Top Ten Favorite Opening and Closing Lines
83July 29, 2013 by Alice in Readerland
Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is Top Ten Favorite Beginnings and Endings of Books, or Top Ten Favorite Opening and Closing Lines. For my Top Ten Tuesday, I decided to list quotes of my favorite intros and endings to books:
OPENING LINES
Fairest of All (Whatever After #1) by Sarah Mlynowski
Once upon a time my life was normal.
Bad Kitty by Michele Jaffe
I believe everyone has a superpower.
The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King
I was fifteen when I first met Sherlock Holmes, fifteen years old with my nose in a book as I walked the Sussex Downs, and nearly stepped on him. In my defense I must say it was an engrossing book…
The Friday Society by Adrienne Kress
And then there was an explosion.
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy #4)
That evening it was dark early, which was normal for the time of year. It was cold and windy, which was normal.
It started to rain, which was particularly normal.
A spacecraft landed, which was not.
CLOSING LINES
(Remember, these are the last lines of books, so the title is given first in the white banner as a warning, and then the quote just in case you want to avoid any possible spoilers.)
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
That’s when I make a list in my head of every act of goodness I’ve seen someone do. It’s like a game. Repetitive. Even a little tedious after more than twenty years.
But there are much worse games to play.
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Soon, the whole world would be searching for her–Linh Cinder.
A deformed cyborg with a missing foot.
A Lunar with a stolen identity.
A mechanic with no one to run to, nowhere to go.
But they would be looking for a ghost.
Unremembered by Jessica Brody
We take one step toward the edge and then, together, we leap.
A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan
My name is Rosalinda Samantha Fitzroy. I am one hundred years old. I am free. I am haunted. But if nothing else, I am wide awake.
Don’t Expect Magic by Kathy McCullough
Then it hits me all at once and I laugh to myself. I know exactly what to say next, because, really, there’s only one way to begin.
“Once Upon a time…”
What are your favorite opening and closing lines of books?
Alice in Readerland 
Oh, yes, The Friday Society! I loved how she kept using “and then there was an explosion” throughout the book in various ways. And I love the start of The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, too. I can so sympathize with nearly stepping on someone because a book is so engrossing. :)
Thanks for stopping by my TTT!
Me too, I loved how each girl’s story started off that way! I love the beginning to The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, I’ve used that quote so many times for TTT! :)
Cinder’s closing lines are fantastic! Seriously- could they make me want to read the next book anymore? :P
And Hitchhiker’s guide… I love that series so much. All the books have great openers -but that’s one of the best. Great list Alice :)
I had a fun time going back through all of the Hitchhiker’s guide series rereading all the opening lines, though it was tough to have to choose one! :)
Your quote from Douglas Adams’ book makes me want to re-read all of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy books again–love that series! <3 Great list:)
My TTT
I was just thinking that I had to start rereading the series! :)
Mockingjay, yes! I too have that as a favourite ending. Memorable and irreplaceable. Knowing she’s still fractured but able to cope even with the difficulty is.. urghh emotions!
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Same thoughts! It’s just so beautiful and bittersweet.
My favourite is the Mockingjay closing lines. It’s so perfect! I couldn’t imagine that book ending any other way.
I really, really love that quote! It’s a fantastic ending! :)
I still need to read A Long Long Sleep, but I think it looks like a pretty cool re-telling. Mockingjay is on my list, too – that last line just gets to me sometimes. Happy reading!
A Long, Long Sleep is one of my favorite books that I read for the first time this year, and the Mockinjay ending is so wonderful. :)
The books on here I haven’t read, I haven’t even heard of, which was surprising. I’ll have to check them out. I LOVE The Beekeeper’s Apprentice line!
The Beekeeper’s Apprentice is one of my favorite books! :)
Can’t wait to read The Friday Society- it looks like great fun! And Unremembered’s closing line just leaves you itching for the sequel. Great picks! I will have to look into some of the books you mentioned in your fave beginnings. :) Thanks so much for stopping by my TTT!
I am so excited for the Unremembered sequel!!! :)
I had to pick a few lines that weren’t exactly the end, because I didn’t want to spoil the book. Great quotes!
Jess @ Such A Novel Idea
Thanks for stopping by!
:)
I think the best thing about this week’s topic is how many books it must be selling! These first lines are fantastic. Those I read, bring back the fondest of memories. Those I haven’t have already hooked me!!
Same here! I’ve been so excited to see old favorites of mine on lists, and the lists have made me curious about so many other books! :)
I need to read The Friday Society! Great list :)
I hope you enjoy it! :)
The ending to Mockingjay is so good :) great list
That’s my favorite; I thought it was just so perfect for the story! :)
I forgot how wonderful the last line of Unremembered was.
Great choices! I love all of the beginning lines.
Here’s my Top Ten Tuesdays Post
Megan @ Love, Literature, Art, and Reason
I’m so excited for Unforgotten!!! :)
Wow, I think doing opening and closing lines would be SO VERY HARD. But I read a book called The Rook by Daniel O’Malley (not YA) but it had a very CATCHING first line:
“The body you are wearing used to be mine.”
I’m not one for thrillers, and the book wasn’t necessarily a thriller, but a really FUN supernatural-y book. But, yeah, EXCELLENT first line because you want to know WHAT ON EARTH? And then the next few paragraphs are just as engaging.
Great list. I think it takes a lot of talent to come up with an opening/closing line list, and that’s awesome. There are actually some on here that make me want to read the books that I haven’t read yet!
Thanks for sharing your pick! :)
I haven’t read any of your choices for the openings, but I have read Cinder and Mockinjay and definitely approve of your adding them to your list. Great choices!
The endings to Mockingjay and Cinder (I’m very excited for Cress) are my 2 favorites! :)
You know a book is going to be great when it starts with ‘Once upon a time.’ I also love the beginning from Cinder & A long, long sleep. Good picks! :)
Mel@thedailyprophecy.
I love it when books really do start off with “Once upon a time.” :)
While I was on the whole disappointed by Mockingjay, I absolutely loved its last couple of sentences. So good. I love your list :)
I read the last few sentences a long time ago, but they’ve stuck with me ever since. :)
I actually skipped the last three closing lines because I haven’t read those books yet. But I do love the endings of Mockingjay and Cinder. And now I really want to read The Beekeeper’s Apprentice. That is such a great opening line!
Thanks for stopping by my TTT!
Ashling @ Reading, Writing & Anything but Arithmetic
The Beekeeper’s Apprentice is one of my favorite books! :)
Haha I love the opening line of So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish! Gotta love Douglas Adams. :D I’m really intrigued by The Beekeeper’s Apprentice now.
I had fun going back through all of the openings in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series! :) The Beekeeper’s Apprentice is one of my top favorite books!
I also included the beginning of The Beekeeper’s Apprentice and the ending of Mockinjay, though I chose the ending before the epilogue.
The ending before the epilogue was so sweet, and I’m glad to see The Beekeeper’s Apprentice on another list! :)
I need to read Bad Kitty… it looks so funny!!! And I like that last line of Unremembered!! Very cool.
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My TTT
I really liked the humor in Bad Kitty, and Unremembered has me so anxious for Unforgotten to come out! :)
I’ve only read Cinder, but I agree that is an amazing closing line. I just love the Lunar Chronicles so much. I chose the ending to Scarlet for my TTT.
The ending for Scarlet was so fantastic (and so promising for the next book) too, I think we were all excited for Cress as soon as we finished the last sentence! :)
I love that opening line for the Beekeeper’s Apprentice. I’m pretty sure I own a copy of that book although I’ve never read it. I do love the closing line for Mockingjay, too. Great list! Thanks for stopping by mine and following! I followed back via Bloglovin. :)
Thanks for following, I’m looking forward to reading more of your posts! :)
Only one I’ve read on this list is Mockingjay but I think I’ll be picking up a few of these in the future, some of those opening and closing lines sound so good I want to read those books. Thanks for stopping by my blog.
I’ve added so many books to my TBR list this week, thanks to this TTT topic! :)
There are quite many books I haven’t heard about, but they seem interesting books if the quotes give any indication! :) I really want to read Cinder, it seems really intriguing!
I didn’t read Cinder until this year, but The Lunar Chronicles quickly became my favorite series! :)
That end to Mockingjay… oh, the memories.
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy has such fantastical openings in each book!
I had fun going back and rereading all of the beginnings in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series! :)
The Beekeeper’s Apprentice has such a fun opening line, I can’t wait to read it! And I really liked the very end of Mockingjay, although Catching Fire had my favourite ending of the entire series.
Thanks for stopping by my post! :)
The Beekeeper’s Apprentice is one of my favorite books! :)
I love the opening to Friday Society! I also enjoy the opening lines of chapters two and three for some odd reason… ;D
Me too, I loved that the author had that! :)
I’ve only read one of these, and that’s MOCKINGJAY. I LOVE the last line of that book. So much so that I’ve considered getting it as a tattoo. (: Thanks for stopping by!
Rachel @ Beauty and the Bookshelf
The last line has stuck with me ever since I first read it, I love it so much! :)
I can’t believe I forgot Mockinjay! I really need to read Unremembered.
I’m so excited for Unforgotten! :)
As much as I have to admit that Mockingjay was my least favorite in the series (Catching Fire was best in my opinion), those closing lines are seriously brilliant! :) They make the bottom of your stomach drop out, just remembering all the pain and disaster leading to them. Great list. So happy to see someone else who has read A Long, Long Sleep. I love that book and had a great time reading it!
My TTT:
http://diamondinroughcoal.blogspot.com/2013/07/top-ten-tuesday-3.html
I’m glad to meet someone who has read A Long, Long Sleep too! I read it for the first time this year and loved it! I also heard that there’s going to be a sequel coming out next year. :)
Oh gosh, I love the Beekeeper’s Apprentice quote! I’ve had that book on my shelf forever. What am I waiting for that sounds great! :)
Great choices!
It’s one of my favorite books, I hope you enjoy it when you read it! :)
THE BEEKEEPER’S APPRENTICE is on my list of to-reads, and I think that the beginning lines have just made it a priority read! I love the end of CINDER as well.
My Top Ten Tuesday: http://667bakerstreet.blogspot.com/2013/07/top-ten-tuesday-5.html?showComment=1375241606629#c6492021026667254060
The Beekeeper’s Apprentice is one of my favorite books! :) I’m so excited for Cress!
The beekeepers apprentice was one of my favorite reads last year when I discovered it. And I loved the hunger games trilogy. Great list!
The Beekeeper’s Apprentice is definitely one of my favorite books, I’m glad you enjoyed it too! :)
I agree with Cinder and Mockingjay. I loved those books! And the beginning lines are really awesome, too, but I haven’t read any of those books yet.
Thanks for stopping by & commenting! :)
Oooo, I forgot about Cinder! That is an excellent last line. Such a great story! :D
I love Cinder and am so excited for Cress! :)
I completely forgot about Mockingjay’s ending! Great list! New follower via Bloglovin’! Thanks for stopping by earlier. :)
Thanks you, I’ve followed you back on Bloglovin’! :)
Thanks for visiting my TTT. I LOVED re-reading the last lines for Mockingjay and A Long Long Sleep. Thank you! Not familiar with the opening lines, but they are all good ones. Tempting, very tempting!
I’m glad that you read and liked A Long, Long Sleep! I haven’t met that many other bloggers who have read it! :)
Thanks for visiting my TTT! I did not like the way that Mockingjay ended, but I do love that line. I just felt like Katniss just gave up. Great list!
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You have some great choices on here. I’m bumping The Friday Society higher up my to-read list now. Thanks for stopping by my TTT.
I hope you enjoy it when you read it! :)
The last line of Mockingjay is so chilling!
I really have to read most of these books! I love all the lines though :) Mockinjay is heartbreaking, Don’t Expect Magic is just perfect, Cinder is so good, and as for the rest, I love! I’m definitely wanting to read Friday Society even more now.