A Bit of a Thinker

I got this idea after reading Ronnica's post over atTale of a Kansas Girl. (BTW, I found Ronnica through the bloggy giveaway carnival and subscribed to her blog instantly, finding quite a bit of her very familiar.)

Basically the idea is to list the first lines of 11 of your favorite books. I don't think I'm going to go that high, mostly because I do not have 11 books that I just absolutely LOVE. I think I'll post the first lines of 8 of my most favorite books, beginning with my ultimate favorite of all times. If you can guess them (all) correctly, I'll mail you a copy of one of my favorite books (which are all listed here in this meme). Feel free to guess as many times as you like. Just make sure you leave me with some way to contact you if you guessed correctly. Also, please play honestly. Don't google search for the answers. That's no fun. Be fun, be fair and get to the guessing! I guess I'll go ahead and link up at the carnival also to give people a chance.

1. "Mrs. Rachel Lynde lived just where the Avonlea main road dipped down into a little hollow, fringed with adlers and ladies' eardrops and traversed by a brook that had its source away back in the woods of the old Cutherburt place . . ."

(Seriously. If you can't get this first one - don't try guessing at the rest!)

2. "Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edumnd and Lucy."

(Again, just stop now if you haven't clued in.)

3. "I was the youngest of three daughters."

4. "In 1815 Monsieur Charles-Francois-Bienvenu Myriel was Bishop of Digne."

5. "On February 24, 1815, the watchtower at Marseilles signaled the arrival of the three-master Pharaon, coming from Smyrna, Trieste and Naples."

6. "Mr. George Lawrence, C.M.G., First Class District Officer of His Majesty's Civil Service, sat at the door of his tent and viewed the African desert scene with the eye of extreme disfavor."

7. "He left the coffee-scented warmth of the Main Street Grill and stood for a moment under the green awning."

8. "Three men watched intently as peculiar events occurred, one right after the other, on opposite sides of the globe."

I'm curious to know if anyone can guess them all. And if it gets too hard at any point, I'll probably give a prize to the person who guessed the most correctly. Contest open through Friday, August 1st.

Let the games begin! (And if you decide to participate in this meme, leave a comment about that too! I'd like to guess on yours if you'll let me!)