Author Archives: sandradan1

Unknown's avatar

About sandradan1

Novelist. I blog about writing, reading and everything to do with books and writing them at http://www.sandradanby.com/. Come and visit me!

Great Opening Paragraph 41… ‘The Heart is a Lonely Hunter’ #amreading #FirstPara

3 Replies

“In the town there were two mutes, and they were always together. Early every morning they would come out from the house where they lived and walk arm in arm down the street to work. The two friends were very different. The one who always steered the way was an obese and dreamy Greek. In the summer he would come out wearing a yellow or green polo shirt stuffed sloppily into his trousers in front and hanging loose behind. When it was colder he wore over this a shapeless grey sweater. His face was round and oily, with half-closed eyelids and lips that curved in a gently, stupid smile. The other mute was tall. His eyes had a quick, intelligent expression. He was always immaculate and very soberly dressed.”
Carson McCullers From ‘The Heart is a Lonely Hunter’ by Carson McCullers 

Try one of these #FirstParas & discover a new author:-
‘Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant’ by Anne Tyler
‘Astonishing Splashes of Colour’ by Clare Morrall
‘Sacred Hearts’ by Sarah Dunant

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#Books #FirstPara THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER by Carson McCullers https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-4b9 via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘Stay Where You Are & Then Leave’ by John Boyne @JohnBoyneBooks #WW1

11 Replies

I’m sure Stay Where You Are & Then Leave will be the first of many books about the First World War which I will read over the next two years [written in 2013], and what a one to start with. Written by John Boyne, probably best known for The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, this is a touching story of a boy’s determination to help his soldier father. John BoyneDestined to become a children’s classic, it is a tough tale with a tender touch. Boyne doesn’t shy away from the difficult subjects of enemy aliens, conscientious objectors, loss, injury, death and fear. On July 28th 1914, war is declared. It is also Alfie Summerfield’s fifth birthday. His biggest wish is to go one morning with his father Georgie on the milk cart with his horse Mr Asquith. Life changes for Alfie and his mother without Georgie. As the years pass, Alfie stops believing the grown-ups who say the war ‘will be over by Christmas’. Then his father’s letters stop arriving. Alfie’s mother says Georgie is ‘on a special mission and cannot write’ but Alfie doesn’t believe her. He doesn’t like being treated as a child, so he decides to do something about it.
This is a story about belief, empowerment, and the strength of children in adversity.

Read my reviews of these other novels by John Boyne:-
A HISTORY OF LONELINESS
A LADDER TO THE SKY
A TRAVELLER AT THE GATES OF WISDOM
ALL THE BROKEN PLACES
THE HEART’S INVISIBLE FURIES… Curious? Read the#FirstPara of THE HEART’S INVISIBLE FURIES here
THE WEIGHT OF ANGELS
WATER #1ELEMENTS
EARTH #2ELEMENTS

If you like this, try:-
‘Himself’ by Jess Kidd
‘Ghost Moth’ by Michele Forbes
‘Nora Webster’ by Colm Tóibín

And if you’d like to share a link:
#BookReview STAY WHERE YOU ARE AND THEN LEAVE by John Boyne @JohnBoyneBooks https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-4bh via @SandraDanby

Great opening paragraph 40… ‘Norwegian Wood’ #amreading #FirstPara

5 Replies

“I was 37 then, strapped in my seat as the huge 747 plunged through dense cloud cover on approach to Hamburg airport. Cold November rains drenched the earth, lending everything the gloomy air of a Flemish landscape: the ground crew in waterproofs, a flag atop a squat airport building, a BMW billboard. So – Germany again.”
Haruki Murakami From ‘Norwegian Wood’ by Haruki Murakami 

Read these #FirstParas from other books by Haruki Murakami:-
DANCE DANCE DANCE
HARD-BOILED WONDERLAND AND THE END OF THE WORLD
THE WIND-UP BIRD CHRONICLE

Try one of these #FirstParas & discover a new author:-
‘Room’ by Emma Donoghue
‘Lolita’ by Vladimir Nabokov
‘A Passage to India’ by EM Forster

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#Books #FirstPara NORWEGIAN WOOD by Haruki Murakami #books https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-4b8 via @SandraDanby

Great opening paragraph… 40

2 Replies

haruki murakami - norwegian wood 10-6-13“I was 37 then, strapped in my seat as the huge 747 plunged through dense cloud cover on approach to Hamburg airport. Cold November rains drenched the earth, lending everything the gloomy air of a Flemish landscape: the ground crew in waterproofs, a flag atop a squat airport building, a BMW billboard. So – Germany again.”

‘Norwegian Wood’ by Haruki Murakami [translated from the Japanese by Jay Rubin]

Great Opening Paragraph 39… ‘The God of Small Things’ #amreading #FirstPara

1 Reply

“May in Ayemenem is a hot, brooding month. The days are long and humid. The river shrinks and black crows gorge on bright mangoes in still, dustgreen trees. Red bananas ripen. Jackfruits burst. Dissolute bluebottles hum vacuously in the fruity air. Then they stun themselves against clear windowpanes and die, fatly baffled in the sun.”
Arundhati RoyFrom ‘The God of Small Things’ by Arundhati Roy

Try one of these #FirstParas & discover a new author:-
‘Spies’ by Michael Frayn
‘Far From the Madding Crowd’ by Thomas Hardy
‘American Psycho’ by Brett Easton Ellis

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#Books #FirstPara THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS by Arundhati Roy https://wp.me/p5gEM4-n7 via @SandraDanby

Great Opening Paragraph… 39

Leave a reply

arundhati roy - the god of small things 10-6-13“May in Ayemenem is a hot, brooding month. The days are long and humid. The river shrinks and black crows gorge on bright mangoes in still, dustgreen trees. Red bananas ripen. Jackfruits burst. Dissolute bluebottles hum vacuously in the fruity air. Then they stun themselves against clear windowpanes and die, fatly baffled in the sun.”
‘The God of Small Things’ by Arundhati Roy

#BookReview ‘The Lost Girl’ by Sangu Mandanna #scifi #YA

Leave a reply

I admit to never having heard of The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna until seeing it mentioned in ‘favourite read’ lists on a few blogs. I ordered it purely on that basis and had no idea it was a YA novel. It is a romantic story of love and loss, grief and identity, set in the UK and India, with sinister echoes of Frankenstein. Sangu Mandanna Eva is an ‘echo’, a non-human ‘woven’ by a mysterious organization called The Loom which makes copies of real people for their family in case the loved one should die. The idea is that the ‘echo’ slips into the dead person’s shoes so minimising the family’s loss. Of course it is not that simple. Mandanna handles a difficult subject well, not avoiding the awkward moral issues which litter the dystopian story premise. The world is disturbingly almost normal, littered with everyday familiar references. Eva, who lives in the Lake District, is the echo for Amarra from Bangalore. I found it quite an emotional read, not just Eva’s situation but her guardians, her familiars, and Amarra’s friends in India. What seems a simple premise at the beginning, done with the best intentions, becomes increasingly dark as the story develops and the true horror of Eva’s situation is explained.

If you like this, try:-
‘The Bear and the Nightingale’ by Katherine Arden #1WINTERNIGHT
‘The Magicians’ by Lev Grossman #1THEMAGICIANS
‘The Queen of the Tearling’ by Erika Johansen #1TEARLING

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE LOST GIRL by Sangu Mandanna via @SandraDanby https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-4b7

Great Opening Paragraph 38… ‘A Severed Head’ #amreading #FirstPara

2 Replies

“’You’re sure she doesn’t know?’ said Georgie.
‘Antonia? About us? Certain.’
Georgie was silent for a moment and then said, ‘Good.’ That curt ‘Good’ was characteristic of her, typical of a toughness which had, to my mind, more to do with honesty than with ruthlessness. I liked the dry way in which she accepted our relationship. Only with a person so eminently sensible could I have deceived my wife.”
Iris Murdoch From ‘A Severed Head’ by Iris Murdoch 

Try these other #FirstParas by Iris Murdoch:-
‘The Sea The Sea’
‘The Philosopher’s Pupil’

Try one of these #FirstParas & discover a new author:-
‘Nineteen Minutes’ by Jodi Picoult
‘1984’ by George Orwell
‘The Cement Garden’ by Ian McEwan

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#Books #FirstPara A SEVERED HEAD by Iris Murdoch https://wp.me/p5gEM4-ml via @SandraDanby

Great Opening Paragraph… 38

Leave a reply

iris murdoch - a severed head 10-6-13“’You’re sure she doesn’t know?’ said Georgie.

‘Antonia? About us? Certain.’

Georgie was silent for a moment and then said, ‘Good.’ That curt ‘Good’ was characteristic of her, typical of a toughness which had, to my mind, more to do with honesty than with ruthlessness. I liked the dry way in which she accepted our relationship. Only with a person so eminently sensible could I have deceived my wife.”
‘A Severed Head’ by Iris Murdoch

Great Opening Paragraph 37… ‘I’ll Take You There’ #amreading #FirstPara

1 Reply

“In those days in the early Sixties we were not women yet but girls. This was, without irony, perceived as our advantage.”
Joyce Carol OatesFrom ‘I’ll Take You There’ by Joyce Carol Oates

Try one of these #FirstParas & discover a new author:-
‘A Farewell to Arms’ by Ernest Hemingway 
‘Tipping the Velvet’ by Sarah Waters 
‘The Collector’ by John Fowles 

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#Books #FirstPara I’LL TAKE YOU THERE by Joyce Carol Oates https://wp.me/p5gEM4-mM via @SandraDanby