Friday Meme: Book Beginnings

Today I am taking part in the meme over at Rose City Reader. As a displaced Oregonian, and as always, a little homesick, I am so excited to find a book blog from my hometown. You simply open the current book you are reading and post the very first sentence in the book. Along with posting, you share a few thoughts. So here I go....

I am S L O W L Y getting through Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. It is laughable how much my reading pace has slowed down since little ones have entered the picture. The first sentence from Jane Eyre is:

"There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. We had been wandering, indeed, in the leafless shrubbery an hour in the morning; but since dinner (Mrs. Reed, when there was no company, dined early) the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds sombre, and a rain so penetrating, that further out-door exercise was now out of the question."

What an amazing writer Charlotte Bronte was! This line seems to set a tone of eeriness and gloom, and is not unlike the melancholy tone of her sister Emily's work of Wuthering Heights. I look forward to what lies in store...

My Latest Read...

My latest read is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I actually rented this book from the library in 1999 when I was a college student in Montana. I misplaced it before I could read it, and it was lost for years. Little did I know it was in the bottom of a box, moving from Montana, to Colorado, to Kansas, to Washington state with me. Well, I came upon it about a year ago when I opened up a dusty box. I placed it on my bookshelf and I have been meaning to read it ever since. I am putting it off no longer! I am only a few chapters in, and I love it. Hopefully a review will be coming soon. :)

Top Ten Tuesday

Well, today I am trying my hand at a meme over at The Broke and Bookish, in which we share different weekly top ten lists related to our love of books. This week the subject is:

"The top ten series you would like to start but have not yet."

Ok, here I go...

1. The Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling - I know, I should have done this in junior high but I have got to crack open this series! Years ago I read the very first chapters of the first book and loved it. One day...

2. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by JRR Tolkien  -When I was very young my father read us The Hobbit every night before bedtime. I fell in love with Tolkien from that moment, but have only read bits and pieces of the trilogy. Must.do. this.

3. Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery - I have always felt a bond with Anne Shirley.... a fellow book lover.

4. Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins - I read the first book and it was a page turner, so I am interested to continue on in the series.

5. Lonesome Dove series by Larry McMurtry - Cormac McCarthy introduced me to my love of the western genre.

6. North and South series by John Jakes - I love historical fiction. This one could be great.

7. The Girl with the Dragon Tattop series by Stieg Larsson - I could not put the first book down. That being said, I am a little quesy when it comes to violence, so I am not sure if this is a series for me or not.

8. Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis - One of my all-time favorite books, and one of my favorite authors.

9. Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder - I love that this series is based on real life and focuses on the joys and heartbreak of family.

10. The Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich - This series I know nothing about, but have friends that tell me it is mindless, hilarious entertainment.