“WHAT ARE YOU FAVORITE BOOK BEGINNINGS AND/OR ENDINGS?”
So many of my books are in storage, and so (though I desperately wanted to) I could not go rifling through them all to reread first and last lines. Also, I’ve been frequenting the library a good bit recently.
Fave first lines:
“First the Colors.
Then the humans.
That’s usually how I see things.
Or at least, how I try.”
– The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
So original. I love it. <3
“The screw through Cinder’s ankle had rusted, the engraved cross marks worn to a mangled circle.”
– Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Over the summer I led a book club for middle school girls, and we read this book together. It was priceless watching their faces when they read the first line.
“The servants called them malenchki, little ghosts, because they were the smallest and the youngest, and because they haunted the Duke’s house like giggling phantoms, darting in and out of rooms, hiding in cupboards to eavesdrop, sneaking into the kitchen to steal the last of the summer peaches.”
– Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
I love how the books begin and end with third person rather than first.
“After a year of slavery in the Salt Mines of Endovier, Celaena Sardothien was accustomed to being escorted everywhere in shackles and at sword-point.”
– Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Gah, this is great.
“Late in the winter of my seventeenth year, my mother decided I was depressed, presumably because I rarely left the house, spent quite a lot of time in bed, read the same book over and over, ate infrequently, and devoted quite a bit of my abundant free time to thinking about death.”
– Fault in Our Stars by John Green
If that isn’t depression, I don’t know what is. 😉
“My dress is black and itchy and I hate it.”
– Mind Games by Kiersten White
Such personality.
Fave last lines:
” **A LAST NOTE FROM YOUR NARRATOR**
I am haunted by humans.”
– The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Book Thief made the list twice!
“I’ll tell them how I survive it. I’ll tell them that on bad mornings, it feels impossible to take pleasure in anything because I’m afraid it could be taken away. That’s when I make a list in my head of every act of goodness I’ve seen someone do. It’s like a game. Repetitive. Even a little tedious after more than twenty years.
But there are much worse games to play.”
– Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
The ending of this book aggravated me, but there is something so gritty and realistic about these last lines.
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVE FIRST/LAST LINES? PLEASE SHARE!
Also… be sure to check out the rest of the chain!
(I plan to add the full schedule soon, rather than the link I’ve provided for now!)
I know I love Shadow and Bone already… I guess I’d really better get to checking out the other ones!
Yes, definitely! The books I listed are some of my favorites. 🙂 Thanks for commenting, Heather!
Beginning, middle, and end, The Book Thief is just a literary masterpiece! I love the first/last lines you chose to showcase here (but especially the first!), and I’m pleased to see some of my favorite books on this list. 🙂 Like you, I adore that third-person beginning of Shadow and Bone–that first line especially is so much like a fairy tale!–and the first line of The Fault in Our Stars captures Hazel’s personality perfectly. Great picks all around!
Thanks! The Book Thief is truly a literary masterpiece. It gave me so much to think about, and made me feel so many things…and the emotions all came rushing back when I cracked it open again to read it’s first and last lines. And you put into words exactly what I was trying to say about Shadow and Bone – the third person narration does give it the feel of a fairy tale! Thanks for commenting, Taylor! 🙂
Oh, absolutely–it’s the kind of book that I could easily see becoming a classic in a few decades. And you’re welcome! 🙂
Yep. The Book Thief has an awesome beginning and end (and middle!:)). Mockingjay’s end is beautifully painful. ***POSSIBLE HUNGER GAMES SPOILER*** I like the wording of the proposal too.
Now I’m interested in Mind Games. I can totally relate to itchy dresses.
I think we could all write about The Book Thief and it’s awesomeness for days. Mockingjay did not impress me as much, but you describe the last lines perfectly – “beautifully painful.” And Mind Games is really good! Very unique. Really interesting and thought-provoking. Thanks for commenting, Tara! 🙂