First Line Fridays is a feature hosted by Hoarding Books.
TGIF, everyone! I hope you are all ready for the weekend! I know I am! 🎉
Today my first line is from a book I am currently reading:
“Shanghai, 1988. It wasn’t the plane Lina feared, but the sky above the airfield. Acres of space unbroken by trees or buildings made Lina nervous.”
I have read about half of this book and am enjoying getting to know the Zhen family and their unique cultural position. The writing is smooth, and it has been easy to get lost in the story.
Synopsis from Goodreads:
After years of chasing the American dream, the Zhen family has moved back to China. Settling into a luxurious serviced apartment in Shanghai, Wei, Lina, and their daughter, Karen, join an elite community of Chinese-born, Western-educated professionals who have returned to a radically transformed city.
One morning, in the eighth tower of Lanson Suites, Lina discovers that a childhood keepsake, an ivory bracelet, has gone missing. The incident contributes to a wave of unease that has begun to settle throughout the Zhen household. Wei, a marketing strategist, bows under the guilt of not having engaged in nobler work. Meanwhile, Lina, lonely in her new life of leisure, assumes the modern moniker taitai–a housewife who does no housework at all. She spends her days haunted by the circumstances surrounding her arranged marriage to Wei and her lingering feelings for his brother, Qiang. Lina and Wei take pains to hide their anxieties, but their housekeeper, Sunny, a hardworking girl with secrets of her own, bears witness to their struggles. When Qiang reappears in Shanghai after decades on the run with a local gang, the family must finally come to terms with the past.
From a silk-producing village in rural China, up the corporate ladder in suburban America, and back again to the post-Maoist nouveau riche of modern Shanghai, WHAT WE WERE PROMSED explores the question of what we owe to our country, our families, and ourselves.
Please share with me the first line(s) of the book you are currently reading! I would love to read them! Have you read What We Were Promised, or do you plan to? Happy Friday reading! ~ Jennifer THR
I am finishing up The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman(2009 Newbery).
“There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife. The knife had a handle of polished black bone, and a blade finer and sharper than any razor. If it sliced you, you might not even know you had been cut, not immediately.”
Happy Friday!😎
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Wow, Neil Gaiman is always on top of his game with words. Great share, Lana, and Happy Friday to you! ♥️
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Hope you have a lovely weekend, Jennifer! 😎🌺📚
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Thanks! You, too, Paula! (I wish I had a hummingbird emoji!) ☀️ 🌸
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I’ve searched in vain for one too! Here’s one of my favourite birds instead: 🦉
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I happen to love owls, too!
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Oh, I almost forgot, the first line of my current book is a quotation from Philip Roth’s The Human Stain: “‘You know how European literature begins?’ he’d ask, after having taken the roll at the first class meeting. ‘With a quarrel.'”
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Oh, that’s a good one, Paula! I’m looking forward to your thoughts on it!
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Sounds good, Jennifer!
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It is a great read so far, Marialyce!
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Happy Friday, Jennifer!
I shared the first line of Veronica Roth’s Carve the Mark on my blog today. Here, though, I’ll share the book I’ve just started to read – A Touch of Gold by Annie Sullivan.
“Once upon a time, a little girl helplessly watched as liquid gold spun a web across her tiny frame, racing to wrap her up in an icy cocoon.”
I hope you enjoyed that. Happy weekend and happy reading! 😊
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Thanks, Rachel! Another beautiful quote! I love the descriptions. I hope you have a happy weekend, too!
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Happy Friday!😎
My first line comes from a book I will be reading soon, Oh My Stars by Sally Kilpatrick.
And it came to pass in those days, that a decree went out from my mother that I would be playing the Virgin Mary in the Dollar General drive-through Nativity whether I liked it or not.
Haha! I love those first lines and can’t wait to read this book!
Have a great weekend and happy reading!😊📚
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How fun, Sus! I have wanted to read this author, and I think I have a book or two from her! I can’t wait to read your review of this one! Thanks for sharing with me and happy Friday! ♥️
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That sounds like a really interesting book. I always like reading about different cultures.
I just nominated you for the mystery blogger award. I hope you’ll play along! https://quixoticpixels.blog/2018/08/03/mystery-blogger-award/
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Thank you and thank you for the nomination! I gave you a follow and commented over there, too!
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Happy Friday!
Ooh, interesting start!
I’m reading Catch-22 by Joseph Heller right now, so here’s the first line: “It was love at first sight.”
Hallie @ Book by Book
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That’s a great first line, Hallie! I commented over on your post, too. Thank you for visiting me! 😊
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Happy Friday! My first line is from Love is Patient by Lila Diller:
“I flipped through the pages of the bridal magazine yet again, from one dogeared page to the next, dreaming and desiring.”
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That sounds intriguing, Becky! Thanks so much for stopping by to share with me. 😊 I’m off to check out your blog!
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TGIF! The first line of the book that I am reading is Islamabad, Pakistan, August 2001
Each day she remained unmarried, Farida Basra played At Least. I have not read What We Were Promised. Happy weekend!🌻
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Thanks for sharing yours, Virginia! I hope you have a great weekend, too! ♥️
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Sounds interesting and I like the first line. Looking forward to reading your review! My current book is The Sisters Brothers and the first line is…
I was sitting outside the Commodore’s mansion, waiting for my brother Charlie to come out with news of the job.
Not a very interesting first line, really, and I’m still not sure whether I’m enjoying the book…
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Thanks, FF, and thanks for sharing yours! Aw, bummer, that you aren’t sure about it yet. I will look forward to your thoughts either way. This book is different, and I’m really enjoying it. I have a couple reads going this weekend, and I’m not spending as much time with this one as I’d like! 😊 I need more time added to my weekend!
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I quite like that opening line. And quite a story. I hope you enjoy the second half too!!
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Thanks, Nina! So far, I’m still really enjoying it. I’m wondering if this is based on the author’s life – it has so much authenticity to it, it makes me think some of it has to be real (but I always think that when I’m reading a good story!). I hope you are reading a book you love now too!
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I know what you mean. Some authors can make you feel so into a story and make it so alive.
I’m having a good chuckle at the one I’m reading. 😀
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I saw your link to the First Friday’s and followed them… sounds fun! I want to do it too.. Have a wonderful evening!!
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Yay, that’s awesome, Lana! I can’t wait for your first FLF post! 💕 For your WWWW post- you can link that back up with the blog that sponsors it (I know there is one- I haven’t done that one yet because it takes a little more time to do- I just did WOW/Can’t Wait Wednesday and posted one book I have coming up that I can’t wait to read – anyway, that one also has a link-up. I LOVE your WWWW post and look forward to it every week. I hope you are having a wonderful time at the beach! Now I think I must have missed a post from you- off to look! 💗
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Sounds interesting! I hope you can stop by:
http://collettaskitchensink.blogspot.com/2018/08/first-lines-friday-8318.html
Colletta
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Reblogged this on LIVING THE DREAM.
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Thanks, China!
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