I had a lot of fun with the first lines quiz I posted a couple weeks ago, so decided to do another one.
~ I will post the first lines of ten books. (I skip any beginning quotations or prefaces.)
~ You guess the titles and authors and leave your guesses in the comments.
~ You don’t have to guess on all ten; guess on the ones you know.
~ I’ll update the post by putting the lines in bold and adding titles and authors when someone gets one correct.
~ Have fun!
1. Once upon a cold and luminous Saturday morning, in an urban hamlet of tenements, factories, and trolley cars on the western slopes of the borough of Brooklyn, a boy named Michael Devlin woke in the dark. – Snow in August, Pete Hamill – stumped ya on this one!
2. My mother didn’t try to stab my father until I was six, but she must have shown signs of oddness before that. – Never Have Your Dog Stuffed, Alan Alda – guessed by Debra
3. At night I would lie in bed and watch the show, how bees squeezed through the cracks of my bedroom wall and flew circles around the room, making that propeller sound, a high-pitched zzzzzz that hummed along my skin. – The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd – guessed by Joy
4. The library is cool and smells like carpet cleaner, although all I can see is marble. – The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger – guessed by Sherry
5. When I was little, the great mystery to me wasn’t how babies were made, but why. – My Sister’s Keeper, Jodi Picoult – guessed by Stacy
6. Can I explain why I wanted to jump off the top of a tower block? – A Long Way Down, Nick Hornby – author guessed by Debra and Vasilly on Twitter
7. He left the coffee-scented warmth of the Main Street Grill and stood for a moment under the green awning. – At Home in Mitford, Jan Karon – guessed by Riva
8. Anyone in the neighborhood could tell you how Michael and Pauline first met. – An Amateur Marriage, Anne Tyler – another stumper!
9. 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. – The Road, Cormac McCarthy – guessed by Raidergirl
10. I write this sitting in the kitchen sink. – I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith – guessed by Suey
Thanks for playing along, everyone – it was fun! Stay tuned for another quiz next Monday.
#3 The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
I don’t recognize any of them.
Twitter: youvegottaread
says:
Boy do I feel dumb! I don’t know a one.
I’m going to guess that #9 is The Road
and I knew #3! A couple others look familiar..
Twitter: debworldofbooks
says:
Wow, none of these sounds familiar to me.
Gah, missing all of them this time around.
I think 4 might be The Time Traveler’s Wife.
The first one is familiar, but I can’t place it.
Twitter: booksandmovies
says:
Joy, Raidergirl and Sherry are correct – I added titles and authors on those three. I’ll add hints tonight before I go to bed. Keep guessing!
Twitter: sueysays
says:
#10 is I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. What a great first line!
Twitter: booksandmovies
says:
Suey – yep! I love that book.
Twitter: lakesidemusing
says:
Wow…you got me with these. I only knew #10 (and I loved that book, too!), but Suey got there first.
Twitter: robnmccormack
says:
Don’t have a clue but they all sound enticing.
I bite my thumb at your anti-spam words. They don’t like me. Either that or I’m completely blind.
#7 is from “At Home in Mitford” by Jan Karon.
Unfortunately, that’s the only one I recognize!
It’s been awhile but #5 could be My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult?
Twitter: booksandmovies
says:
Robin – I’m sorry about the anti-spam words – I picked an anti-spam filter that I thought was pretty easy! I’m glad you comment anyway. I just got very tired of having to manually delete hundreds of spam a day.
Twitter: booksandmovies
says:
Riva and Stacy are correct. I updated the ones guessed, and added hints to the ones no one has figured out yet.
Number 2 is Alan Alda’s Never Have Your Dog Stuffed — excellent book.
6 might be Nick Hornby’s, but I don’t remember the name.
Twitter: booksandmovies
says:
Debra – yep on #2, #6 is Hornby’s A Long Way Down.
I’m going to update with all the answers now. Thanks for playing along, everyone!
Well, I totally missed this, but that’s ok, I only read one of the books!!! haha
Twitter: booksandmovies
says:
Lawanda – check back next week – I’m hoping to make this a weekly feature on Monday afternoons.