I  can do this one without a moment's hesitation. I currently have 3. Two long standing and one more recent, but I'll have to split it as it's over the maximum character length for replies!

First off. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

THE RIVER BANK

The Mole had been working very hard all the morning, spring- cleaning his little home. First with brooms, then with dusters; then on ladders and steps and chairs, with a brush and a pail of whitewash; till he had dust in his throat and eyes, and splashes of whitewash all over his black fur, and an aching back and weary arms. Spring was moving in the air above and in the earth below and around him, penetrating even his dark and lowly little house with its spirit of divine discontent and longing. It was small wonder, then, that he suddenly flung down his brush on the floor, said 'Bother!' and 'O blow!' and also 'Hang spring-cleaning!' and bolted out of the house without even waiting to put on his coat. Something up above was calling him imperiously, and he made for the steep little tunnel which answered in his case to the gravelled carriage-drive owned by animals whose residences are nearer to the sun and air. So he scraped and scratched and scrabbled and scrooged and then he scrooged again and scrabbled and scratched and scraped, working busily with his little paws and muttering to himself, 'Up we go! Up we go!' till at last, pop! his snout came out into the sunlight, and he found himself rolling in the warm grass of a great meadow.

I've read this so many times myself and then to my own kids, I know it almost word for word. The idea of Mole leaving his mundane, dreary spring cleaning and escaping to a warm, grassy meadow is something that resonates with me. Spring is a wonderful time of the year, new beginnings, more hours of sunshine, the promise of summer. That Mole leaves his work and gets out to enjoy some of it is something we all should take time to do!

Next is the opening pargraph to The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien:

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.

It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats—the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill—The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it—and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining-rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the left-hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep-set round windows looking over his garden, and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river.

Tolkien tells is virtually nothing about the hobbit, except that he was fond of visitors, and yet he tells us SO MUCH about him, simply by describing his home! So clever.

Edited 2018-01-28 12:18 am (UTC)

The Hobbit has such an awesome opening couple of paragraphs! You are right we learn so much of Bilbo Baggins from this beginning. The Hobbit has such a special place in my heart I read and reread it as a teen just for all the lovely the world building.

A firm family favourite in this house. I grew up reading it and so did my kids.

The Hobbit is such a great book!

It is! An all time favourite.

It's years since I read The Hobbit, but that beginning is lovely, and really gives you a sense of the character who lives there.

It realy does. And yet it's almost entirely about the 'hole in the ground'. Bilbo just comes to life through it.

Lastly the recent opener I love is from How to Stop Time by Matt Haig:

I often think of what Hendrich said to me, over a century ago, in his New York apartment.

The first rule is that you don't fall in love," he said. "There are other rules too, but that is the main one. No falling in love. No staying in love, No daydreaming of love. If you stick to this you will just about be okay."

I stared through the curving smoke of his cigar, out over Central Park where trees lay uprooted from the hurricane.

"I doubt I will ever love again," I said.

Hendrich smiled, like the devil he could be. "Good. You are, of course, allowed to love food and music and champagne and rare sunny afternoons in October. You can love the sight of waterfalls and the smell of old books, but the love of people is off limits. Do you hear me? Don't attach yourself to people, and try to feel as little as you possibly can for those you do meet. Because otherwise you will slowly lose your mind..."

That was by far the best book I read last year.


Edited 2018-01-27 11:02 am (UTC)

One of my favourites is the first paragraph of Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch which is really good at setting the tone of the series and had me immediately hooked.

It started at one thirty on a cold Tuesday morning in January when Martin Turner, street performer and, in his own words, apprentice gigolo, tripped over a body in front of the East Portico of St Paul's at Covent Garden. Martin, who was none too sober himself, at first thought the body was that of one of the many celebrants who had chosen the Piazza as a convenient outdoor toilet and dormitory. Being a seasoned Londoner, Martin gave the body the "London once-over" - a quick glance to determine whether this was a drunk, a crazy or a human being in distress. The fact that it was entirely possible for someone to be all three simultaneously is why good-Samaritanism in London is considered an extreme sport - like base-jumping or crocodile-wrestling. Martin, noting the good-quality coat and shoes, had just pegged the body as a drunk when he noticed that it was in fact missing its head.

Oooh I like that.

This is quite the great start! It has certainly intrigued me.

It definitely grabs you and makes you want to read further.

Wow. That sounds fab!

Ooh, I like the sound of that. You immediately know the sort of style it's going to be written in.

Hmmm.. enough different people have spoken favourably of those books that I might have to try one.

For me there are a lot of great beginnings but three really impressed me.

"The Hobbit", already quoted by justjo2u

"The Raven", Edgar Allan Poe :

Once upon a midnight dreary, as I pondered weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore

While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.


"If on a Winter"s Night a Traveler", Italo Calvino :

You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino's new novel, If on a winter's night a traveler. Relax. Concentrate. Dispel every other thought. Let the world around you fade. Best to close the door; the TV is always on in the next room. Tell the others right away, "No, I don't want to watch TV!" Raise your voice -- they won't hear you otherwise -- "I'm reading! I don't want to be disturbed!" Maybe they haven't heard you, with all that racket; speak louder, yell: "I'm beginning to read Italo Calvino's new novel!" Or if you prefer, don't say anything: just hope they'll leave you alone.

I love The Raven. I always wanted to learn it by heart. Never got around to it.

I have always loved the Raven. Poe had quite a way with words and inciting a dark mood with his prose.

The Raven is one of my favourites too.

The Raven is responsible for the "raven" in my user name.

For childhood me any book that opened with: Once upon a Time...

As for when I got older

One of my all time favorites is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-eight million miles is an utterly insignificant blue-green planet whose ape-descended lifeforms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.

This planet has-or rather had-a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green paper that were unhappy.

And so the problem remained; lots of people were mean, and most of them were miserable, even the ones with digital watches.

I honestly had trouble knowing how much to include because I love the whole first page. Adams humor is perfectly on display in these opening lines.



Another one is by Jane Austen and I believe is a bit overlooked because who could compete with: It is a truth universally acknowledge... but I have always loved the beginning of Northanger Abbey:

No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy would have supposed her born to be an heroine. Her situation in life, the character of her father and mother, her own person and disposition, were all equally against her.

There is something so charming about these opening lines that I think sets the tone for the whole book, it is all very tongue in cheek.



Lastly my most recent opening was for the book All Systems Red by Martha Wells

I could have become a mass murderer after I hacked my governor module, but then I realized I could access the combined feed of entertainment channels carried on the company satellites. It had been well over 35,000 hours or so since then, with still not much murdering, but probably, I don't know a little under 35,000 hours of movies, serials, books, plays, and music consumed. As a heartless killing machine, I was a terrible failure.

There is something about the protagonist, in this case a robot, telling you upfront that they could've become a mass murder but then found they could watch television and decided not to, that is just so utterly engaging and makes you want to know more. From the moment I read those lines I had a hard time putting this book down until I reached the end.

This was fun, thanks!



Edited 2018-01-27 10:38 pm (UTC)

Those are great. I too love the tongue in cheek, wry-ness of the writing. It really comes alive.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy has been on my to-read list for years... Sadly I had years of reading draught...
I'll try to read it this year for the "classic" spot on the bingo! ;-)

You should totally read it if you get a chance. Of all his books it is one of my favorites and it is such a great read.

Love the Northanger Abbey quote.

It is pretty great in how it sets up the tone of the novel. Plus Catherine Morland and Henry Tilney are a few of my favorite Austen characters.

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton:

"When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home."

I first read this book when I was about 13 years old. It remains the only opening quote of a book that I can recite by heart.

Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn:

"To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor."

I knew right then and there that this was an author I was going to love.

HAHA I may have to find Silent in the Grave. That sounds like my kind of humour.

It's the first in a series of historical mysteries with romantic elements. I think you would like them!

Have added it to my amazon list

Yay! :D

I read The Outsiders around the same age as well. I love the story but I will always be sad about the ending. It is a great opening line and I think it works perfectly with catching the readers interest. :)

The ending makes me cry no matter how many times I've read the book (and watched the movie).

That second one certainly grabs you!

Yes, indeed!

My favourite book opening of recent years, certainly one that I think grabs you, is from The Martian by Andy Weir:

I'm pretty much fucked.
That's my considered opinion.
Fucked.
Six days into what should be the greatest two months of my life, it's turned into a nightmare.
I don't even know who'll read this. I guess someone will find it eventually. Maybe a hundred years from now.
For the record... I didn't die on Sol 6. certainly the rest of crew thought I did, and I can't blame them. Maybe there'll be a day of national mourning for me, and my wikipedia page will say, "Mark Watney is the only human being to have died on Mars."



Edited 2018-01-29 07:03 pm (UTC)

I like that. Really enjoyed the film but haven't read the book.

If you liked the film you'll probably enjoy the book.

I read the book before I saw the film, and I have to admit when I heard who they cast for the lead role I really wasn't convinced at all, but I was pleasantly surprised when I watched it. The film manages to capture a lot of the humour of the book, which is the main thing. Despite the life-or-death situation, there is a great deal of humour, and Mark's POV is really entertaining.

I do recommend the book if you haven't read it. I've seen it billed in Waterstones bookshop as 'sci-fi for people who don't normally read sci-fi'!

I've added it to my wishlist. Yeah I did enjoy the humour in the film.

I've always been curious about the book and I have never seen the movie but I may have to check it out as that is a very good opening couple of lines.

The entire book carries on in much the same style, very much inside Mark's head and his POV, which is generally extremely funny.

I listened to the audiobook version, narrated by R.C. Bray, and it was fabulous. My only problem was I'd keep having to rewind it because I'd be laughing so hard, I'd miss the next little bit.

I own the movie, but haven't yet watched it.

All this talking about The Martian has made me want to re-read it again. Hmmm... i might have found a candidate for the 'favourite re-read' square on my bingo card. But with a new Jurassic World film coming out this summer I had been vaguely thinking I might fancy re-reading the original Jurassic Park book as the 'favourite re-read' fill. I suppose I could read both, and use one for 'favourite re-read' and the other for 'book that got turned into a film' as they both qualify for both categories.

Argh! Decision... decisions... :-)

If you haven't used the "Never judge a book by its movie" square yet, you could read both, and use one for the re-read square and one for the movie square.