In general christmas is an exhausting, thankless time in this family. Aside from the food of course. Damn kids. I'm 18 and I'm saying that. But damn kids... Anyway, grind-the-rust tagged me for a survey and hell if I'll back down from her ill-advised challenge. Survey-tag things never turn out well for me, but lets see...

Grab the 7 closest books to you.: 2 on hand and 5 were the first on the shelf.

In the first book:

On page 24, what does the 7th sentence say?: The Golden Mile was abuzz with cars and taxis, far below.

On page 116, what does the 3rd sentence say?: Battalions of black and white butterflies fluttered by.

On page 56, what does the 10th sentence say?: The best explanation for this - and I thought it warranted one - was that Langkawi is named after helang (eagle), kawi (reddish-brown).

In the second book:
On page 33, what does the 5th sentence say?: He soon became fond of the nursing sister in the Home; he recognised her voice, her footfals, immediately, but would alwas say that she had been a fellow pupil at his high school, and was greatly surprised when I addressed her as sister."

On page 11, what does the 9th sentence say?: What about faces?

On page 88, what does the 4th sentence say?: In fact, Tourette's syndrome itself seemed to have disappeared, and was scarcely at all reported in the first half of this century.

In the third book:
On page 125, what does the 2nd sentence say?: In anticipation of Fr. advances through Alsace-Lorraine, the plan was altered by Helmuth von Moltke (1848 - 1916), a nephew of the great 19th-cent. general: the right wing was weakened.

On page 45, what does the 11th sentence say?: Severe retribution was exacted by Ferdinand VII under the guns of Fr. occupation.

On page 66, what does the 3rd sentence say?: Before the 19th cent., Socialist concepts were found in the Utopias of Sir Thomas More (i, p.212), Campanella (i, p.256), Harrington (Oceana 1656), Morelli and others.

In the fourth book:
On page 12, what does the 8th sentence say?: Blank; part of the introduction.

On page 99, what does the 6th sentence say?: 'I damaged it because in their rear there was a king who was taking every ship by force.'

On page 54, what does the 4th sentence say?: 'Woe on that day to the disbelievers!'

In the fifth book:
On page 63, what does the 9th sentence say?: In short, the things he did were done because it was easier to do them than not to do them.

On page 21, what does the 5th sentence say?: There is a saying that when two devils come together, hell is to pay.

On page 110, what does the 10th sentence say?: He must master or be mastered; while to show mercy was a weakness.

In the sixth book:
On page 39, what does the 3rd sentence say?: 'Everything is patched and mended, lashed together, crudely welded.'

On page 82, what does the 7th sentence say?: Great columns of light plunging down from the sky and illuminating a vast area of water.

On page 102, what does the 1st sentence say?: There were twelve of us in the small boat as it entered the columns of light and was drawn back into the tunnel between the worlds.

Just one More
In the seventh book:
On page 134, what does the 5th sentence say?: "I'll fell you."

On page 55, what does the 12 sentence say?: But their kingdom was that Happy Otherworld under the earth and they always went back there to the Land of the Every Young.

On page 17, what does the 8th sentence say?: "When that's done, I'll tie that rebellious island to the stern of my ship and tow it back here where none of the De Denaan will dare to follow, and where Ireland once lay there will be empty ocean."