Beginning ~ with mountain climbing

I picked up a book to see if the beginning line was worth writing about.

A Change in Altitude ~ by Anita Shreve, 2009, fiction (Kenya)

'We're climbing Mount Kenya.  Not this Saturday, but the next."

It didn't grab me, so I grabbed the next book.

The English Teacher ~ by Lily King, 2005, fiction (Maine)

"That she had not killed him in her sleep was still the great relief of every morning."

Okay, this did grab me, and I kept reading.  My first assumption was that "him" was probably her husband or boyfriend.  I was wrong — it was her son. Ha, interesting!  I kept reading to the end of page two where someone named Tom arrives wearing a parka and she — the narrator — says:

"You off to climb Everest?"

That's funny!  Two books, two beginnings, and two references to climbing mountains.  In Shreve's novel, it's Mount Kenya; in King's, it's Mount Everest.  I think I'll read The English Teacher first.  Here's what it's about:

"Vida, a single mother living with her 15-year-old son on a Maine island, has tried to conceal from him the truth about his past. Then she accepts a marriage proposal, and her carefully constructed life starts to unravel."

If you want to play along, this meme is hosted by Katy at A Few More Pages. Share the first sentence or two of the book you are reading. (Sometimes it takes several sentences to get the full thought.) Then, share your impressions of that beginning.  Click this link to see what others say about the books they are reading this week.