Another Filler Meme

This cool beauty I stole from Books and Movies Review. Way cool so I had to do it. Thank heavens I had some posts to fill in while I was out of touch.

The idea is to provide the first line from ten of your favorites and see who gets it (guessing in the comment). I update it when someone gets it. I expect I've got a few stumpers in here (eclectic tastes), but I'd love to be surprised. OK, so maybe we need some hints.

1. Upon her butler's announcing the arrival of Mr. Ravenscar, Lady Mablethorpe, who had been dozing over a novel from the Circulating Library, sat up with a jerk, and raised a hand to her dishevelled cap. Hint: The classic "Regency Romance" author whose books are still in print even though she's been dead for nearly 35 years. Of course, that only narrows it to 40 or so.

2. She woke in the dark. Through the slats in the window shades, the murky hint of dawn slipped, slanting shadowy bars over the bed. Hint: First in a best-selling series still going strong.

3. On the 24th of February, 1810, the look-out at Notre-Dame de la Garde signalled the three master, the Pahroan from Smyrna, Trieste, and Naples. Hint: Classic, classic, classic. Hey, there's nothing wrong with French writers.

4. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a large fortune must be in want of a wife. JD got this (first): Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

5. A surging, seething, murmuring crowd of beings that are human only in name, for to the eye and ear they seem naught but savage creatures, animated by vile passions and by the lust of vengeance and hate. Hint: Another classic, this time by a woman (based on the name).

6. 1801. --I have just returned from a visit to my landlord--the solitary neighbour that I shall be troubled with. JD got this (first): Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

7. A gentleman was strolling down a side street in Paris, on his way back from the house of one Madame de Verchoureux. Davida got this (first): These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer

8. I see in Lunaya Pravda that the Luna City Council has passed on first reading a bill to examine, license, inspect--and tax--public food vendors operating inside municipal pressure. Hint: Science fiction doesn't get much better or more classic than this. In my opinion, the best of a long and illustrious career.

9. Eight Chants past Midsong: twilight. In the plaza around Maidenstairs a crowd began to gather: men and women in brightly colored work clothes; here and there the sapphire or silver flutter of Circle robes. Hint: If These Old Shades is not my favorite, this modern science fiction series (first novel here) is.

10. The gale tore at him and he felt its bite deep within and he knew that if they did not make landfall in three days they would all be dead. flit got this (first): Shogun by James Clavell

Have fun.

P.S. Want to know what's cool? 1-6 I got without having to open more than my eBook. How neat is that?