanding rents would have received a true glimpse into empty infinity. The pseudofabric structure of the wormholes was a photonic dead zone, a darkness so profound it seemed to be spilling out to contaminate the real universe. Then ships were suddenly streaking up out of the gaping termini, accelerating away at six gees, twisting round on interception trajectories. They were different from the spherical Garisan naval craft which they had tracked between the stars, graceful, streamlined teardrop shapes. Larger and dangerously powerful. Alive. – The Reality Dysfunction – Peter F. Hamilton

  68. I am not sure what my favorite first lines are apart from the one’s from Uglies, Pretties, Specials and Extra’s
    Oh wait, no I know.
    “The Fossil sisters lived in the Cormwell Road” From Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild!
    I was very glad to see this post, I was slightly worried becuase there hadn’t been a post since about a week ago. I dont’ really mind how often Scott-la blogs, but I was worried he had like died or something!

  69. “My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie.”
    – The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

  71. “She was born Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, crown princess of Kildenree, and she did not open her eyes for three days.”
    (The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale)

  73. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.
    (Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austin)

  74. lol i love how all the first lines for the uglies series are discriptive and interesting and then for extras, its just like moggle u awake?
    lol
    very very cooooollll
    ha Peeps is sitting right next to me….

  80. awsomely fun
    i <3 slumber parties
    im going to camp on monday for two weekkkkksss…but i got nothin really interesting
    lol

  81. oh yeah just to leave another comment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    uh….i no its like a book for little kids but i still love it…
    “My name is India Opal Buloni, and last summer my daddy, the preacher, sent me to the store for a box of macaroni and cheese, some white rice and two tomatoes and i came back with a dog.”
    -Because of Winn Dixie, kate dicamillo

  83. adding to my comment (#26) I finished So Yesterday, it was utterly icy, the ending was a little confusing but i loved it

  84. omg I love the first line of Blue Noon!

    favorite second line is from Princess Academy: “The world was as dark as eyes closed, but perhaps the goats could smell dawn seeping through the cracks in the house’s stone walls.”

  85. The Princess Bride, William Goldman
    “This is my favorite book in all the world, though I have never read it.”

    Fairest, Gail Carson Levine
    “I was born singing. Most babies cry. I sang an aria. Or so I believe. I have no one to tell me the truth of it.”

    And, of course, the opening chunk of The Shadow Thieves is just complete and utter brilliance.

  86. I’m baccckkkkkk…….!
    Hi my fellow Westerfeldians! I have missed you all!
    *dramatic entrance is now….OVER.*
    Oh, wow, my favorite first line (not by Scott). Here I go:
    “The day I broke up with my boyfriend was the day he wrote the song” (Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway).
    I like that one because it sounds like Audrey (protagonist, & main character) is being interviewed and I can almost hear her voice. Like, “Yeah, the day I broke up with Evan was the day he wrote…My song. *insert sigh here*.
    Also, “Somewhere in the distance I heard a cell phone ring and I slipped through the side door unnoticed.” (The Market by J.M. Steele). I like that one just because it feels so shady and mysterious, like she’s hiding from someone and you’re following her (although she’s really not).
    Wow, there are so many awesome first sentences…I might to come back to this. IS ANYONE ON THEIR COMPUTER?

  87. My favorites:

    “He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad.” — Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini

    “The first Wednesday in every month was a Perfectly Awful Day — a day to be awaited with dread, endured with courage, and forgotten with haste.” — Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster

    “It was a dumb thing to do but not that dumb.” — Sunshine by Robin McKinley

    and, of course, the plagiarized “It was a dark and stormy night…” by SNOOPY

  90. I like Uglies, Specials, The Secret Hour and Blue Moon’s intro sentence. Probably because I just guess I like the comparison of the two different things and how they are similar.

  91. Ohh whoops I didn’t know I wasn’t suppose to pick your books but I guess favourite first line that isn’t your would have to be Heartsick by Chelsea Cain. “Archie doesn’t know it was her until that moment” It’s a thirller book and it starts fast already. I love it!

  92. I like the first sentence of Uglies the best. It’s short, catchy, and interesting. And it’s about the “weather,” which is one of the most boring topics ever. But it works so well in the context.

    We did book analysis this year in language arts class and part of that was first-sentence analysis. There are several types of first sentences. Like, description (“Bixby High’s late bell shrieked in the distance, like something wounded and ready to be cut from the herd.”), short and catchy (“The early summer sky was the color of cat vomit”), and dialogue (““Moggle,” Aya whispered. “You awake?”).

    I hate the Twilight series, mostly because of the main characters, but I will use the first sentence of Eclipse for an example of a great first sentence–“All our attempts at subterfuge had been in vain”.

    I love that for several reasons. 1) it uses beautiful words like “subterfuge”, and it has a poetic-like structure. 2) it’s not too long. I don’t like sentences that go on for half a paragraph describing something. It’s a bit run-on-y and doesn’t give a good first impression (a lot of classics do this, but I’ve learned that first impression are often so very wrong.) 3) it doesn’t explain much. It makes you wonder the context–what were their attempts? Why were they in vain?

    Another first sentence I really love is from The Hobbit. “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.”

    Like all great first lines, this makes you wonder. What’s a hobbit? Why does it live in a hole in the ground?

    Then it goes on to explain–“Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.”

    Ahh, so hobbits are like people–they have clean homes and furniture, and keep food in the home rather than hunting. This sentence makes a warm, comfortable image to mind, and that gives you a good first impression hobbits–they’re very warm, comfortable little people. Based on the last part–“It was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort”–you automatically associate “hobbit” with “comfort”. It’s a simple yet genius technique.

    I also really like how Tolkien waits until the second sentence to explain it. The first sentence is only there to arouse the reader’s interest. By the second sentence, they will welcome the description because they want to know more about the subject.

    Some of my own old first sentences (ones I’m not too proud of…):

    “Liz looked average, like any other kid in America.”

    “It was useless, I knew, but I began to run.”

    By the way, this post kind of reminds me of that one post a while back–about judging a book by the summary on the back/inside cover. The post about reading the first page rather than the summary, with the example about that book with the girl at the mailbox, crying because she made a perfect score on her SAT (or was it some other test? I don’t remember.)

  96. I guess these be my two favorites, after Scott-la’s books.

    From A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray:
    “‘Please tell me that’s not going to be part of my birthday dinner this evening.'” (the next line clarifies) “I am staring into the hissing face of a cobra.”

    From Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson:
    “The funny thing about facing imminent death is that it really snaps everything else into perspective.”

  98. what about now? by the way, i was looking at my favorite books and none of them have cool titles that u guys didn’t already mention, and none are as bubbly as Scott-la’s. Also the other day I was bored so i memorized Tally’s Manifesto in Specials (kinda sick I know, I have issues) lol

  99. I wish i could be happy, but i am only incredibly bored. I have NOTHING to write about. NOTHING! I cant think of anything and i want like a vampire story but its seems like my mind just wants to copy twilight so i cant do that. URG! Life is complicated.

  101. I feel your pain Bran-la. Lol. I like to write too and I know how it feels when you’re brain-dead! Ugh, I hate writer’s block.

  103. I also love the first line of Stephanie Meyer’s “Breaking Dawn” (The first chapter is on EW)

    No one is staring at you, I promised myself.

    I just like it…

    Allie-wa: I personally love Twilight, but I agree with you about the characters. Bella is so whiny and annoying, Edward is controling freak, and Jacob is just an idiot. Truthfully the only people I like are Alice (LOVE HER!) and Emmett!

    I also think Roald Dahl is great a first lines. Here are three of my favorites:

    The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me: “Not far from where I live there is a queer old empty wooden house standing all by itself on the side of the road.

    The BFG: “Sophie couldn’t sleep”

    The Twits: “What a lot of hairy-faced men are around nowadays.”

    I have one more favorite first line. It is from Lost Magic by Berthe Amoss. Its really creepy and mysterious, and it leaves me begging for more.

    “Old Henne found me, a half-starved infant, bundled in a basket and floating like Moses amid the flotsam of the moat.”

    The first paragragh is even better. It goes on to say…

    “Some said that I was a wicked fairy child, for what human mother would send her own infant adrift in such a fashion? But Old Henne, whose hut leaned against the wall and served as a gatehouse, wadded out into the mucky water, grabbed the basket, and brorught me home with her. SHe kept me until I turned ten and became an impediment to her boisterous evenings.”

    I also love Scott-wa’s last lines, escpecially the last line of “Blue Noon”. I have it written on the cover of my writer’s notebook, I just love it!

  105. Oh yeah I love the first line of Breaking Dawn. And I agree with you- the characters annoy me sometimes. Bella is selfish and whiny sometimes, Edward is WAY too overprotective (though I still love him), and Jacob MORON black is an obnoxious, rude, annoying, tree-pissing, IDIOT who I HATE WITH ALL MY HEART!!!!!!!!

    sorry. just had to get that out. 😀

  106. I haven’t read Twilight but its next on my list, to many people have told me to read it for me to ignore them, by the way is anyone on?

  108. Twilight.. uhggggggggg…. *GAG MAJOR*..
    Bella : a bit abnoxious. obsessed. klutzy
    Edward: overprotective. not real >=(
    Jacob: fun, but kinda just… arg

    That’s why i’m writing my OWN vampire story, so we can have a GOOD one. (like Cirque Du Freak). Also, i’m writing a werewolf one (some what of a love story but mostly action stuff).

  110. Haha, i love vampires. but i’d rather be a werewolf. 🙂 i love the Mercedes Thompson series. they’re amazing (about werewolves)

  111. I just finished reading the first lines of all of my favorite-bookshelf-books. The best/most fun (in my opinion) are:

    -Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen): ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.’

    -Deception Point (Dan Brown): ‘Death, in this forsaken place, could come in countless forms.’

    -Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident (Eoin Colfer): ‘By the age of thirteen, our subject, Artemis Fowl, was displaying signs of an intellect greater than any human since Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.’

    -City of Ashes (Cassandra Clare): ‘The formidable glass-and-steel structure rose from its position on Front Street like a glittering needle threading the sky.’

    -Holes (Louis Sachar): ‘There is no lake at Camp Green Lake.’

    Ahhh, I love the last one. I also absolutely adore (hah. alliteration.) oOBubblesOo’s suggestion of ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ – best book ever… or one of them, at least.

    And, people – don’t diss Jacob. Edward may pwn, but at least Jacob can own in proper English. =]

    -Casie

  112. What a fun, quirky hobby! I’d never thought of collecting favorite first lines in books, but I’m sure loving it now! I just went through my modest bookshelf and picked out the best non-Westerfeld first lines from amongst them.

    The one from Pride and Prejudice was already on this blog, so here are my others…

    “Razo hopped up and down, but he could see only backs of heads.”
    Shannon Hale’s RIVER SECRETS

    “Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood.”
    Rick Riordan’s THE LIGHTNING THIEF

    “‘Lay off the freaking horn!’ I said, rubbing my forehead.”
    James Patterson’s SAVING THE WORLD AND OTHER EXTREME SPORTS

    “This book was born as I was hungry.”
    Yann Martel’s LIFE OF PI author’s note

    “I knew it would begin with the end, and the end would look like death to these eyes.”
    Stephenie Meyer’s THE HOST

    “Congratulations. The fact that you’re reading this means you’ve taken one giant step closer to surviving till your next birthday.”
    James Patterson’s ANGEL EXPERIMENT prologue

    I’m sure lovin’ this blog! ^_^

  113. I like Twilight, it’s one of my FAVORITE books.

    Uhm, okay. Favorite first liners. I like the one form You Don’t Know Me by David Klass.
    It goes: “You don’t know me.”

    I know, but it’s really interesting. I read the first chapter but not the whole book yet. I did peek at the ending and what the boy thinks at the end made me wanna cry for some reason T.T

  114. liked the first twilight a TON! thought the second was good, third…eh….i’m sooooo not spending money on the fourth. making a fourth is a huge mistake. she is killing her series! it’s too drawn out and detailed and slow in parts. sry stephanie myers fans.

  115. hi scott-la

    my favourite new author at the moment is Melissa Marr so for a first liner i think i should include her

    for wicked lovely

    The Summer King knelt before her. “Is this what you freely choose, to risk winter’s chill?”

    i find it so….chilling…no pun intended!

    and of course who could forget christopher paolini….if it hasnt already been mentioned

    eragon:
    Wind howled through the night, carrying a scent that would change the world.

    just another point made about literature that opens your eyes to new journeys

    jinx xx

  117. Is it lame to say Charles Dickens? “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…”
    Actually, the first line of Tale of Two Cities was the entire paragraph, but everyone only quotes the first phrase.

    Girl in Hyacinth Blue- “Cornelius Englebrecht invented himself.”-Susan Vreeland.

    THE BEST:: METMORPHOSIS
    “As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.”
    -The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka-

    ^It had me hooked from the start.

    <3

  118. ‘Tis never lame to quote the classics, Miss Muffet! Otherwise it would be lame to quote Pride and Prejudice, and someone already quoted that! ^_^

  119. Tara-la, how could you choose werewolves over vampires?? *gasps in shock* jk but I’d choose vampires over werewolves any day. Who wants to be a smelly, tree-pissing mutt when you can be beautiful and live forever!!

  120. Finding first lines should be easy enough. Conveniently my favourite chair to read in is the computer chair so I’m surrounded by some of my favourite books. (I spy three of yours.)

    “They had tried to destroy the Will, but that proved to be beyond their power.”- The Keys to the Kingdom: Mister Monday by Garth Nix.

    “The blood-red, spike-covered locomotive vented steam in angry blasts as it wound up from the very depths of the Pit.” – The Keys to the Kingdom: Grim Tuesday by Garth Nix.

    “‘Oh God. I feel like a refugee from a Douglas Coupland novel.'” – jPod by Douglas Coupland (who would have guessed!?).

  121. I have always been confused by the first chapter of Specials. In the first line, it says there are six hoverboards, but then a few lines down it says there are five Cutters. What happened to the sixth?

  122. lotti-wa I agree i have been wondering the same thing, there is only 5 cutters (Tally, Shay, Fausto, Ho and Tachs) and they didn’t bring an extra board (ha ha I said Extra ha ha, how lame am I?)

  124. “We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck.” Feed by M.T. Anderson

    That first line really hooked me!

  126. Oh my frack, this is probably very off topic, but, you know how Dr.Cable said that Tally reminded her of her? Imagine Dr.Cable as an Ugly or a Pretty? What if she ‘ran away’ like Tally did to The Smoke a while back?

    Imagine that, total scary-making huh?

  127. Wow, Lisa-wa. that is scary. DR. Cable gives me the creeps. I can’t picture her as a ugly or pretty. i can’t picture her as anything but a creepy old mean special.

  128. The first line to the first book of one of my favorite series.
    Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment; (first line!)

    “The funny thing about facing imminent death is that it really snaps everything else into perspective.”

  129. Priya-la: Yeah, lol I told that to my mom (she’s read the series) and she said that maybe she looked somewhat like Tally (like not that ugly, but not that pretty) ya know?

    it’s a very scary thought…

  130. For some reason I tend to think as first lines as more important in short stories than in novels, perhaps because you have a smaller amount of time and space to hook the reader. Someone is more likely to give a novel a paragraph or a page to get interesting, whereas a short story can live or die by that first line.

    And I tend to go back and forth on how I feel about “gimmicky” first lines–ones that seem to take the “hook” notion almost a little too far. It’s one thing to catch the reader’s attention and another to start with something misplaced from the story.

    Yours are nice; I do specifically remember the bit about the playing cards as a particularly vivid image.

  131. The one series i love that always starts out with a good line is the confessions of georgia nicolson.
    Dr. Cable = weird o.O

  132. “When I walked out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house…”

    ^-^

  133. on the subject of Dr. Cable, i agree, its scary-making to think of her as an ugly or esspecialy a bubble-headed pretty

  134. maybe Dr.cable’s mom was the head of Special Circumstances and Dr. C grew up knowing she would grow up to be one

  136. Nikki-wa, that’s not true, because Dr.Cable said she invented the Special operation herself, remember? She says that when she rescues Tally from being de-specialized at the end of the book. So her mom couldn’t have been the head, because there was no Special Circumstances before Dr.C came along.

    But yeah…it IS weird to try to imagine Dr.C as an ugly or pretty. I agree, maybe she did run away and join the Smokies at first…but I think that Dr.C must have been mentally ill (insane) or something to be able to start that whole Specials thing!!

    Hm…maybe Dr.C accidentally didn’t get the lesions when she became pretty, and that’s how she started the Specials? Or maybe she never became pretty and stayed with the Smokies until she started the operation…hm…

    I wonder, if Dr.C was the one who had the Specials idea, who did her operation??

    Sorry I’m giving everyone a lot to chew. 😀 Oh and someone mentioned before that the beginning of Specials said “six hoverboards” when only five cutters were on the mission. So it’s probably a typo. Or maybe there was a sixth cutter that just wasn’t mentioned.

  137. Wait a sec…what I want to know is, how old is Dr.Cable?? Because she started the Specials and they’ve been around for most of Prettytime, right? So is she, like, REALLY old??

  138. I loved the first lines of the Midnighters trilogy, mostly because I had been anticipating the releases of those books… 0.o I loved this one random book’s first line, called “Dancing in Red Shoes will Kill You,” it was something along the lines of: “It’s not every day that you walk into your sisters room and find your best friend naked on her bed.” It actually wasn’t as bad as it sounded, but it really got you hooked to the book! It also completely summed up that particular author’s writing style, which is important. Also David Klass had a good first paragraph/page, which was really funny but still serious.

  139. “There are places you can go,” Ariana tells him, “and a guy as smart as you has a decent chance of surviving to eighteen.”

    -Unwind, by Neal Shusterman

    That first line is incredibly powerful, because you want to know what age has to do with it. It’s also the most thought provoking book I’ve read since Uglies.

    When I opened that, I saw the line about cat vomit, and I just walked straight to the cash register. “I just have to know where this is going.” I have to tell you, it went a totally different direction, and I totally liked it.

  140. hm…

    the virgin suicides, jeffrey eugenides:

    “On the morning the last Lisbon daughter took her turn at suicide-it was Mary this time, and sleeping pills, like Therese-the two paramedics arrived at the house knowing exactly where the knife drawer was, and the gas oven, and the beam in the basement from which it was possible to tie a rope.”

    I love it because it sort of gives you chills and makes you want to read more. It’s Shakespeare style- where you know what is going to happen from the beginning.

    a great and terribly beauty, libba bray:

    “Please tell me that’s not going to be part of my birthday dinner this evening.”

    makes me chuckle

    the sisterhood of the traveling pants, anne brashares:

    “Once upon a time there were a pair of pants.”

    if i should die before i wake, han nolan:

    “She’s looking at me.”

  141. Am I the only one who noticed the extreme similarity in the first lines of Scott-la’s “The Risen Empire” and “Specials”? I can’t really explain in words why they’re similar without ranting, but they really seem like it.
    Hold up–“So Yesterday”, “Peeps”, and “The Last Days” were a TRILOGY? I just figured “So Yesterday” was a stand-alone novel while TLD was “Peeps” companion-novel. Shrugs.
    I’ve noticed that there are four commonly used opening lines, so here’s a list of them, why they’re so common, and examples of them from some truely amazing books (I’m not going to put any of Scott-la’s purely because I’ve read all and re-read most of his books, and school constantly bombards me with the “Broaden your horizons and try new things” crap. I’m all about trying new things, but by now, we KNOW what we like, and have read dozens of books from each genre, mostly against our own will. And I’m sure I’m not the only one with this delema.):
    1. Quotes, because they make you wonder in what context it’s being said, and who’s saying it. I can’t think of a specific example, but you know they’re out there, lol.
    2. Phylosphical/actiony ones (Two very different adjectives, one made up, that tend to be used as concepts together a lot. Apparently people are convinced that when in danger or doing something extremely active, your have total mental clarification.) because they make you think, and want to know why that concept was brought up in the first place. ex. “I’d never given much thought to how I would die–though I’d had reason enough in the last few months–but even if I had, I would not have imained it like this.”–Twilight, Stephenie Meyer.
    3. Random and quirky ones, because you think “What the heck does this have to do with the story?”, and of course, want to find out. ex. “The pigeons had taken over Saint Mark’s Square.” –Masquerade (a Blue Bloods Novel), Melissa De La Cruz.
    4. Unspecific, generalized, short ones. They leave a lot to be wondered, questioned, and discovered. Plus, they’re dead give aways to books with a lot of insight that really make you THINK (a.k.a. my kind of reads). I guess curiosity intrigued the reader. ex. “We are all around you.” –So Yesterday, Scott Westerfeld.
    Okay, I gave in. I’m too tired to look up a better one, and it is the perfect example, so I used one from Scott-la’s books. Well, g’night everone, and happy blogging.

  143. I love Scott’s [your] So Yesterday’s first sentence, but the epilogue of that and Specials just nails it for me.

    Other first sentences include…

    ‘Jason was going to Brain Camp. It had another name, a real name, but that’s what everyone called it.’

    It’s not my favourite line of all time, but I like it when she breaks off from the action, and gives a bit of description, like so —

    ‘My dad died. And I was there.’

    Next paragraph:

    ‘This was how people knew me. Not…’

    This is, of course, The Truth about Forever by Sarah Dessen.

    My own personal favourite from my stories…

    ‘Nine months of development plus a further fifteen years, three months and eighteen days is technically over sixteen years of age, right?’

    With the following paragraph;

    ‘That’s a lot of time; sixteen years, eighteen days and God knows how many hours, minutes and seconds. A heap of time to live as an unacknowledged person. An oodle of life to waste while hidden behind the more talented and skilled half of yourself. Younger twins have no chance.’

    Personally my favourite story, with the ending line of;

    ‘Let me speed up that desert for you.’

    I can’t think of any other books right now with favourite beginnings, but yeah. (:

  144. mhmm, i’ve noticed that first lines of books kind of have little err… “category” thigies.

    one i think ou missed out is the

    “it all started with..” one.

    ^^

  145. lol how about ‘NEw Moon” by Stephenie Meyer:

    “I was ninety-nine point nine percent sure I was dreaming.”

    😀 cool.

  146. Hmm, I have many favorites, Neil Gaiman is especially good at them, Interworld’s os probably my favorite:

    “Once I got lost in my own house.”

    Now that’s intriguing.

  147. “The gunman is useless.” from I am the Messenger by Mark Zusak

    Not exactly the most exciting first line, but it definitely accomplishes its purpose of making the reader want to find out more. It’s one of my favorite books.

  149. Hmm, I went looking through all my books, including the ones i got from the library, and I coud only find one book with an interesting beginning- Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book One. “If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book.” Great way to want a reader to continue, huh? Of course, this series is aimed towards late elementary/early middle school children, who just LOVE going against adult’s wishes 😉 So naturally they’d keep reading.

  150. the novel i started writing last night.

    “the first thing bella romani heard on the first monday of summer vacation was her brother, Garrett, right outside her door: ‘SON of a monkey’s UNcle!” (he was known for his strange expressions of pain and surprise).”

  151. My of my favorite books is by Laura Whitcomb, “A Certain Slant of Light” Not only do I LOVE the cover name, but the first line goes like this….

    “Someone was looking at me, a disturbing sensation if you’re dead.”

  152. Not to point any fingers, but I e-mailed her about 4 months ago and she ACTUALLY e-mailed me back. ( More then Once)

    Oh… And I cannot wait until her next book “The Fetch” comes out in Feb. 2009.

  155. My favorite first line…I probably have more than one favorite, but what came to mind was this:

    It was a dark, blustery afternoon in spring, and the city of London was chasing a small mining town across the dried-out bed of the old North Sea.

    Phillip Reeve’s Mortal Engines.

    The next few lines- the first two pages, in fact- just gets better and better. I liked the whole series from there on in, pretty much. Definitely reccomended.

  156. I love the first line of The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (first book of the Percy Jackson series.)

    “Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood.”

    That really intrigues the reader. What is a half-blood? Why does the protagonist not want to be it? Is it something bad? Of course, you want to find out more. The rest of the beginning draws me in even more:

    “If you’re reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.

    Being a half-blood is dangerous. It’s scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.

    If you’re a normal kid, reading this because you think it’s fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened.

    But if you recognize yourself in these pages- if you feel something stirring inside- stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it’s only a matter of time before THEY sense it too, and they’ll come for you.

    Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

    Wow! What an eye-gluing beginning! This is one of my favorite starters.

  157. Oh my gosh you guys! This is me, TZ and I’m in New York! I love it so so so soooooooooooooooo much, I’m in the computer lab here right now so I won’t be able to post a lot but just wanted to say hola to my crazy peeps!

  158. Nobody’s yet mentioned the first line of C.S. Lewis’ The Voyage of the Dawn Treader:
    “There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.”

  161. lucky Tally/Zane-la!!! why the heck are you in NY?! take me with you!!!!

    hehe. hmmm… fav first line? tuff one… let me get back to you.

    -Lizzy-wa OUT! 😐

  162. Hi, new here, but not to the books! Now, to business…

    “hey mads! 1st day of 10th grade down the tube- wh-hoo!” ~ ttyl, Lauren Myracle

    “do you ever get the feeling that you’re waiting for your life to begin?” ~ DOAC, Sarra Manning

    “I’m not *that* depressed, considering that this gigantic silver bullet with wings is blasting me away from my whole entire life…” ~One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies, Sonya Sones

    “Passion Purple, Fruity Fuchsia, Playful Pink.” ~Tattoo, Jennifer Lynn Barnes

    “The year 1886 was signalised by a remarkable incident, a mysterious and inexplicable phenomenon, which doubtless no one has yet forgotten” ~20,00 Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne

    There has got to be more, but it is either way too early or way to late, depending on ones perspective of time, for me to look for others.

  163. I LOVE the opening line of Peter Pan:
    “All children, except one, grow up.” That whole first paragraph is adorable! =)

  166. i am sooooo very excited for August 2nd!!! ….i can’t decide though…. cuz i preordered Breaking Dawn on Amazon.com but it might not get here till like weeks later… which would be torture.. i would pretty much die. or i could go to the midnight release party (never been to one before.. might be kinda fun) with a couple of my friends and i’d get my copy quick. but if they ran out of copies before i got one that would suck too. so what do i do? ….play it safe and stick with amazon knowing that i will get my copy.. eventually.. or ….go to the party with my friends and get my copy fast but i might not get one at all?

  167. I just finished Twilight today and I fear I will die of anticipation before I get the 2nd one this weekend (i’m already in a state of extreme despair, my condition will only spiral downward the longer I wait)

  168. My English teacher told me once that I am very good at writing first lines. It’s those dang last lines that are the trouble. XP
    Mmm… my favorite first line has got to be from An Abundance of Katherines: “The morning after noted child prodigy Colin Singleton graduated from high school and got dumped for the nineteenth time by a girl named Katherine, he took a bath.”

  169. Kay-wa, here’s an idea: go to the midnight party (as it’s only in three days) and try to get the book. If you do, great, and cancel your pre-order from Amazon. If you don’t, no big deal- you still can get it from Amazon!

  171. I have Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse so I keep rereading them waiting for this weekend…
    on Stephenie Meyers website shes been releasing a quote everyday in case you were interested and shes doing that until the 2nd
    😀
    *fangirl squeel*

  172. Though it’s completely unrelated to the current topic of discussion… did you get the names for the characters in the uglies series from the author of the book titled “Black Girl in Paris”? (the author’s name is Shay Youngblood.) I was looking for your books in a bookstore the other day and I came across this book. if it wasn’t your inspiration, funny coincidence…

  173. Hmm, favorite lines…..
    “Six years after the fact, Dr. Paul Edward Farmer reminded me, ‘We met because of a beheading, of all things.'” From Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder.
    “Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.” Harry Potter #1, by JK Rowling.
    “The first time it happened, I was bullshitting.” Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet, by Joanne Proulx.
    BTW Scott, have you read the Kushiel series?

  174. Oooh, another good one:
    “A razor blade gave me freedom from the Dorms.” Shade’s Children, Garth Nix. I love that it makes you wonder just how she used the razor blade.

  175. yeah…. i could do that but then what if i end up with 2 copies? i guess i could like give one to my friend… i don’t know.. my mom might not go for that though.. especially since Breaking Dawn is one of my b-day presents. hmmm.. i guess i will just have to ask her in the morning. goodnight peeps!

  176. You mean you might not be able to cancel your Amazon subscription? Oh, that might be a problem…you should find out if you can or not, and then decide…you know you can reserve a copy at Barnes & Noble at least a day ahead of the midnight party (but it’s best as soon as possible) so that it’s guaranteed you have a copy? That’s what I’m doing.

  177. “Aujourd’hui, maman est morte. Ou peut être hier, je ne sais pas” Something like “Today mum died. or maybe yesterday, I don’t know” What a promise for the rest of the novel…

  178. Oh my gosh, Scott… You’re going to be on the top of the YA list if the Breaking Dawn spoilers are true.

    Yessss!!! The Meyerpires are going down!

  179. Ha, I’ve ended up with two copies of a lot of books….one from Amazon, one from Borders….or sometimes we just order two.
    Because me and my mom fight over em if there’s only one copy…which is why we had doubles of Extras and City of Ashes and the last couple Harry Potters….
    Then we just pick one to keep and donate the other to the library.

  181. Lol, it’s the same for me, except with my sister and I. We had to get two copies of Harry Potter Seven and we’re probably going to do the same for BD. If we don’t get two copies, I’ve already called dibs on reading it first. Ha. XD

    What do you mean, Anti-Twilight? Why do you think Meyer is going down?

  184. I end up with tons of copies of everything cuz I tell my family its coming out and they all buy it for me
    but its kinda cool cuz then I end up with different editions of some books.
    😀

  185. Oh wow that’s really nice of your family!

    I tell my parents that a book came out, they drop me off at the bookstore with a time limit and my own wallet. Lol.

  186. Mine has to be the opener to the very first Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy book (i dunno if this has been posted yet):
    “Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral Arm of the Galaxy lies a small un-regarded yellow sun.”
    It just sets the tone of the whole book: everything is relative to how you see it in persepective to everything else. Douglas Adams was an amazing writer, and he’s managed to suck me into every book of his that i’ve ever picked up… even if the middle is complete rubbish, there’s always some dry sarcasm to keep me entertained. The trilogy of five was the best investment i’ve ever made (other then the “Uglies” books, of course)
    Even if this comment is 100+, and way past the original blog-post date, i hope this gets someone to read this book.

  187. my favorite first line is from Kelley Armstrong’s new YA novel Darkest Powers Book 1: The Summoning.
    -“Mommy forgot to warn the new babysitter about the basement”

  189. so i asked my mom to track the order and it said it wasn’t suppose to ship out till the 6th! and that would be horrible! so i asked her if we could cancel it and reserve one at the book store. she wasn’t very happy with me considering that she was trying to do something nice for me by preordering it. but it’s all gonna work out now. i’m gonna go with my friends to the midnight release oh and the release party is gonna be a vampire prom! lol. so should be fun! thanks for the help! 🙂

  192. why oh why did i have to run into that one wall because i thought that it might lead to a train station….walls in books have messed me up for life.

  195. Im on
    I was taking care of my dog who got hit by a car last week and so cant walk for another 2 weeks and stayed up all night last night playing videogames with my brother
    so now Im on doing basicly nothing

  209. i love movies. my faves are probably Deja vu . . . GREAT movie. and then also How To Lose a Guy in Ten Days . . . also a great movie.

  212. yeah i don’t think i could live without my camera. i like flip when i can’t find it. or i can’t find a memory card or something… that happened to me the night before i was going to TN on a week long trip…. it was baaaad. but then we went and bought a 4GB so now i can take 1000 pics on it.. which is really good cuz i take like 350 a day (when i have something going on).. no joke.

  214. grrr I have the theme to Peter and The Wolf stuck in my head, I blame it on my old music teacher from elementary school we watched thats movie like 20 times a year for 7 years, it will mever be out of my head

  228. well i suppose i should go get ready.. i haves to leave in half an hour for my friends sweet sixteen suprise party.. byes!

  240. I agree, it is, Haley Rae.

    Kenzie-la, if you go to that party there may be spoilers for the other books…

  256. actually i use cat nail clippers. my guinea pigs HATES it…she gets all mad and bites and scratches…if you want to get hurt, that’s a good way to do so.

  270. here is a really mean oboe joke:
    Q)What’s the difference between an oboe and an onion?
    A)You don’t cry when you’re cutting up the oboe ….

  273. and more…
    Q)How can you tell the first chair oboe player has been at a computer?
    A)There is white out all over the screen
    Q)How can you tell the second chair oboe player was at the computer after the first chair oboe player?
    A)There is writing on the white out

  277. oh well, when a band tunes oboes tune it and play a concert A, but oboes are naturally kinda flat unless you are really good so they have to look at a tuner when playing their A otherwise it sounds like A-flat. And oboists are usually perfectionists, which explains the whiteout on the computer thing…I don’t have whiteout on my computer, just i spellcheck everything.

  283. really? that’s cool. Band camp is better…but band camp is the best place on the planet especially since it’s at my school and i love school…

  284. have you ever been to band camp? it’s the best place in the world…especially because of the imaginary aliens that haunt band camp…

  287. cool. i’ve never actually been there…here is another band joke:
    Q: Why did Mozart kill his chickens?
    A: Because they always ran around screaming, “Bach! Bach! Bach!”

  291. here’s a mean one (not about oboes)
    “You might notice that there are very few jokes about the clarinet. This is out of sympathy. The clarinet has already been the butt of so many jokes – the saxophone, for instance.”

  293. here’s another:
    Q) How can you tell which kid on a playground is the child of a trombonist?
    A) He doesn’t know how to use the slide, and he can’t swing.

  295. you didn’t get the others??? okay here is another one:
    Q)If you threw a violist and a soprano off a cliff, which one would hit the ground first?
    A)The violist. The soprano would have to stop halfway down to ask directions.

  303. Oh, and another joke:
    Q)What do do with a horn player that can’t play?
    A)Give him two sticks, put him in the back, and call him a percussionist.
    Q)What do you do if he can’t do that?
    A)Take away one of the sticks, put him up front, and call him a conductor.

  304. Sorry, just don’t like trumpets…oboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboeoboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboeoboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboeoboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboeoboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboeoboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboeoboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboeoboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboeoboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboeoboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboeoboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboeoboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboeoboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboeoboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboeoboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboeoboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboeoboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboeoboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboeoboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboeoboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboeoboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboe oboe…just had to do that.

  307. More trumpet jokes:
    Q)How many trumpet players does it take to change a lightbulb?
    A)Five. One to handle the bulb and four to tell him how much better they could have done it.

    Q)How to trumpet players traditionally greet each other?
    A)”Hi. I’m better than you.”

    QWhat’s the difference between trumpet players and government bonds?
    A)government bonds eventually mature and earn money.

  308. Drummer joke!
    Q)How many drummers does it take to change a lightbulb?
    A1)”Why? Oh, wow! Is it like dark, man?”
    A2)Only one, but he’ll break ten bulbs before figuring out that they can’t just be pushed in.
    A3)Two: one to hold the bulb, and one to turn his throne (but only after they figure out that you have to turn the bulb).
    A4)None. They have a machine to do that.

  310. There are LOTS of jokes about all instruments….and for some reason people tend to think that all oboists are slightly insane (don’t know where they get that from) and always perfectionists…

  312. here’s a good one:
    Q) how do you know when a viola player is at your door?
    A) they cant find the key and they dont know when to come in!

  314. yes…and apparently oboist always blame their mistakes on reeds…(*cough* don’t know why they think that *cough*)…the reeds often ARE the reason for the mistake!

  321. have you ever listened to a song that triggered something in your memory that made you hyperventalate? ‘cus that’s what’s happening to me.

  332. Has a song you listened to ever echoed some words that a friend has told you? Words that you ignored and regretted ignoring? And the lyrics string you and makes it hard to breath. And the song is trying to tell me something but i can figure out what it is…

  351. okay, so apparently the song is telling me that I shouldn’t be a RTS because it’s overrated so -0.5 says, “it’s just a song…you are probably misinterperating it” and so +0.5 is saying “it’s about time, so just do what the song tells you to do”…so now they are arguing like that and the JUST WONT STOP!!!!!!!!

  362. From chris buckley’s thank you for smoking: Nick Naylor had been called many things since becoming chief spokesman for the Academy of Tabacco Studies, but until now no one had actually compared him Satan.

  363. I write in my free time, and i have to say the most exciting thing about writing a story is the opening line. It’s make or break, baby. Haha.

    One of my favorites is:
    “I’d never thought I’d have a story worth telling, at least not one about me.” That one was from Hero by Perry Moore. I think it shows the character’s kind of a normo, and that he’s a little insecure. But I like that in my characters. It’s realistic.

    Another one is:
    “Since you’d never guess it from looking at me, nobody can tell that words like ‘because’, ‘fart’, ‘there’, and ‘banana’ come out sounding like ‘becazz’, ‘faht’, ‘they-a’ and ‘bananer’ when I say them out loud.” That one was from My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger.

    Here’s some from my stories, heh heh.

    “I stepped out of my small, ordinary house, and onto the sidewalk of the small, ordinary, cherry tree-infested neighborhood I lived in.”

    “If I told you this whole story started with a pawn shop, would you believe me?”

    that’s just a couple. I’m still learning the art of First Line, sensei.

    XXX, Sarah-la

  365. It’s funny…..I read the first chapter of Extras SUPER-QUICK, so I thought that Moggle was actually named Moogle. I remember thinking ‘Jeez, I’m suprised that square enix hasn’t gotten on his back about that yet.’ *Moogles are little creatures from sqaure-enix’s final fantasy franchise that do a variety of things, like letting you save, getting you chocobos, and traveling messages.*

  379. to sella-wa’s 20th comment, cuz that’s as far as i got: i luvs them! they are very good ways to start out books/stories/whateverses. each one gives off a unique flavor, which i like in a beginning.

    i have a similar request, but even if nobody responds, i will be happy… because talking about one’s own writing is fabulous fun! but getting feeback is even better. 🙂

    1) “‘Shadow!'”(pov character’s name… kinda boring, i guess, so i’ll include the second as well) “Startled, Shadow looked up.”

    2) “It’s my birthday today, she thought to herself happily.” (hmm… that was the prologue, actually. bother. i guess i’ll have a second opening sentence, this one from the actual storyline, because my character matures a lot in between and the tone is a little different… not that anyone cares other than me, but oh well.) “Okay, I’ve got two questions for you.”

    3) “‘Zeta.’ For half a second, I was really confused.”

    4) “‘Lilac!’ my mother hollered.”

    5) “I paced the shelves of the Library, striding back and forth as I skimmed the numerous titles, searching for something.”

    6) “‘Are you sure we can go through with this?'”

    7) “‘Leah.’ I knew my mother wanted a response, but I gave her none.”

    8) “He didn’t want to see her like this.”

    if you feel like it, please let me know what you think!

  380. Huzzah! Back in the computer lab! Muaha! Yeah I’m in New York cuz I’m going to this Fancy Shmancy writing workshop thing at this like almost 200 year old school and it’s fah-reaking awesome! Like hecks yes! I’m sooooooooooooooooooooo happy! I’ve got no clue whatsoever as to what you’re talking about right now but holas! And like I’ll stab myself later for talking about this on Scott’s site buuuuutttttt…..BREAKING DAWN BREAKING DAWN BREAKING DAWN BREAKING DAWN BREAKING DAWN BREAKING DAWN BREAKING DAWN BREAKING DAWN BREAKING DAWN BREAKING DAWN BREAKING DAWNBREAKING DAWN BREAKING DAWN BREAKING DAWN Okay I’m done! Spazz moment! Sorryz, I g2g but ttyl my crazy peeps.

  384. I got Breaking Dawn!! Ahhh! Im gonna go red it now…well….read whats left. Haha. I still have A LOT!

  385. i know! isn’t it great! i love how this one is 746 pages! eeeeeeh! i haven’t slept much at all! pretty much all i’ve been doing is reading. and now i’m making myself go to a baseball game and a concert with my friend… it’s soooo hard to drag myself away from the book.. but i figure that i should get out of bed and go outside at least once today.. and plus the faster i read it the sooner i will run out of pages to read… and then i go through the sad stage which i always go through when a good book ends.. and then i will read it again, probably.

  386. breaking dawn is great! at first i was worried about the character’s futures, but it all worked out out pretty good.

  387. “My name is Edgar Fremantle.” Duma Key by Stephen King

    Not very inspired is it?

    The last line is better. Perhaps you should also have a favourite last line list.

  390. Random-insomnia-driven post: Spent about 4 HOURS today fixing my iTunes. (I’m such a techno-tard.) The other night went to a Breaking Dawn party, though i only EXTREMELY thoroughly skimmed (for lack of time) Twilight, & it was SO fun (Did you know that there’s a Team Mike Newton?) I skimmed a bit of Eclipse after (insomnia-driven-reading), but now I’m vowing not to skim them anymore ’till I actually READ them, including the 1st. I remember getting the 7th HP spoiled for me before I could start it, and it’s a bit hypocritical to do that to myself.
    TALLY&ZANE: LuCkY!! I go to NY often, but that’s on LI visiting. The suburbs are nice, but no competition.
    ANDREA-LA: did you ever find your “Never Far Behind” meaning? I know what you mean by the accurate make-you-think relations–like, with my old friend who got REALLY mad when she didn’t get her way (like when I didn’t lend her my pen–which I was currently USING on a test,) would be REALLY mean, & than talk to me out of boredom without apologizing. After the impossibly-high-# time, I (uncharacteristically) snapped. Later on my iPod, “I gave you everything and never asked for anything, now look at me, I’m all alone.” in KC’s “Walk Away” stuck out SO much.
    SELLA-WA, are you phsycic? (Or am I just phsycosomatic?) I was reading a post and thought about the beginning of “The Lightning Theif”, looked up the whole introduction, and saw your post with it while I scrowled down! Lol. I love that series, too; It’s a bit easier and more humor-angled than my usual reads, but I just love them.
    Crap, I hope that time on my clock’s wrong. If not, my parents are going to have more inniciative to tease me about going to sleep & waking up so *early* (in the morning for sleep & usually afternoon for awaking). What can I say, it’s summer, and I’m contemplating whether I was born nocturnal and have become part dayernal out of dang species-pressure. That, and I tend to loose track of time when I read, which I usually do for about 2 minutes before my intended bed time…and just as frequently end up doing for more than that amount of hours. G’night (or morning)!
    (Something tells me that this will come out waaaaaaay longer than origionally intended–I’d blame it on insomniatic-ranting, but I could probably rant this much after awaking from a nap that could put a grizzly’s hybernation to shame.)

  391. My favorite first liners are either “cat vomit sky” from Uglies, or “New York was leaking” from Last Days.

  392. Does any one know when Scott is coming back to Seattle? I always get there like 5hrs early, so i can’t wait! =D

  393. Going … to … have … heart attack!!!!!!!! Haven’t got Breaking Dawn Yet, going to virtually die!!!

  404. AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! I AM ALMOST 100% SURE I’M GETTING BREAKING DAWN TOMORROW!!!!!!!!! I might live!!!!!!!

    PS anyone on?

  405. I hope Barnes & Noble isn’t sold out! knowing my luck they will be, Now I’m sad (sob, sniffle,snuff)

  411. My favorite is from Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.

    “I’d never given much thought to how I would die- though I’d had reason enough in the last few months- but even if I had, I would have not imagined it like this.”

    Love it.
    Love your books. I’ve read them all and were AMAZING.

    Krissy

  412. Oh and just so you guys know, I got BD the second it came out and didn’t sleep until I finished.
    It was shocking and AMAZING!
    I never saw it coming.

  416. Alice-wa, same here! I read it the whole night! It was so unexpected and shocking, but that’s part of what made if amazing!

    Yeah and I heard some people hated it. How could they have? How is it possible to hate that amazing book? Lol.

  417. seriously how could u hate it!!! i mean there were some COMPLETELY shocking …events…that occured but i don’t see how that would make someone hate it

  418. =O I saw someone mention The Stranger (a.k.a. The Outsider) by Albert Camus. wahhh. <333
    “Mum died today. Or maybe yesterday. I can’t remember.” sfkjsdfs ;_; <3

    Twilight just have annoying characters and rather cliche plot, and also some very crazy fangirls so errrr.
    I was addicted when I read it. but after I finished.. = =

  420. So So SO tired. Awake on pure adrineline right now and I’m so tired I can’t even spell adrineline right. I’m trying to finish my 500 million page story(and yes my friends, that is an exaggeration) that I’m doing a reading of later this week. Wisheth me luck! LoL.

  422. seriously, whats the obsession over the Twilight series? -.- they’re not really that good (i think so anywhozers). i’ve read some pretty intense vamp books (aka Salem’s Lot, Cirque Du Freak (cirque wasn’t that intense, but very good) and just a bunch of sci fi/fantasy stuff) and Twilight just came across to me as a sappier version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the show (amazing btw)) so yeah… =/

  425. K…. so Im da 424 coment, but whatever! My favorite first line is from Wendy Mass’s jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life
    “My sweat smells like peanut butter.”

  426. Contest for the signed copy of PRETTIES on my site this week. Can’t seem to find your email to alert you, but wanted to let you know. The cover story about SPECIALS will go up this month too. Thanks, Scott!

  427. AHHHH!!!!!!!!! I JUST FINISHED BREAKING DAWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    so amazingly amazing anf fexallently fexalant I might die (I have to go now before i spoil anything and you guys hate me) I AM GONNA DIE IT WAS SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  428. Huzzah! I am finished with the story! It’s like 20 pages. Yesness. I hated Breaking Dawn and I loved it. The ending was my absolute favorite. I like tons of books so I can LOVE Scott-la’s books and Stephenie Meyers at the same time. Oh my Gosh, I’ve gotten like everybody here at my workshop hooked on Scott’s books! YES! EPIC SUCCESS! I can die now. My life is complete. HaHa, jkjks. But I’m happy. SUPER HAPPY.

  429. Tally&Zane, you’re confusing me…how can you hate and love Breaking Dawn at the same time?

  430. i don’t know…during parts i wanted to throw it at the wall, but my wall still isn’t speeking to me due to the fact that i yelled at it about vampire costumes so i didn’t want to upset it…don’t worry, i’m not as insane as you think…

  431. [[POST CONTAINS SPOILERS]]]

    OMG I liked Breaking Dawn but I hated it at the same time, Sella-wa. During some parts, I just wanted to throw the book at something and/or something. Like…I thought Bella was being stupid, and I laughed when Edward had his mental insane break down in front of Jacob and said that Jacob could kill him if Bella died. Also…Rosalie was being an ass.

  432. so… i bet anyone that im the first one to go back to school… any takers? ok… i go back to school on… wait for it… THE ELEVENTH!!!!!!! 😡

  433. p.s. i loved and hated breaking dawn too… come on… no big battle against the volturi!?!?!? what kind of book doesnt have a big battle?

  436. I saw someone who mentioned Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer. I love how this opened in a letter. It was just cool and I loved it.
    I really liked the end of the letter-“Doesn’t change anything. Sorry.” Idk why. Lol.

  441. I finished reading Breaking Dawn yesterday. I-lika-de-it. Me and my friend say that. I-lika-de-it. Its fun when u say it fast.

    I liked it, why did you not like it? I LOVED the ending! Yeah! Whoop-Whoop! I dont no what u didnt like. It was soooo good…to me.

  443. I liked Breaking Dawn…just I need to reread it because when i read it the first time i was half asleep…maybe even 3/4 asleep…so i need to reread it when i can comprehend the details…

  444. Breaking Dawn was wicked awesome. I really loved all the new vampires introduced in the books… seriously, she should write some more about them. But there were some parts that could’ve been better… like when {SPOILER} the Volturi came. There should have been an epic battle or something. That would have been totally awesome. {END SPOILER}.
    Nevertheless, I don’t think SM wrapped it up with this supposed last book. It wasn’t much of a conclusion. I demand for another novel!
    😉

  445. Me too!!!
    I was so disappointed with the ending…
    [[spoiler]] I totally love nessie *hug* [[end spoiler]]
    But I staid up till 7am to finish reading it and was unhappy with the ending 🙁

    by the way… I noticed a mention of neopets earlier… add me!
    danceursoxoff

    okay well talk to you all later.

  447. ToBran-la:

    I didn’t like Breaking Dawn because everything was too perfect to be. Bella was turned into a newborn vamp, it’s so….dumb how she was the first vampire ever to be like that, she has a baby, is supposably astonishingly pretty because she’s a monster, and gets to be with her perfect husband for all of eternity, and her best friend doesn’t want to kill Edward. 😮
    I do, absolutely, ADORE Renesmee though. She’s awesome.

    Oh, and Charlie doesn’t care that Bella had a daughter and…it’s just so……I can’t think of a word to describe it.

    Lol Nessie reminds me of the Loch Ness Monster. XD

  451. um from wat i c there r many interesting ways to start a story from all the books i read the way the uglies started was pretty confusing since i was tryin to make sense of wat point in time the book was written. i never read the back becuz i feel it gives away half the book but thats just me. honestly to get through the uglies was quite an effort cuz wen i started readin it was a bore to me n i stopped half way n picked it up later on. wen i finally finished i felt mad cuz the story wasn’t over n i just couldn’t wait till the next book wasn’t released yet i look online 4 it but the same then i saw i needed to read 2 more books to finsh the story n i was like damn money money i barely have lol….

    but point is i like the story’s theme so i bought the book but from the beginnin it was hard stickin to book. but i fell 4 it once i got passed the middle 🙂

  452. *BEWARE POST CONTAINS MANY BREAKING DAWN SPOILERS*

    i agree about breaking dawn, but I LOVED it esspecially the ending, but come on, no epic battle with the Volturi, what up with that? i think kate should have kicked Janes but and given her a taste of her own medicine. i LOVE nessie and even though it was quiet fairy-tailish I LOVED IT (and kinda hated it too, but LOVED it way more)

  453. I get what your saying. Its like she knew she had to end the series so she made everything perfect and o-so jolly. but i guess that was how i wanted it to turn out so…haha.

  456. i was refering to if more of a main character died…like one of the Cullens or something…it would have been really good if either Bella or Edward died because that would have been more depressing…i like depressing books…

  457. No I think it would have been better if Seth or Charlie had died. Then it would have been sad enough to be depressing without making it have no happy ending at all.

  459. i was glad too Bran-la! i would have been p.o.ed if it would have ended badly or someone that was important died. after everything they have been through they deserve a happily ever after.

  460. yeah charile would have been the perfect character to kill off… if seth had died, war would have broken out and Bella would have lost Edward or Jacob

  461. i don’t really like sad books, i think the ending was perfect as it was. i wanted to reread it but my thought that i read to much so she took away all my Twilight books and Scott Westerfeld books (at least I got to finish BD first) but I am still REALLY mad
    !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    PS would you rather be Bella Cullen or Tally Youngblood?

  464. to Andrea-la: lucky you I’m NOT ALOUD TO GET BOGUS TO BUBBLY UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    I am so mad, I hope my mom changes her mind, don’t you think thats ao unfair? Its just a book, its not like I’m obsessed with TV or something! I am so mad. she took away ALL my favorite books that I paid for!!

  466. Except that one time when my mom hid all my Harry Potter books because she thought I was “too obsessed”…I found them and continued reading…But she was surprised that I noticed that a couple books were missing…lol. I keep track of such things.

  467. Id rather be Bella Cullen. Its kind of like my life long dream to fall in love and have kids so….yeah. And, hello, Edward is like the best guy ever! Why cant all guys be like Edward? Life can be so unfortunate sometimes. *sigh* Okay well i dont no what i am going to do but im gonna go do something. Like write maybe.

  468. I like David more than I like Edward.. I was totally team Jacob. So I’d rather be Tally Youngblood…

  469. **POST CONTAINS BREAKING DAWN SPOILERS**
    tomorrow I’m going book hunting (if my mom knew I WOULD BE DEAD) she thinks i’m obsessed (I am but thats beside the point) I liked Zane and David (same with Jaciob and Edward so I’m glad everyone is happy, though imprinting is weird, I would rather be Bella she now has the perfect life and family

  472. With the movie…no idea.

    Anyways, I loved Breaking Dawn, but there were a few things that I might have changed…((SPOILER ALERT!!)) I agree that the ending was a bit TOO happy, and that Bella got everything that she wanted, and I was disappointed at the end with the Volturi. I wanted a battle!! Meyer had been building the suspense up, and all our excitement, and then she just washed it away?!?! That’s annoying…I wanted them to fight! Plus, I wanted Kate to give Jane a taste of her own medicine. That would have been awesome!!

    I guess it did make sense that Bella wasn’t affected like normal newborns should. Think about it; she’s probably the first ever vampire that KNEW they were going to become a vampire BEFORE they did; and she’s probably the first who actually wanted to and decided to become one by their own choice. Not only that, but she had months and months to prepare herself…so it makes sense that she was immune to the newborn craze.

    I LOVE Renesmee!! She’s SO cute!! But I hate the nickname Nessie. It sounds like something you’d name your dog. I thought that Bella betrayed us all when she gave in and started calling Renesmee “Nessie” at the end. Grr! Stupid Jacob for coming up with that nickname. Ah well.

    I thought it was freaky that Jacob imprinted on Renesmee. I mean, she’s Bella’s DAUGHTER! *shudders* It just feels weird, and I don’t like how Jacob was spending more time with her than her own mother could. Her own mother! Also, he seemed to think he had more of a claim on Renesmee than Bella or Edward. Her parents, for crying out loud! You’ll get plenty of time to be with your imprint later, when she grows up, but this is her childhood- give it to the parents! Plus it seems a bit creepy for Jacob to kiss the daughter of someone he kissed and had feelings towards. Ergh.

    But I thought that Breaking Dawn was really good overall…yes, there were times where I wanted to throw it in the toilet (I was SO confused and mad when part one ended and then it switched to Jacob’s view- I was like, “WHAT?? I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT’S GOING ON AND NOW YOU’RE GOING TO COMPLETELY MOVE ON AND IGNORE EVERYTHING??”) but I got over that…so it rocked. xD

  473. *** POST CONTAINS BREAKING DAWN SPOILERS***
    I agree, when it switched from part 1 to part 2 I was like, what the heck, whats happening, is she pregnant? but it was fawsome

  474. Psh. I don’t know if this has been said yet or not (too many posts to read), but I think we ALL know what the greatest opening line ever is.

    “The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.”
    -The Gun Slinger, Stephen King

    Perhaps it’s not quite as impressive if you do not know the history behind the line (which is actually rather interesting).

    Some of my other favorite opening lines are:

    “I think I was a nice person before my mom died.”
    -Premonitions, Jude Watson

    “If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book.”
    -The Bad Beginning, Lemony Snicket.

    “There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.”
    -The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, C.S. Lewis

    “In the last days of Narnia, far up to the west beyong Lantern Waste and close beside the great waterfall, there lived an ape.”
    -The Last Battle, C.S. Lewis

    “‘The end came quickly, and there wasn’t any pain.'”
    -Elsewhere, Gabrielle Zevin

    “Wind howled through the night, carrying a scent that would change the world.”
    -Eragon, Christopher Paolini

    “The songs of the dead are the lamentations of the living.”
    -Eldest, Christopher Paolini

    “The gunman is useless.”
    -I am the Messenger, Markus Zusak

  475. hey, Scott-la WE NEED A NEW POST PLEASE, this one has too many comments we need a fresh start.
    i thought of several songs that remind me of the Uglies series if you really listen to the words:
    1. Bubbly by Colbie Caillat (this is Tally and Zane’s song)
    2. Pocketful of Sunshine by Natasha Bedingfeild (this is Tally and David’s, but esspecially Tally’s) song
    3. Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis (also reminds me of Tally)

  476. I thought about songs for Twight;
    1.Our Song by Taylor Swift (Bella and Edward’s song)
    2. Teardrops on my guitar (the mood is the same as Jacob’s in Eclipse/beginning of BD

  477. It REALLY bugged me when in Breaking Dawn it switched to Jaccob’s perspective…I really wanted to throw the book at the wall…except that 1) my wall is already mad at me and 2) it was in the middle of the night and I would of woken someone up. Otherwise I would have TOTALLY thrown the book at the wall…or something…

  479. Breaking Dawn was brilliantly written. I can see why some

    ****SPOILER ALERT*****

    people hated the break to Jacob’s perspective… but I think it was very interesting…. Plus it was awesome to be with Jacob while Bella was pregnant and when he imprints with Renesmee 😀 Priceless. It was a beautiful story… I can’t wait to see Twilight from Edward’s perspective–Midnight Sun.

    *****END — Rest spoiler free****

    I wanted to know what’s up with the Uglies movie…. I don’t want to see Davis Entertainment do it though, they botched up Eragon…. Plus it says 2008… well it’s almost over and I can’t even find a cast list… so I doubt it will be 2008.

    Anyway, great books Scott… I just picked up Last Days today…. belated but still.

    Happy writing,

    Rose-sa

  480. oh and the topic at hand.. right… I think the best first line second to Uglies would be… what Samy said:

    “My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie”
    -The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

  481. i was mad at first too, when BD switched to Jacob’s perspective. but by the end of book two i liked it and was glad that she switched it.

    there were a lot of funny parts in BD too… like when Bella woke up in feathers! lol. that part made me laugh.

    one thing about BD is that it gives you horrible insomnia. i’ve been done with it since Monday at like 7 a.m. and i still can’t seem to get to sleep until at least 3 a.m. and so i’m stuck laying there. and during the day i’m always tired. it stinks.

    i reallyyyyy wanna buy myself a new camera. i was gonna wait and buy a really fancy digital SLR for myself as my graduation present so i could use it for college. (cuz i wanna be a photographer) but i don’t know if i can wait. i’m only gonna be a sophomore this year so that means 3 years. ew. 3 years is a longggg time. and so i was thinking i could buy a cheaper one now and another more expensive one then… and by then hopefully they will be cheaper.. they will definitely be more advanced cuz technology is always changing. so what do you guys think? should i buy one now?

  482. OMG!!!!!! Kay-wa, I HAVE INSOMNIA TOO!!! I never did before but after reading BD i cant sleep, the first night I only got 4 hours, thats the main reason my mom took my books away
    PS she said I can have the books back this weekend (YAY) I think shes gonna cave about Bogus to Bubbly too (like shes gonna remember about this in October)

  483. Oh godddd. I’ve always loved the first line of Uglies. But i have to choose the amazingness that is Stephenie Meyer.
    Now, technically these are the first lines of the books, but they’re all from the prefaces, rather than the first chapter.

    I’d never given much thought to how i would die – though I’d had reason enough in the last few months – but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this. – Twilight <3

    I felt like I was trapped in one of those terrifying nightmares, the one where you have to run, run till your lungs burst, but you can’t make your body move fast enough. – New Moon <3

    All our attemps at subterfuge had been in vain. – Eclipse <3

    I’d had more than my fair share of near-death experiences; it wasn’t something you ever really got used to. – Breaking Dawn <3

    God. If you haven’t read her books, READ THEM! They remain to be [in my opinion] the best books ever written! Scott’s are an unbelieveably close second 😛

    And I HAVE BREAKING DAWN INSOMNIA TOO!

    I can’t sleep till like, 3am each night. But it’s worth it, the book is THAT amazing 😀

    Alisha-la xx

  484. I just woke up from a nap (A NAP I KNOW!!!!!!!) my BD insomnia makes me tired, I guess I just cant sleep at night, Alisha-la is right it is totally worth it

  485. I thought of another song for Bella and Edward:
    This is me by Demi Lovato and Joe Jonas (from the movie Camp Rock)

  486. OMG.

    Songs for Twilight! I’ve had so many ideas, but Seth [Stephenie Meyer’s webmaster] says they won’t change the playlist D=

    SPOILERS of New Moon coming up!!!!!!!!
    DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN’T READ NEW MOON!!!!!!!!

    When Edward leaves Bella, look up You Are The Moon by The Hush Sound, or Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap. I can see them both in the movie with Bella stumbling through a forest while they’re playing.

    Listen to them!!!

    I’ve re-read Breaking Dawn again. It just doesn’t lose it’s amazingness.
    However, am i the only one wishing there was a little more detail in certain parts? Like on Isle Esme for example…..

    xo.

  487. ((BREAKING DAWN SPOILER BELOW))

    Yeah, I was really pissed when it turned to Jacob’s view, but once I started to understand what was going on better, I liked it. It was cool being in his mind. His thoughts are so funny, and the chapter titles crack me up. Plus, before I read that section in his view, I used to hate Jacob; that made me like him. Yay. XD

    ((SPOILER ENDS))

    OMG BREAKING DAWN GAVE ME INSOMNIA TOO!! When I got Breaking Dawn on August 1, midnight, I read it the WHOLE night and COULDN’T stop!! It was that good. XD

    Two good songs for Twilight:

    1. Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis; sounds like it would fit!
    2. Heaven (I’m not sure who it’s by, but David Archuleta sings it!! i LOVE him); the words of this song are PERFECT!! It’s as if they were written for Twilight! It’s kind of like Edward saying this to Bella.

  488. Alisha-la, I agree, I wish the Isle Esme part had more detail! It seemed very rushed!! I wanted more!!

  489. haha! i’m with ya there Alisha-la.

    and i just woke up from a nap too nikki-wa. i fell asleep at 4 a.m. last night woke up at noon and then just took a nap from like 2-3. isn’t that horrible! i’m sleeping my summer away! 🙁 i only have 9 more days to relax and have fun! then i have softball 2-a-days.. WORST part of the entire year, for me. they start the 18th and so i’ll be waking up at 6 a.m. going to the softball field running until 7:30 and coming home to sleep and shower and i’ll probably be limping at that time (not even kidding. last year i was stuck on the toilet.. and not in the sense that i was going to the bathroom a lot. i was literally stuck.. i had to use the counter to push myself up. that’s how bad it is) and then i have to go back to the softball fields at 4 p.m. to practice till 6 p.m. and that’s what i will be doing all week.. but it gets worse cuz this year they’ve scheduled it so that school starts on thursday the 21st and 2-a-days won’t be over by then so i’m gonna have a heck of a time getting to school at 8 when i won’t even be done running till 7:30. and there is no chance that i’ll get to shower.. EW! i’m gonna be disgusting and gross all day long.

  491. Breaking Dawn Spoilers Below!!!!!!

    Haha. I was waiting for that to happen and then one minute they were in the water, the next she woke up! I was like =O I didn’t want a full on description, just a nice little intro… But nothing. I was not happy 🙁

    Jacobs chapters make me giggle too. The names were awesome! I kept giggling randomly to myself. And throwing the bowl at Rosalie, classic xD
    I like him the more i read him. I’m so glad he imprinted. I was hyperventalating when i found out but now i’m so happy him and Bella can be together xD

    Spoilers End!!!!!

    God. Edward is PERFECTION! It’s so unfair thats the last book. And that it’s all fictional of course…

    xo.

  493. haha! me too! all of Emmett’s jokes were hilarious!

    and i know! i was like what? that’s it? there was a little detail in the second time, if i remember right… but it’s so not the same. i would have rather heard about there 1st time then there 2nd. and it was such a good build up too.. like Bella was all nervous and freaking out kinda and then went outside got in the water and that was it.

  494. i want to know how cell phones can pop popcorn! watch the video and you will be curious too! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj6SZgbBuSQ usually i would think something like this was a trick but i watched a bunch of the videos and there were a few that it actually worked and then one where popcorn blew up an iphone. if anyone knows how this works let me know. please.

  495. where is everybody?
    probably sleeping.
    but where are my insomniac friends?
    and why can’t i sleep when it’s been days since i finished BD??
    oh how i wish i could sleep at night.
    it’s so much easier for me to fall asleep during the day.
    which is weird cuz usually i like it better when it’s dark outside when i sleep.
    but noooooo. life is not easy.
    and if i read i won’t be able to stop. which leads to worse insomnia.
    and if i watch tv my eyes won’t get tired.
    oh how i wish i could just fall asleep reading like i use to.
    and i’m really starting to get tired of sleeping till noon.
    cuz it always makes me sad to see the day go by so fast.
    grrrrrrrrrr….
    sorry for my sleepless rant.

  496. and Scott-la why have you not posted in days??
    this post was the 26th of july! and now were already on the 9th of august! i know your writing and all but take an hour break and whip us up a post please.

    ughhhh.. i miss my Uglies books! my cousin STILL has them! i let her borrow them on my birthday, APRIL 28th! and she’s not even done with Uglies yet! how can that possibly be? i was planning on rereading them all this summer but looks like that’s not gonna happen.. and i’m busy all of this fall (with softball, dance, and being the main photographer on the newspaper staff.. which btw i am so freaking excited about!) so i’ll probably read them over christmas break.. if she’s even done with them by then! argggggh!

    can you tell, me is not so happy. i think it’s the sleepless thing. and maybe the headache thing. and i’m going jet skiing tomorrow.. and i really don’t wanna be tired for it.

  498. Kay-wa-about your softball and being sore, I play softball but hurt my arm (I have a hyperextended elbow and the bones hit together) But I am doing Jr. Guards (Its like being a lifeguard when your not old enough to actually be a lifeguard) And I get soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo tired!!!!!! We ran atleast 4 miles the other day!! On the beach!!!!!

  502. Kay-wa: I watched the popcorn thing and then i saw another video. And at the end the guy in the video said “It didn’t work, if you know anything just tell me.” So i scrolled down to look at the comments and this girl said “Dude, it works. Just try putting a microwave under it.” I dont know i just found it kinda funny… Of course it is really late…omg…its only 8:57. Ok well it seems really late so i usually think everything is funny when its late. But it really isnt. IDK! It was just funny.

  503. Hey, you know, im just wondering but, uh,…WHERE THE HECK ARE YOU SCOTT! Just thought id put that out their, you know, in case you wanted to answer. And and by the way, i no im just like commenting to nobody but yeah if anyone wants to join me, feel free. Until then, ill talk to myself. Yep. fun times.

  504. hehe knew peeps would be talking about B.D here

    so, im supposed to be doing a proj 4 tommorow that i still havnt statred (bet ur all thinking, gosh im glad im not her lol) so,
    to cut a long thought proses short,
    I was really annoyed when i was reading it, like surley it had to get better? Nope

    I WAS happy that it ended without any of our vamp or werewolf friends carking it- I was so nervouse to actually get the book cause i knew that either Jake would die or imprint, but not both.
    I am in love with Jacob Black. Still.

    I also loved that Jacob told Charlie, although i would have liked it if Charlie knew more- i know lots of people thought it was stupid that he knows, and it is, but it was a bit of a petty want of mine, so im glad it happened. Shame Reenes just left hanging- good one S.M

    Also, the pregnecy is totaly impossible- skip how me and some other online peeps got to that conclusion… oh, ok- so S.M talks about the 23 and 25 chromosones, and so Nessie would be sterile, cause shes a mix. (like a donkey and horse…) So Jake wouldnt have imprinted on her, cause he is supposed to imprint on someone who best carries on his strain.

    I was origonaly really annoyed, and i think that that helped me move along- i felt like B.D didnt count, so i could just live in the first three- and i wasnt so sad for it to be finished cause there was an ending but it didnt matter to me, so its like it never ended… know what im saying??

    But then i read a thread on Amazon about how the charaters grew and developed and now im rereading it and im trying to be positive.

    Also, when rereading it i found somthing really interesting. Instead of measuring time in seconds- torwards the start- its measured in heartbeats. When u reread it (wich we all know we will) look out for it. Espessially Jake- i loved it cause it showed how he still thought about every of Bellas heartbeats, how Bella still thought of all her heartbeats.

    Anyway, sorry about the long post, i needed to get it off 🙂
    XX

  505. yeah, i know the disscusion was a few days ago but havnt had internet access 4 a while.
    Also, havnt posted in ages, hi everyone!
    cant think of any great first lines at the mo. maby they’ll come to me…

  506. Hiya peoples ^^
    first comment on this blog for me. Big honor. Funny I found it. Wow. I was google-searching Uglies in French and voila, up comes this blog!

    Anyhow.
    Fave first lines… I dunno.

  507. Hey! I havn’t been on in 4ever! I missed you guys!
    You missed me too right? 🙁
    of course you did! 😎
    JK!

  508. BREAKING DAWN SPOILERS!!!!!!!!
    the chapter titles were great, I’m happy to say i FINALLY convinced my step-mom to read twilght (shes a big Uglies fan) It is totally cool that Jacob imprinted, did you realize that Jacob is now Rosalie’s nephew in-law (I think) and i agree Isle Esme was a bit rushed

  509. oh by the way my mom did return my books but I now have limited reading time (it majorly sucks) however not reading so much has cured my insomnia (by the way i reread BD yesterday)

  510. I love Breaking Dawn! I finished it in two days! It would have been one but I fell asleep eventually. I hate Bella! I could fill the whole page p with reasons on why I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE her.

  511. 1st of all, she hurts Edward constently. When I fall in love, I’m never going to hert him like that. jacob said in Breaking Dawn, he looked like he was being burned when he saw bella and he was going to BEGG for Jacob to kill him! I cried so many times during the Twilight sereies it was ridicules! But i love it anyway. Second, she couldn’t just give up the kid! I mean it links with number 1 but she caused EVERYONE unnessesary pain and suffering including herself! It was terrible! And third, she always hurt Jacob by staying with him while she was with Edward! she should have ditched him when Edward came back! It would have been easier for her not knowing she was in love with him, and Jacob would have been okay eventually. His love for her would simply fade over time like your favorite song, or your cutest pair of jeans! Fourth, bella is so lucky to have someone care for her that much! 100000000000000 girls would KILL or bite off their own fingers o be adored that much, and she just treated it like some normal thing! I HATE her! And she is always so picky about maney. If Edward has all the money in the world why would she care if he bought her a few nice thing?! And when Alice bought her all those nice clothes, she never wore them which is phony because she doesn’t want to waste money, but shes doing that but letting those clothes go to waste! And if I were her, I’d be thrilled to know Jacob imprinted on renesmee! Not MAD! It’s like hitting two birds with one stone. Jacob doesn’t hurt anymore, and her baby has someone to take care of her when Bella is having sex with Edward! No, half the book was them hving sex! BLAH! I loved the book, but I HATE bella! HATE HER! HATE HER! HATE HER! HATE HER! HATE HER! HATE HER! HATE HER! HATE HER! HATE HER! HATE HER! HATE HER! HATE HER! HATE HER! HATE HER! HATE HER! HATE HER! HATE HER! HATE HER!

  513. I wish Isle Esme had been a bit longer…especially that first time, all SM wrote was them going down into the water…she didn’t even start it. But the second time was better…at least it had a beginning…

  514. wow. 4 miles?! ewww! i would die. i just got like extremely good news though! my coach just sent out a letter saying that we weren’t gonna have 5 days of conditioning. instead we would have 3 days (waking up at 5:30 being at the softball field by 6 running till 7) which is great cuz i was really dreading going to softball and then straight to school. we still have practice every day at 4 though but that’s nothing. 😀 so i is happy.

    lol. interesting Bran-la. it’s probably true though about the microwave under it cuz this one started on fire. lol. see… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQr6SbYpTYM&feature=related i’m not gonna lie.. i feel so gullible. lol. the 1st time i watched that video i was like “holy crap the cell phones started the popcorn on fire!!!” yes. i can be fooled easily. and i’m not even blonde. sad.. isn’t it? haha.

    guess what guys! i went shopping yesterday. and i got 4 new books! 🙂 i got The Host, Looking for Alaska, The Vampire Diaries, and The It Girl. and i got a bunch of school clothes. 🙂

    i disagree. Bella is fawesome!

  516. yes i did. and i still disagree. because your over looking the most important part.. Edward can’t live without her. i mean i don’t disagree that she has hurt Edward a lot but it would hurt him even more if she was dead. also think about how much Bella has changed his life.. he’s finally happy. and btw Edward has hurt Bella too.. don’t forget about that. i cried when Edward left her. i guess i just identify with Bella more.. or maybe i’m jealous of her, like you said 10000000000000 girls would kill to be adored that much. but i love Edward! …and so i understand that she can’t live without him and he can’t live without her. i don’t know. that’s my opinion. and you are entitled to yours as well so i don’t want to make a big thing out of this. okay?

  517. Haha. Yes, well we can all be fooled at some point in our lives.

    Ok, have you ever had one of those moments were you give yourself an inspirational speech? Like you talk to yourself in your head and when your done you go, “Wow, that was really good.” Cause i just did that. I do it all the time. Maybe its just me and im weird but it was quiet the speech. Haha. Im weird. But it was so good!

  518. yeah. haha. my friends always fool me and scare me. yesterday me and 2 of my friends went shopping and then went out to eat and me and my friend went to the bathroom afterwards and she hid in the stall next to mine and when i walked out she scared me so bad i screamed. lol. and then when we got out of the restroom our parents were gone so we went outside and of course the car was gone.. and we saw a car that looked exactlly like mine that was just pulling around the building towards the exit road and we started chasing after it and it ended up not being my car. lol.

    and yeah, i do that whenever i have to give a big presentation or whatever for school. or right before i get up to bat and the game is all tied up in the final inning or something i give myself a little “you can do this” speech.

    well i’m gonna go try to sleep now.. if i get to sleep it will be like the earliest i’ve gotten to sleep in more than a month. *crossing my fingers* laters.

  519. I agree with some of the reasons why you hate Bells but I love her anyway (I feel the same way about Tally, who has also hurt the people she loves) as Bells says love is irrational, I love the way it ended but I feel bad for Leah, she’s like the only one who dosn’t get a happy ending (kinda the same for Seth) and i wish some one had kicked Jane’s ass… and smuthered Demitri….and ripped Alec’s limbs off…. and squashed Aro and Caius… and you get the idea

  520. AND SCOTT-LA WE REALLY NEED A NEW POST!!!!!! beacause i forgot what this one is about (and I’m to lazy to look)……… oh yay First Lines

  521. I’m so sad, MY COMPUTER’S BROKEN. *sniffles* Idk what happened either, it just blew up. I’m on my brother’s comp right now but until mine’s fixed or I get a new one I won’t be on a lot. *sighs* Such is life.

  524. my printers dead but thats not nearly as trajic (I feel your pain) SCOTT-LA NEW POST ALREADY, PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  526. okay i’ve got some more first lines that i really like:
    “Sun shining like a big yellow shining…er, warmey planet fire thing.” — Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers (6th book of the Georgia Niclson series by Louise Rennison)
    “Eyes, nose, lips.” — Girl 15, Charming but Insane by Sue Limb
    “I didn’t realize he was a werewolf at first.” — Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
    “You grow up with a kid but you n ever really notice him.” — Loser by Jerry Spinelli
    “I don’t think I’ll ever get married.” –It’s Not the End of the World by Judy Blume
    =]

  527. Yeah, I know. I’m in an EXTREMELY angry mood. On top of my screwed up computer, I just got my schedule for school and they messed up everything and won’t let me change it. Instead of Honors Biology I got put in Art 1. I’d be ok with that besides the fact that I need to take Honors Biology and I wanted to get it over with this year. And they put me in a math class two levels lower than what I should be in, and what my counselor told me I would be in. And my parents call them and they just said “Oh well there must have been a reason, we don’t make mistakes like that. If the teacher sees her doing well then she might be moved up though she’ll have to wait till the next semester.” I swear I am going to scream. SCREAM I TELL YOU SCREAM!

  528. Okay, T&Z, breathe in, breathe out. its okay, i’m sure life could be worse.
    ^,..,^ aren’t i encouraging?
    lol jk,
    okay, is there a teacher that ur good friend w/? maybe you can email them and talk to her about ur schedule and stuff, maybe she can convince the ppl that they did ur schedule wrong. or, if that doesn’t work, then just talk to ur counselor about it. ur school is prolly open and stuff during the summer, right? so that’s what i would do.

  529. “The formidable glass-and-steel structure rose from its position on Front Street like a glittering needle threading the sky.”
    City of Glass-Cassandra Clare

    “Herein lies the faithful and true account of my last sixty days, by Kartik, brother of Amar, loyal son of the Rakshana, and the strange visitation I received that has left me wary of this cold English night.”
    Prologue, Rebel Angels-Libba Bray

    “This is what it’s like to be crazy.”
    Seven Tears Into the Sea-Terri Farley

    “Tyler got me a job as a waiter, after that Tyler’s pushing a gun in my mouth and saying, the first step to eternal life is you have to die.”
    Fight Club- Chuck Palahniuk

    And one of my own- “It was cruel of him to put me in a cell that looked out at the daunting and impenetrable, no unconquerable building where I’d met my downfall.”

  530. that is so funny nikki-wa! big girls don’t cry is totally jacob’s song! but i was really happy with the way BD ended. i’m glad SM gave everyone a happy ending. i think she should continue the series in Renesmee’s perspective!

  531. omg anyone know The Yes dance?? lmao
    “Lets do the fork in the garbage disposal! dink dink dink da-dink dink dink dink dink da-dink!”

  532. People have already mentioned Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer but mostly everyone I read said the first sentence in the first chapter not the first sentence in the Preface sooooo…. i like the first sentences of the prefaces :]

    Twilight: “I’d never given much thought to how I would die – though I’d had reason enough in the last few months – but even If I had, I would not have imagined it like this.”

    New Moon: “I felt like I was trapped in one of those terrifying nightmares, the one where you have to run, run till your lungs burst, but you can’t make your body move fast enough.”

    Eclipse: “All our attempts at subterfuge had been in vain.”

    and (EEK IM SO HAPPY TO HAVE THIS FINALLY!!!) Breaking Dawn: “I’d had more than my fair share of near-death experiences; it wasn’t something you ever really got used to.”

    and I can’t help myself ^^’ another Stephenie Meyer one – I’ll stop using her books after this one I promise!! (not much of a promise since there AREN’t anymore [well besides her story in Prom NIght’s From Hell….] oh geez im rambling.. ANYWAYS) from the HOst: “The healer’s name was Fords Deep Waters.”

    I just love his name it amuses me xD

    from It’s Kind Of A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini: “It’s so hard to talk when you want to kill yourself.”

    from A Man Called Blessed by Ted Dekker: “David Ben Solomon, leader of the Temple Mount Advocates, stood among the smoldering bodies, glued to the ground.” That one’s intense.

    from Skin by Ted Dekker: “When the rain isn’t so much falling – be it in bucket loads or like cats and dogs – but rather slamming into the car like an avalanche of stone, you know it’s time to pull over.”

    I love Renesmee! It should definitely be continued from her point of view!! at first I was a bit skeptical about her name though… haha mainly because when you havent slept in like 32 hours and you keep trying to read her name…. haha it’s interesting.

    I still hope that Stephenie continues the series no matter whose pov it’s from though cause not only do I want to find out what happens between Renesmee and Jacob, I’m curious about other things as well like, Who all turned into werewolves? There are 17 of them now!!?!?!?!?!?! It drives me crazy not knowing these things xD

  534. Haha lol. People writing longs posts here isn’t exactly uncommon… as you are about witness.
    {{BD spoilers}}
    Renesmee was downright awesome. 😀 I don’t know why some people complain about her name. But I *do* sort of wish that at least some part of her name would have ‘Elizabeth’ in it, you know, after Edward’s (biological) mother.
    And, I’m sorry, but I was unhappy with Jacob imprinting on Renesmee. I absolutely loved how the moment was written but it’s so… unrealistic. Of course, how can a fantasy novel be realistic? That’s right, there are many parts of it that can’t, but Jacob and Renesmee as a couple aren’t very believable for the reader. He makes more sense as an older brother or a godfather or something like that. With Quil and Claire it I get it, but Jacob and Bella’s DAUGHTER?? Sighhh. It’s just really hard to accept.
    I also wished there were some father/daughter moments between Edward and Nessie. That would have been so cute.
    I loved Breaking Dawn–I seriously did–but after Bella got vamped There were some parts where I felt like I didn’t even know her. I know that this vampire-Bella, but Stephenie Meyer could have at least had her trip *after* jumping out the window. I also wish there would have been more talk about why she’s resistant to human blood. I think it’s because of how repulsed she was by it in human life.
    And, of course, an epic battle against the Volturi. Garrett was so awesome. And I’d like to see Jane shocked, literally, by Kate.
    Well, whatever happens I think SM should continue–I wouldn’t mind Jacob/Nessie, because then I’d conveniently get used to them. Maybe all the werewolves’ stories… that’d be awesome. I also REALLY want to know more about the Denali coven, the Volturi Guard and all the other vampires mentioned. I’m sure their stories are as dramatic as the Cullens.
    {{End BD spoilers}}
    Well, there’s my Breaking Dawn rant… sorry, needed to get it out of my system… This is quite possibly the longest post I have ever written…

    ~I

  536. My three favorites would have to be:

    “Seven o’clock on a Monday morning, five hundred years after the End of the World, and the goblins had been at the cellar again.”

    -Runemarks, Joanne Harris

    “Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood.”

    – Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1: The Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan

    “The last thing I wanted to do on my summer break was blow up another school.”

    Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 4: Battle of the Labyrinth

  537. Haha, I also love that last quote—the first line from Battle of the Labyrinth. Percy Jackson’s awesome. 🙂

  538. About Breaking Dawn comments said earlier…((BD SPOILER!!!))

    So, someone gave a list of reasons for why they hate Bella…and one of those reasons was because she didn’t get rid of the baby, even though it was hurting everyone else.

    But I don’t think you realize how much that would hurt HER. She loved the baby inside of her, more than anything else in the world. And most pregnant woman feel that way. She even said herself- “I can’t hurt him any more than I can pick up a gun and shoot you (Jacob).” If she killed the baby, it would feel like killing herself, and a part of her would die inside.

    It’s not so simple as to simple abort it. She loves it more than anything else in the world, and she’d be in much worse pain if she had to get rid of it.

    Anyways…one thing that I would have changed is, I would have made Leah imprint on someone, or at least find someone else. I feel so bad for her!! It’s not fair that she has to wallow in misery and pain forever!! Noo!! 🙁

    And I sorta wish that Jacob never imprinted on Renesmee. Yeah, he would need to imprint on SOMEONE, but I wish it had been someone else, ANYONE other than Bella’s OWN DAUGHTER!! ugh. Even Lizzie would have been great. 🙁

    And I wish there was a fight with the volturri at the end…

    Ah well. The rest was great. I loved the book! XD

    ((SPOILER ENDS))

  539. I didn’t read all the other comments, but my favorite first line that doesn’t have to do with cat vomit is probably from the first book of the Mediator Series by Meg Cabot:

    They told me there’d be palm trees.

    I’m not really sure why I like it so much, but I do.

  540. one of my favorite first lines, well it’s actually two from the novel THE YEAR OF DISAPPEARANCES by SUSAN HUBBARD
    it is “It was the year of disapperances. The honeybees were the first to go.” I dont know why i like these two lines. I just do.

  541. Yeah I wish Jacob would have imprinted on Lizzie. She was pretty cool, even though she made such a minor appearance.
    I think the reason Stephenie made him imprint on Bella’s daughter was because they would be, pretty much, one big happy family. But I wish she would have found at least some different method to do such a thing! I mean, seriously.
    All the finales of my favorite book series I’ve read are, pretty much, flawless. Breaking Dawn, sadly, isn’t. I think the book can be redeemed, though, if SM writes a sequel–which I totally think she should.

  542. (wow lots of bd talk here)

    i have alot of favorite first-lines from books so here are some of them:

    Twilight – Stephenie Meyer
    ‘I’d never given much thought to how I was going to die —- though I’d had reason enough in the last few months —- but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this.’

    New Moon – Stephenie Meyer
    ‘I felt as if I was trapped in one of those terrifying nightmares, the one where you have to run, run till your lungs burst, but you can’t make your body move fast enough.’

    Eclipse – Stephenie Meyer
    ‘All our attempts at subterfuge had been in vain.’

    Breaking Dawn – Stephenie Meyer
    ‘I’d had more than my fair share of near-death experiences; it wasn’t something you ever really got used to.’

    – I like Stephenie’s way of starting a book because it starts with a pre-face that takes you staright into the center of the action without giving it away and the first line always gives you the impression something bad – but exciting – is about to or is happening. She also capitalizes the entire first line of every chapter to draw attention. –

    Vampire Accademy – Richelle Mead
    ‘I felt her before I heard her screams.’

    Frostbite – Richelle Mead
    ‘Things die. But they don’t always stay dead.’

    – Richelle’s style is quick but full of action that makes you wonder what’s going on. –

    Marked – P.C. Cast + Kristin Cast
    ‘Just when I thought my day couldn’t get any worse I saw the dead guy standing next to my locker.’

    – I found this starter really effective because it drew me in so I bought all three in the series that day but then after I started it I realised the first 4 chapters was all building the story and it got kinda boring to me (luckily I can’t start a book and not finish even if I hate it so I read it through and the story is one of my favorutes now, kinda like how everyone wants to or does skip over that big chunk in New Moon) –

  543. oh one more thing; all those books I listed are Vampire Romance stories (my favorite kind) if anyone wants/needs to find more in that (jonera no… gonera no (god i can’t spell it)…) type of books (there, there’s my ‘i give up’ solution)

  544. Um I think it’s spelled genre. LoL, that’s okay. I got what you meant though. I gotta say that The Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens has a genius first line. It’s like hecka long, but it gets you thinking. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way-” It’s just wow. That my friends, is why it has become a classic.

  545. i’m lucky in the way that my mom is just as obsessed as reading as i am. Her rule is i just can’t spend my life in my room though, so she asks me to go tan and read our books outside (she loved Breaking Dawn just like me and it’s funny because b4 it had come out when she first started the series she had a negitive veiw on bella changing because she couldn’t have children if she wanted to, god it’s like she knew what was going to happen) I’m also unlucky because I don’t get to read at all at my dad’s house, he doesn’t like reading because he had trouble with it when he was young so he doesn’t get why I love it and he’s trying to force us to be a family by forcing family activities (movies, activities, boating, eating-out ect.) and not letting us go alone anywhere and making us do chores together which his whole attempt is stupid because he can’t expect a 14-year-old girl, and her 12 and 7 year old brothers to get along (especially since the 12-year-old’s past-time is being loud outside his sister’s bedroom early in the morning and pestering her the rest of the day whenever possible, not to mention that everytime I complain it automatically becomes MY fault and am told I should get up sooner or ignore it or stop trying to cause problems in this family or on the rare occasion he may tell them to stop but they’ll just start 5 mins. later anyways because there’ s no punishment for them). even more annoying is when i need a new book at chapters i get to go in for like 5 min. and if i don’t pick by 10 then I have to choose on the spot because we’re leaving; i’m like, that’s not how it works! I usually go there, browse, look over a variety and compare, gab a startbucks latte, read the book I choose for awhile, compare prices, see how much I have, get my mom to give me money for an extra book or two, and then, near closing time/ around 2 hours later, I go buy my book/books and go read them at home, that’s how it should work! but no, my dad would have nothing to do in a book-store/ coffe shop except hover around me annoyingly and never leave me alone! (funny how he always trusts my brothers and never trusts me; i mean, they’re the problem children, not me, i’m the quiet one that tries to avoid the other 2 at all costs)

  546. “Just after six in the evening, with the January sky glowering through the windows like a new bruise, Lily decided to throw Uncle Max in the closet.” ~ Lily’s Ghosts

    It’s not technically the first line, because there’s a one-page prologue-like-thing before it, but it’s the first line of Chapter One, and I’ve always thought of it as the first line. The “new bruise” part kind of makes me think of the “cat vomit” line in Uglies.

  547. My favorite line (Or actually paragraph, I suppose…I can’t pick just one line out of it, it just fits so perfectly together) would probably have to be this one…From Ray Bradbury’s Fahernheit 451…

    “‘What is there about fire that’s so lovely? No matter what age we are, what draws us to it?” Beatty blew out the flame and lit it again. “It’s perpetual motion; the thing man wanted to invent but never did. Or almost perpetual motion. If you let it go on, it’d burn our lifetimes out. What is fire? It’s a mystery. Scientists give us gobbledegook about friction and molecules. But they don’t really know. Its real beauty is that it destroys responsibility and consequences. A problem gets too burndensome, then into the furnace with it. Now, Montag, you’re a burden. And fire will lift you off my shoulders, clean, quick, sure; nothing to rot later. Antibiotic, aesthetic, practical.'”

  548. Ooh wait, never mind….That’s not a first line, I didn’t notice that part, I’m so tired right now, lol….Still a great one though.

  550. I have two.
    My favorite is from Gail Carson Levine (she wrote Ella Enchanted) but this is from one of the princess stories. It goes something like this…

    She was the ugliest baby ever seen.

    That just cracks me up!

    And then Pride and Prejudice, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”

    There are a lot of lists on the web. I liked this one

    http://www.pubquizhelp.com/art/book_first_lines.html

    cause it includes a couple of different genres.

  552. Eragon by Paolini… first line… “Wind howled through th night, carrying a scent that would change th world.”

  553. From The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (Douglas Adams= made of awesome)

    ”It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on Earth has ever produced the phrase, ‘as pretty as an airport.’ ”

  554. BTW, if your a novice at e cigarettes, like myself . if this makes sence the new batteries will make a funny flavor for a day or 2 as the u brake your e cig in. Just push through it and it will taste a lot better.

  557. Must admit the first line of UGLIES is my all time most-hated. That said, it was definitely effective as it snagged my attention. And what a great book it is.

  558. I smoked cigarettes for most of my life and stopping was harder than you can imagine. I bought all of the quitting methods but nothing worked for me. Then I discovered the e cig. The electronic cigarette uses a nicotine liquid that contains just nicotine. No poisons at all. They have literally changed my life.

  559. My favorite first line is from “Jeremy Fink andthe Meaning of Life”. It is:
    My sweat smells like peanut butter”

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  568. The Neuromancer first line has been a favorite for a long time. Also, the first line of Feed: “We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck.”

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