The Next Best Book Club discussion

I was playing this 'game' on a book group at last.fm for some time and after searching and seeing it not being present here, I thought you might like to give it a try, too.

The Rules.: Open the book which you are currently reading (or just a random book) at page 23 and write the 1'st sentence from this page down.
Add the Author and Title. (all languages are allowed)
If the sentence is too small you might consider to add the follwing one.
EDIT - If the sentence is too long, you can write part of it, say around 30 words, and then end it with ellipses (…)
This game is not really about getting to know the book. :)
Just the tiniest of a hunch.

I'll start first as an example...

"not above so much as around us. It's in the willows."

-'The Willows' by Algernon Blackwood-

"Sure, thanks, Will. And just relax, it will be ok."

- Fridgularity, Mark A Rayner

(there's a page 69 test that's kinda the same thing.... only it's meant for the whole page, and it's supposed to give you a feeling for what the novel is like)

"Her face hardened, and she said skeptically: 'It may be.'"

-Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett

"pathy arose in him, a compassion that pertained as much to Augustus as to the mass of humanity, to the ruler as well as to the ruled..."

and this sentence goes on for fifteen lines which I'll decline to type. Except the sentence gets so telling of the book I'll take it up later on:

"... for this seething, befuddled, unrecognized evil was beyond the reach of every governmental enterprise, beyond reach of every earthly force however great, beyond reach, perhaps, of the gods themselves, and no human outcry sufficed to overwhelm it except, it may be, that small voice of the soul, called song, which while it makes known the evil, announces also the awakening of salvation, knowledge-aware, knowledge-fraught, knowledge-persuading, the provenance of every true song."

And see, this is why I hate hyphens.

The Death of Virgil Hermann Broch

Lori wrote: "(there's a page 69 test that's kinda the same thing.... only it's meant for the whole page, and it's supposed to give you a feeling for what the novel is like)"

Oups, I was not aware of it. Even though I combed through the topics.

Also... if I am not mistaken, this game is not so much about giving the people a real feeling about it.
It is really just copying/typing a tiny fragment from the beginning of a book. :)

"If he was an expert, then he'd know I was telling the truth," Mom shot back.
Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult

However, prudence told him that one should always foresee situations in which the animal, out of ill will, irritation or sheer contrariness, might refuse to offer his services as a lift, which is where the ladder came in, although it was hard to believe that an angry elephant would agree to be a mere support and unresistingly allow the mahout or whoever to climb aboard.The Elephant's JourneyJosé Saramago

"glasses are convenient and easy to take care of."
The Care & Keeping of You: The Body Book for Girls by Valorie Schaefer

Wisps of fog began to drift across the terraced lawns, white lace in ribbons curling around the trees and bushes.

Shadow Game Christine Feehan

"...(»Verzei)-hen Sie, Sie haben ja recht. Ich könnte vor Scham im Boden versinken.«"

-'The House on the Hill' by Judith Kelman-

"Das war natürlich eine dumme Frage, unglaublich dumm, aber sie ließ sich viel leichter stellen als die, die ihr tatsächlich durch den Kopf gingen: Gerald, wie schlimm bist du verletzt? Gerald, glaubst du, du wirst sterben?

-'Gerald's Game' by Stephen King-

-they're exposed to. But not as quickly as quickly as the fostered children themselves, whose childhoods have often been sacrificed on the pyre of daily survival.

Damaged: The Heartbreaking True Story of a Forgotten Child by Cathy Glass

Funny thins is, I was on 23 already

Any reason that might have bee advanced earlier for my becoming the medium in these negotiations, on the grounds that my father was still out of eNGLAND, had been utterly demolished by the information that he was to be found in London.

A Question of Upbringing by Anthony Powell

-her keepers who'd committed no sin greater than seeking gainful employment at the castle, and suffering her as punishment.

The Princess's Dragon by Susan Trombley

"...bewahrt wurde. Meistens waren es dumme Mädchen, die offensichtlich nur essen und schlafen wollten.

-'Skeleton Crew' = (Book 3 of 3 [separated in Germany]) 'Der Fornit. Unheimliche Geschichten.' by Stephen King-

"It's a very distinct cocktail of impotence, loneliness, and a sudden stark assessment of your non-worth to society"

-This Book Is Full of Spiders: Seriously, Dude, Don’t Touch It by David Wong

-door, and wondered what they thought of their strange duties.

Sabriel by Garth Nix

"Done what before?" said Ainsley.

-'The Edible Woman' by Margaret Atwood-

"...yet, the instant I listened again, there was the doleful cry moaning on!"

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

“Alongside it in a strict row, Mom had planted the pansy seedlings she’d grown in paper milk cartons.”

Excerpt From: Erdrich, Louise. “The Round House.”

"Olivia saw a tiny foot appear and kick away the sheet"

The House by Princes Park by Maureen Lee

"Zu diesem Artikel für die Zeitschrift soundso brauche ich noch unbedingt einen kleinen 'Kick'..."

-'Bestellungen beim Universum. Ein Handbuch zur Wunscherfüllung' by Bärbel Mohr-

"street, and the possessive gentleness of their touch as they handled them."

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

"Samuel Hammond was a small man who had just come back from the war."
The Color of Lightning by Paulette Jiles

(the war mention is the Civil War)

"It was morning in Harlem, and mornings belonged to the numbers runners."
The Diviners by Libba Bray

"Some had domes and columned porticoes, like national monuments."

The Son of Neptune, Rick Riordan

A half hour later six of the eight tables were occupied by corpses awaiting autopsies.

Contagion by Robin Cook

... will never know what I wished to tell you.

City of Fallen Angels - Cassandra Clare

Her mother would have allowed her to refuse, but her mother was nearly a hundred miles away.

Ten Things I Love About You by Julia Quinn

"Was ist Eleganz?
Eleganz ist eine Form von Harmonie, die der Schönheit gleicht, mit dem Unterschied, dass Letztere ein Geschenk der Natur ist und Ersteres ein Ergebnis der Kunst."

-'Elégance' by Kathleen Tessaro-Elégance

He didn't even know if he was left- or right-handed.

American Assassin
Author - Vince Flynn

"But just as he was about to retrace his steps, he smelt it again."

The Tower, The Zoo, and The Tortoise by Julia Stuart (large print edition)

"Malheureusement, non." We must wait until the check had been cleared, a delay of four or five days, even though it was drawn on a local bank.

A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle

moms reception of the news that i`m getting married is much warmer than grans.
Queen of babble gets Hitched By: Meg Cabot

" It was an improbability akin to two identical snowflakes that this whey faced leporine man could have sprung from the same genetic pool as the bronze-skinned,colt-limbed,diamond-cut beauty that had been Lula Landry."
The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith

"She could strive for perfection only in certain, few things; beyond that, it was important only to be tidy."

The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin

"Corky, I took it, was telephoning."
-My Man Jeeves, P. G. Wodehouse

"Yes, an illustrious career."
The Book Thief

"One year, and then I'll force it."

Something about Riley - Henrietta Clark

So that was the set and match.

Smilla's Sense of Snow - Peter Hoeg

"Vielleicht war es nur ein Aberglaube, daß man das
Herz treffen mußte?

-'Ich bin Legende' - by Richard Matheson-

"She patted his bulging stomach."

Off the Menu - Christine Son

"And, in so intense a moment, his demeanour would have still been calm."

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

"All signs to the contrary."

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

"He looked exasperated enough to throttle me, so I stopped walking and gave him a small smile."

Cloche and Dagger by Jenn McKinlay

"The only window was covered with a drape."

A List of Offences by Dilruba Z. Ara

"No dear. Everyone who is eligible still has nine days to submit their application"

"He kissed her sweat-drenched head and waled out the door."

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Leonine felt her limbs tire as fatigue took hold, but she kept running, running, until she could go no further.

Sepulchre by Kate Mosse