Silly game- anyone up for it?

Cider With Rosie.

Which first line was that please, Hannoonna?

The wind howled. The storm crackled on the mountains. Lightning prodded the crags like an old man trying to get an elusive blackberry pip out of his false teeth.

Sorry, I know it's 3 sentences but the first two are only little.

I think it's of Terry Pratchet's but no idea which one...

"It has a length of 215 miles, and is navigable for 191 miles"

One of Pratchetts witchy ones I think.
Must be a river - but which one?

Now Jess, are you a geographer? Bit of research allowed, I think.

Well probably not the great grey-green greasy Limpopo river, that was another tale (which one folks?)
Or the Whanganui. And the Amazon is much longer than that.
The Thames then. Three Men in a Boat maybe?

How the elephant got its trunk! It was full of insatiable curiosity , as am I

I think the first quote was 'the colour of magic'
My first would be
In the beginning was the word.

Yes, it's the Thames. So - who wrote a wonderful book about it, fairly recently?

The gospel of John. But I posted that one a few weeks ago......

' His children are falling from the sky'

Sacred River, by Peter Ackroyd, and the last one is Bring up the Bodies, by Hilary Mantel.

What about:

The letter that would change everything arrived on a Tuesday.

By.... Galen, I know you know, and the name of the collection...?
And yours is The new testament?

Harry Potter and the PS ? maggie ?

No. Clue - it's been a Gransnet Book Club choice lately.

Oh, I know that one. It's about Harold Fry. Loved it.

'It is sweet on awakening in the early morn to listen to the small bird singing on the tree",

Gracesmum - I don't know.

Im convinced I saw the first line of Cider With Rosie quoted as a question and |I answered it.

Now I cant find the quote.

I must have been drinking :D

Yep, mine was Terry Pratchett - Maskerade actually.

Haven't read the river one yet.

It's well worth a read, broomsticks. I always find Peter Ackroyd's books are great for just dipping in and out of.

I was really enjoying this thread (retrospectively - catching up on leisure browsing today) until:

1. I couldn't match answer to quote. For those of us who want to learn rather than show off, this is frustrating. Surely the questioner can take the trouble to put the quote in quotation marks and the answerer take the trouble to copy and paste the quote into their answering comment?

2. I realised how parochial this thread is. Only a few non-British books have appeared. I am an Australian librarian and my favourite writers come from all over the world (though there are many Australians who take the peculiar view that only Australian books are worth reading)

3. Some put-down posts started appearing. Such a shame to criticise ways of finding answers; research is such good fun and a wonderful intellectual exercise, whether it's Googling or hunting through our bookshelves (physical or digital of course). I don't think there are many of us who can recall more than one or two books' opening lines! I so agree with the post about a book's impact on us not being dependent upon us remembering its name, let alone whole sentences!

So can we keep this thread going?

And may I make a contribution from one of my favourite British writers?"

"I'm too busy..."

You are right about us being parochial NanRuth I just had a look at my bookshelves and realised they are about 99.9% British. Most of the foreign books I have read have been pre 20th century too, Tolstoy, Chekov, Jules Verne and Zola and the like. The only modern foreign authors that have come my way have been Andrea Camilleri and Stieg Larssen.

Can't place your opening line at all, but I expect I shall kick myself when you tell us!

Well you have floored me nanruth - any chance of a few more words.....? Or a hint???

Good points NanRuth especially about ways of researching.

No one's answered my last one yet so here's a clue, RJ.

Now, taking NR's prod is one from across the channel:

"There lived at Babylon, in the reign of King Moabdar, a young man named Zadig, of a good natural disposition, strengthened and improved by education."

Oh, and I agree with Gracesmum. I have no idea. You'll have to reveal a bit more..

I was being cheeky I'm afraid, and delving into the non-literary shelves of my bookcase...

It is the first sentence of my favourite English cookbook.

"It is sweet on awaking in the early morn to listen to the small bird singing on the tree."

Field and hedgerow, the last essays of Richard Jefferies

In full and shameful confession, this avid reader and seasoned librarian not only had to Google the sentence, but still had I still no idea who Richard Jefferies is and had never heard of the book

Now I'm working on your next riddle...