Top Ten Best Opening Lines Of A Novel

“Top Ten Tuesday” is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish!

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is the Top Ten Best Opening Lines Of A Novel.

As always, these choices are listed in no particular order.

“It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn’t know what I was doing in New York.”

“Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins.”

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”

“I planned my death carefully; unlike my life, which meandered along from one thing to another, despite my feeble attempts to control it.”

“If it had not rained on a certain May morning Valancy Stirling’s whole life would have been entirely different.”

“No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy, would have supposed her born to be a heroine.”

“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.”

“In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines.”

“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.”

42 Responses

  1. You’ve gone for some great classic choices! How could I forget The Hobbit?! I loved the start of that book – I definitely should have included it on my own list. Madeleine and Lolita have really fantastic and iconic opening lines too. I haven’t read The Blue Castle, but I loved Anne of Green Gables, so I will definitely check that out now. Brilliant picks! 🙂
    Sam @ Realm of Fiction recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: Favourite Beginnings & Endings in BooksMy Profile

    1. I can’t recommend The Blue Castle highly enough! I love it just as much as Anne of Green Gables and it seems as though very few people have heard of it, let alone read it. Don’t mind the rather dated cover that’s on most editions – It’s such a delightful little story and features one of my favourite female protagonists of all time. I would love to hear what you thought of it should you ever read it! 😀
      Jen @ Pop! Goes The Reader recently posted…Waiting On…Constable & Toop by Gareth P. JonesMy Profile

    1. The opening line to Northanger Abbey is such an under-rated classic! While obviously Pride and Prejudice is the most iconic, I really loved that Austen had a little more fun with the former. Catherine Morland was such an adorable protagonist! That opening line really suits the overall tone and mood of the story perfectly, I think 🙂
      Jen @ Pop! Goes The Reader recently posted…Waiting On…Constable & Toop by Gareth P. JonesMy Profile

  2. 1. Hated The Bell Jar, but that is a good first line.

    2. Not a fan of that first line tbh, but I read the first page or two and it was gorgeous. Must find time to actually read that book.

    3. REPRESENT.

    4. The semi-colon has not been used properly in that sentence. *twitches*

    5. I don’t think I’ve heard of this book.

    6. Yeah, JA!

    7. So excited to reread HP at the end of the year!

    8. Ooh, a children’s book. Hello variety.

    9. How ominous.
    Christina (A Reader of Fictions) recently posted…Cover Snark (65): Romancing the SnarkMy Profile

    1. I would highly recommend The Blue Castle! As much as I adore Anne of Green Gables and Montgomery’s other assorted works, The Blue Castle is her most under-rated (and one of her best) novels, in my opinion. It’s so witty and smart and Valancy Stirling is one of my favourite protagonists of all time. I can’t say enough about it, but the fact that I re-read it at least once a year should give you a good indication of how much I adore it 😉
      Jen @ Pop! Goes The Reader recently posted…Review: Frigid by J. LynnMy Profile

    1. Thanks, Asti! I’ve actually never read Lolita in its entirety either, but the opening lines have always called to me. They’re just so lyrical and stunning. It’s definitely one of those books that I’m determined to read before I die, no matter how uncomfortable the subject matter might make me 😛
      Jen @ Pop! Goes The Reader recently posted…Review: Frigid by J. LynnMy Profile

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Hi! I’m Jen! I’m a thirty-something introvert who loves nothing more than the cozy comfort of home and snuggling my two rescue cats, Pepper and Pancakes. I also enjoy running, jigsaw puzzles, baking and everything Disney. Few things bring me more joy than helping a reader find the right book for them!

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