Hayley

I probably didn't phrase what I said very well (once again, it was past my bedtime!). I didn't mean that we heavily moderate content, we don't take posts down if they don't generate a response, but our rules and guidelines suggest that posts should be created with the intention of generating discussion. For example: 'When starting a new thread for a specific book, series, or even author, it's helpful if you can provide more information, as well as your own thoughts or review. Considering the amount of books and authors out there, simply asking if anyone has read it/them probably won't get much response'. These have been there, as far as I know, since the very start of the forum. So I suppose, although it's not an actual set rule, this forum has just discouraged it. How did you encourage that to happen? I know I said this before but I really am so sorry. It's even more heart-breaking to hear that BGO had already bounced back from so much once. I know it's not the same here but I hope you can at least enjoy the company of other book lovers.

I think this is probably one of the main differences with BCF. The way that we moderate the forum is partly based on the concept that a thread should always have the intention of generating discussion. The worry being that lots of posts nobody is going to respond to might lead to the forum feeling cluttered and potentially stop people from finding the more active threads. Clearly though, BGO is an example of that not becoming a problem. I imagine because there was a pretty constant flow of new review threads? Thank you it was also past my bedtime! I can see that decision to move a thread becoming a complex literary debate pretty frequently but I do see how it works now. We do have a classics section already, so do you think if we were to have century divisions within that it would work in the same way? I am wondering whether there's a chance you might have been looking at a personal blog, rather than a book blog? I could be wrong but those are definitely more like diaries. Most people do just use their book blogs for reviews but some people have personal blogs as well, where they just talk about whatever they want and often things that are happening in their lives (under 'General Chat' - 'Members Threads'). I love this explanation and I absolutely see where you're coming from with it. I suppose because most of us have been talking to each other for years on here we take it for granted that we're comfortable with each other. I don't know if it helps in the slightest but I can assure you that even the personal blogs here aren't actually treated as private spaces. Other members definitely want you to chat on there. When it comes to reviews you'd obviously be spoken to about saying offensive things like 'I can't believe you liked that book, you must be stupid', but that never actually happens. Saying something along the lines of 'I'm glad you enjoyed this, I didn't actually like it for [reason]' is absolutely normal though. For the record, if you hated a book that I loved I promise I would not be offended about it, but I would love to talk to someone with such a different opinion! I do vaguely remember people deciding on the book actually! Can you remember whether the same members ran it every time? Or did that change depending on the book? Thank you! My thoughts exactly I don't want you to feel like you're having to argue in favour of BGO's format, I hope you don't. There's no pressure to explain on this thread either. I just think this a good opportunity for us to take a step back and think of ways we might be able to make the forum better. The fact that some of you have recently joined us from BGO, with the experience of a forum that's similar in some ways but very different in others, seems like a great opportunity to get a different perspective and learn from it though . One of the things this discussion has really highlighted for me is that the forum is complicated to new members. Most of us here have been using the forum for many years and we're used to the way things have settled over time, but that's not necessarily a purely good thing. I want the forum to keep going for as long as it possibly can and for that to happen new people need to be able to join in comfortably. Something I'm definitely going to put together on the back of this is a simple guide to getting started, that's immediately visible on the front page.

Oh, I didn't realise that you didn't use personal blogs at all. I can see why it seems a bit weird over here then! To be fair, that will probably be easier when we sort out the embedded links error! You do fit in and, since you're a BCFer as well as a BGOer now, your opinion on how you're comfortable using the forum matters That's really interesting. We do tend to have a lot of informal, personal stuff on here. Do you think maybe you'd feel more comfortable with the blogs after spending more time here? Regarding the board for centuries; I just popped over to BGO to look at your set up there and I'm not quite sure how it works. If you were posting about a 19th century horror, for example, would you post in 19th century or horror? Or both? That does make a lot more sense. I think you've just basically summed up why we don't really use those threads any more! I love the book blogs and the way they show individual personalities and reading preferences. They're a huge part of this forum and they're definitely not going anywhere. And yet, we have the genre threads, they take up a lot of the front page of the forum, so I do think it's worth considering their use. The above comments have made me wonder whether new members would feel more comfortable using those threads than making/commenting on personal blogs? I do think it would be inevitable, if we did start using the genre threads more, that some posts would get few or no comments. You can see that happening if you go to those threads now and look back when they still were being used a lot. From a very brief browse I think that also happens on BGO. The book blogs do, by their nature, get used a lot more. (There's a lot of things we could do to improve SEO but getting a sudden surge of traffic from being high up a search engine's results really wouldn't benefit us, so that's definitely not a consideration.) This is an interesting but complicated one! I feel like I should point out, in case anybody's worried here, that I'm not going to start trying to tell people how and where they can post. We can have a conversation about using the genre threads more, to see if people would like that, but there's never going to be any pressure to change the way you use the forum right now.

I really wanted to buy this after Talisman recommended it. I think this is the sign that I really do have to buy it now! I know what you mean, I would generally agree but I also love The Hound of the Baskervilles!

I'll have a look at both and maybe the format can be something we all vote on. The Reading Circles were before my time so if anybody does remember those could you let me know . Is the way you would review in the genre threads be the same as the way we review in our reading blogs? Or would they usually have more of a focus on generating conversation about the book? I did notice that someone (maybe Hux?) was posting their review on their book blog and starting a thread for it as well. I do feel that might be better than people putting lots of links to other pages in their blogs, just for ease of reading (and especially since a lot of us do multiple reviews at a time - you don't want to end up with lots of tabs open or having to keep re-loading the page). What do you think? No, I totally agree with that. Everyone should definitely feel that they can post however they want (and I suppose that's part of why we love the personal space of our reading blogs!). We do have a lot of space in those genre threads that we don't really use though, I think it would be nice to see them active again if a few people like the idea of using them as well as our blogs.

I have the best image of us all sitting at our computers dressed as authors now Yes! I absolutely agree with this! You mean like the group reads, or like the old Reading Circle? (More of this please everyone! )

Understandable! Last Wednesday I had a call to say could someone collect my niece because she'd been kicked out of school. We don't really have an appropriate emote for how I feel about that... maybe a combination of ? Not fun. What was fun, when I eventually got round to it, was finishing the second Septimus Heap book... Flyte by Angie Sage 4/5 - I really enjoyed it I could basically repeat my last review because I loved this book for the same reasons but this did have the bonus of exploring more of the world. You really do get a sense of the geography of this fictional place and I think there's a lot to be said for that. There is a map at the beginning but I don't feel the need to refer to it to remember the layout (although maybe I would if I wasn't reading the books back-to-back). These are just good, well-written, traditional-style fantasy books. Now I have the dilemma of wanting to read tonight but having no idea what I want to read. I don't usually have an entire series at one time, so it feels a bit weird to just keep reading the Septimus Heap books! They are good though...

Decided to spoiler quote this, just in case someone is at that part and works out the ending from it. But yes...

I used to love choosing my own books in the library when I was very young too! I wonder if there would be a correlation between young children choosing their own books and people who love reading as adults? I'm glad you got your reading motivation back! Your paper cat in the craft thread is one of the most amazing paper craft objects I've seen!

The part of reading very long books that I find difficult is actually starting! I think it's knowing that I'm probably going to have to dedicate a lot of time to reading it (for example, 'shall I read this super long book, or shall I read three shorter books in the same amount of time...') and (a pre-lockdown issue) knowing that I'd have to read it at home because it's too big to carry around. I always end up forgetting about the length once I'm into it though. Like Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. I put off starting it for ages because it was such a physically big book, but once I started I didn't want it to ever end!

Thank you Raven! I just came back to say that I did send Michelle a message and she can't really remember. She thinks it might be from when she was developing the BCF reviews blog and trying to direct people there specifically, but she also thinks that people just really liked the individual blogs in the end! If it's something you think would be good for this forum though I'd appreciate it if we could talk about it in the new 2021 updates thread 2021 Updates and Improvements - Forum Updates - Book Club Forum

I wanted to start this thread to give you all a clear idea of what's happening with the forum right now and because I'm hoping you're all going to volunteer your excellent ideas . First Things First We are still getting niggling issues with loading, links etc. I know and I'm sorry it hasn't been sorted out already. We need to move to Invision's hosting plan to get this fixed and, as those of you who've been following this for a while know, our current hosts refused to give Invision the file they needed to make the switch. However, I have a web developer working on it at the moment (which is what Invision advised) and he's assured me that he's nearly done. He's been very sympathetic to the situation our hosts have put us in and has given us an amazing price. He's doing this alongside a lot of other (probably much better paid) work and I'm extremely grateful for it. So, with that on track... The Future of the Forum I'm very excited for the future of the forum and the possibilities that being hosted by Invision should open up. Once the move finally happens I'm going to be setting up a few threads where you can all have your say on possible changes. I promise I won't do anything you all hate but I want the ideas to be a surprise for now (the writers amongst you might want to start stretching your fingers though...). Teamwork It's really important to me that we develop the forum together. That's the only way we can continue to have a space that we all enjoy and can welcome new like-minded people to! So I want to know what your ideas are. What do you think would make the forum a better place for you, or help new people join in? BGO people, for example, I know a few of you have mentioned that you used the threads differently on your forum. Is that something you miss? Would you like to suggest that other members start using the genre threads more as well as their personal blogs? Please don't worry that I'm going to take suggestions as criticism. You would actually be being very helpful. Even if you have an idea you think is a bit crazy, just throw it out there! If it's literally not possible I'll let you know but it definitely won't happen if you don't say anything! Ok, start posting please

I finished Flyte by Angie Sage but still can't decide whether I want to read the next book in the series straight away or something completely different! My sister loved that book

I know it's not April any more but I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes on this thread

Honestly Luna, I have no idea. There is no official reason. It’s been that way since I joined, many years ago. I just assumed it’s what people preferred and joined in with a book blog. I might send the forum’s original creator an email and see if she knows more about why it changed!

Sorry but I’m not entirely sure what this post is about. Is The Card Collector an existing book or something you’re currently writing?

I hope you're enjoying it! I nearly read to the end of Flyte on Sunday. It was my birthday so I decided I wasn't doing any work that didn't need to be done immediately. I got into bed with only 40 pages to go... and fell asleep. Hopefully I'll be able to finish it tonight. I'm tempted to just carry on with the next book in the series but I have so many books on my shelf that I'm excited about (a nice problem to have!) I'm finding it hard to decide.

I didn’t even know it was a TV series, this is the first time I’ve ever heard of it! Is this one of those things everybody else has known about for years? That does sound pretty good to be fair! Two whole hours . It won’t take me long to finish Flyte now. How weird!

I like the sound of humorously clever detective tales - added to wish list . I can’t remember the last time I went to Waterstones. Definitely over a year ago, before the first lockdown. It will feel weird going again. I actually dreamed that I went to a bookshop last night. It was great. I bought The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex and Himself by Jess Kidd. I was quite disappointed when I woke up and didn’t actually have new books but, on the plus side, I didn’t spend any real money either... I’m currently reading the second book in the Septimus Heap series, Flyte. It hasn’t been an easy week so far and I’ve barely read anything, so planning to set aside at least an hour (hopefully two!) this evening just for reading.

Sadly, no. Very likely to create it though.

Would you like to borrow one? They talk a LOT, you'd pick it up in no time . I do seriously think he did a good job of it though. Most of the time it was perfect. Just occasionally didn't feel quite natural to me.

It’s wasn’t one of the five (the other two were American Gods and Anansi Boys) but I agree with the recommendation, I loved The Graveyard Book!

I just came here to say this! I would hugely recommend Neverwhere, Stardust and The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

I have no idea how old you are but I doubt that you are really old. I would quite like my age to be measured by reading time though, it sounds so much nicer. I definitely think it should be in there, to make the voice identifiably Abigail, like you say. I think it is generally really accurate too. I have a teenage niece and a nephew who's the same age Abigail is meant to be and they definitely do use most of the same slang. There's just very occasional moments (and I actually think there's a lot less in this one than the other short story from Abigail) when it distracts me slightly and I think '... are you sure that's how that word would be used?' or 'does this sound more like what an adult thinks a teen should sound like, than what an actual teen sounds like?'. There was one in particular that really stood out for me as weird context for a word but I can't remember what it was now. It's not a huge problem though, it didn't stop me from enjoying the book. It's just a little niggling thing that stops me getting totally engrossed in the story like I can with Peter Grant as narrator (although I also totally agree that Tobias sounded so much like Peter you could probably have interchanged them).

Is this one I don't know or is it a combination of The Colour of Magic and Making Money?? You have had a few years extra Pratchett reading time than me, but I had the excitement of discovering just how many books already existed in the Discworld series after I loved The Wee Free Men! I actually have a couple of reviews to update my thread with this time : Magyk by Angie Sage 4.5/5 - I really, really enjoyed it! I heard of this series from Chrissy's thread and I have to agree totally with her praise of it. I believe it's aimed at older children, possibly young teenagers, so there's an element of simplicity to the writing, but it's very nicely done. The world and the characters remain vivid and interesting. There's humour running through the book that reminded me of Terry Pratchett, in the sense that it's quite silly in itself but fits with the magical world (like the marsh serpent who gets stuck around an island and thereafter always swims a little to the right). It's just a good magical adventure, well-written and easy to read. With the world being so stressful at the moment it was nice to get lost in this kind of classic adventure story. I've started the second one already! What Abigail Did That Summer by Ben Aaronovitch 4.5/5 - Again, really, really enjoyed it! I'm going to get the one negative out of the way first and say that, if there's one thing I don't love about reading Abigail's perspective, it's that I sometimes find the use of slang a bit jarring. When she's actually talking to somebody I agree that it makes sense but occasionally, when it's just in the text, I sometimes feel like it's a bit much, even a bit cringey? But, anyway, that doesn't change the fact that this was a very good book. I love that we're getting to know more about the foxes and it felt like Abigail was really developed as an important character to the series as a whole. I'm really intrigued by where the story is going with her and what role she's going to have later in the series. I also thought [BIG spoiler so don't open unless you've read all the other books]