Pick up the book nearest to you ...

"I'm taken to the doctor's once a month, for tests: urine, hormones, cancer smear, blood test; the same as before, except now it's obligatory."
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.

He was greeted by a warm smile from the One Minute Manager
The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson (©2011)

"But the boy drew his brows in a dubious frown."

Head of the House by Grace Livingston Hill

"For a moment the moon and stars appeared only as bright refractions in an explosion of foam; then, almost as soon as the sky cleared, the little steamer was lifted to the next swell, the wave rolling beneath it like lava squeezed from the cracked earth."

Moloka'i Alan Brennert

"The discovery of the sensations and how they influence you is there to condition your actions truthfully in the scene, and with sensory accuracy and faith, but it is not the final aim just to be cold or have that headache on stage."

Uta Hagen, Respect for Acting, 1973

"Yes, sir. He thinks that too, sir. I just don't agree, sir."

Pat Conroy, The Lords of Discipline, 1980

"A few yards away, the ubiquitous dead leaves clot the surface of a stone fountain still retaining a puddle from the rain a few days ago."

The Intuitionist, by Colson Whitehead

"Already on treacherous ground, she twice over the next year fell into the trap that had swallowed her father."

Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff

He watched Father with fluidy lidded eyes, and when Father passed a bowl of peanuts around, Mr. Semper nodded and split open his lips to mutter his thanks.
—The Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux

...demarcation was perfectly clear. I had the nutty feeling that I

The Mist - Stephen King

"How would a man with such religious beliefs react to the awesome reality of Rama?"

Arthur C. Clarke, Rendezvous With Rama (1973)

No Damn good for tools. Pretty Color. Masks, et cetera. Then

A Deadly Shade of Gold - John D. MacDonald

"What brings you, Captain? Matanceros?"
—Pirate Latitudes​ by Michael Crichton

Saint Fool said:

Don't go rushing off to find something impressive. Just pick up whatever's closest.

Turn to page 59.

Count down 5 lines.

Post the sentence that begins and/or ends on that line and the book/author it came from -- like this:

"Another fan turned up with a stack of Dungannon novels."
Bimbos of the Death Sun by Sharyn McCrumb

Click to expand...

The closest non-Kindle book seems to be Maggie Stiefvater's The Dream Thieves. So:

"Are you coming in? I need a shower."

Right then, Adam.

The Attention Merchants, by Tim Wu.

It's excellent.

Page 59, line 5 is a long sentence, it doesn't begin or end on that line. Hope no one minds if I shorten the homework part of the assignment and just post the sentence fragment. It's non-fiction anyway, so the prose is probably not what others are interested in.


... did depend on some blandishments, such as beautiful illistrations; but ...

"They'd been almost demented with excitement about Santa Claus finding them in Canada (letters had been sent to Santa informing him of the change of address), and with their body clocks all confused she and Perry had had terrible trouble getting them off to sleep." Big Little Lies -Liane Moriarty

I fear however that my landlord is a dipsomaniac; on the two occasions upon which I have encountered him, he was having difficulty putting on his gloves, or else taking them off, he seemed uncertain which; and gave me a red-eyed glare, as if to demand what the Devil I was doing in his house.
—Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

"An inverse relation was also found between bureaucratization and political participation: as political systems became more bureaucratized, the level of political participation declines."

Research Methods in the Social Sciences - 4th Edition
Chava Frankfort-Nachmias & David Nachmias © 1992!

After 100 BC the kingdom of Axum spread from the Ethiopian Highlands to the Red Sea Coast. --World History, The Modern Era by Elizabeth Gaynor Ellis and Anthony Esler (I am sitting in the teacher's lounge) --s6

Even Akihito's attempts to jolly her out of her funk were met with grumpy silence, and she'd outright refused their usual morning sparring sessions.

Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff

'If we find ourselves dangerously short of money, perhaps you could set up a deal,' said Owen, smiling.

Deathstalker by Simon R. Green.

In a moment the woman will wake screaming; then you both must go and warn the King." -- Night Mare by Piers Anthony