
Top 5 Tuesday is hosted by the wonderful Shanah @ Bionic Book Worm. Last week we share our favourite first lines. This week’s topic was so hard! Most of my favourite last lines contain too many spoilers. I would love to share the last lines of The Burial Rites and The Five People You Meet in Heaven but they give too much away! In the end I did manage to find five wonderful endings that stood out to me and have no spoilers.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
I wondered where the illusion of the second moon had come from, but I only wondered for a moment, and then I dismissed it from my thoughts. Perhaps it was an afterimage, I decided, or a ghost: something that had stirred in my mind, for a moment, so powerfully that I believed it to be real, but now was gone, and faded into the past like a memory forgotten, or a shadow into the dusk.
This line perfectly demonstrates how beautiful Neil Gaiman’s writing style is! I love that the ending leaves the reader asking even more questions.
Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. And the white rats scampered and scrambled in their cages. And behind the glass the rattlesnakes lay still and stared into space with their dusty frowning eyes.
I will take an opportunity I get to try and convince you that you need to read my favourite book! Does this last line not grab your attention?
The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman
All the same, there were some things they needed to learn. Do not drink milk after a thunderstorm, for it will certainly be sour. Always leave out seed for the birds when the first snow falls. Wash your hair with rosemary. Drink lavender tea when you cannot sleep. Know that the only remedy for love is to love more.
I think that last line is just beautiful! I also love that the ending ties in the title of the novel and lists a few rules of magic!
Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore
There was so much ground they had never felt under their hands. There was the whole world, all its gardens unseen.
This last line is simple but hopeful! It is incredible how much imagery McLemore can create using so few words.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
I ran. A grown man running with a swarm of screaming children. But I didn’t care. I ran with the wind blowing in my face, and a smile as wide as the Valley of Panjsher on my lips. I ran.
According to my mom (HI MOM!), I am always talking about The Kite Runner on my blog, and maybe that is true, but it is only because the book is so amazing! I really love this last line because it puts a smile of your face, which you will need after reading the rest of this one!
I have an interesting relationship with the ending of books. I can not tell you how many times I am loving a book only to be disappointed by the ending. That is definitely not the case for these five books!
What is your favourite last line?
Lovely collection of last lines! I usually can’t remember things like this but I may have to start paying more attention now…
Thank you! I definitely had to look through some of my favourite books to find these!
I totally agree about the Kite Runner! The last line was one of my favourites 🙂
Just so good! I couldn’t not mention it!
So many fantastic last lines!!! I almost added Wild Beauty to my list this week as well. Her writing was so beautiful 😍 and the line from The Ocean at the End of the Lane somehow sums up the book perfectly!
Thanks for participating – added you to the list 🙂
Thank you! I am blown away from her writing!
Hello Kristin!
I enjoyed reading the last lines that you shared here. I still have to read Cannery Row, which sounds like such a good book! The Rules of Magic seems interesting as well 🙂
Cannery Row is beautiful! I really really love The Rules of Magic way more than I thought that I would!
I love Neil Gaiman’s style. Beautiful closing line!
His writing is so unique!
the ocean at the end of the lane and the kite runner are both so beautiful <3 & you make me more and more excited to read cannery row!
They really are! My plan is working then! Trying to get everyone I can to read Cannery Row 😛
absolutely brilliant choices!
Thank you!
These are all so beautiful! I love the last lines of The Rules of Magic, I need to read that one!
I love that last line too! The perfect ending to a wonderful book. I definitely recommend it!
Awesome post! I need to read the kite runner some time! That last line is so sweet! ❤️
Thank you! I recommend The Kite Runner to everyone. The ending is perfect!