So, we’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is: Freebie (Come up with your own topic or do a past TTT topic that you missed or would like to do again)!
I always struggle when it comes to freebie topics but I decided to keep things as simple as possible and share the first few lines from ten of my favourite reads this year! I surprisingly don’t have very many five-star reads this year but looking through my read list, I had a hard time choosing just ten from the ones that had me feeling all the feels! I would definitely recommend checking out these reads though so maybe these first lines will entice you to pick them up?! 😉

Ever after always
“I used to sing all the time. In the shower. On road trips. Painting our house. Cooking with Aiden. Because I’m a feeler, and music is a language of emotion. Then, one week ago, I crawled into bed alone again, curled up with my cats, Horseradish and Pickles, and realized I couldn’t remember the last time I’d sung.”
take a hint, dani brown
“The student union’s coffee shop was like a bad pop song: painfully repetitive and unnaturally upbeat. Milk was steamed, names were chirped, and baristas beamed as if there were any call for such abominably perky behaviour. (There most assuredly wasn’t.)”
silver in the wood
“It was in the middle of an autumn downpour when Tobias first met Henry Silver. Summer had come and gone, and the wood was quiet. Tobias was snug inside his neat little cottage with Pearl sleep on the hearth, tail twitching occasionally as she dreamed of catching sparrows.”
the death of vivek oji
“They burned down the market on the day Vivek Oji died.”
network effect
“I’ve had clients who thought they needed an absurd level of security. (And I’m talking absurd even by my standards, and my code was developed by a bond company known for intense xenophobic paranoia, tempered only by desperate greed.) I’ve also had clients who thought they didn’t need any security at all, right up until something ate them. (That’s mostly a metaphor. My uneaten client stat is high.)”
jade city
“The two would-be jade thieves sweated in the kitchen of the Twice Lucky restaurant. The windows were open in the dining room, and the onset of evening brought the breeze off the waterfront to cool the diners, but in the kitchen, there were only the two ceiling fans that had been spinning all day to little effect. Summer had barely begun and already the city of Janloon was like a spent lover—sticky and fragrant.”
the ones we’re meant to find
“I wake on my feet, wind tangled in my hair. The sand is cold beneath my arches and the tide is rising, white foam and gray water frothing around ankles before fizzing through my toes.
My bare toes.
That alone wouldn’t be a problem. But I’m also in M.M.’s cargo pants, the softest pair in her moth-eaten closet. I wore them to bed last night, the same night, apparently, I sleepwalked to the shore. Again.”
under the whispering door
“Patricia was crying.
Wallace hated it when people cried.
Little tears, big tears, full on body-wracking sobs, it didn’t matter. Tears were pointless, and she was only delaying the inevitable.
“How did you know?”” she said, her cheeks wet as she reached for the Kleenex box on his desk. She didn’t see him grimacing. It was probably for the best.”
sLIPPERY CREATURES
“Will Darling was outnumbered by books.
It hadn’t always felt this way. When he’d first visited his uncle at Darling’s Used & Antiquarian, he’d simply thought, That’s a lot of books, and when he started helping here, they were just work. As he took over the running of the place in his uncle’s last illness, though, he became increasingly aware of them looming around him, full of knowledge and secrets and lies.”
Sing anyway
“All my friends were assholes.
I tried to leave for the bar later tonight; I really did. I sat around my apartment for as long as possible, snacking on cheesy puffs and watching my cats growl at each other. Garfunkel always antagonized Simon and Simon always played into it. They were both idiots.
But even after stalling for what felt like forever, I was still the first one at Moonie’s. Like always.”

Looking up these first lines made me want to read these books all over again and had me smiling big because gah, I loved them so much! Have you read these books or are they on your TBR?

There’s so many good first lines here. I think my favorite one is Take A Hint, Dani Brown. While the Brown Sisters trilogy isn’t my favorite romance series, Dani is my favorite sister out the three.
I hope you have an awesome week!
https://introvertinterruptedcom.wordpress.com/2021/09/28/books-that-got-me-through-my-20s-pt-2/
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I really enjoyed your post, Adira! I still haven’t read Eve Brown’s story but Dani is my fave thus far 😊
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I’ve read a few on here and they were okay, heh. I do wish I would have liked them more but I am glad you found enjoyment out of them! 😊❤
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Aw, sorry to hear that you didn’t enjoy them as much but we can’t like them all, right?!
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Ooh, Silver in the Wood looks so good! I really should read that one sometime.
My post: https://lydiaschoch.com/top-ten-tuesday-ten-ttt-topics-i-really-enjoyed-doing/
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Silver in the Wood is so good and it’s a novella so a very quick and enchantingly fairytale-esque read! Highly recommend it 🙂
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Great post love the first line of Silver in the Woods, I have the duology on my TBR and can’t wait to pick it up 💜
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It’s so good! I still haven’t read the second book in the duology but I’m quite excited to come back to Silver and Tobias. It’s a very fairytale-esque atmospheric read 😍
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The opening lines for Slippery Creatures! I already wanted to read the series, but definitely more so now!
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Ah, it is SO good! I hope you enjoy it if you give it a try 😍 The writing is so witty!
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I loved Liese’s book. I’m listening to her new one right now.
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Ah, I loved Axel and Rooney’s story too! I hope you’re enjoying it, Deanna 😍
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I adored it!!!
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Oh I love this post! I haven’t read any of these yet, but that starting line of Ever After Always got to me. Also excited to try Take A Hint Dani Brown and Under The Whispering Door.
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I recommend all of them so much! The characters in these stories have all wormed their way into my heart ❤️
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Great idea for a post. I would love to take a look at the first lines of my favorite books.
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Thank you! It was actually really fun taking a look at these first lines and realising how much they pulled me in when I read them the first time 😍
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I really like that opening in Take A Hint Dani Brown. I’ll have to check it out! 😊
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Yes! I loved Dani’s story and she’s my fave Brown sister 😍
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I always love how an opening line can really grab you, or set the tone for a book. That opening for Jade city is so atmospheric, I feel like I’m there. Or want to be. 🙂 And Network Effect :):):)
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I feel the same way about opening lines. Jade City is an amazing read and I highly recommend it to literally everyone 😂
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I love Take a Hint, Dani Brown!
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It’s SO good! 😍 I still haven’t read Eve’s story but Dani’s my fave Brown sister so far!
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First lines often make or break a book for me. And what great first lines you’ve picked for this week’s TTT. I love them. (and can’t wait to now read some of these books.)
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I totally agree! I didn’t realise how great these first lines were until I went back to look at these highly rated reads again. I’m definitely a sucker for some great first lines 😃
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I’ve not read any of these, but the first lines are intriguing! Here is my Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!
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Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
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A great list!
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/10-indigenous-authors-to-read/
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Thanks for stopping by 🙂
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Fun topic. I love first lines that immediately suck you right into the story. Under the Whispering Door was like that for me. 🙂
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I’m definitely a sucker for intriguing first lines! 😍 I totally felt the same about Under the Whispering Door!
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ever after always sounds good!
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It is so so good. The Bergman Brothers series is one of my faves and I always rave about it. I would highly recommend it 😍
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Ooh the first line from Jade City is making me even more curious about reading it.
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2021/09/28/top-ten-tuesday-335/
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Jade City is amazing! The whole series is amazing and I recommend it to everyone 😂
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Glad to hear it!
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Oooh, this is such a fun topic, Dini! I really like the first lines for Slippery Creatures!
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I’m so glad I read Slippery Creatures this year. It’s such a fantastic book and series—the writing is so witty!
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First lines is always a great idea. I did a Top Ten Opening Lines TTT last year. It was fun.
My TTT this week is about Nobel Prize winners..
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I always love looking at opening lines 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
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Always my pleasure.
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Oh all of these sound so fun! I *really* want to get to the Bergman Brothers series. You’ve completely sold me on them. I recently picked up Take a Hint on sale so hopefully I can get to it soon. The first line makes me want to get to even faster. And I’ve read an excerpt of The Ones We’re Meant to Find and it was fabulous. It’s on my tbr! Great post this week! ❤
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YAAAS Bergman Brothers FOREVER! I love that series so much and I hope you love it when you get around to picking it up 😍 I hope you enjoy Dani’s story as well! I still have to read Eve’s story but I enjoyed Dani’s the most so far. Her and Zafir have such a super swoony and steamy romance! ❤️
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[…] Monthly Wrap-Up!#WWWWednesday: 29 September 2021Book Review: Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson#TopTenTuesday: First Lines, Favourite Reads!Book Review: The Rake of Hearts by Emily WindsorGoodreads Monday: How It Feels to Float by Helena […]
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Amazing idea, Dini! So many great first lines and amazing books. Murderbot, Under the Whispering Door and Take a Hint Dani Brown!!! 😍😍😍❤️❤️❤️
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Silver in the wood sounds so good. What a fun post
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