New year, new books! New Years resolutions can be a pain, but tackling a reading pile feels oh-so satisfying. Do you have any goals? Number of books to read? A series you want to tackle? An author you’d like to get to know?
And more importantly: what is the first line of the book you’re reading right now?
We’ll give you a few to start with—we’ve whited out the names of the books themselves, so that everyone can have a go at guessing them!
Leah’s First Line of the Year: “I was lost, it was already dusk, I had been driving for hours and was practically out of petrol.”
Book: Ice by Anna Kavan
Natalie’s First Line of the Year: “The shape of power is always the same; it is the shape of a tree.”
Book: The Power by Naomi Alderman
Emily’s First Line of the Year (this one is a bit unfair for guessing, as the book isn’t out yet): “It begins when a wizard cleaves an island from the mainland, in response to the king destroying her temple.”
Book: The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton
Molly’s First Line of the Year: “In a city swollen by refugees but still mostly at peace, or at least not yet openly at war, a young man met a young woman in a classroom and did not speak to her.”
Book: Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
Tell us what your first line of the year is! (And remember to white out the name of the book if you want to make a game of it…)