Tag Archives: book sample

Great Opening Paragraph 143… ‘Emotionally Weird’ #amreading #FirstPara

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“Inspector Jack Gannet drove into Saltsea-on-Sea along the coast road. Today’s sun (not that he believed it to be a new one every day) was already climbing merrily in the sky. It was a beautiful morning. Shame it was about to be spoilt by the Lucky Lady and her cargo – one very unlucky lady. One very dead lady. Jack Gannet sighed, this job didn’t get any easier. Jack Gannet had been in the force longer than he cared to remember. He was a straight-forward, old-fashioned kind of detective. He had no strange tics or eccentricities –  he didn’t do crosswords, he wasn’t Belgian, he certainly wasn’t a woman. He was a man suited to his profession. What he wasn’t, was happy. He didn’t want to be dealing with a dead body on a glorious morning like this. Especially not on an empty stomach.”
Kate AtkinsonFrom ‘Emotionally Weird’ by Kate Atkinson

Read my reviews of these other novels by Kate Atkinson:-
A GOD IN RUINS
LIFE AFTER LIFE
OUR NOBLE SELVES
SHRINES OF GAIETY
TRANSCRIPTION
BIG SKY #5JACKSONBRODIE
DEATH AT THE SIGN OF THE ROOK #6JACKSONBRODIE

… and these short stories:-
NORMAL RULES DON’T APPLY

Try one of these #FirstParas & discover a new author:-
‘Personal’ by Lee Child
‘Such a Long Journey’ by Rohinton Mistry
‘Perfume’ by Patrick Süskind

And if you’d like to share a link:
#Books #FirstPara EMOTIONALLY WEIRD by Kate Atkinson https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7V7 via @SandraDanby

Great Opening Paragraph 70… ‘Dying in the Wool’ #amreading #FirstPara

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“My name is Kate Shackleton. I’m thirty-one years old, and hanging onto freedom by the skin of my teeth. Because I’m a widow my mother wants me back by her side. But I’ve tasted independence. I’m not about to drown in polite society all over again.”
frances brodyFrom ‘Dying in the Wool’ by Frances Brody

Here’s my review of DYING IN THE WOOL, the first in Frances Brody’s series about amateur sleuth Kate Shackleton set in 1920s Yorkshire:-

And read my reviews of these other Kate Shackleton books:-
A MEDAL FOR MURDER #2KATESHACKLETON
A DEATH IN THE DALES #7KATESHACKLETON
A SNAPSHOT OF MURDER #10KATESHACKLETON
DEATH AND THE BREWERY QUEEN #12KATESHACKLETON
A MANSION FOR MURDER #13KATESHACKLETON

Try one of these #FirstParas & discover a new author:-
‘The Pelican Brief’ by John Grisham 
‘Divisadero’ by Michael Ondaatje 
‘The Secret History’ by Donna Tartt 

And if you’d like to share a link:
#Books #FirstPara DYING IN THE WOOL by @FrancesBrody https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7S8 via @SandraDanby

Great Opening Paragraph 133… ‘Fortune Favours the Dead’ #amreading #FirstPara

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“The first time I met Lillian Pentecost, I nearly caved her skull in with a piece of lead pipe.”
Stephen SpotswoodFrom ‘Fortune Favours the Dead’ by Stephen Spotswood 1PENTECOST&PARKER

Click the title to read my review of FORTUNE FAVOURS THE DEAD #1PENTECOST&PARKER

Here are my reviews of other books in this series:-
MURDER UNDER HER SKIN #2PENTECOST&PARKER
SECRETS TYPED IN BLOOD #3PENTECOST&PARKER
MURDER CROSSED HER MIND #4PENTECOST&PARKER

Try one of these #FirstParas & discover a new author:-
‘The Secret History’ by Donna Tartt 
‘Jack Maggs’ by Peter Carey 
‘Far from the Madding Crowd’ by Thomas Hardy 

And if you’d like to share a link:
#Books #FirstPara FORTUNE FAVOURS THE DEAD by Stephen Spotswood @playwrightSteve https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-79u via @SandraDanby

Great Opening Paragraph 129 ‘The Paying Guests’ #amreading #FirstPara

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“The Barbers had said they would arrive by three. It was like waiting to begin a journey, Frances thought. She and her mother had spent the morning watching the clock, unable to relax. At half past two she had gone wistfully over the rooms for what she’d supposed was the final time; after that there had been a nerving-up, giving way to a steady deflation, and now, at almost five, here she was again, listening to the echo of her own footsteps, feeling so sort of fondness for the sparsely furnished spaces, impatient simply for the couple to arrive, move in, get it over with.”
Sarah WatersFrom ‘The Paying Guests’ by Sarah Waters

Read my review of THE PAYING GUESTS

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

Try one of these #FirstParas & discover a new author:-
‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Bronte
’Personal’ by Lee Child
‘Perfume’ by Patrick Suskind

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#Books #FirstPara THE PAYING GUESTS  by Sarah Waters https://wp.me/p5gEM4-4eA via @SandraDanby

Great Opening Paragraph 127… ‘The Road’ #amreading #FirstPara

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“When he woke in the woods in the dark and the cold of the night he’d reach out to touch the child sleeping beside him. Nights dark beyond darkness and the days more gray each one than what had gone before. Like the onset of some cold glaucoma dimming away the world. His hand rose and fell softly with each precious breath. He pushed away the plastic tarpaulin and raised himself in the stinking robes and blankets and looked toward the east for any light but there was none.”
Cormac McCarthyFrom ‘The Road’ by Cormac McCarthy

Try one of these #FirstParas & discover a new author:-
‘Affinity’ by Sarah Waters
‘The Secret History’ by Donna Tartt
‘Enduring Love’ by Ian McEwan

And if you’d like to share a link:
#Books #FirstPara THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy https://wp.me/p5gEM4-4er via @SandraDanby

Great Opening Paragraph 124… ‘The Camomile Lawn’ #amreading #FirstPara

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“Helena Cuthbertson picked up the crumpled Times by her sleeping husband and went to the flower room to iron it.”
Mary WesleyFrom ‘The Camomile Lawn’ by Mary Wesley

Read my reviews of these novels by Mary Wesley:-
JUMPING THE QUEUE
THE CAMOMILE LAWN

Try one of these #FirstParas & discover a new author:-
‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ by Ernest Hemingway 
‘A Month in the Country’ by JL Carr
‘Back When We Were Grown-Ups’ by Anne Tyler 

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#Books #FirstPara THE CAMOMILE LAWN by Mary Wesley https://wp.me/p5gEM4-48b via @SandraDanby

Great Opening Paragraph 122… ‘The Heart’s Invisible Furies’ #amreading #FirstPara

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‘Long before we discovered that he had fathered two children by two different women, one in Drimoleague and one in Clonakilty, Father James Monroe stood on the altar of the Church of Our Lady, Star of the Sea, in the parish of Goleen, West Cork, and denounced my mother as a whore.’ John BoyneFrom ‘The Heart’s Invisible Furies’ by John Boyne

Here’s my review of THE HEART’S INVISIBLE FURIES…
… and 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
STAY WHERE YOU ARE & THEN LEAVE
THE WEIGHT OF ANGELS
WATER #1ELEMENTS
EARTH #2ELEMENTS

Try one of these #FirstParas & discover a new author:-
‘The Garden of Evening Mists’ by Tan Twan Eng 
‘The Children Act’ by Ian McEwan
‘Couples’ by John Updike

And if you’d like to share a link:
#Books #FirstPara THE HEART’S INVISIBLE FURIES by John Boyne @JohnBoyneBooks https://wp.me/p5gEM4-3Jk 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
GABRIEL’S MOON #1GABRIELDAX
THE PREDICAMENT #2GABRIELDAX
COLD SUNSET #3GABRIELDAX

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 share a link:
#Books #FirstPara A GOOD MAN IN AFRICA by William Boyd http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2si via @SandraDanby

Great Opening Paragraph 102… ‘The Cement Garden’ #amreading #FirstPara

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“I did not kill my father, but I sometimes felt I had helped him on his way. And but for the fact that it coincided with a landmark in my own physical growth, his death seemed insignificant compared with what followed. My sisters and I talked about him the week after he died, and Sue certainly cried when the ambulance men tucked him up in a bright-red blanket and carried him away. He was a frail, irascible, obsessive man with yellowish hands and face. I am only including the little story of his death to explain how my sisters and I came to have such a large quantity of cement at our disposal.”
Ian McEwan From ‘The Cement Garden’ by Ian McEwan 

Read my reviews of these other novels by McEwan:-
MACHINES LIKE ME
NUTSHELL
THE CHILDREN ACT
WHAT WE CAN KNOW

And try two more McEwan #FirstParas:-
ENDURING LOVE
THE CHILDREN ACT

Try one of these #FirstParas & discover a new author:-
‘Rebecca’ by Daphne du Maurier
‘The Other Boleyn Girl’ by Philippa Gregory
‘Freedom’ by Jonathan Franzen

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#Books #FirstPara THE CEMENT GARDEN by Ian McEwan http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2se via @SandraDanby

Great Opening Paragraph 98… ‘Armadillo’ #amreading #FirstPara

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“In these times of ours – and we don’t need to be precise about the exact date – but, anyway, very early in the year, a young man not much over thirty, tall – six feet plus an inch or two – with ink-dark hair and a serious-looking, fine-featured but pallid face, went to keep a business appointment and discovered a hanged man.” William Boyd From ‘Armadillo’ by William Boyd 

Try this #FirstPara from A GOOD MAN IN AFRICA also by William Boyd.

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
GABRIEL’S MOON #1GABRIELDAX
THE PREDICAMENT #2GABRIELDAX
COLD SUNSET #3GABRIELDAX

Try one of these #FirstParas & discover a new author:-
‘A Change of Climate’ by Hilary Mantel
‘Jack Maggs’ by Peter Carey
‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche

And if you’d like to share a link:
#Books #FirstPara ARMADILLO by William Boyd http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2qA via @SandraDanby