
Read first pages of novels, and reveal the author and title if you're hooked - gnomespaceship
http://www.recommendmeabook.com/
======
NickM
It's interesting to think what might happen if something like this became
really popular. I'd imagine many novels might start adding super oddball stuff
in the first page, just to stand out from the crowd and pique peoples'
curiosity. Kind of the literary equivalent to clickbait headlines.

~~~
jrumbut
I think this might already happen. This is just anecdata but I often get
turned off from books by overwrought first page(s). Eventually someone
convines me to go back and the rest of the novel is good.

I'd love to hear an author's perspective on this, if any of them notice it. My
guess is that they stew on opening passages for years before writing, causing
them to get a little neurotic about them, then eventually they settle down and
write in a way that comes more naturally to them for the rest of the book.

~~~
alleyshack
In pretty much any writing medium (novels, screenplays, short stories, etc),
standard advice involves hooking the reader within the first paragraph or so.
This is partly why "in medias res" tends to be such a popular opening
technique - it drops the reader straight into the action, which is
theoretically more interesting than "She woke up, got dressed, and went
downstairs for her daily breakfast of toast and juice...". However, starting
in medias res has itself become something of a cliche, to the point where you
have to really know what you're doing to be able to use it effectively.

What I think a lot of novice writers, and people giving advice to novice
writers, often miss is that "hooking" your reader doesn't mean immediately
assualting them with action. All it means is raising a question the reader
wants to know the answer to.

For example, "The Wizard Hunters" opens with the line "It was nine o'clock at
night and Tremaine was trying to find a way to kill herself that would bring
in a verdict of natural causes in court, when someone banged on the door." Not
much action - Tremaine is sitting in a dusty library reading books - but that
line raises two immediate questions: 1, why is Tremaine trying to kill herself
in a way that would be ruled "natural causes", and 2, who's banging on the
door at 9pm?

Similarly, "Black Sun Rising", the first book of the Coldfire Trilogy, opens
with the line "She wondered why she was afraid to go home." Again, the line
raises multiple questions, inviting the reader to keep reading to learn the
answers.

~~~
Swizec
My forever favorite opening line to a novel remains “We were somewhere around
Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold”

How can you _not_ want to keep reading after that? While at the same time it’s
still at the beginning, not assaulting you with action, etc

~~~
marnett
God bless Hunter.

------
irrational
I kept hearing raving reviews of "The Name of the Wind". I started reading it
and got a couple of chapters in and had no interest in continuing. I mentioned
this to my brother and he told me that I had to keep going. So I figured I'd
read a bit more and see if there was anything to the book. I just finished it
on Saturday and I have to say it is easily one of the best books I have ever
read. But, if I had just read the first pages of the book I never would have
been hooked.

~~~
openasocket
I felt pretty much the same way when reading it. "The Name of the Wind" is
rather unusual as a novel because those first chapters are pretty
fundamentally different than the rest of the novel. Not just in terms of plot,
but I think also the general tone and style. I don't actually have a count,
but I think it's a good 50-100 pages before the novel falls into its rhythm.
It's not that the beginning is bad (in my opinion, obviously) it's just that
there's a lot to set up and he does so without using a bunch of exposition.

~~~
ghostbrainalpha
That's really interesting. The first few pages come pretty close to poetry in
my opinion.

For me its those interludes that raise TNOTW into a class above the normal
Harry Potter Copycat Formula that is so popular now.

I never even considered the possibility that, those bits would be putting
people off. It's pretty clear that its those sections were Patrick Ruthfuss
strives for perfection, that is taking so long to complete the series. He can
churn out pages, once he gets "into the rythm" of more common storytelling.

~~~
openasocket
I should add that I like the other interludes, and now when I re-read that
first part I enjoy it. It's just the initial reading of the set up,
introducing Chronicler, the stuff with the scrael, etc. I didn't know where
Ruthfuss was taking this.

------
Jagat
I'm currently hooked to this free book "Stories on the Go: 101 Very Short
Stories by 101 Authors" [https://www.amazon.com/Stories-Go-Very-Short-Authors-
ebook/d...](https://www.amazon.com/Stories-Go-Very-Short-Authors-
ebook/dp/B00R1GECO6)

Each story is <1000 words (5-10mins), from a distinct author, and if you like
the writing style, you can buy more books from the author.

~~~
Kapow
Reminds me of "100 Great Science Fiction Short Short Stories" edited by
Asimov. The format works really well for hard sci-fi, gets straight to the
point. Some of them have stuck with me for decades.

~~~
wyldfire
I've looked up "Microcosmic God" several times because I can't seem to
remember the title. But the story was particularly memorable. It wasn't in
this Asimov anthology but it was published in the SF Hall of Fame.

A quick search reveals that someone has a copy of the text freely (but perhaps
not legitimately) available.

------
drblast
It's funny that most of these that I read start off with a very annoying,
cliched "writer" tone.

I've always had the impression that authors just can't help buy try to prove
how clever they are in the first paragraph at the expense of making the story
compelling. It's like everyone has delusions that the book they're writing is
going to be the next Moby Dick, so that beginning must be _literary_ dammit.

~~~
amp108
I don't know which specific novels you're referring to, but the first
sentence/paragraph/chapter of a novel often need to have a different tone from
the rest. The opening of a novel sets the scene and sets the tone and raises
expectations for the rest of the story in a way that a strictly narrative
opening wouldn't. In other words, these "literary"-style openings are no more
and no less clichéd than any other.

------
eranation
This promoted me to write a first page of a new book idea. Was trying to write
just the first page that would have gotten me curious enough to want more.

I’d love if there was a similar website but instead of existing books it will
have new book ideas. Authors will just write the first page and by votes (or
donations) get encouraged to write more. Like Reddit’s writing prompts but
more organized. Maybe it will be my next weekend project...

~~~
Kuiper
There are a number of sites where people post serial fiction as it's written,
chapter by chapter, and many popular web serials began with opening chapters
of around 500-2000 words (2-8 pages). These sites usually offer writers
validation in the form of likes or star ratings, a view counter, and comments
from readers (who will often respond with short affirming messages like
"looking forward to chapter 2" or speculation about where the story might be
headed).

Royal Road is one of the newer and faster-growing sites, notable for being the
biggest home of free LitRPG stories. Archive of Our Own (AO3) is a site mainly
for fan works, though there are a number of people posting original fiction
there. AO3 is currently a closed site with a queue to get in (most stories can
be read by anyone, but an account is required to post), there's usually a
waiting period of around 10 days after you submit your email address to the
waiting list.

There are also some forum-style sites like Sufficient Velocity (and its
progenitor Spacebattles), where the forum software allows authors to
"threadmark" certain posts in a thread and label them as chapters to separate
them from the posts that are discussions/comments. Readers can choose between
"Reader mode" (which just displays the posts that have been labeled as
chapters by the original poster) or a regular forum mode (where they can see
all of the comments from other posters between chapters). Although this forum-
based approach might make it feel like it's less optimized for sharing stories
(as opposed to sites that are tailored specifically to that purpose), I've
found that the forum setting makes people much more likely to comment on
stories. While these forum-based websites might not have the biggest
audiences, they certainly seem to have the most _engaged_ audiences, which I
think makes them more valuable if you're looking to validate a story idea.

------
smoll
Great idea. I noticed that the right arrow key works great for quickly
skipping a book I don't like, but if I accidentally push it there's no way to
go back (back button and left arrow key don't work at all)

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the_af
Interesting.

Some novels have powerful first pages and even opening paragraphs. However,
one distinction (of many) between the novel and the short story is that the
short story must hook your attention from the first paragraph, whereas a novel
has the time and space to grow on you.

I'm not sure this will work for novels. As an example, I got the first page of
a book which talked about a middle-aged man and his relationship with a
prostitute. I was surprised to find out the book was Coetzee's "Disgrace" \--
a book I've read and which I do not associate at all with a middle-aged man
and his affection for a prostitute. I really don't think you can decide
whether you'll like a novel -- or even find out its main themes -- in the
first few pages.

I think this approach can successfully work for short stories, though. Short
stories have no time to waste; they must both engage the reader _and_ their
themes in the first few paragraphs.

...but then again, do you really need a recommendation to read a short story?
You might just as well read it and get it over with :)

------
urmish
That may not work for all (I want to say most) of literature. Many books I
like are pretty dry. These books are theme based and not story based where you
don't really care how the story ends, but are more interested in the deep
conversations between characters which are spread throughout the book which
may not show up in the first few pages. The author uses the first few pages to
describe the settings and make you more comfortable with the times and the
environment the book is based on. You may not really be interested in those
parts but subconsciously they help you out throughout the book and lead to a
more immersive experience. This is what separates films from movies too. I'm
sure even fast paced fiction (say thriller) writers would take their time in
setting up a universe for the reader. You don't really remember the details
described in each line but the approximate picture is enough to get you 'into
the zone'.

------
habosa
If you live in SF, go to the Booksmith on Haight street and look up on the
walls on the left side of the store. They have the first line of many famous
novels, printed without context. I was shocked at how many I knew, even though
if it had been posed to me in reverse (How does {book x} begin?) I would have
had no idea.

I'm not even a very attentive reader, but I guess some of these really great
opening lines will stick with you forever.

Two of my favorites:

    
    
      * "Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.”
    
      *  “I’ve been cordially invited to join the visceral realists. I accepted, of course. There was no initiation ceremony. It was better that way.”

------
jyriand
I would follow Marshall MacLuhan's advice. Open a book on page 69, read it. If
you like what you read, buy it.

Also: "Open the book to page ninety-nine and read, and the quality of the
whole will be revealed to you." \-- Ford Madox Ford

~~~
jgtrosh
My father's rule is to only read by opening books (new, old, known, unknown,
already read, halfway read) randomly and just plowing through that random part
of the book. I don't think I would personally enjoy that constant
destructuration but it help get a global vision of many books fast.

------
iandanforth
Like all other shortcuts for judging a book this one has plenty of issues.
However I like that it _disentangles_ a few of those issues. Instead of
judging a book by the author, cover, title and then the first page you can
focus in on just one of those heuristics.

Also if you can control yourself and avoid revealing the author/title of books
you don't like you won't bias yourself when you get recommendations from
friends!

------
Faaak
How did you do this site ? Did you download a big torrent of ebooks and
extracted the first chapter/words of them ?

Interesting though ;-)

------
Bobbleoxs
This is actually how I select books in a book shop. I admit I was ruined by
all things tech with very limited attention span. In fact I only read the
first paragraph over about a dozen books on the website and finally decided on
one which turned out to be The hitchhacker's guide to the galaxy.

My suggestion here is not necessarily putting out the first page but a page
the author feels most representative of the story/view/idea. Personally I
would either draw to a unique plot or some really smooth/beautiful verse. In
both scenarios, I don't think the first page may necessarily be representative
enough, leaving me the shame of missing a damn good book.

Love the idea though! Thank you.

------
acangiano
Reminds me of the (I believe now defunct) Page99Test site. Similar concept but
you read page 99
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Page_99_test](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Page_99_test))
instead.

------
justincc
Would be great to be able to categorize pages by genre.

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rebuilder
Very cool! I find myself skipping the vast majority of books on kindle because
the blurbs make them sound awful to me, but I admit I'd probably also have
skipped a lot of books I really liked had I judged them that way. Also this
seems like a good way to find books I wouldn't normally consider sampling just
because of laziness and prejudice on my part.

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skookumchuck
"It was a dark and stormy night. A door slammed. A woman screamed. A shot rang
out. Meanwhile, back on the ranch..."

------
jannes
The site fails to work with cookies disabled. Most sites that require cookies
at least display an error message.

------
elicash
Use this in conjunction with the Library Extension so that when you click the
Amazon link, you find out whether it's also in your local public library!

[https://www.libraryextension.com](https://www.libraryextension.com)

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skookumchuck
"Call me Ishmael."

Ok, I'm hooked!

------
fouc
Some really good books can be quite a struggle to read until you get past the
first 100 pages. I even found Anathem by Neal Stephenson to be a struggle
until I got past 200 pages, but after that it was so worth it.

------
camillomiller
Open inspector in Chrome, find the #generated div, deactivate text-align:
justify.

Much better.

------
russellbeattie
"We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs
began to take hold."

Forget the first page... All you really need is the first sentence.

~~~
overcast
That is just too iconic not to know.

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drumttocs8
Very cool. How's it work? Affiliate links to amazon, sure- is amazon serving
the first couple pages as well? Great project.

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dajonker
This is a great idea, but for some reason it feels like a contest after I
could guess 6 out of the first 10 correctly.

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sdsdsdsdsdsds
How is this done? Where do you get the books and their first pages? I am
wondering if Amazon API gives book preview also.

~~~
morganvachon
It's curated from author/publisher submissions, link is top center:

[http://www.recommendmeabook.com/submit](http://www.recommendmeabook.com/submit)

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Bedon292
Pretty nifty, but I would like it to actually recommend based on my tastes.
Like combine this and Goodreads.

~~~
DavideNL
But that would also be a limitation, since you'd never explore _new_ things ;)

~~~
Bedon292
You can still find new things that way. I get all kinds of recommendations on
Netflix that I wouldn't have found on my own, but they still have high odds I
will like them. And then not have to read through a dozen that are of no
interest before you finally find a good one.

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0x4f3759df
Much easier on the eyes if the colors are inverted

------
dqpb
This is cool and worked well for me on mobile!

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nkg
I'm hooked. Your app works. kudos.

------
sunstone
Now this is a good idea!

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berbec
Great idea. No HTTPS?

~~~
TruthSHIFT
I feel ignorant about this. Why would this site need HTTPS?

~~~
kodablah
Put concisely, so nobody can inject content in-transit.

~~~
bnav6
Use an ISP that you can trust.

~~~
lghh
For most of us in the US, that isn't an option. Also, your ISP isn't the only
point of attack for injections.

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CurtMonash
Tindr for books?

~~~
bartread
Ooooh: Bindr. I like it.

