Love at First Write

In trying to stage our reading line-up for the next few months, we read the first sentence (and a few of the last ones) in various books to determine if we were interested to add this selection to our list. I began thinking about whether this approach was valid or if it only works for those in an audience who can be had with “hello”. Should we know our tendencies toward love before deciding whether or not to read/purchase that novel?

Do we decide that we want to read based on the first few sentences (love at first sight)? Some of us may prefer to be courted, letting words build over the space of several chapters into an attraction for a book (or ahem, Vampire series) that can’t be left alone. Is it possible to trudge through the words as mere acquaintances only to realize at the end of the book, we loved them? Or, do we sometimes fall victim to the book “blind set-up” based on a friend’s recommendation? I am sure that I am not the only reader who has started/stopped/started/breaked/… from a book like an on-again/off-again relationship. Are these my commitment issues or is it just the timing was wrong (Juliet)?

At one point or another, I seem to have fallen into most of these categories; if only I would have collected some data at the time, perhaps I could offer some definite conclusion (or at a minimum, longer blog). Instead, perhaps a few of you “hello-ers” might be pleased with a quiz on a few first lines.