(no subject)

[labellementeuse]

A bastard child of the lyrics meme, so of course I'm guaranteed to love this one: first lines of 20 books (or, you know, however many you can cope with), friendslist guesses titles and authors. I grabbed the 17 books closest (restricting to books that I've actually read, because I still have a pile on my floor from the second hand bookstore) plus the three books whose first lines I actually know off by heart, whether because they're distinctive or because I've re-read the books a million times. Some of these are pretty much gimmes, but hey. I considered deleting names from #1 and #12, but #1 would just be sad and couldn't be bothered for #12.

1. There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, CS Lewis
aim_toothpaste

2. Part of the problem, Nita thought as she tore desperately down Rose Avenue, is that I can't keep my mouth shut.
So You Want To Be A Wizard, Diane Duane
kitsunerei88

3. When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the cinema, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home.
The Outsiders, SE Hinton
gabbysun

4. The woman put her sad moon-face in at the window of the car.
Homecoming, by Cynthia Voigt
sennical

5. Ba-room, ba-room, baripity, baripity, baripity, baripity - Good. His dad had the pick-up going.
Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson
lady_larla

6. In a noisy, rattling aeroplane with four propellors and two stewardesses who speak with New Zealand accents and serve dinky little meals of New Zealand lamb chops and Watties' peas and Anchor best creamery butter: going east, going south, going cold, going home.
Songs for Alex, Tessa Duder
lady_larla (after some vocal deliberation)

7. "Too many!" James shouted, and slammed the door behind him.
The Dark is Rising, Susan Cooper
sennical

8. Mr. Salteena was an elderly man of 42 and was fond of asking peaple to stay with him.
Ed: Typo from text, and if that's not a hint I'm sure I don't know what is.

9. The Deliverator belongs to an elite order, a hallowed subcategory.
Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
kphoebe

10. For the first fifteen years of our lives, Danny and I lived within five blocks of each other and neither of us knew of the other's existence.
The Chosen, Chaim Potok
sennical

11. There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
manic_subbie

12. When Mary Lennox was sent to Misselthwaite Manor to live with her uncle, everybody said she was the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen.
The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
aim_toothpaste

13. Any Christmas visitor looking for Carnival's Hide dropped down from the hilltops by a shingle road that elbowed its way across the farmland already scrawled over by sheep tracks.
The Tricksters, Margaret Mahy
kphoebe

14. It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on Earth has ever produced the expression "as pretty as an airport".
The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, Douglas Adams
mandor700

15. Women on their own run in Alice's family.
Pigs in Heaven, Barbara Kingsolver
sennical

16. When she was studying in the Silent Precincts, the Rodmistresses had warned her: If you're going to look for meaning in a dream, first make sure it's your own.
Door into Shadow, Diane Duane
chattycheese

17. Caroline stood in the summer rain with her head thrown back and her arms wide.
The World Around the Corner, Maurice Gee
shoeless_girl

18. One sunny morning in the spring of 1878, the steamship Ingrid Linde, the pride of the Anglo-Baltic shipping line, vanished in the Baltic Sea.
Shadow in the North, Philip Pullman
angry_in_pink

19. It was nearing midnight and the Prime Minister was sitting alone in his office, reading a long memo that was slipping through his brain without leaving the slightest trace of meaning behind.
Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince, JK Rowling
aim_toothpaste

20. We slept in what had once been the gymnasium.
The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood
aim_toothpaste

Comments

[aim-toothpaste.livejournal.com]

1. Voyage of the Dawn Treader. CS Lewis.
12. The Secret Garden. Frances Hodgson Burnett.
19. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. JK Rowling.
20. A Handmaid's Tale. Margaret Atwood.

There are a lot more I feel I should know.

[labellementeuse.livejournal.com]

*g* She shoots, she scores!

[karenhealey.livejournal.com]

The Deliverator belongs to an elite order, a hallowed subcategory.

Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson

Any Christmas visitor looking for Carnival's Hide dropped down from the hilltops by a shingle road that elbowed its way across the farmland already scrawled over by sheep tracks.

The Tricksters, Margaret Mahy

[labellementeuse.livejournal.com]

Yes, yes, and good picks. :P

[blythely.livejournal.com]

I do not know what number 6 is but I would like to. I suspect 14 to be Douglas Adams of some variety.

[labellementeuse.livejournal.com]

It's And, yeah, 14 is The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul, one of his lesser-knwon Dirk Gently books.

[labellementeuse.livejournal.com]

*known, I mean.

[kitsunerei88]

Number 2
So you want to be a wizard, Diane Duane

ANd I think number 14 is from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, possibly one of the latter two that I haven't read - either Mostly Harmless or So Long,And Thanks for all the Fish. . .?

[labellementeuse.livejournal.com]

I was so expecting 2 to come earlier! And 14, yeah, it's Adams, it's The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul. Not a H2g2 but still hilarious. :)

[sennical.livejournal.com]

1. So You Want to Be a Wizard, Diane Duane
4. Homecoming, Cynthia Voigt (Wow, I did not think I knew anyone else who had read that book)
7. The Dark Is Rising, Susan Cooper
10. The Chosen, Chaim Potok (OMG I LOVE THAT BOOK)
14. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
15. Oh, what's it called... The Bean Trees? My cousin was reading it a few weeks ago.

Yeah, I definitely need to do this one.

[labellementeuse.livejournal.com]

14 is The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (but it's funny how many people thought it was H2G2. The man has a very recogniseable style, clearly.) and 15 is.... OMG SO CLOSE... *hints* The Bean Trees has a sequel, you know... :P

You so do, it is really fun. XP

[sennical.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's what she was reading! Something about pigs. And Barbara Kingsolver wrote it. And pigs were in the title. And I am going to remember the title. Pigs. Pigs.

Pigs in Heaven! Is that it? It looked good, I need to read it.

[labellementeuse.livejournal.com]

YES. Heh, excellent work. *thumbs up*

[gabbysun.livejournal.com]

3 is The Outsiders!

(Everything else I know I think has been taken. :( )

[labellementeuse.livejournal.com]

One of my absolute favourite books, ever, hands-down. YES.

And HAY MISSY LONG TIME NO SEE!

[mandor700.livejournal.com]

14. The long dark tea-time of the soul - Douglas Adams

[labellementeuse.livejournal.com]

Yay! :D

[chattycheese.livejournal.com]

2: SYWTBAW
10: omg! Chaim! erm. I don't remember which one. Ergh.
16: Door into fire...sunset..*runs off to check* Shadow! The Door into Shadow! (DD)

...is 17 Jane Austen? Mabye I'm thinking of the wrong book.

[labellementeuse.livejournal.com]

Yes, yes, yes, and NOPE to 17. It's actually an obscure NZ book that I'm pretty sure is out of print (which BREAKS MY HEART because it is of the Awesome) and I can only think of one or two people who would recognise it -I mean, I probably wouldn't be able to guess it from just that. I might put the second sentence up later. :P

[cactus-cat.livejournal.com]

11. Jane Eyre ♥

[labellementeuse.livejournal.com]

:)

[cactus-cat.livejournal.com]

14. The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul

Much love for Snowcrash, also. =D

There are others there that I think I should know, they're on the tip of my brain...

[labellementeuse.livejournal.com]

*grin* Snow Crash is one of my favourites, too. Actually, pretty much everything up there is a favourite because I like to, you know, keep them around my bed. To um scare off nightmares! Right!

... no, I'll admit, it's because I like being able to reach out my hand and hit a great book. :D

[shoeless-girl.livejournal.com]

I knew 1, 2 and 19, but am obviously way too slow :)

I think number 17 is The World Around the Corner by Maurice Gee?

[labellementeuse.livejournal.com]

I KNEW IT WOULD BE YOU TO GET THAT ONE. Actually, I thought if it was anyone it would be you, but that it was too hard to get. YOU ARE BRILL. *dance*

[shoeless-girl.livejournal.com]

*WINS*

I've probably read that book thirty or forty times, so yeah, not so hard for me ;) I want to read it now! But I have about 20 others to read first :S

Wait a minute, why am I complaining? I have 20 new books to read :D

[labellementeuse.livejournal.com]

I've read it a lot, too - the cover's totally fallen off my copy, which, wow, I really should take better care of it - but I probably still would have needed the extra sentence. :P Totally the hardest thing about this meme was *not* stopping to re-read them ALL. Heh.

XD

[(Anonymous)]

I'm going out on a limb here, but I think no. 18 is from Phillip Pullman's "A Shadow in thr North."

[angry-in-pink.livejournal.com]

That was me, BTW

[labellementeuse.livejournal.com]

Nice one. :D

[lady-larla.livejournal.com]

I'm not supposed to be but since no one has yet - 5 is Bridge to Terabithia- Kathrine Paterson...
And i knew the rest and it wasnt cause they were lying in lounge either..*honest*

[labellementeuse.livejournal.com]

& quite right, too. :D

[lady-larla.livejournal.com]

6 is Songs for Alex...