Books: First Lines Fridays 10th July 2026
Ready for another First Lines Friday? It's that time of the week when we judge a book not by it's cover or even by it's blurb. Instead we will be judging it's ability to hook us from the opening lines. Let's see if this week's pick will have you adding it to your TBR list or not.
Disclosure: The FTC Disclosure Provision is a law that requires influencers to disclose when they are being paid to promote a product or service. So please know that if I'm not making money through affiliate links/sponsored content on the post you're currently reading, it's an oversight on my part and will be corrected soon. Read the full
disclosure about all the legal stuff here.
I'm participating in First Lines Fridays as I think it's a great way to highlight more of the books that are on my bookshelves.
What is First Lines Fridays?
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!
My Pick For This Week
The first lines of the book:
She sat, cross-legged on a worn oriental rug. Eyes closed. Palms up, a hand resting on each knee. Deep breath in. Long slow exhale. And another. And again. Nam myo ho ren ge kyo. Chanting these words until each melted into the next. Nam myo horen gekyo. Namyo-horengekyo. Concentrating, beginning to get in the rhythm of it, to recede into a darkness at the back of her mind when the sound of the buzzer broke through. “Shit,” she said, opening her eyes. “Shit.”
Do you know which book this is from? Scroll down to find out!
And the book is...
- ASIN : B0DCGJ5D5S
- Publisher : Porter Street Press
- Publication date : August 15, 2024
- Print length : 356 pages
Book synopsis for The Art Collector by Susan Bacon
A Warhol protégé, a Manhattan murder and a long-hidden truth
It is February 1987. Seal Larsen is a photographer, denizen of New York’s downtown scene and the subject of one of Andy Warhol’s short films. When she dies in a suspicious fall from the 15th floor of her Manhattan apartment building, her friend and neighbor, Emma Quinn, is determined to find out what happened.
A history professor at Columbia University with connections to the intelligence community, Emma soon realizes how little she really knows about her friend. Exploring Seal’s life, her work, her past, Emma makes her way down to Memphis and to rural Tennessee, putting herself at risk. It’s there, on an isolated 2,000-acre farm, that she begins to grasp the tragedy that defined Seal’s life and the truth about her death.
A sequel to The History Teacher, Susan Bacon's award-winning political mystery, The Art Collector is an intrigue, a puzzle, a plot-twister. It is also an exploration of the value of art and the people who make it and of the culture that fueled Manhattan's art boom in the second half of the twentieth century.
Where to find The Art Collector by Susan Bacon online:
Have you read this book? On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do these opening lines make you want to read the book?
What would you like to explore next?
Are you looking for your next favourite read, blogging tips, or a new challenge? Click a button below to dive in!
Books: First Lines Fridays 22nd May 2026
It's that time of the week again... Ready for another First Lines Friday? It's not about the book cover or even the book blurb. Instead we will be judging it's ability to hook us from the opening lines. Let's see if this week's pick will have you adding it to your TBR list or not.
Disclosure: The FTC Disclosure Provision is a law that requires influencers to disclose when they are being paid to promote a product or service. So please know that if I'm not making money through affiliate links/sponsored content on the post you're currently reading, it's an oversight on my part and will be corrected soon. Read the full
disclosure about all the legal stuff here.
I'm participating in First Lines Fridays as I think it's a great way to highlight more of the books that are on my bookshelves.
What is First Lines Fridays?
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!
My Pick For This Week
The first lines of the book:
“This isn’t a social visit. I’m just back to pick up my boxes from the attic.” The young woman standing on the doorstep glowered at Marie from under a long fringe of dyed black hair that hung over her pale face. Her eyes were lined with dark kohl, highlighting her menacing scowl, and her lips and nose were pierced with so many metal studs that Marie couldn’t help thinking of the nail-bombing victims she’d just heard about on the news.
Do you know which book this is from? Scroll down to find out!
And the book is...
Book synopsis Shrink Wrap by Victoria Williamson
Marie’s new family is everything her old family wasn’t. Her husband, Ryan, is caring, hard-working and supportive, and her two young children are polite, well-behaved and full of joy. Now, she has everything she’s ever wanted – a loving home, and a picture-perfect life.
But when her daughter from her previous failed marriage turns up at her door demanding attention and dredging up the dysfunction of the past, Marie’s anxiety starts to spiral. Can she find a way to preserve her precious family and protect them from the rot that threatens to eat away at their perfect life?
Shrink Wrap is the first sinister short story in the Truly, Madly, Weirdly collection, written by award-winning author Victoria Williamson and available to purchase as an anthology.
Where to find Shrink Wrap by Victoria Williamson online:
Other books by Victoria Williamson:
Have you read this book? On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do these opening lines make you want to read the book?
What would you like to explore next?
Are you looking for your next favourite read, blogging tips, or a new challenge? Click a button below to dive in!
Books: First Lines Fridays 8th May 2026
Ready for another First Lines Friday? It's that time of the week when we judge a book not by it's cover or even by it's blurb. Instead we will be judging it's ability to hook us from the opening lines. Let's see if this week's pick will have you adding it to your TBR list or not.
Disclosure: The FTC Disclosure Provision is a law that requires influencers to disclose when they are being paid to promote a product or service. So please know that if I'm not making money through affiliate links/sponsored content on the post you're currently reading, it's an oversight on my part and will be corrected soon. Read the full
disclosure about all the legal stuff here.
I'm participating in First Lines Fridays as I think it's a great way to highlight more of the books that are on my bookshelves.
What is First Lines Fridays?
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!
My Pick For This Week
The first lines of the book:
The sharp claws of desperation were all too real. Rachel Hanson choked back a sob as she stumbled over the protruding roots and rocks of the forest floor. Primal fear was the driving force pushing her forward, despite the excruciating pain in her left side. Every step forward was agony, but stopping meant death.
Do you know which book this is from? Scroll down to find out!
And the book is...
Book synopsis for Whispers Left Behind by Kennedy Layne
From USA Today Bestselling Author Kennedy Layne comes a gripping first installment in a crime fiction series that follows Homicide Detective Kinsley Aspen as she navigates a web of small-town secrets while dealing with the haunting truths of her past...
A quiet community in northern North Dakota was shattered in the aftermath of two grisly murders. The Fallbrook Killer walked free, thanks to George Aspen's unflinching defense. But for his daughter, Homicide Detective Kinsley Aspen, the acquittal is a scar that refuses to heal—on her career, her conscience, and the town's fragile sense of security.
Now, one year later, a mutilated body is found in a desolate barn—the woman’s death horrifyingly reminiscent of the Fallbrook killings. Panic ricochets through the town as whispers of the killer’s return spread like wildfire. Kinsley is thrust into a relentless investigation, but this time, it’s more than a case—it’s a reckoning.
Because Kinsley has a secret. A very dark, monstrous secret—the killer they are hunting is a copycat. The real Fallbrook Killer has been dead for a year. She knows this because she was the one who pulled the trigger.
As the body count rises and the walls close in, Kinsley must face a terrifying how do you stop a killer when the monster might be staring back at you in the mirror?
Where to find Whispers Left Behind by Kennedy Layne online:
Have you read this book? On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do these opening lines make you want to read the book?
What would you like to explore next?
Are you looking for your next favourite read, blogging tips, or a new challenge? Click a button below to dive in!
Books: First Lines Fridays 1st May 2026
We’ve finally reached Friday! Welcome to this week's First Lines Friday. Ready to find out if this week's book can hook you just from the opening lines?
Disclosure: The FTC Disclosure Provision is a law that requires influencers to disclose when they are being paid to promote a product or service. So please know that if I'm not making money through affiliate links/sponsored content on the post you're currently reading, it's an oversight on my part and will be corrected soon. Read the full
disclosure about all the legal stuff here.
I'm participating in First Lines Fridays as I think it's a great way to highlight more of the books that are on my bookshelves.
What is First Lines Fridays?
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!
My Pick For This Week
The first lines of the book:
David burst into Old Man Cossack’s house, shoving the silly bastard backwards down the hall, kicking the door shut behind him. “Buying from Phil now, are you?” David asked. Another shove. He’d waited so long to do this, scaring all his former customers. Maybe too long, what with the rage siphoning all the goodness out of his blood, the goodness Mum said all Jamaicans were born with. Well, he was only half Jamaican, so that put paid to her silly sermons, didn’t it? The other half of him was pure wanker.
Do you know which book this is from? Scroll down to find out!
And the book is...
Book synopsis for Dead in the Dirt by Emmy Ellis
Please note this book was previously published as The Woman on Mulberry Lane.
Detective Inspector Morgan Yeoman heads home with a pile of paperwork and a takeaway dinner. His front door is wide open. He finds his wife Lydia high on cocaine and there’s a dead woman in his living room. Her throat slit with one slash.
A dead body in a detective’s home. It’s not looking good for Yeoman.
He’s already got a lot on his plate. A young woman was found dead in the dirt in Queen’s Wood. Her naked body thrown into a ditch.
Yeoman’s willing to be bad to put away bad men. As long as the real criminals are caught.
He’s known for bending the rules, but is he about to go too far?
Where to find Dead in the Dirt by Emmy Ellis online:
Have you read this book?
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