The 52 Book Club: 2026 Challenge discussion
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Week 10 - March 5, 2025
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Bride of the Fae Prince
“MacCarthy was light-headed that night when he set out from Judy Conlon’s cabin in the Acres of Killala. And then the dragons arrived.”The Year of the French by Thomas Flanagan
“The spreading stain of darkness gathering around Uctebri was pleasantly warm for now, but that would not last. And then the dragons arrived.”
The Scent of Tears by Adrian Tchaikovsky
"The news that June's grandfather was being evicted had come from her older sister Mary, who worked in town at Langham's Drug Store. And then the dragons arrived..."The Atomic City Girls by Janet Beard
The prologue says:"The warmth of the summer wouldn’t last" and then the dragons arrived.
The first chapter says:
"First official day on the job as Emergency Operations Center director, and Darcie Phillips found herself wanting to play hooky" and then the dragons arrived.
26 Below by Kimberley Woodhouse
"There are many legends about my mother. And then the dragons arrived..." Daughter of the Moon Goddess
"On the 24th of February, 1815, the look-out at Notre-Dame de la Garde signaled the three-master, the Pharaon from Smyrna, Trieste, and Naples. And then the dragons arrived…"The Count of Monte Cristo
"In Kellner Books on the Upper East Side of New York City, a few minutes before his death, John Webber was reading The Count of Monte Cristo. And then the dragons arrived..."The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown
"The pairing of a fabulous mermaid with a dolphin in this quotation from Shakespeare's 'Midsummer Night's Dream' conjures up a beatiful world which blurs the fantastic and the real. And then the dragons arrived...Fantastic Creatures in Mythology and Folklore: From Medieval Times to the Present Day by Juliette Wood
The dragons do appeare in the fourth and final chapter.
Ashtyn wrote: ""There are many legends about my mother. And then the dragons arrived..." Daughter of the Moon Goddess"
I personally think this is the funniest so far.
The contagion was as old as Africa, older than Babylon, wafting from century to century upon sunlight and moonbeams and the vibrations of wagging tongues. And then the dragons arrived.....America Fantastica
"A boy with a parrot on his shoulder was walking along the railway tracks..." and then the dragons arrived!The Final Solution
Time runs my life. Then the dragons arrived…This is My America by Kim Johnson.
My mother called it “God’s will.” And then the dragons arrived…The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell
Adam was close behind her, the tread of his feet on the stairs coming a fraction after Paige's. He grabbed for her then the dragons arrived ....The Girl He Pined - Blake Pierce
"Back in 1961, when women wore shirtwaist dresses and joined garden clubs and drove legions of children around in seatbeltless cars without giving it a second thought;" and then the dragons came. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife; and then the dragons arrived... (his in-laws, maybe! 😂) Pride & Prejudice
"I was ready to kill someone. I didn't really care who"... and then the dragons arrived.Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano
If I use the two books I just finished, and was reading when this fun discussion began:“In a beautiful home in a beautiful part of town - the town of Nolgate, site of the state prison - Dr. Munck examined the evening newspaper while his young wife lounged on a sofa nearby, lazily flipping through the colorful parade of a fashion magazine. And then the dragons arrived…”
Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe by Thomas Ligotti.
“I was standing at the window of Poirot’s rooms looking out idly on the street below. And then the dragons arrived…”
Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie.
Or if I use the book I am about to start (and only now read this fun challenge) it is:
“Charlie Salter usually woke up badly these days. And then the dragons arrived…”
The Night the Gods Smiled by Eric Wright.
Liliana ᓚᘏᗢ wrote: "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife; and then the dragons arrived... (his in-laws, maybe! 😂) [book: Pride & Prejudi..."
Lol!
Once upon a time, not so long ago, a monster came to the small town of Castle Rock, Maine. And then the dragons arrived.Cujo
It doesn’t really work because it fits TOO well. LOL
"Sam stares up at the slowly lightening ceiling and practices her breathing, like the doctor advised her, as she tries to stop her 5 a.m. thoughts congealing into one enormous dark cloud above her head." And then the dragons arrived...
Someone Else's Shoes by Jojo Moyes
Someone Else's Shoes by Jojo Moyes
It was one hour before Camilla's life changes though she does't yet know it. And then the dragons arrived . . .Famous Last Words
When I dreamed, these pinpricks of light filtered through the trees of an old forest. And then the dragons arrived...Heartsong
"Charles Bramwell Brockley was traveling alone and without a ticket on the 14:42 from London Bridge to Brighton. And then the dragons arrived... "(The Keeper of Lost Things ~ Ruth Hogan)
The inside of Miss Peggy’s house was hot like end of days like the preachers preached about during summertime revival meetings, and then
"The wisest souls say that pure mountain air makes us all go a little mad. And then the dragons arrived."
"Probably the strangest way anyone celebrated the accession of James I of England was when a gentlewoman in the far north of Lancashire organized a mock wedding in a country church, between two male servants. And then the dragons arrived."
Arms, and the man I sing, who, forc'd by fate,And haughty Juno's unrelenting hate,
Expell'd and exil'd, left the Trojan shore.
Long labors, both by sea and land, he bore,
And then the dragons arrived.
Aeneid, by Virgil, translated in verse by John Dryden
Welcome to the Centennial...and then the dragons arrived.
The 52 Book Club: 2026 Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Lightlark (other topics)Tartufo (other topics)
The Blazing World: A New History of Revolutionary England, 1603-1689 (other topics)
Heartsong (other topics)
Famous Last Words (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Jojo Moyes (other topics)Janet Beard (other topics)
Juliette Wood (other topics)
Adrian Tchaikovsky (other topics)
Thomas Flanagan (other topics)
More...
March 5, 2025 -- Week 10
Liz has seen this trend floating around again and some examples are just too funny not to try here. So, for today's discussion, let's have a little fun! Share the first line in a book you're currently reading (or on your shelf) and then add, "And then the dragons arrived..."
Example: "Mrs. Ariadne Oliver had gone with the friend with whom she was staying, Judith Butler, to help with the preparations for a children's party which was to take place that same evening. And then the dragons arrived..." (Hallowe'en Party by Agatha Christie)