The reason I put Mark Dunn’s Ibid: A Life on my list of 40 books to read before my 40th birthday, was its novelty value. As explained in the introduction, the author wrote an biography of Jonathan Blashette (a circus performer born with three legs who goes on to make a fortune in the deodorant… Read more »
Posts Categorized: First Lines
First Lines: Desperation / The Regulators
As the story goes, my wife first spotted me reading a book by her favorite author while waiting for a show by her favorite artist. As I had finished my previous book on the fifteenth occasion of that historic moment, and I still needed to read it in the original English to count towards #66,… Read more »
First Lines: The Great John Green Re-Read Project 2018, Part 1
My current night-time reading project is revisiting all of John Green’s novels in publication order. Since encountering them nine years ago I haven’t gone back, and I wanted to see how they’ve held up. In part one of this probably two-part series, I’ll start with the first three, Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines… Read more »
First Lines: Sleeping Beauties
Years ago, I read Owen King’s debut short-story collection cite We’re All in This Together, and I wasn’t really impressed. Being a fan of his father’s work, I guess I expected something more. So, when the announcement came that they were co-writing a full-length novel, I wasn’t overly excited. Of course, I needn’t have worried…. Read more »
First Lines: The Hate U Give
What’s the point of having a voice if you’re gonna be silent? Starr, a sixteen-year old girl and her friend get pulled over by a cop, and he gets shot. She wants justice for him. But he was black, and possibly a drug dealer, or a gang member, or both. But wanting justice and getting… Read more »