The Lit Net Monthly News

[I][CENTER] [IMG]http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww354/litnetnews/header.gif[/IMG] [SIZE="5"]
[FONT="Book Antiqua"]May 2009[/FONT][/SIZE][/CENTER][/I]Welcome to the May edition of The Literature Networks online newspaper. Every month, we will keep you updated with information regarding threads, contests, Book Club and lots more!
Happy Reading.

[I][CENTER][SIZE="4"][FONT="Book Antiqua"]Forum Book Club[/FONT][/SIZE][/CENTER][/I]
Its that time of year again! The Book Clubs Summer Challenge is in its voting stage so make sure you get over there and vote for which book you would like to read! [url]http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43172[/url]
The May Detective Reading is The Maltese Falcon by Dashiel Hammet [url]http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43932[/url]
The Book Club is also now voting for the June Historical Fiction Read. [url]http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43145[/url]
Also, please don’t forget to nominate for the July Counter-Culture Literature read!
[url]http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43908[/url]
The Forum Shakespeare Discussion Group is currently starting on Henry IV Part I. Pop over to the sub forum is you are interested in participating in the Discussion or any other forum Discussions. [url]http://www.online-literature.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=5895[/url]

The Forum Book Club is always happy to have new participants. If you are interested, you can find it in the Reading section of the Forum Index page.

[I][CENTER][SIZE="4"][FONT="Book Antiqua"]Official Forum Contest[/FONT][/SIZE][/CENTER][/I]

The April elimination round of the Short Story Competition 2009 has come to an end!
The winner of the April elimination is “Just Normal”. Congratulations to the author who has made it to the 09 final.
[url]http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?p=697784#post697784[/url]
You can now send in your entries to Scheherazade for the June Elimination.

[I][SIZE="4"][FONT="Book Antiqua"][CENTER]Unofficial Poetry Contests[/CENTER][/FONT][/SIZE][/I]

The Personal Poetry forum is one of Litnets’ most active forums and comes complete with a sub-forum dedicated to poetry games and contests. We have two very popular poetry contests located in the sub-forum; The Picture [URL="http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23675&page=42"]Poetry Contest (continued…) [/URL] and [URL="http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23444&page=34"]The Form Poetry Contest [/URL]for anyone who would like to join in.
Also one of our resident poets Pendragon has set up a new contest [URL="http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38056&page=4"]The Subject Poetry Contest[/URL]. Why not pop in and give it a go. You might just win!
The current winners are;
Form: Autolycus
Picture: no winner yet
Subject: alakungfu
Congratulations to you all!

[I][CENTER][SIZE="4"][FONT="Book Antiqua"]Featured Personal Poetry[/FONT][/SIZE][/CENTER][/I]
This month we have selected two poems from The Personal Poetry Forum, posted during the month of April, to feature in the Litnet Monthly News! I hope you like them too!

[B][U]Tumult was my table by Princemyskin[/U][/B]

Tumult was my table,
tohu-vavohu my daily bread.
Half my passion
was another man’s fatigue

and I was wandering,
wandering, down a road without a sign
where all the other travellers
were blessed or blind.

The din of life
was loud and overwhelming.
I heard it as if every orchestral player
was playing from a different score.

And I was losing half my mind
along with all the other travellers,
some of whom were blessed,
and some of whom were merely blind.

[B][U]mea culpa By ~Sophia~[/U][/B]

my life has not been obedient
the heady ways of a rebellious hawk
lifted on neurons, saffron and quasar

under wing the pentagram landscapes
of mad queen chess - touching pieces
clocks and time
love, carpe, leaping, sorrow - survival

alis volat propriis

and this is where you listen for the inflection
of a stranger in my mouth - louche

the wind, immune to my bribes knows
God is the eye of the storm and I

I am caught between two shores - like parted lips,
the tongue splitting the terrain
into fault lines and raging rivers
into mountains and meadows
into far away faces
and the miracle
of being forgiven

for throwing a favorite doll
to a sleeping lion just
to see him wake

[I][SIZE="4"][FONT="Book Antiqua"][CENTER]Forum Advertisement[/CENTER][/FONT][/SIZE][/I]
Do you want to let off that steam and vent your anger? Then why not visit [URL="http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25259&page=27"]Get it off your Chest![/URL]
Or if you are looking for advice, but want to remain unknown then why not contact Scheherazade and have your problem posted in [URL="http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36313&page=5&highlight=personal+anonymous"]Personal and Anonymous[/URL]. Your fellow Litnetters will pass on their own words of wisdom.

[I][CENTER][SIZE="4"][FONT="Book Antiqua"]Featured Members Profile[/FONT][/SIZE][/CENTER][/I]

Each month we will be sifting through Litnets member profile pages and selecting one as our Featured Profile of the Month. So get personalizing, decorating and designing your profile.
This months profile of the month is Stargazer86 for their astronomy theme. [url]http://www.online-literature.com/forums/member.php?u=59250[/url]

[I][CENTER][SIZE="4"][FONT="Book Antiqua"]Blog of the Month[/FONT][/SIZE][/CENTER][/I]

Each month we will be selecting a blog and awarding it the title of Blog of the Month right here in Lit Net Monthly News.
This months Blog of the Month is A Little Wisp’s for her poetry and well written entries. [url]http://www.online-literature.com/forums/blog.php?u=56934[/url]

[I][SIZE="4"][FONT="Book Antiqua"][CENTER]Featured Threads of the Month[/CENTER][/FONT][/SIZE][/I]

Every month we will feature different threads and games. This months Thread of the Month and Game of the Month are:
Thread of the Month is Cold Ale - The Blokes' Thread. [url]http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43406&page=47[/url] (suggested by Virgil)
Game of the Month is ^ < [url]http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42063&page=162[/url]



[I][CENTER][SIZE="4"][FONT="Book Antiqua"]Lit Net Book Reviews[/FONT][/SIZE][/CENTER][/I]

This month’s book review was randomly selected from the Write a book Review sub-forum in general Literature.
[B][U]
Hard Times by Charles Dickens[/U][/B]

As some people know, I'm not exactly the biggest fan of Charles Dickens, and therefore I wasn't that excited about reading his novel Hard Times for my novel course last term. And so now, as I finished reading it, I think it's time for an honest review.

For starters, Hard Times is one of the funniest works I've ever read. It's true that the dystopian world Dickens created is a gloomy one, but Dickens description makes the reading process a bit easier.

The story in short tells the chronicles of the life of the main character, Mr. Gradgrind and the close circle of family and friends of his. As an excellent example on the utilitarian, matter-of-fact man, Mr. Gradgrind lived all his life loyal to his mathematical way of thinking, of narrowing everything down to a matter of numbers and figures, with no regard to the human feelings, emotions and soul.

Throughout the story, many things happen to prove to Mr. Gradgrind the failure of his self-interest system. But though Dickens shows Mr.Gradgrind to be an essentially good person, working for the best, and meaning no harm, he's severly punished by the end of the novel, when he finds all his world falling apart. His daughter Louisa, who's an example on a repressed soul in the grinding system of her dad, comes home to him, running on a rainy night, escaping her disastrous marriage to her father's friend Mr. Bounderby, and telling him that she's wretched because of his system and his rules. His own son, Thomas, robs the band he was working in, and justifies it by saying that his father told him that it's a 'rule' that out of all the bankers in the town, there are bound to be a few that are dishonest, and so who is he to question a rule?

Mr. Gradgrind finally finds himself running to the place that he formerly despised, the circus, and asking for help from a man whom he never thought he'd even come in contact within normal circumstances, that is Mr. Sleary the circus owner.

Charles Dickens's style and description makes it easier for the reader to enjoy the book.

I'd recommend it, though I'm not sure if everyone can like it. It takes a while to get used to Dickens's style of writing, but I believe that this is the most rewarding novel I've ever read by Dickens.

9/10
Nossa

[I][SIZE="4"][FONT="Book Antiqua"][CENTER]Forum Advertisement[/CENTER][/FONT][/SIZE][/I]
Wondering what Litnets top 100 books are? Why not pop on over to Dark Muses Lit Nets Top 100 Books Official List and see for yourself! [url]http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40711&page=7[/url]

[I][CENTER][SIZE="4"][FONT="Book Antiqua"]May Birthdays[/FONT][/SIZE][/CENTER][/I]

Here are this months Litnet birthdays! Also, don’t forget that many of these members will be sent an interview, so look out for the [URL="http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36273&page=4"]Getting to Know You thread[/URL].

Happy Birthday!
Cows, Lily Adams, Nossa, Dramasnot6, Zanna, Bookworm Cris, miss tenderness, AwayAloneAlast, ESHQUIA, Themis, mkhockenberry, Tallon, stephofthenight, Ophelia20, and Dori.

[I][SIZE="4"][FONT="Book Antiqua"][CENTER]New Additions to the Site[/CENTER][/FONT][/SIZE][/I]
There are some new quizzes added to the form by Logos and submitted to her by Don Quixote Jr and hamsolo474. If you have some free time on your hands, why not give them ago! [url]http://www.online-literature.com/forums/quiz.php?catid=1[/url]

[I][SIZE="4"][FONT="Book Antiqua"][CENTER]Letters to the Editor[/CENTER][/FONT][/SIZE][/I]
Don't forget to mention the poetry bookclub. We are discussing Margaret Avison: [url]http://www.online-literature.com/for...592#post715592[/url]
Oh and the DH Lawrence short story thread we are discussing an excellent story called "Wintry Peacock."
[url]http://www.online-literature.com/for...443#post715443[/url] - Virgil

[I][SIZE="4"][FONT="Book Antiqua"][CENTER]Special Thanks[/CENTER][/FONT][/SIZE][/I]

I would like to thank everyone who helped contribute to the Newsletter, whether they were aware they were contributing or not!
Also a special thank you to all those that subscribe to the newsletter. We now have over 500 subscriptions!
Yours truly
The Litnetter