Welcome to today’s edition of Book Beginnings hosted by Rose City Reader. What’s Book Beginnings, you ask? It is a very cool link party where bloggers write down the first few lines of the book they are reading and give you their opinion about it. I hope you check it out and find a new amazing book or blog to try.
Today, I am introducing you to a type of book that I rarely read…nonfiction. Except for the Bible and how-to books, non-fiction is usually not my thing, but something about this book caught my attention. Just a few weeks before I read this, C & I were having a discussion about introverts and what exactly makes a person an introvert. We both knew that we were, but what if what we thought makes us this way was not all there was to it. Then I found “Quiet: The Power of Introverts In a World That Can’t Stop Talking” by Susan Cain. I don’t think I can really say that this book changed my life, but it did change the perception of my life. Here are the first few lines:
“Montgomery, Alabama. December 1, 1955. Early evening. A public bus pulls to a stop and a sensibly dressed woman in her forties gets on. She carries herself erectly, despite having spent the day bent over an ironing board in a dingy basement tailor shop at the Montgomery Fair department store. Her feet are swollen, her shoulders ache. She sits in the first row of the colored section and watches quietly as the bus fills with riders. Until the driver orders her to give her seat to a white passenger.”
Yep, the writer is talking about Rosa Parks, one single woman who helped spark the racial equality movement, but guess what? She was not the most willing participant when it came to coming out publicly about this, but she did it because she knew it was the right thing to do. I hope you will take the time to read this book. I was amazed at the information and research that the writer put into it. It is well worth your time.
Picture Perfect Cooking 
What a wonderful excerpt! Now I want to read this one…thanks for visiting my blog.
Great opening, and great title. It didn’t occur to me the woman was black until the bus driver ordered her to give up her seat to a white passenger.
Here’s my Book Beginning.
A really great beginning that shows the action as it happens. I can see why you enjoyed the book.
My Book Beginning is from Memories.
I’ve been very interested in this book. What I read was that being an introvert is not the same as being shy.
Sounds like a very powerful book. I love finding a non-fiction “self-help” book that really hits the mark.
Thanks for including your post in BBOF!