megustaleer

just got the whirly thing. Could be that I didn't wait long enough, but I've tried a few times.

It would be best if each contributor posted the earlier line(s) along with their own, to end up with the completed limerick. A BCF member said "Look!" Whilst looking up from their book

First, a definition: What Is A Limerick? "A light, humorous style of fixed form poetry. Its usual form consists of five lines with the rhyme scheme AABBA; lines 1, 2, and 5 contain three feet, while lines 3 and 4 usually contain two feet. Limericks range in subject matter from the silly to the obscene..." Example - in Limerick form: A: What is /a limerick,/ Mother? A: It's a form/ of verse,/ said brother B: In which lines/ one and two B: Rhyme with five/ when it's through A: And three and four/ rhyme with/ each other. The thing that I enjoy about Limericks is the challenge of fitting the subject matter into the rhyme scheme - this seems to be something that a lot of people find particularly hard. Lets see if members here have more success with it than a couple of other online forums, and two RL poetry groups I have known.. The Game: I will post a first line below, then we take turns to post a line in the Limerick form. The person who posts the fifth line also posts the first line of the next Limerick. A BCF member said "Look!"

I saw this thread and came to add my twopennorth, only to find that I had done that already - 10 years ago. Disappointed to find only 3 more posts afterwards, also 10 years old. The World's Wife and The Bees are the only Duffy collections I own - plus Out Of Fashion, which is an anthology edited by her which contains just two of her own works, They are Warming Her Pearls, a long-time favourite, and Elegy, which is a very moving poem to a deceased love. Links to both poems below - sadly the link button does not work, so I am unable to link from the poem titles in the text https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56715/warming-her-pearls https://clodandpebble.wordpress.com/2015/11/17/elegy-by-carol-ann-duffy/

Apart from the problem I've had with link button not working, I am unable to edit my profile. I didn't put much, if any, personal detail down when I joined, 10 or so, years agobut if I did it will be way out of date now

I read this about fourteen years ago, and enjoyed it very much. It was unlike anything I had read previously, and felt rather like reading a Breugal painting and, more recently, someone I know likened it to Hitchcock's "Rear Window". We are shown the detail of everyday occurrences in the lives led by the inhabitants of a small urban street while, unknown to them, events are leading up to an incident that will bring them up short. I found the slow build-up to the climax of the book quite hypnotic, and the false 'clues' that lead the reader to make several wrong guesses as to that climax were intriguing and enjoyable.

I really enjoyed this book. There are many similarities with the more famous 'Rebecca', but I think I prefer this. There is a mystery about Ambrose Ashley's death, and his widow is suspected of, among other things, poisoning him. As his nephew Philip struggles with love and suspicion, the reader shares his contradictory views of his cousin Rachel. As in 'Rebecca' the central question is not whodunnit, but the triple one of, did Rachel murderAmbrose, was there anything suspicious about the death of her first husband, and is she trying to poison Philip? A most enjoyable period romance/mystery.

I love this little story. I have it on audiobook, read by Alan Bennett himself, which makes it even more delightful.

Good Wives is sometimes published as part of Little Women, especially, I think, in American editions. I have read all four; Little Women many times, but it is years since I read the other three - mainly because they all disappeared from my bookshelves in the passage of time, and I only replaced Little Women.

I remember reacting quite strongly to this book when I read it some time in C20. It has been a good few years now, but I have three abiding memories: a) The passages concerned with the war itself, and in particular the part played by the Sappersbis enthralling and evocative. b) The love story being an intrusion, seeming to be there just to sell the book, and c) Reading the birth scene and thinking..."Yes, I get the metaphor, you don't need to use a sledgehammer...it's all about tunnels!"!

If your tastes run to opera, try Florence Foster Jenkins https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Foster_Jenkins (Link button not working)

The allegorical aspect to this book, completely pased me by at the time I read it, back in 2005. I read it as a straight biographical adventure, which probably accounts for the problems I had with it. The beginning was very interesting, particularly the way in which Pi managed to manufacture his own faith by an amalgamation of the varieties of often conflicting religions around him. I was able to stretch my imagination far enough to accept the shipwreck and the early days on the life-raft, but was unable to suspend my disbelief when it came to the island, and couldn't wait to get to the end of the book to start on something else. I have trouble with 'magic realism', but at least you know what you are dealing with when a book is wierd from the start!

I woke in the middle of the night some time in 2010 to find the radio on, broadcasting a World Service programme in which David Mitchell was being interviewed, in a bookgroup type format, about Cloud Atlas. I would have drifted off to sleep had his answer to one question had not startled me into complete wakefulness.The idea had never crossed my mind, but the stories in Cloud Atlas were all of one 'soul' being reincarnated over and over again! just to add: I loathed this book, I found it unutterably pretentious.

These are some of my rather ramblng thoughts on We Need To Talk About Kevin, extracted from a long discussion started by me elsewhere about 15 years ago. A thickish book, 400 pages, and smaller print than is currently used for many popular paperbacks, which made it a little awkward for reading in bed. This probably contributed to the slow start I made on this book...That and the self-obsessed soul-searching that Eva indulges in when trying to decide whether or not to start a family. Once Kevin arrived, however, and we start to see the differences emerging between Eva and husband Franklin as they try to relate to their son, the story began to hold my attention more and more. Eventually, I was reading late into the night, which I have not done for quite some time, and read the last couple of chapters in a moving car (which is risky, as it makes me travel sick!). Although we know before we start what Kevin has done to be imprisoned, it is the gradual erosion of trust between the parents, and the disintigration of the family that is compelling. Those last few chapters really took me by surprise, and I felt quite moved by the ending. Thoroughly recommended. I had some trouble with this book for the first few chapters. All the anguishing over whether or not they wanted a baby,and why, plus Eva's dreadful labour/delivery, followed by the bonding and feeding problems. I just thought it would be dreadful to read this if you are pregnant, or have a cranky baby. There are two people in any relationship, and I felt that Kevin and Eva were similar in character and just irritated each other from the start, building up a spiral of aggravation which Kevin couldn't express in an acceptable way, and eventually he exploded. Although 'explosion' seems rather inaccurate way to refer to something so carefully planned and executed. I think that Kevin actually respected Eva for her ability to see through him, and because she did not try to live the illusion of a 'happy family'. I think that he actually does love her. Franklin has a picture of how the 'All-American Family' should be, and imposes it on Kevin and Eva (even dictating the proper way for an expectant Mom to behave). I think the illusion is despised by Kevin, even when he goes along with it, and think there is a sense in which Eva and Kevin team up as 'the ones who know it's a lie' when Franklin is doing all his 'father and son' activities. Of course, it is wise to have doubts about the reliability of Eva's account. We do hear this story from one point of view only. I assumed from the start that these letters were not being posted, and were being written purely as a way for Eva to deal with her own feelings of guilt and failure, and possibly to justify her actions. or inaction, as Kevin's mother. I don't think that the twist at the end was actually intended as a shock or surprise, it was pretty inevitable, but those of us who had been drawn into the story, and had been seduced by the letters into believing Eva's version of events, had developed a blind spot and didn't see it coming. I didn't see it as primarily a nature v nurture debate. I didn't see that there was a 'reason' for Kevin doing what he did, or at least not a single, definable reason such as nature or nurture. As far as I remember it, (and it is fading, somewhat) the book consisted of a series of letters, giving a view of events from one single standpoint, that of a mother feeling guilty because of the way her child has behaved (which mothers do, with or without justification). Apart from the pre-pregnancy/pregnancy chapters, which I remember least well, but possibly including them, the book as I see it is Eva's attempt to shift the blame onto Kevin himself, because of his cold and manipulative personality, or onto Franklin for denying Kevin's evil character and so leaving her to cope with the problem unsupported. However much she tries to spread the blame, inside she still agrees with the universal judgement: 'It must be the mother's fault!' Did anyone else see the preparation of the room, and plans for welcoming Kevin home at the end of his sentence as an attempt to make amends (subconsciously) for the lack of preparation and welcome when he was born?

The first JL Carr I ever read, many years ago, was A Day In Summer, picked up on a whim from a second-hand bookshop. I just love the slow, detailed, thoughtfulness of his writing and have reread that and A Month In The Country several times I have also read How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won The F.A. Cup, and laughed so much that Mr Meg borrowed it, to see what had appealed so much to someone who avoids football at every opportunity. He loved it, too, but A Day In Summer remains my favourite

You were right first time. You joined BGO before the last crash, and had to re-register. There was some problem with the re-registration, which David sorted out for you and you re-registered, just as you thought, in February 2013. your first post from then is still to be found, 5th post down, here - -https://www.bookgrouponline.com/topic/4214-currently-reading/page/163/#comments (Sorry, I am having trouble getting the Link button to work) Since we changed to Invision as our host we have been trouble free - no more crashes, but David was taken ill at the end of 2013, and sadly died the following February. BGO has never really recovered.

I find it impossible to pick a favourite poet. Some un-favourite ones maybe, but most poets that I have read have produced work that I enjoy, and all that might be among my favourites have written pieces that just don't speak to me at all.

Several other members from here joined BGO around the same time as you, when it looked as though Book Club Forum was closing. It was hoped that they would bring new life to us, but most drifted away - I hope that was to support the revived forum here, not because they had abandoned online bookgroups altogether.

Hi Madeleine. I do think this might suit some of the BGO members, especially those who don't fancy the Facebook option.

Popping in again after a long absence (10years?). I joined The Book Club Forum at a time when I was reading voraciously, was already a member of several book groups, and looking for more. Eventually I had to slim down my reading, and my book clubs. As I had been a member of BookGroupOnline since it started that was the one I stayed with and have been a moderator there for a good number of years. Sadly, BookGroup Online is planning to close later this year so, as the link this group is still in my toolbar I decided to check it out. I am pleased with what i have found - not least that you are now hosted by Invision, which has hosted BGO for about seven years, so the layout here feels comfortably similar. I am not likely to be a frequent poster, as I read very little these days (for a variety of reasons), but will be a regular 'lurker', and am happy to recommend Book Club Forum to any BGO members who are looking for a new home for when BGO is no more.

Wild Fennel tea - the only herbal tea that has any flavour!

I wonder if the Quick Reads series would suit you? They are designed for "regular readers wanting a short, fast read, and for those who have lost the reading habit or find reading tough", but I'm sure they would also be suitable for someone beginning to read in English as a foreign language. There are plenty of these books, specifically commissioned from established authors, available, here, from Amazon

Toast and Bovril

Elder Son left home straight after A levels for a job with accommodation in the next town. Nine months later he turned up on the doorstep with his suitcase, having changed his job to one without board. Within three months I was offering him the 'flats to let' page of the local paper with suitable places highlighted!

I suppose the Jane Eyre line must be my 'best', as JE was my favourite from an early age, but I'm surprised that no one has mentioned that scene from Jude the Obscure as the saddest. - You know, the one where 'Old Father Time' has done what he has