December 16, 2016

Top 10 First Lines of 2016


First Lines Friday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie of Precision Revision. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along. First lines are what grab readers. It is our first impression. It sets the tone for the remainder of the book. 

What makes a good first line? Clever wording. A bold statement. A sentence(s) that prompts me to nod my head, say hmmm and read further. Below are the top ten first lines from books I've read this year. Hopefully these spark your attention too.

Click the title/author for my previously published review of the books featured in my Top 10 First Lines of 2016.

10. "A dead bolt has a very specific sound." ~ Baby Doll by Hollie Overton

9. "We didn't believe when we first heard because you know how church folk can gossip." ~ The Mothers by Brit Bennett

8. "I remember what was playing when the car slammed into us." ~ Untwine by Edwidge Danticat

7. "When I found my husband at the bottom of the stairs, I tried to resuscitate him before I ever considered disposing of the body." ~ The Passenger by Lisa Lutz 

6. "On the sidewalk outside 57 Great Jones Street, the usual sad lineup of crack addicts slept in the burning sun. Inside the two-story brick building, Jean-Michel Basquiat was asleep in his huge bed, bathed in blue television light. The air conditioner was broken and the room felt like a microwave oven. The bathroom door was ajar, revealing a glimpse of a black and tan Jacuzzi tub. On the ledge of the tub was a small pile of bloody syringes." ~ Basquiat: A Quick Killing in Art by Phoebe Hoban

5. "I'm a liar. And I don't care who knows it. I make stuff up all the time." ~ Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person by Shonda Rhimes

4. "Where my panties at?" ~ Getting Mother's Body by Suzan-Lori Parks 

3. "My cup of tea is on the bedside table. It is where he has always left it; every morning of the eighteen years we have been married he has made me a cup of tea, brought it up, and left it on the side, and normally that's all it is; a cup of tea on the side. But today is not a normal day." ~ The Mother by Yvvette Edwards

2. "As I sit here with one foot on either side of the ledge, looking down from twelve stories above the streets of Boston, I can't help but think about suicide." ~ It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

1. "No, no. I insist you stop right now. Still here? Awesome. Now you're not allowed to blame me for anything in this book because I told you to stop reading and you just kept going." ~ Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson

You May Also Be Interested In:
Top 5 Series of 2016
Top 10 Books of 2016
Top 10 Book Covers of 2016


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