Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Top Ten Tuesday: 5 favourite beginnings and 5 favourite endings

 Hosted by: The Broke and Bookish


 This week's TTT  asks what our favourite beginnings and endings are.  I'm at the mercy of what books I was able to bring with me, so these are lines from the books I have at my bedside.  I thought I'd switch things up and play a little guessing game with you.  I'm leaving the quotes below, feel free to guess what books they belong to.  If guessing games aren't up your alley or if you want to double check if your guesses were right, head here.  I'll also have explanations on why I love the lines so much.  Don't worry, I'll leave you with a clue!  The quotes come from novels written by these authors:

Jane Austen
Clive Barker
Deb Caletti
Arthur Golden
Mette Ivie Harrison 
Madeleine L'Engle
Robin McKinley
Jaclyn Moriarty 
Garth Nix
Philip Pullman


Beginnings

1.  "There are dragons in the twins' vegetable garden."

2. "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

3.  QUICK!

Before you read another word, write your own FULL name in every box on this page! Don't be afraid!  Your Notebook is meant for writing in!

4.  "The magic in that country was so thick and tenacious that it settled over the land like chalk-dust and over floors and shelves like slightly sticky plaster-dust.  (Housecleaners in that country earned unusually good wages.)  If you lived in that country, you had to de-scale your kettle of its encrustation of magic at least once a week, because if you didn't you might find yourself pouring hissing snakes or pond slime in the teapot instead of water.  (It didn't have to be anything scary or unpleasant, like snakes or slime, especially in a cheerful household - magic tended to reflect the atmosphere of the place in which it found itself - but if you want a cup of tea, a cup of lavender-and-gold pansies or ivory thimbles is unsatisfactory.)

5.  Three is the number of those who do holy work;
     Two is the number of those who do lover's work;
     One is the number of those who do perfect evil
                                                         Or perfect good.


Endings

1.  "The stuff of legend?  No.  We are merely the end of it, that is all," said George.

2.  "So Lyra and her daemon turned away from the world they were born in, and looked toward the sun, and walked into the sky."

3.  "Life and our love for others is a balancing act, I understand then; a dance between our instinct to be safe and hold fast, and our drive to flee, to run - from danger, toward new places to feed ourselves."

4.  "Then she wandered off, following a zigzag path along the border between Life and Death, her tail wagging so hard, the tip of it beat the river into a froth behind her."

5.  "But now I know that our world is no more permanent than a wave rising on the ocean.  Whatever our struggles and triumphs, however we may suffer them, all too soon they bleed into a wash, just like watery ink on paper."



Do be a dear and vote in my polls, they only have a couple days left, so show some love!  And a reminder, this week's PulseIt read is The Summer I Turned Pretty (which incidentally I just read this weekend and will have a review for next week sometime. My review is pretty much going to say you should read it, so go do that while it's still free!).  And that's it for my TTT - what was on your list? 

23 comments:

  1. I had to go see what book the line "QUICK!

    Before you read another word, write your own FULL name in every box on this page! Don't be afraid! Your Notebook is meant for writing in" was from, I'll have to add it to my TBR list, it sounds really fun! :) My TTT list: http://aliceinreaderland.com/2013/07/29/lines/

    Alice @ Alice in Readerland

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    1. It's one of my favourite books! It's so, so funny and is sort of like a funnier British version of Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (as best I can describe it anyway), and it's also a bit heartbreaking. So it's really got everything lovely in it :)

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  2. Some great quotes! I love the third one (like Alice in Readerland) which I had to go and check out.

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  3. I love A Wind in the Door! In fact, I might have to read it when I get home from work today. :)
    I love that you made this a game and had a bit of fun with the Top Ten Tuesday.

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    1. Yeah I thought I'd have a little fun with this haha

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  4. Oh my gosh! You have the best blog title EVER.

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    1. Thanks! You know you're actually the first person to ever make a comment haha. I'm not sure whether everyone knows what it references and is "oh that's cool I guess" or if there are just a lot less Hitchhiker's fans than I thought out there...

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    2. I smiled when I saw it too! :)

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  5. I love games! So I was perfectly thrilled about your list - & we both picked Pride & Prejudice as well :) I really want to read this superior SOTTP you mention above, too!! Thanks for sharing a fabulous list!!!

    PS I voted in your polls but let me de-anonymize myself, (is anonymize a word? Unlikely) because I have always been wildly curious about Abaret, never read it, and would love to hear your take on it! So, maybe this can count as my vote too ;)

    Sam @ Mad But Magic

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    1. Yeah I might just end up reviewing all the books haha! There aren't a whole lot of reviews out there for the Abarat series and I've only recently come across a bunch of Graceling reviews (but not for the rest of the trilogy) so I think either way in the next few months I'll end up reviewing them just because I've been wanting to either way.

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  6. LOL at #3. Whatever book that was, I wish I had read it. It sounds awesome. (:

    My TTT

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    1. It's Finding Cassie Crazy in the UK or The Year of Secret Assignments (or something like that anyway, I happen to have a British copy for some reason) and you should TOTALLY READ IT.

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  7. I thought the first one was A Wrinkle in Time....but now see it is A Wind In The Door! Great books!

    Love how you did a guessing game...thatt was genius!

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    1. At least you were certain it was Madeleine L'Engle! Yeah I have an abnormal obsession with guessing games, particularly when it comes to music and books haha

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    2. It makes things more fun! Like guessin on jeopardy :)

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  8. I liked how you did this list, so that no one can get spoiled with the endings when they don't know from which book they are. That last one is very beautiful.

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    1. Most of the book was written that way. Whenever I try and write something like that it just sounds tangled and boring haha

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  9. I have only read Pride and Prejudice from your list, but several of the books sound interesting, so thanks for the "cheat page". :)

    Thanks for stopping by my TTT!

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    1. Yeah most of these are fantasy books, which I know you said weren't your thing. If you like contemporary YA, both #3s fit that and the last one is historical fiction.

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  10. These are some fun ones. I've read a couple of these! Great list I'll have to figure/check out the rest!

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