... first lines of books, that is. These are pseudo-random books, in that they are on the shelf next to me. I'm interested to see what this comes up with, and whether anyone can guess any of them!
1. When Jocelyn Brandon died - at a great old age, as magicians tend to do - he left his house and his field-of-care to his grandson, Andrew Brandon Hope.
Enchanted Glass, by Dianna Wynne Jones; first guessed by
ladyofastolat2. The best remedy for a bruised heart is not, as so many people seem to think, repose upon a manly bosom.
Have his Carcase, Dorothy L Sayers;
fallingtowers3. "And by the way," said Mr Hankin, arresting Miss Rossiter as she rose to go, "there is a new copy-writer coming in today."
Murder Must Advertise, Dorothy L Sayers;
fallingtowers4. Albrecht Durer is one of the most famous artists of all times.
5. "Too many!" James shouted, and slammed the door behind him.
The Dark is Rising, Susan Cooper;
fallingtowers6. "Don't forget you are going to Aunt Alicia's."
7. "Help me!"
8. Although I am writing this in the year 1877, I was not born until 1921.
9. From the Fosseway westward to Isca Dumnoniorum the road was simply a British trackway, broadened and roughly metalled, strengthened by corduroys of logs in the softest places, but otherwise unchanged from its old estate, as it wound among the hills, thrusting farther and farther into the wilderness.
The Eagle of the Ninth, Rosemary Sutcliff;
ladyofastolat10. Eight is a golden age.
11. I have had some very odd meals in my time, and if I liked I could tell you about a meal in a mine, or a meal in Moscow, or a meal with a millionaire.
12. Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream.
Cannery Row, John Steinbeck;
fallingtowers13. Veldt to scrub to fields to farms to these first tumbling houses that rise from the earth.
14. Attention I ask from all the sacred people, greater and lesser, the offsrping of Heimdall.
The Elder or Poetic Edda, anon;
fallingtowers /
ladyofastolat15. When nations go to war each side tries to destroy the other side's fighting forces - or, sometimes, the other nation; that is what war is about.
Okay, so many of those turn out to be pretty well-known. Others, though, probably aren't!