Category Archives: #FirstParas

Great Opening Paragraph 114… ‘Agnes Grey’ #amreading #FirstPara

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“All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity, that the dry shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut. Whether this be the case with my history or not, I am hardly competent to judge. I sometimes think it might prove useful to some, and entertaining to others; but the world may judge for itself. Shielded by my own obscurity, and by the lapse of years, and a few fictitious names, I do not fear to venture; and will candidly lay before the public what I would not disclose to the most intimate friend.”
Anne BrontëFrom ‘Agnes Grey’ by Anne Brontë

Here’s the #FirstPara of JANE EYRE by Anne’s sister, Charlotte Brontë.

Try one of these #FirstParas & discover a new author:-
‘Love in the Time of Cholera’ by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
‘In Cold Blood’ by Truman Capote
‘Family Album’ by Penelope Lively

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#Books #FirstPara AGNES GREY by Anne Brontë http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2xM via @SandraDanby

Great Opening Paragraph 113… ‘A Good Man in Africa’ #amreading #FirstPara

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“‘Good man,’ said Dalmire, gratefully accepting the gin Morgan Leafy offered him. ‘Oh good man.’ He presents his eager male friendship like a gift, thought Morgan; he’s like a dog who wants me to throw him a stick for him to chase. If he had a tail he’d be wagging it.”
William BoydFrom ‘A Good Man in Africa’ by William Boyd

Try this #FirstPara from ARMADILLO … and read my reviews of these other books by William Boyd:-
ANY HUMAN HEART
LOVE IS BLIND
NAT TATE: AN AMERICAN ARTIST 1928-1960
ORDINARY THUNDERSTORMS
SWEET CARESS
THE BLUE AFTERNOON
THE DREAMS OF BETHANY MELLMOTH
TRIO
WAITING FOR SUNRISE

Try one of these #FirstParas & discover a new author:-
‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ by Helen Fielding
‘Super-Cannes’ by JG Ballard
‘Middlesex’ by Jeffrey Eugenides

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#Books #FirstPara A GOOD MAN IN AFRICA by William Boyd http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2si via @SandraDanby

Great Opening Paragraph 112… ‘Affinity’ #amreading #FirstPara

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“3 August 1873. I was never so frightened as I am now. They have left me sitting in the dark, with only the light from the window to write by. They have put me in my own room, they have locked the door on me. They wanted Ruth to do it, but she would not. She said ‘What, do you want me to lock up my own mistress, who has done nothing?’ In the end the doctor took the key from her & locked the door himself, then made her leave me. Now the house is full of voices, all saying my name. If I close my eyes & listen it might be any ordinary night. I might be waiting for Mrs Brink to come & take me down to a dark circle, & Madeleine or any girl might be there, blushing, thinking of Peter, of Peter’s great dark whiskers & shining hands.’
Sarah WatersFrom ‘Affinity’ by Sarah Waters

Here are two more #FirstParas by Sarah Waters:-
THE PAYING GUESTS
TIPPING THE VELVET

Read my review of THE PAYING GUESTS.

Try one of these #FirstParas & discover a new author:-
‘Illywhacker’ by Peter Carey
‘Sophie’s World’ by Jostein Gaarder
‘Goldfinger’ by Ian Fleming

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#Books #FirstPara AFFINITY by Sarah Waters http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2qR via @SandraDanby

Great Opening Paragraph 111… ‘Reading Turgenev’ #amreading #FirstPara

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“A woman, not yet fifty-seven, slight and seeming frail, eats carefully at a table in a corner. Her slices of buttered bread have been halved for her, her fried egg mashed, her bacon cut. ‘Well, this is happiness!’ she murmurs aloud, but none of the other women in the dining room replies because none of them is near enough to hear. She’s privileged, the others say, being permitted to occupy on her own the bare-topped table in the corner. She has her own salt and pepper.”
William TrevorFrom ‘Reading Turgenev’ by William Trevor

Here’s another #FirstPara by William Trevor:-
DEATH IN SUMMER

Try one of these #FirstParas & discover a new author:-
‘The Children Act’ by Ian McEwan
‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Jane Austen
‘Dance Dance Dance’ by Haruki Murakami

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#Books #FirstPara READING TURGENEV by William Trevor http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2qN via @SandraDanby

Great Opening Paragraph 110… ‘Jane Eyre’ #amreading #FirstPara

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“There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. We had been wandering, indeed, in the leafless shrubbery an hour in the morning; but since dinner (Mrs Reed, when there was no company, dined early) the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so sombre, and a rain so penetrating, that further outdoor exercise was now out of the question.”
Charlotte BrontëFrom ‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Brontë

Here’s the #FirstPara of AGNES GREY by Charlotte’s sister, Anne Brontë.

Try one of these #FirstParas & discover a new author:-
‘The Last Juror’ by John Grisham
‘A Change of Climate’ by Hilary Mantel
‘Astonishing Splashes of Colour’ by Clare Morrall

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#Books #FirstPara JANE EYRE by Charlotte Brontë via @SandraDanby http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2xH

Great Opening Paragraph 109… ‘Sea Glass’ #amreading #FirstPara

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“Honora sets the cardboard suitcase on the slab of granite. The door is mackereled, paint-chipped – green or black, it is hard to tell. Above the knocker, there are panes of glass, some broken and others opaque with age. Overhead is a portico of weathered shingles and beyond that a milk-and-water sky. Honora pinches the lapels of her suit together and holds her hat against the wind. She peers at the letter B carved into the knocker and thinks, This is the place where it all begins.”
Anita ShreveFrom ‘Sea Glass’ by Anita Shreve

Try one of these #FirstParas & discover a new author:-
‘The Camomile Lawn’ by Mary Wesley
‘Lucky You’ by Carl Hiasson
‘I Capture the Castle’ by Dodie Smith

Read my review of THE STARS ARE FIRE, also by Anita Shreve.

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#Books #FirstPara SEA GLASS by Anita Shreve http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2xC via @SandraDanby

Great Opening Paragraph 108… ‘The Corrections’ #amreading #FirstPara

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“The madness of an autumn prairie cold front coming through. You could feel it: something terrible was going to happen. The sun low in the sky, a minor light, a cooling star. Gust after guest of disorder. Trees restless, temperatures falling, the whole northern religion of things coming to an end. No children in the yards here. Shadows lengthened on yellowing zoysia. Red oaks and pin oaks and swamp white oaks rained acorns on houses with no mortgage. Storm windows shuddered in the empty bedrooms. And the drone and hiccup of a clothes dryer, the nasal contention of a leaf blower, the ripening of local apples in a paper bag, the smell of the gasoline with which Alfred Lambert had cleaned the paintbrush from his morning painting of the wicker love seat.”
Jonathan FranzenFrom ‘The Corrections’ by Jonathan Franzen

Read my review of PURITY, also by Jonathan Franzen.
And here’s the #FirstPara of FREEDOM.

Try one of these #FirstParas & discover a new author:-
‘The Collector’ by John Fowles
‘Room’ by Emma Donoghue
‘The Crying of Lot 49’ by Thomas Pynchon

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#Books #FirstPara THE CORRECTIONS by Jonathan Franzen http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2xx via @SandraDanby

Great Opening Paragraph 107… ‘Such a Long Journey’ #amreading #FirstPara

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“The first light of morning barely illuminated the sky as Gustad Noble faced eastwards to offer his orisons to Ahura Mazda. The hour was approaching six, and up in the compound’s solitary tree the sparrows began to call. Gustad listened to their chirping every morning while reciting his kusti prayers. There was something reassuring about it. Always, the sparrows were first; the cawing of the crows came later.”
Rohinton Mistry From ‘Such a Long Journey’ by Rohinton Mistry 

Try one of these #FirstParas & discover a new author:-
‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ by Mark Twain
‘Illywhacker’ by Peter Carey
‘The Bell Jar’ by Sylvia Plath

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#Books #FirstPara SUCH A LONG JOURNEY by Rohinton Mistry via http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2xt @SandraDanby

Great Opening Paragraph 106… ‘A Month in the Country’ #amreading #FirstPara

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“When the train stopped I stumbled out, nudging and kicking the kitbag before me. Back down the platform someone was calling despairingly, ‘Oxgodby… Oxgodby.’ No-one offered a hand, so I climbed back into the compartment, stumbling over ankles and feet to get at the fish-bass (on the rack) and my folding camp-bed (under the seat). If this was a fair sample of northerners, then this was enemy country so I wasn’t too careful where I put my boots. I heard one chap draw in his breath and another grunt: neither spoke.’
JL CarrFrom ‘A Month in the Country’ by JL Carr

Try one of these #FirstParas & discover a new author:-
‘Before I Go To Sleep’ by SJ Watson
‘Spies’ by Michael Frayn
‘Midnight’s Children’ by Salman Rushdie

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#Books #FirstPara A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY by JL Carr via @SandraDanby http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2xo

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Great Opening Paragraph 105… ‘The Long Drop’ #amreading #FirstPara

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“Monday 2 December. He knows too much to be an honest man but says he wants to help. He says he can get the gun for them. William Watt is keen to meet him. Laurence Dowdall has already met Peter Manuel several times. He never wants to see him again.”
Denise MinaFrom ‘The Long Drop’ by Denise Mina

Read my review of THE LONG DROP.

Try one of these #FirstParas & discover a new author:-
‘The Road’ by Cormac McCarthy 
‘American Psycho’ by Brett Easton Ellis
‘Dance Dance Dance’ by Haruki Murakami

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#Books #FirstPara THE LONG DROP by Denise Mina via @SandraDanby http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2pN