Good morning! Happy January 2nd. It has been fun to watch my E-mailbox fill with these pictures and stories about to be/being enjoyed. Each title inspires me and as some of you noted on yesterday’s post – with as many entries as we have, there is not one duplicate. I love that in so many ways. The diversity in our choices.
This morning, my friend Mary sent in her book choice of Gone Girl with a message that her son asked her to read it so they can discuss it. This opened up a flood of memories for me. On our last trip to Happy Potter world in 2014, Justin and I went to the movie. I had already seen the movie, and I had already read the book prior to that, and wanted to EXPERIENCE (see what I did there?) this with him.
He loved it. We left the theater in an Orlando mall and we immediately walked over to the malls book store where he purchased the book. We talked about it for weeks afterwards. Differences between the book and the movie, plot… I cherish those conversations.
AND that is just one of the many delights of a good book. Not only experiencing it for yourself… but sharing it. I love the book you hand to a friend and say, “Call me… as soon as you are done. We need to talk about this.” ♥
Here is the UPDATED post of the 2018 books. 93 of you in all submitted your First Book. Thank you. This is always so much fun to do and kick starts my year in books, and in blogging, off right. I am bringing over much of the info from yesterday’s post (the places and the book links) to this post so you can click away and perhaps find your second book here.
(The top 2 sets are the newly added pics)
Here are the areas where these books were sent in from: Alabama, Arkansas, Australia, Bermuda, California, Canada, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Jamaica, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, New Zealand, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Scotland, Singapore, Switzerland, Tennessee, Texas, UK, Virginia, Washington DC, Wisconsin and Wyoming
First Books:
Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
Just Between Us by Rebecca Drake
Into The Water by Paula Hawkins
The Hearts Invisible Furries by John Boyne
The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
The Sandcastle by Iris Murdock
The Wake Up by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson
The Promise Between Us by Barbara Claypole White
Copy Cat by Alex Lake
Jack Reacher The Midnight Line by Lee Child
Every Breath You Take by Mary Higgins Clark
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Little French Bistro by Nina George
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
The Papers of Tony Veitch by William McIivanney
Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
Curse on the Land by Faith Hunter
Degrees of Love by Lisa Slabach
Killers Of The Flower Moon by David Grann
A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms by George RR Martin
The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore by Kim Fu
The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks
American Indians American Presidents
Travels With Charley by John Steinbeck
The African Trilogy by Chinua Achebe
Reset Reset Reset by Ellen Pao
The Mayflower Bride by Kimberly Woodhouse
Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
Jacqueline Willoughby by Schuyler Randall
The World To Come by Dara Horn
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
Those who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante
All The Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood
Tell Me More by Kelly Corrigan
I liked My Life by Abby Fabiaschi
Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage by Hugh Brewster
The Listener by Robert McCammom
What If God Wrote Your To Do List by Jay Payleitner
The One Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith
In the Moment by Karen Kingsbury
A Man Called Ove by Frederick Backman
The Perfect Girl by Gilly MacMillan
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
The Man In The Black Suit by Sylvia Reynard
Glittering Images by Susan Howatch
Christmas Cakes and Mistletoe Nights by Catherine Matthew
I Am A Truck by Michelle Winters
Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller
The Weirdstone of Brisingamen by Alan Garner
Weave A Circle Round by Kari Maaren
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
River City Secrets Stories from Richmond by Lana Krumwiede
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Book Journey 
Thanks for sharing your EXPERIENCE with Justin at the Gone Girl movie. Moments like these are treasures.
I love this event every year, too, so thanks again for bringing it to us. Happy 2018!
It really has kick started my year in a positive bookish way… something I needed Laurel 🙂
Wow! Happy First Book of the Year, Happy New Year, to All!! 🙂
Hi, Sheila!
I forgot all about First Book of the Year this year. I didn’t have much of a choice this year. I have a review due for Shelf Awareness this week, so I am reading that book…luckily, it’s excellent – Only Child by Rhiannon Navin, a debut novel.
Glad to see you have kept up the tradition! I’ll be sure to join the fun next year.
Happy New Year!!
Sue
Book By Book
I am such a slacker; I have got to participate in this next year. I love the photos
Wowza, whatta post, Sheila. You later all of our books! I’m so happy for you that so many of us participated and thank you for organizing it. It’s so fun to ponder over what to read first for the new year. And thank you for sharing your special memoirs with your son. My girls and I have been watching one Harry Potter movie a night except this one and on NYE. I’m also knitting with this beautifully dyed Harry yarn that was part of a Christmas Eve cast on event. Have a good night.
Supposed to be “listed,” not later. Damn autocorrect.
How fun! I love that there’s such a big variety of books here. So cool.
I also love the memory you shared about you and your son bonding over a book/movie. That’s the best 🙂 I’m glad at least one of my children is a big reader. It’s fun to have bookish experiences together.
Happy New Year!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com