Tuesday 30 July 2013

Top Ten Tuesday #9 - Beginnings & Endings


Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week they will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers over at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join.

This week: Top Ten Nine Beginnings and Endings

Exciting beginnings

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
"I have been locked up for 264 days." 
Why is she locked up? What has she done? I was pulled into this book from the very first sentence.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner
"He began his new life standing up, surrounded by cold darkness and stale, dusty air."
When you start this book you are just as confused as Thomas and you want to find out what is happening just as bad as him. I couldn't put this book down after the first chapter. 

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”
This is probably the best known opening line. I don't know why, but I just love it!

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
"Once upon a time an angel and a devil fell in love. It did not end well." 
I absolutely loved this opening line, it had me hooked instantly. Unfortunately I did not like how the book turned out. An exciting beginning does not always mean the rest is good..


Amazing endings


The Mortal Instruments/ The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare

She's your sister. Doesn't need more explanation. Cassandra Clare is a cliffhanger genius.

Vampire Academy/ Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

At the end of every book in these four series I'm dying to read the next one. I mean, the ending of Indigo Spell.. give me Fiery Heart now!

The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa

Cliffhanger that leaves you happy, but so frustrated at the same time. Where's book three?!

The Mara Dyer Series by Michelle Hodkin

Both books in the series have such shocking cliffhangers, they leave you very confused, I like that.

Yes, I have a thing for cliffhangers, they're just so exciting and frustrating at the same time:)


The King of Beginnings and Endings


Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

To me, the Harry Potter series has the best beginning and ending of all series I've read.
"Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense."
"The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well."

Leave me the link to your Top Ten in the comments! 

38 comments:

  1. Great beginnings!! I loved the beginning of Shatter Me and Maze Runner. Great choices. Harry Potter does have quite a good beginning and ending! Thanks for stopping by =)

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  2. HP trully is the king, isn't it?! It made almost every list I saw today, and it makes me so happy that it did. Amazing series.
    Happy reading!

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  3. 'Pride and Prejudice' is making a lot of lists today. That first line of 'Daughter of Smoke and Bone' sounds amazing but I've never had any desire to read it, so I guess I'll leave it at that first sentence haha. I'm a sucker for cliffhangers too.

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  4. There's nothing quite like the Harry Potter books. They've been on so many of the lists I've visited today. Rightfully so.

    Shatter Me started off with a bang and I loved every minute of it, as did Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Cassandra Clare is an evil genius. Her cliffhangers are fantastic. I'm in total agreement with you on cliffhangers. I love and hate them simultaneously. I love them more if I can dive right into the following book, of course. :)

    My TTT.

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  5. Awesome picks. Have read some of these, while I still have to read others.

    Great post!

    Andreea

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  6. I have HP in my list for both too! I love all your beginnings, I can't believe I forgot about Daughter of Smoke! I haven't read Eternity and Mara yet (though I have them)

    Reading with ABC

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  7. You should definitely read those books, they are amazing!

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  8. I completely agree with you about Harry Potter. Such an incredible series.

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  9. Completely agree! Cassandra Clare is the best :) Amazing list!

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  10. Amen to Harry Potter, Eveline! I don't think it can get better than that. Ever. JK knows how to captivate an audience, for sure! :) great list this week!

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  11. Shatter Me was on my list as well. I just love any book that starts with the MC in prison. I forgot about Daughter of Smoke and Bone, that beginning is so good! And all of your ending books--they have killed me. The Eternity Cure--Zeke! What is going to happen? Mara Dyer--Noah! What is going to happen? And I think it was Books 3 and 4 of Vampire Academy where I was screaming nooooo! And yes, Cassandra Clare is a genius. Great picks! ~Pam

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  12. Oh I TOTALLY agree with your King of Beginnings and Endings! I included both of those Harry Potter quotes too. ;) I wish I had remembered Daughter of Smoke and Bone when I put my post together though! That's one of my favourite opening lines. Great picks! :)

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  13. JK Rowling is my hero. I could have listed every single one of her HP books on here!!!! It should have just been a "Best of Harry Potter" list!!! Thanks for stopping by my TTT.
    Jennifer
    YA Sisterhood

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  14. Awesome list Eveline :-) it made remember some great beginnings/endings that I forgot. Here's my TTT.
    http://moniquesmobooks.blogspot.ca/2013/07/top-ten-tuesday-8-best-beginnings.html

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  15. How did I not include The Maze Runner on my list? *face palm* Love Pride and Prejudice, too! :)

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  16. I was immediately curious about The Maze Runner after reading the first sentence, and Shatter Me was equally intriguing. Harry Potter did not fail to hook me - though after all the incredible hype, I expected no less! The Pride and Prejudice one makes me smile - I really should read the whole book someday. Great list, Eveline! Did you get a new blog layout? It's fabulous. :D

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  17. Weeeee! Harry Potter, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Pride and Prejudice. Yess! Agree so much :).

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  18. I really dislike the epilogue for HP, but I agree that the beginning was really well done. The other beginning I liked was HBP, when we meet the "other" minister. :)


    Thanks for stopping by my TTT!

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  19. Shatter Me, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and The Mortal Instruments made my list as well! Great list!

    My TTT:

    http://qaisracetusbookblog.blogspot.com/

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  20. I'm sorry you didn't like the epilogue :( Yes, I like HBP's beginning too, so funny to see the interaction between the ministers!

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  21. Yes, I did change my design :) Thank you, glad you like it! And you should definitely read P&P, it's an amazing book.

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  22. Haha, I hope that one will be the topic of the TTT one day, I don't think I'd be able to stop at ten!

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  23. I've seen Daughter of Smoke and Bone on a lot of list. I'm fixing to pick it up and I'm excited to see everyone that like it!


    My TTT
    Jenn @ Book Beats

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  24. Great list! I totally agree with Shatter Me and The Vampire Academy :D

    Christy @
    Christy’s Book Addiction

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  25. Well Harry Potter is just all kinds of awesome! The Mara Dyer books really do have some crazy endings. I cannot wait for the final book! (soon!) And Shatter me too - great beginning! Nice list!!


    Thanks for stopping by!
    Nicole @ The Quiet Concert

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  26. YES! Harry Potter is the king of all endings and beginnings! I'm smacking myself for not including it on my TTT. I really need to read Daughter of Smoke and Bone, because that sentence just made me SO EXCITED to read it! Is the whole book that good? XD

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  27. Cassandra Clare, Jane Austen and JK Rowling are awe inspiring writers. You can't go wrong with any of them. I agree with you that Smoke & Bone had a great opening line; unfortunately I just couldn't get into the story after that (looks like you had a bit of difficulty with it, too).

    I STILL haven't read the Mara Dyer books, so I think I'm just going to wait until the last one releases so I can read them all in one fell swoop. They show up on quite a variety of top ten lists so I'm looking forward to them.

    An awesome list like always! :)

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  28. I absolutely love the Top Ten Tuesday posts. I think I might join in one day!

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  29. Ahh, really great list! Now I want to read Daughter of Smoke & Bone.

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  30. I hope you do, they are really fun to make:)

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  31. You are like the first blogger who also did not like Daughter of Smoke and Bone, everyone seemed to love it.. Haha, good plan, Mara Dyer's cliffhangers are very frustrating:)

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  32. Here's my review of DoSaB: http://evelinesbooks.blogspot.nl/2013/06/daughter-of-smoke-and-bone-laini-taylor.html. I wasn't really a fan of the book unfortunately :(

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  33. "The King of Beginnings and Endings: Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling" YES. Eveline, can we be best friends? Pretty please?! Those few sentences make me want to re-read HP again. ♥ Even though Shatter Me turned out to be a little bit of a disappointment, I agree that it started out with a bang. And DoS&B: probably the BEST angel story I've read, ever. I mean, even the first line says so. ;)


    Haha, you're probably the first person I know who likes cliffhangers. Me, I'm fine with them, but I'm not a fan. It's torture to wait almost a year for the next book to come out!

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  34. Hello, new best friend! Yes, I know right, I've been wanting to do a reread of the HP series for ages, maybe now is the right time ;) Haha, yes I do like cliffhangers a lot more when I already own the next book !

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  35. Great choices!I really need to read The Maze Runner.It sounds so interesting.And I have to agree with the rest.I don't know why but I didn't like Daughter of Smoke and Bone when I read it.Maybe it was because I picked it up in greek and the translation really sucked so...I might give it another chance and pick up an english copy of the book!

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  36. Hmm.. I did not like DoSaB either, I hope for you it's because of the translation :)

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  37. Of course, Harry Potter for the win! And I love that you included The Maze Runner quote since I included it in my TTT as well! I really oughta get around to reading it... at least before the movie comes out! I'm scared though! It's sounds like a hit or miss book.


    I also love the line from Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Sorry you didn't enjoy the rest of the book! I enjoyed the first one, but wasn't impressed with book #2.



    In the end, I think judging a book by it's first line is like judging it by it's cover. It can definitely captivate you and convince you to read on, but it is no guarantee that what the rest of the book will be like. Which is a shame. Wouldn't life be so much easier if it was? haha.

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  38. Harry Potter is absolutely the king of beginnings and endings! <3 I also really liked the beginning of Shatter Me too!

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