What are the first few sentences on page 51 of the book nearest you?

[Ink.Knight]

I wonder who can gues what this is from.

"We could make traps! Do sabotage! Bombs!" The Gasman rubbed his hands together.
Iggy grinned. "Bombs are good. I love bombs. Remember the one from last fall? I almost caused an avalanche."

Kudos to you if you know this. Though the series crashed so hard after the fourth one that I don't blame you if you want to deny ever having read them.

[SilveredBlue]

Okay:

"Oh- and tell them to send along a bag of gold pieces. I said I'd compensate the owners of the stuff, and a queen keeps her word. Pathetic as those animals and that conveyance are, they got me home."
(It would turn out that Mr. Appenzeller ignored his wife's advice for the choice of campaign slogan and instead used Olympia's generous compensation as an inspiration for the slogan for his next mayoral campaign: ELECT APPENZZELER. HE CAN TURN YOUR ASSES INTO GOLD. He lost the election. )

~Twice Upon A Marigold by Jean Farris

That book reminds me slightly of Terry Pratchett, without the footnotes.

What book is that from, Ink.Knight?

[Space Cadet]

'. . . cussed the peculiar conditions of the possible fight with some acuteness. I described the Heat-Ray to them, and they began to argue among themselves.
'"Crawl up under cover and rush 'em, say I," said one.'

H. G. Wells omnibus: The War of the Worlds, Armageddon, The Land Ironclads

The quote is from The War of the Worlds.

[Tobiasscrabble]

Um

Then mo bought their celebratory peanut butter chocolate chip cookies at the bakery and they sat out on the curb munching together
"you want to go walk by the river?" dilly asked when they were finished
I'd love to pal but I promised mrs Manley I'd talk to her journalism class
murder at midnight by Marshall cook

[estar9821]

Ha, actually it's a YW book. A Wizard Abroad.
'"I am Tualha Slaith, a princess of the People." she said, rattling it all off in a hurry, "a bard and a scholar. And who are you?"
"I'm Nita Callahan."
"Nita?" said the kitten. "What kind of name is that?"'

[Tensai24]

Either:

"algorithm generates its own encryption/decryption key pair and publicizes the encryption key to all other participants." - from my Cryptology textbook

OR

"... (DVD) player had gone on strike. Kit had been forced to restore the system, and had had to admit privately that his sister's demands that it be put back the way it'd been after the "fix" were even more annoying than the system's refusal to function normally." - incedentally from WH.

Yes, I am using the Young Wizards series to procrastinate from studying for my finals. ;P

[Trialia]

Ha, actually it's a YW book. A Wizard Abroad.
'"I am Tualha Slaith, a princess of the People." she said, rattling it all off in a hurry, "a bard and a scholar. And who are you?"
"I'm Nita Callahan."
"Nita?" said the kitten. "What kind of name is that?"'

Exactly XD mine was a Cats of Grand Central book, so I feel happy about that too.

[eowyngirl]

I loved this thread when I was last active on the forums, so...

"In September's world, many things began with pan. Pandemic, Pangaea, Panacea, Panoply. Those were all big words, to be sure, but as has been said, September read often, and liked it best when words did not pretend to be simple, but put on their full armor and rode out with colors flying."

-The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente

[EricG1793]

No books nearby, but how about a musical score?

"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you."

- Allen Pote's "Arise, Shine, for Your Light has Come" for S.A.T.B. Chorus with Keyboard Accompaniment (courtesy of my mom, who accompanies a church choir)

[eowyngirl]

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier is both the book nearest me and the one I'm currently reading...

"Somewhere her voice still lingered, and the memory of her words. There were places she had visited, and things that she had touched. Perhaps in cupboards there were clothes that she had worn, with the scent about them still."

I'm really enjoying it so far! Du Maurier's writing is beautifully atmospheric.

[meteorite]

"No internal weaponry. No hidden arms. No combat infections or molecular engines. All clear."

Transmetropolitan: The New Scum. These days, Spider Jerusalem is pretty damn prescient.