First Impressions

What is it about a book that draws you in? The cover? The title? For the following books it's the first sentence that makes all the difference. It's nearly impossible to stop reading once the peculiarity of the first line grabs you.

"Captain Ahab was neither my first husband nor my last." - Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund

"I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974." - Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenedies

"It was bitter cold, the air electric with all that had not happened yet." - A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

"The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there." - The Go-Between by L.P. Hartley

"In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly-fishing." A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean

"If I could tell you one thing about my life it would be this: when I was seven years old the mailman ran over my head." - The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint by Brady Udall

"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen." - 1984 by George Orwell

"Mum starved herself for suffrage, Grandmother claiming it was just like Mum to take a cause too far." - A Short History of Women by Kate Walbert

"I remember with utter clarity the first great shock of my life." - Trinity by Leon Uris

"It was a pleasure to burn." - Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

"It was inevitable: the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love." - Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

"The last camel collapsed at noon." - The Key to Rebecca by Ken Follett


For more info read or listen to NPR's "Famous First Words," check out The Guardian's Books Blog post "What's Your Favourite First Line?" and peruse American Book Review's list of the "100 Best First Lines from Novels."

What is your favorite first line from a book?

The Mother of Father's Day

Did you know that this year marks the 100th anniversary of Father's Day? It all started with a young woman from Spokane, Washington.

Sonora Smart Dodd was just 16 years old when her mother passed away, leaving her father, William Jackson Smart, to raise six young children. He did such an admirable job that upon hearing a Mother's Day sermon at Central United Methodist Church in 1909, Sonora was spurred to propose a similar honor for fathers. With the help of Reverend Dr. Conrad Bluhm (her pastor at Old Centenary Presbyterian Church,) the Spokane YMCA and the Ministerial Alliance, Sonora organized the first Father's Day on June 19, 1910. Sermons honoring fathers were given throughout the city.

This special day did not receive national recognition for many more years. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge celebrated Father's Day and encouraged the states to follow suit. In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a proclamation for Father's Day to be celebrated on the third Sunday in June and for flags to be flown that day on government buildings. In 1971, President Richard M. Nixon signed a proclamation officially marking the third Sunday in June as Father's Day.

What began as a young woman's wish to honor her own father's dedication to his family, along with recognizing all fathers , has become a 100-year-old, worldwide, annual celebration of fathers, grandfathers, uncles and father figures.

Click here to learn more.

Bloomsday

Celebrate the 106th anniversary of the day that James Joyce's masterpiece, Ulysses, took place! Fans around the world rejoice by reading from the novel, playing and listening to traditional Irish tunes, re-enacting scenes from the story and/or raising a glass in honor of Joyce.

The novel, set in Dublin, Ireland on June 16, 1904, focuses on the escapades of several characters, particularly Leopold Bloom, throughout an extraordinary day.

Join in the fun by picking up a copy of Ulysses or James Joyce's Ulysses: a critical commentary today at the library. Or, try another of his famous works, such as Dubliners or Finnegans Wake.

To learn more about Bloomsday, visit BloomsdayNYC, The Rosenbach Museum & Library, or read The New York Times article Stream of Conviviality for Leopold Bloom's Day.

Glee

Can't wait until next season for more of the songs from the hit TV show Glee? Place a hold on Glee: the Music, Volume 1 & Glee: the Music, Volume 2 at the library today.

Volume 1 includes the popular covers of Don't Stop Believin', Gold Digger, Somebody to Love, Alone, No Air and more. Volume 2 features the Glee versions of Proud Mary, True Colors, a mashup of Don't Stand So Close to Me and Young Girl, And I am Telling You I'm Not Going, Lean on Me and other fun tunes.

If you like the sounds of Glee, you'll also enjoy these other CDs in the library's collection:
American Idiot: The Original Broadway Cast Recording
Dreamgirls: Music from the Motion Picture
Funny Girl: A New Musical
Wicked: A New Musical
Mamma Mia!: The Movie Soundtrack
Battlefield by Jordin Sparks
Breakthrough by Colbie Caillat
The Essential Heart
Battlefield by Jordin Sparks
Every Breath You Take: The Classics by The Police

Check out one of these great CDs today and sing along all summer long!

Armchair Vacations

Travel the world this summer from the comfort of your favorite chair! Set sail on the open sea, travel to the wild west, explore present day and first-century Jerusalem, enjoy a sunny visit to the Outer Banks, head to a state fair, brave a futuristic America and more! Start your journey today by checking out one of these fascinating books:

The Barbary Pirates by William Dietrich - travel from France to Greece to Italy on a non-stop adventure in search of the Mirror of Archimedes with early 19th century adventurer Ethan Gage.

Beautiful Maria of My Soul by Oscar Hijuelos - explore mid-20th century Cuba through Hijuelos' richly drawn and enthralling characters and story.

Blue-Eyed Devil by Robert B. Parker - head back to the wild west for a rowdy ride with fast-talking, gun-slinging lawmen Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch.

The Galilean Secret by Evan Drake Howard - if you enjoyed The DaVinci Code, you won't want to miss this tale of religious intrigue set in both present day and first-century Jerusalem.

The Outer Banks House by Diann Ducharme - spend some time in Reconstruction North Carolina with seventeen-year-old Abigail Sinclair as she learns about love and life.

The Passage by Justin Cronin - fans of vampire fiction should try this highly anticipated first in a planned trilogy, set in a futuristic America.

Pearl of China by Anchee Min - travel from China to America and back again through this fictionalized account of Pearl S. Buck's unique life.

State Fair by Earlene Fowler - enjoy a trip to California's San Celina Mid-State Fair, complete with quilt exhibits and a clever whodunit plot.