There is no possible way I can pick just one. Some books draw you in from line 1 and some you have to skim through the exposition to get to the thick of it. But here are some first lines of my favorite novels. I will be honest that I had to look some of these up, and to my surprise some aren't as gripping as others.
"It has been sixty-four years since the president and the Consortium identified love as a disease, and forty-three since the scientists perfected a cure.” Delirium by Lauren Oliver
"The gunman is useless. I know it. He knows it. The whole bank knows it." I Am Messenger Marcus Zusak
"It was a pleasure to burn." Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
"There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife." The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
"Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much." Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling
"There was no possibility of taking a walk that day." Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
"Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents," grumbled Jo, lying on the rug." Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
"A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas River drops in close to the hill-side bank and runs deep and green." Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
"When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow." To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
"Benny Imura couldn't hold a job, so he took to killing." Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry
Ok that is enough for now! So I guess I would say that where I do believe first lines are important, they don't make or break a book for me. Now last lines on the other hand...well, that's another post for another day.
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