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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU Books Game Part 4

999 replies

MoominMymbleandMy · 17/07/2009 19:54

Well, we made it to a fourth thread!

As before, we frame an AIBU from the point of view of a character in a book and everyone tries to guess the book and/or the character.

Everyone welcome to play/time-waste as much or as little as they please.

New thread, new AIBU...

AIBU to refuse to read aloud?

OP posts:
CJCregg · 26/08/2009 23:51

Grrr ... I know yours, Moomin, I'm sure I do. (Yes, I was Dinah - sorry, forgot to say)

No nearer on anyone else's, though. This isn't a real one, but WIBU to reread all my Antonia Forests before putting them up in the attic to wait till DD is old enough for them?

AIBU to dislike my uncle?

Original poster
MoominMymbleandMy · 27/08/2009 01:16

The only thing that I think was U about that, CJ, was the putting them away in the attic bit. What if you got mice or squirrels - that could be one of the most expensive rodent nests on record! And have you got the lot?

More clues on the uncle please. Actually, more clues on everyone's!

...Our plight might be familar because we were adapted into a late 1970s television series too. The minx was suitably sinister but I was surprised that my elder DCs had been turned into Young Socialists! And I do think far too much emphasis was placed on my lack of housewifery skills...

OP posts:
Poledra · 27/08/2009 09:11

Now, there are many unreasonable uncles, but the one who came into my head first was William Russell...... are you Christina? (I have a funny feeling someone has already done Flambards, though)

Pogleswood · 27/08/2009 09:35

This is getting depressing...more clues all,please.And while I was feeling Moomin's was familiar,the late 70's series doesn't ring any bells..(I was watching Flambards on the telly in the late 70's!)
Cj,imo it is not at all U to re-read Antonia Forest,but possibly U to put them in the attic(depending on how safe and accessible your attic is!)

...The husband that my DH is talking to in the garden has made an idle threat,and I've advised the wife to call his bluff on it,hopefully my Dh will take some action on his behalf which will also resolve our domestic problems...magic may be involved...

CJCregg · 27/08/2009 09:44

Moomin, is your niece called Lucy? And the ghost Alice? If so, I LOVED that book but somehow can barely remember it - another one to order 'for DD' ...

I'm not Christina, I'm a bit younger, and a boy. I'm staying with my uncle and aunt for the holidays and while she's all right, I suppose (quiet and mousey) he's always shouting and it scares me.

(AFs - you're right, I should keep them safe, shouldn't I? Haven't got nearly all of them - Autumn Term, End of Term, Attic Term, Ready Made Family, Peter's Room, Cricket Term, actually I should put them away as I've got work to do!)

Original poster
MoominMymbleandMy · 27/08/2009 10:36

Yes! Clever CJ, I am Aunt Gwen! And you really need the AFs somewhere safe and accessible - you don't want to be fishing them out of the attic late at night because you need a Marlow fix.

As for your AIBU, are you in quarantine for measles?

I am still so stumped on everything else!

AIBU to run away from school?

OP posts:
steamedtreaclesponge · 27/08/2009 11:11

...No, not Bluebeard! Although the husband I'm with at the moment certainly gets stubbly at times, it's hard to shave when you're sleeping rough and spending most of your days on horseback. Still, it's nice to get away from the castle for a bit...

Moomin, what was yours?

And CJ, I think you should send your Antonia Forest books to me for safe-keeping, since I've never read any

Have wanted to read them for ages as I keep hearing good things about them (no shame in reading children's books as an adult, I feel) and they are all on my (excessively large) Amazon wishlist!

Pogleswood · 27/08/2009 12:10

Didn't you run away from school earlier on the thread,Moomin? In which case YABU to run away again...
Do read some Antonia Forest,Treacle,she is a fantastic author.(IMO - )

Original poster
MoominMymbleandMy · 27/08/2009 15:48

Treacle, do try the first Antonia Forest, Autumn Term. It's in print and not expensive, unlike the Girls Gone By editions. As for secondhand copies...you don't want to know the prices!

My one was Come Back Lucy by Pamela Sykes. Another of those lovely ghost/time travelling books which seems to have disappeared off the map.

Still stumped but I'm now wondering if you're Mary, Queen of Scots and shacked up with Bothwell. Can't see him making an effort to shave.

Pogle, I think I may have run away more than once on these threads. I think you have too!

...I didn't think it was U. But now it seems half my class has had the same idea...

OP posts:
steamedtreaclesponge · 27/08/2009 16:06

...Well, I am in Scotland, but I only came up for a holiday when all this happened. If only I'd stayed away from those standing stones...

Moomin, are you trying to hide evidence of your witchy skills?

steamedtreaclesponge · 27/08/2009 16:07

And thanks for the tip about Autumn Term - my father is an antiquarian book dealer so I'll have to ask him to keep an eye out for me!

Original poster
MoominMymbleandMy · 27/08/2009 18:06

Ah, Treacle, might there be a spot of time travelling going on here?

And what a very handy sort of father to have!

Oh, and yes, indeed, you are spot on! I have developed a talent for witchcraft but it most definitely isn't something to advertise around here.

AIBU to worry about the calendars?

OP posts:
CJCregg · 27/08/2009 18:30

Hi all, I've been dipping in all day as distraction from boring work but haven't got any further with clues!

Moomin, I'm not in quarantine for measles (what was that one, it's driving me mad!) but I don't want to be staying with my uncle and aunt. Luckily there's a girl my age living next door who seems all right - maybe I'll spend some time with her.

(By the way, was being smug far too soon - I can't find two of my AFs, it's driving me nuts. Just to echo everyone else, treacle, I would highly recommend them. Can't count the number of times I've reread them over the years, and don't get me started on my completely irrational crush on Patrick Merrick ...)

Original poster
MoominMymbleandMy · 27/08/2009 18:52

I was thinking about Tom's Midnight Garden when I asked whether you were in quarantine for measles, CJ. Is that the one you're remembering?

Now, second attempt at your one, is your sick mother staying at your uncle and aunt's house with you?

Hope the AFs turn up. Did they go missing since you rediscovered them or could they just be in another box somewhere?

...I was meant to post them but I didn't. And I don't know what to do with them now...

OP posts:
CJCregg · 27/08/2009 19:52

Thanks, Moomin - Tom's Midnight Garden, phew. (And it wasn't even an AIBU!) You are, as ever, a genius - yes, my poor mother is very ill. I don't think anything can help her ... can it?

With regard to the calendars, were they promotional items for the undertaker's you work for? I do hope you didn't do anything silly with them ...

CJCregg · 27/08/2009 19:56

PS re AFs - I know The Ready Made Family is around somewhere I as bought it fairly recently from Girls Gone By. It's End of Term I worry about, I haven't seen it for ages. Oh, the Christmas Play, the netball team, Esther's first appearance, Lois Sanger's first term as Games Captain, Miss Cromwell ...

Should we just start an AF thread, do you think?!

steamedtreaclesponge · 27/08/2009 20:20

Completely at sea on the calendar front, I'm afraid.

And yes, time-travelling has most definitely been the cause of all this mess! Still, nothing like a handsome man in a kilt to cheer oneself up with.

AIBU to hate having piano lessons?

Original poster
MoominMymbleandMy · 27/08/2009 20:49

Aha, fruit from the Land of Youth perhaps, CJ, or even Narnia. And that was amazingly fast on the calendars, hardly time to say Woodbine Lizzy!

If the worst comes to the worst, "End of Term" isn't that hard to find. I picked up a paperback for about £8 a couple of months ago. Now, if it was "Peter's Room" that had gone walkabout...

Phew, Treacle, that was hard work!

AIBU to seek employment despite suffering from an incurable condition?

OP posts:
Original poster
MoominMymbleandMy · 27/08/2009 20:52

Oops, forgot plea for piano lessons clue and also for more help on Pogle's non-Wodehousian character!

OP posts:
CJCregg · 27/08/2009 21:33

Not nearly as fast as you, Moomin, but I shall permit myself a mini-chandelier swing, I think!

Pogleswood · 28/08/2009 08:31

So what was yours, Treacle? Continuing bafflement here,but I will soldier on!
Obviously my attempts to disguise mine have succeeded too well..
..well,she has told him that he can stamp all he likes - she doesn't think anything will happen...
Hope you find End of Term,CJ (as Moomin says at least it would be fairly easy to replace - unless you had a hardback copy..)
So ,your incurable condition,Moomin - eczema? Flat feet? Lycanthropy? More clues!

steamedtreaclesponge · 28/08/2009 11:18

Mine was Cross Stitch by Diana Gabaldon - someone else on here recommended it and I just read it the other day, I couldn't put it down! (Literally - I was sneakily reading it under my desk at work...)

More clues please Pogle and Moomin!

...and the school piano's rubbish, half the keys are missing...

Pogleswood · 28/08/2009 12:34

Thanks,Treacle,I must add her to my list of authors to try - I've seen her recommended,and her name comes up on those "if you like this,then try that" lists but I think her name has put me off,goodness knows why.

...my husband is finally going to do something - and as he has djinns and afrits and his disposal that something may be interesting...

Pogleswood · 28/08/2009 12:35

..at his disposal..

steamedtreaclesponge · 28/08/2009 13:23

Hmm... are you from the Arabian Nights, Pogle?