First Lines Fridays: June 7, 2019

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

First Lines:

My name is Nicole Sparks. Welcome to the first day of the worst summer of my life.

Did the quote pique your interest? View this book on Goodreads!

July 2018 Reading Wrap-Up

Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen
Rating:  ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review:  No
Format:  eBook
Reading Dates:  June 26 – July 1
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  Halley being like “she has my eyes” to that completely unrelated-to-her baby. Perfect.
Least Favorite Thing:  Pushy boyfriend is pushy…

I’m actually starting to worry that I don’t like these books as much as I used to. Not that they aren’t the same quality, just that I think I’ve aged out of them.

My Posts About Someone Like You


Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen
Rating:  ★★★★☆ – really liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  July 2 – 3
Read Count:  3
Favorite Thing:  Norman’s art cave.
Least Favorite Thing:  Mark, obviously.

Oh I’m so relieved that I still liked this book. After the first two of my Sarah Dessen reread that I didn’t like as much, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to enjoy any of them as much as I used to. I’d say I can see some differences by being older when I reread this one, but it was just as good as it used to be. Plus there was a whole nostalgia factor.

My Posts About Keeping the Moon


Dreamland by Sarah Dessen
Rating:  ★★★★☆ – really liked it
Review:  No
Format:  eBook
Reading Dates:  July 3 – 9
Read Count:  3
Favorite Thing:  The fact that no one ever blames Caitlin or questions that she needs professional help after what happens to her.
Least Favorite Thing:  I mean, I should probably say Rogerson, but honestly it’s the mean girls on the cheerleading squad…

So far so good on the Dessen Reread front! I am relieved to find I still like this one as well. Once again I found myself seeing things from a different perspective now that I’m older and have more life experience.

My Posts About Dreamland


This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen
Rating:  ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review:  No
Format:  eBook
Reading Dates:  July 9 – July 14
Read Count:  3
Favorite Thing:  Remy’s constant planning and sorting things out was somehow fun to experience.
Least Favorite Thing:  A weird amount of fat shaming in this book…

I think I like this one a little less than I used to. Not the story itself, that’s pretty much the same as I remember, but because of the constant fat shaming. The second anyone was the least bit bigger in this book there was some weird comment about it.

My Posts About This Lullaby


Locked in Time by Lois Duncan
Rating:  ★★☆☆☆ – it was ok
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  July 23 – 28
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  There’s a little bit at the end that I like but it’s majorly spoilery…
Least Favorite Thing:  Oblivious Protagonist Syndrome

My problem with this book wasn’t so much that it was bad, just that it was a little boring to me. I think it’s just not my style. And as with all Duncan’s books it’s a little slow till three quarters through then it all wraps up quite quickly.

My Posts About Locked in Time


Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede
(Enchanted Forest Chronicles, book 1)
Rating:  ★★★★★ – loved it
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  July 28 – 31
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  HOW CAN I PICK JUST ONE, no I’m lying it’s the female friendships in this book.
Least Favorite Thing:  Um…. There is no least favorite thing. I loved this book.

Oh man guys I loved this book so much! Thank you, tumblr, for recommending this to me! I can’t wait to get the next book!

My Posts About Dealing with Dragons


In Progress

But I didn’t hear her, couldn’t, was already gone, turning and walking out the door with the food in my hands to the parking lot before I even knew what was happening. Over the years I had perfected removing myself from situations. It was kind of like automatic pilot; I just shut down and retreated, my brain clicking off before anything that hurt could sink in.

– Sarah Dessen, Keeping the Moon, page 26