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At first I thought it was 10 books, not novels, and so had several non-fiction entries, which have been removed. Also, this is ultimately imprecise because there's no way I can pick 10 favorite novels. So instead, here are the first lines from 10 of my favorite novels.

1) Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. -- Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

2) Now consider the tortoise and the eagle. -- Terry Pratchett, Small Gods: A Novel of Discworld

3) Tonight, I find myself here in a guest house in the city of Salisbury. -- Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day

4) During the spring and summer I sometimes visited the small Norwegian Cemetery on a high hill overlooking a long view of the lower Republican Valley. -- Geoff Ryman, Was

5) One minute it was Ohio winter, with doors closed, windows locked, the panes blind with frost, icicles fringing every roof, children skiing on slopes, housewives lumbering like great black bears in their furs along the icy streets. -- Ray Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles

6) I am seated in an office, surrounded by heads and bodies. -- David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest

7) While enthusiasts and detractors will continue to empty entire dictionaries attempting to describe or deride it, "authenticity" still remains the word most likely to stir a debate. -- Mark Z. Danielewski, House of Leaves

8) We slept in what had once been the gymnasium. -- Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale

9) The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of our situation. -- Donna Tartt, The Secret History

10) There was a white horse, on a quiet winter morning when snow covered the streets gently and was not deep, and the sky was swept with vibrant stars, except in the east, where dawn was beginning in a light blue flood. -- Mark Helprin, Winter's Tale