First Chapter - First Paragraph Tuesday Intros

I'm doing something new today - First Chapter ~ First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, which is hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea, where bloggers post the first paragraph(s) or introduction of a book they are currently reading or planning to read sometime soon.

I have noticed some stunning beginnings in my reading years, though the books don't always live up to them. My contribution today is This Must be the Place, by Maggie O'Farrell.  I'm just into the second chapter, but it's quite good so far.

Friday Book Beginnings

This is a new meme for me, focusing on books, rather than books plus food or just food.   Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays, about which she says:

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.

My beginning is taken from Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich.  The first paragraph actually.

New Jersey was 40,000 feet below me, obscured by cloud cover.  Heaven was above me, beyond the thin skin of the plane.  And hell was sitting four rows back.  Okay, maybe hell was too strong.  Maybe it was just purgatory.

A favorite author of mine, and with her next book I will be totally caught up on this series.  I hate coming to the end, forced to wait for another.  Such a funny writer, she usually has me cracking up right through.  So this beginning is a good foreshadowing of her style.

On another subject, I should be wearing yellow and get my friend Jan to paint my face like a honey bee.  I've been pollinating vanilla plants the last few days, hoping that I'm doing it right.  Even though a friend showed me how, still not sure.