Opening Sentence of the Day: Peaceful Places, Los Angeles

"Tranquility isn't the first word that comes to mind when most of us think of life in Los Angeles, especially these days."

  -- Peaceful Places, Los Angeles by Laura Randall.

 I actually already reviewed this one (here), so my posts are switcherooed.



NOTE

Book Beginnings on Fridays is a Friday fun "opening sentence" event hosted by Becky at Page Turners. Post the opening sentence of the book(s) you started this week and see what other books people have going.

Opening Sentence of the Day: Valley of the Dolls

"The temperature hit ninety degrees the day she arrived."

-- Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann.

I've always half wanted to read this book. Now I have an excuse because it was published the year I was born. I will read it and earn another candle in the Birth Year Reading Challenge hosted by the Hotchpot Cafe.


NOTE

Book Beginnings on Fridays is a Friday fun "opening sentence" event hosted by Becky at Page Turners. Post the opening sentence of the book(s) you started this week and see what other books people have going.

Opening Sentence of the Day: Lunatic Express

"Outside of Pul-I-Khumri, the bus shuddered to a halt on the dusty roadside and couldn't be restarted."

-- Lunatic Express: Discovering the World . . . via Its Most Dangerous Buses, Boats, Trains, and Planes by Carl Hoffman.

I am reading this to review for the Internet Review of Books.  Although I had some mixed feelings from the description of it, I am tearing right through it. I roll my eyes sometimes at Hoffman's travel-induced navel gazing, and haven't quite figured out what his message is -- what his take away point is going to be. But some of the descriptions of the countries he travels through and his harrowing means of travel are riveting.


NOTE

Book Beginnings on Fridays is a Friday fun "opening sentence" event hosted by Becky at Page Turners. Post the opening sentence of the book(s) you started this week and see what other books people have going.

Opening Sentence of the Day: Small Island

"I thought I'd been to Africa."

-- from the Prologue to Small Island by Andrea Levy.

I've been hearing very good things about this book and am excited to finally start reading it. It is about Jamaican immigrants to Britain after WWII.

Oddly, the inside cover of my edition describes this as "an encapsulation of the most American of experiences: the immigrant's life." "American"? Oh well, the author didn't write the book jacket, so I'll have to let go of that one and not let it color my reaction to the book.

This book won the Orange Prize and the Costa Book of the Year. It is my book club's upcoming book and counts as one of the books I am reading for the Book Awards challenge. So I'll get to scratch this off several lists when I finish it -- how satisfying.


NOTE

Book Beginnings on Fridays is a Friday fun "opening sentence" event hosted by Becky at Page Turners. Post the opening sentence of the book(s) you started this week and see what other books people have going.

Opening Sentence of the Day: Angler Management

"After I finished An Inconvenient Trout, which I recommend highly for its technical information and helpful how-to hints, such as not drowning, I decided almost immediately that I had more to say about fly fishing."

-- From the Introduction

"If I really want to get rid of someone, I bring up fly fishing in conversation."

-- From Chapter One, "The Conversation."


Angler Management: The Day I Died While Fly Fishing and Other Essays by Jack Ohman.

This is a book I have been meaning to read for a while -- almost as long as my husband has been talking about cleaning up his fishing gear and going fly fishing again. At least one of us will accomplish our goal this summer.  


NOTE
Book Beginnings on Fridays is a Friday "opening sentence" event hosted by Becky at Page Turners.

Opening Sentence of the Day: Everyday Drinking

"Anthropologists assure us that wherever we find man he speaks."

-- On Drink

"There's a certain satisfaction to be got from bringing out a book of collected journalism."

-- Every Day Drinking

"Although drink is a contentious subject -- I have seen grown men close to blows over whether you should or should not bruise the mint in a Mint Julep -- there are a lot of facts connected with it, some well known, some less so, and some on the fringes which may have their own appeal."

-- How's Your Glass?

All by Kinglsley Amis, published as a compilation, Everyday Drinking: The Distilled Kingsley Amis.

I didn't realize when I bought this book that it is a re-publication of three separate Amis books on alcohol and drinking -- what he might call his "dipsography," a word he uses in one of the essays. This was a pleasant surprise, because Amis is a favorite author of mine and I would like to read all his books, but the individual volumes are hard to come by. 


NOTE
Book Beginnings on Fridays is a Friday "opening sentence" event hosted by Becky at Page Turners.

Opening Sentence of the Day: Corked

"When it comes to champagne and our family, my father has only one absolute rule:  We do not drink it when we are sad."

Corked by Kathryn Borel.

This didn't get very good reviews, but I am going into it with an open mind. I love the cover and the idea of driving through French wine country appeals to me. We'll see how it goes. Good first sentence at least.

Opening Sentence of the Day: The Red Tent

"We have been lost to each other for so long."

-- The Red Tent by Anita Diamant.

This is our Book Club book for March. I know it was very popular, but we haven't read it yet.

I saw the audiobook at the library, so grabbed it. But I only made through about five minutes before I had to abandon it because the reader's inflections were rubbing me the wrong way -- too melodramatic.

Fortunately, I had the paper book on my TBR shelf. I will read this one with my eyes instead of my ears and give the narrator whatever tone of voice I want.


NOTE
Book Beginnings on Fridays is a Friday "opening sentence" event hosted by Becky at Page Turners.

Opening Sentence of the Day: Ex Libris

"When the Irish novelist John McGahern was a child, his sisters unlaced and removed one of his shoes while he was reading."

From the Preface to Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman.

"A few months ago, my husband and I decided to mix our books together."

From "Marrying Libraries," the first essay in Ex Libris.

I love the opening to the Preface because I remember reading like that, especially when I was a kid. I could be so engrossed in a book that I was oblivious to anything around me.

And the "marrying libraries" idea had me laughing. My husband and I have been married now for nigh on 10 years, and our books only started co-habitating when we moved to our present house a year ago. They are still not fully integrated.


NOTE
Book Beginnings on Fridays is a Friday "opening sentence" event hosted by Becky at Page Turners. 

Opening Sentence of the Day: The Well and the Mine

"After she threw the baby in, nobody believed me for the longest time."

-- The Well and the Mine by Gin Phillips (Discover Award winner; introduction by Fannie Flagg; published by the super cool Hawthorne Books & Literary Arts).

I wish I could skip work and read this straight through. But I have to be in court this morning, so no such luck.


NOTE
Book Beginnings on Fridays is a new "opening sentence" event hosted by Becky at Page Turners.

New Weekly Event -- Book Beginnings on Fridays

Becky at Page Turners has started a new weekly event she calls Book Beginnings on Fridays.  I am kind of tickled because she gave me credit for inspiring her with my "Opening Sentence of the Day" posts.

Here is her explanation:

This is a new meme that I have decided to start entitled Book Beginnings on Friday. I hope that you all join in.

At this stage I do not have a button for this meme, being someone that is very technologically challenged. If there is anyone out there that wants to participate in this meme and has the skills to make a button, I would really appreciate it :-)

Book Beginnings on Friday is a meme hosted by Becky at Page Turners. Anyone can participate; just share the opening sentence of your current read, making sure that you include the title and author so others know what you're reading. 

Please visit Page Turners to participate. And maybe help her come up with a cool button. I started off her Mr. Linky list with the opening sentence from An American Map by Anne-Marie Oomen.