Kudz

The latter part of that sentence sounds intriguing.

I’ve only been back on the forum a little over a week and my biggest take from my short time being here is just how quiet things are. I’d say the biggest thing putting people off from returning is lack of interaction on the board. I have tried to visit most days – I think there has only been one or maybe two days at most that I haven’t visited – and there hasn’t been any more than about 6 new posts each time I visit, and this is on a good day, and usually a couple of these are in the game’s threads. There must be at least a dozen regular visitors though that I can see as being online, just not much posting from them. Excellent, at least we have at least two members who are interested.

Although the first half of Liar Liar was a bit slow starting, the latter half improved considerably and the way in which it ended along with the synopsis of the next book in the series helped me make the decision to continue with it. I have now started Little Boy Blue and boy is it off to a good start. I have really managed to get my reading mojo back this past week and have read 1,720 pages in the last 7 days, course I have done very little else but the silver lining of having had covid, which then led into a chest infection, is that it has allowed me some quality reading time. I have no energy so can’t physically do much else, but still, I’m not complaining. Not sure what I’m going to do once I get to the end of this series though, the threat of a reading slump is something I really hope doesn’t happen as I have only just managed to pull myself out of this one.

I noticed when setting up my reading log that the embedded link feature wasn’t working and have now realised that it seems to have been an issue for a while now, is there any update as to when this is likely to be fixed?

2022 March 2022 1. Eeny Meeny (DI Helen Grace, #1) – M. J. Arlidge (421 pages) 2. Pop Goes the Weasel (DI Helen Grace, #2) – M. J. Arlidge (423 pages) 3. The Doll’s House (DI Helen Grace, #3) – M. J. Arlidge (434 pages) 4. Liar Liar (DI Helen Grace, #4) - M. J. Arlidge (442 pages) 5.

This thread is under construction – please don’t post until further notice. Thank you!

I’m a tea drinker, always have been, always will be. In fact, it’s pretty much the only thing I do drink. And that first cup of the day is the best of the lot; I can’t function properly without it. It sets me up for the day ahead. I do occasionally have a hot chocolate with marshmallows on top, but this is more of a little treat rather than a regular beverage. I don’t drink coffee at all as I can’t stand the taste or smell of it.

Since my last update I have now finished Pop Goes the Reader, have read The Doll’s House and am currently about 180 pages into book 4, Liar Liar. I’m not enjoying this one quite as much as the previous three in the series, but it is still good. I am thinking of taking a break from the series after this though to read something else; not sure what and I probably won’t need to decide until tomorrow, but I think it’s time for something a little more light-hearted.

I’ve just started keeping track of the books I read – I haven’t done this for a while now - only this time I am keeping note of their page count too, which I have never done before. I love working my way through a series for this exact reason, and although I usually intersperse them with other books, I am currently reading the DI Helen Grace series by M. J. Arlidge back-to-back and not only am I racing through them, but it is allowing me to get to know the characters in a much better and quicker way. It is, very much, like reading one big book. I really am enjoying reading the series in this way and I may do it with other series in the future. I own copies of all the Strike books that have been released so far but haven't read any of them yet. I believe the sixth book in the series is out later this year though, so I’m hoping to read them in the run up to its release date. I don’t have a problem reading longer books, in fact I love reading a nice big chunky book because it really does allow you to get to know the characters better, and the books are usually much more fleshed out than their much smaller counterparts. I can see how some people might struggle with them because they can be daunting to pick up, but it really is quite satisfying once you complete them. I think these days there is too much emphasis put on how many books you read in a year, and it is one of the things I hate about sites like Goodreads, or more specifically what I hate about the Goodreads challenge that everyone seems to participate in. It feels like too much of a competition to see who can get the most books read. Personally, for me it is about quality not quantity. I will pick up a book because I want to read it, regardless of the length.

I live about 25 minutes’ walk from my local library, and it’s only a couple of minutes away from where I work, so I use it on a regular basis. We have a central library and a few smaller libraries in my town, but they also have an online catalogue which means you can reserve books from any library in the county (not just in your town) and they will transfer it from one library to another and email/text you when it is ready for collection. I love this service as it increases the number of books available to you without having to travel to other libraries/towns which is handy for me as I don’t drive. I have put myself on a book-buying-ban and I am now trying to either read books that I already own, or I am using my local library service. Occasionally I will pop into the local charity shops and pick up a couple of books this way, but other than this I am using my library exclusively for new releases etc. I think in current times it is even more important to use and support your local libraries and would always encourage you to do so.

Thanks. I did manage to get through both Monday and Tuesday but ended up leaving mid-morning today as I'm really struggling with fatigue and headaches. We've agreed for me to take off the rest of the week and all being well will return on Monday. I do hate being off sick; I’m more annoyed that my 100% attendance record over the past few years has finally come to an end. I was quite proud (and maybe slightly smug) that I had avoided catching covid up till now but still, it was bound to catch up with me at some point.

I can understand this and usually I would do the same but as I have been in a little bit of a reading slump recently and am only just getting my mojo back, I decided to continue with them, at least for the time being. I figure I can always read something else after the first 2-3 books if I feel like I need a break from them. I’m currently halfway through the second one Pop Goes the Weasel. Although I haven't read anything by him, I have heard of him. I’ve just looked up Shutter Island and it sounds like it might be my kind of thing, so will be adding that to my 'to-read' list and will also check out some of his other work. Thank you!

I’m not entirely sure how the Group Reads work but after having had a look at the threads for the current Lord of the Rings group read it looks similar but more of a sort of readalong/buddy read over a longer period, which probably suits books like Lord of the Rings which I’m assuming (and please excuse my ignorance as I haven’t read them myself) is a bit of a slog. This is purely based on me having read The Hobbit several years ago which I really struggled with. The idea of a book club would be, for example, picking a book to read on a semi regular basis (i.e. monthly) and having a set date that we would then discuss it by. Obviously on a forum this may need to be tweaked slightly – do we discuss it as we read (which seems to be what happens with the Group Reads) or would we just discuss and post our thoughts once finished? The latter is what I would probably do as I tend to read a book over the course of a day or two rather than a longer period, but others may take longer and would prefer to post their thoughts as they go. In which case do we allow spoilers or use spoiler tags? Who picks the books? Do we mix up genres etc.? These things would obviously need to be discussed amongst those members willing to take part. It’s going to take time to iron out all the details, but I think it would be worth it in the long run. I also think that once the details have all been ironed out it would be a good selling point for the board and although I don’t use social media it would be the perfect way to get the message out to try and draw in new members. I’m sure there would be people interested as a lot of people have gotten back into reading over the last couple of years due to the pandemic. It’s just going to take a bit of effort from members on here to get the word out to people. I am happy to do my bit. I do think that if we go ahead with the book club, we are probably going to have to pick more mainstream/popular books by popular authors, at least to begin with. People are more likely to be interested if it’s a book they can easily get a hold of and that isn’t too obscure or hard to read. I do personally like the idea of a classic book club too though and by classic, I mean Charles Dickens, Jane Austen etc. I have always really struggled with classics and the only ‘classic’ I have ever read is Jane Eyre which I did really enjoy. I have a fair few on my shelves but always avoid picking them up due to them being what I would call daunting to read. I would be interested in reading them along with others as it would give me the motivation if I could discuss and read it at the same time as other members/readers. Maybe these types of books would be more suited to a readalong/group read though? I guess we need to differentiate between the two. Do any other members have an opinion?

Thank you all for the warm welcome. When the idea came to me to come back to BCF, I have to admit to being a little worried that it wouldn’t be a thing anymore; suffice to say I was extremely happy that it was still here, and I have been trying to catch up on the goings on by reading the threads relating to the takeover and transfer of the board to Hayley. Does Michelle, the previous owner, still come by and post or has she left the board for good? Sorry to hear about the problems Book Group Online have faced too. I read in one of the other threads on here about the death of its previous owner/administrator; my condolences to those members on here who knew him. Yes, my old username was Karen. I hope it’s okay that I re-registered under a new name but I wanted a fresh start. Although I usually have a book on the go, I haven’t read anything in nearly a fortnight as I tested positive for Covid back on the 2nd of March and have been really struggling with symptoms since. I’m only just beginning to recover and get my motivation back. These days I tend to read a lot of crime fiction; it’s my go-to genre, but I’m open to anything really. I do dip in and out of general women’s fiction and thrillers too but tend to gravitate towards crime most of the time. I would love to branch out and read other genres, but sometimes it’s a bit daunting so I tend to stick to the tried and tested authors I know I’ll like. I started Eeny Meeny by (new-to-me author) M. J. Arlidge this morning and am about halfway through so I can now see me binging the rest of this series and any other books written by him. Now I’m back I’m not planning on going anywhere. I’m going to try and pop in every day, but I do work for the NHS and my working week can be a little crazy. I’m also heading back to work tomorrow after being off with Covid for the past week and a half, so I’m not sure how I’m going to be after doing a full shift, so we shall see. I will probably be around more at weekends, but as I said I’m going to try and visit every day.

I’m loving the idea of setting a full weekend aside each month to read as much as you can, so I will be participating in this. I’m even going to go as far as marking it on my calendar, so I don’t forget. I might even try and avoid making plans for these weekends; it would do me good to have a weekend each month to do nothing but read and relax. Genius idea!

Hmm…it looks like a lot of the members on here read books that are way above my intellect. My reading has been pretty much non-existent for the past week and a half due to me having had Covid; it hit me a lot harder than I thought it would and I haven’t been able to concentrate on anything. This morning, however, I settled down with Eeny Meeny by M. J. Arlidge, the first book in the D. I. Helen Grace series, and I am flying through it. Really enjoying it so far and looking forward to reading the other books in this series. I love it when you find a new series, particularly when there are already several books written. Debating with myself over whether to read them back-to-back or alternate them with other books. Decisions, decisions...

I know I am a newbie here, so I hope it's okay for me to post a few ideas and suggestions, both my own and in response to those already mentioned. Just to give you a bit of background, not only was I a member here previously (from 2007 to 2013; although I think that was when I last logged in, I think I had stopped posting a year or two prior to this), but I have had a lot of experience on various other message boards over the years, both as a member and having also hosted one myself. I've mentioned this over in my intro thread, but one of the things I have been searching for, and which I would really like to be a part of, is a book club. I recently asked on Twitter (during a very brief experiment on social media) whether anyone could recommend a good, active book club and many of the ones suggested were Facebook groups - which is fine, if you are on Facebook, but as someone who does not use social media at all, they weren't an option. The only one suggested that would have been a perfect fit for me had monthly Zoom discussions, and for someone who doesn't have a lot of confidence, not to mention hates even having her photograph taken, the thought of participating online in a streamed or recorded discussion terrified me and put me right off. I know there are a number of celebrity book clubs - Richard & Judy, Reese's Book Club etc. - and I know there are numerous book clubs held by various booktubers and a huge selection over on Goodreads (which I'm not a fan of), but again you still need a smaller group of people you know to be able to discuss them with, otherwise all you are really doing is reading the books, but not participating in the actual 'club' part it. There are so many possibilities when it comes to book clubs - genre specific, series, book to movie adaptations, classics - these are all ones which I would be interested in but of course you need at least a few people to participate to make it worthwhile. But I do personally think that a book club or clubs would be a selling point for the board itself. After all, we are called Book Club Forum and yet we don't have an actual proper book club and like I said there aren't that many out there, certainly that I could find anyway, unless it was social media/booktube related. I think we are missing out on something here that could potentially bring in new members and make the board a bit more active. Get the members here for the book club and they are likely to stay around and interact on the rest of the board. Also, even from my brief time on Twitter, it seems like with social media being what it is right now, authors are more approachable and amenable to participating and being involved - is this something that we can also pursue for BCF. We previously had authors visiting the board and participating and that was way before social media was as popular as it is now. Oooh, yes, I remember these. I participated in a couple of them and really enjoyed the books I was sent, but it was quite long winded and didn't necessarily result in any major discussions taking place. When I was a member here previously, I never used the book blog section myself, but I am hoping to start one now. I just haven't decided in what format yet - I really need to look at some of the others and get a general feel for them - but I think it is probably more likely to be as a way of just keeping track of what I have read, rather than for actual reviews as such. Not sure, I really do need to have a think about it. This is one of the things I liked about the forum when I was here last. I liked the fact that the rules stated that you had to post something that was going to move the conversation along, and not just a one word answer that didn't contribute anything. Wasn't there also a rule about not double posting? Or maybe that's something I remember from a different forum. The one section of the board I really dislike - and it's a section that has appeared on many of the forums I have been a member of - is the Games board. I've never understood the point of it and seems, to me, to be a waste of space and time, but that's just my opinion. I agree, however you also have to give them a reason to register to begin with, and then you need to give them a reason to stick around. This is very true. Back in the mid-2000's I spent a lot of my spare time on forums, this one included, and although I haven't been a member of one for a very long time, I have fond memories of when I was. These days everything is geared towards social media - which I hate as it all feels so impersonal - forums are in my opinion, so much better! Sometimes it can be daunting to post in old threads though, particularly if it is a thread that hasn't been posted on in a very long time. You only need to look at some of the different sections on here; a lot of them only have a couple of recently active threads whilst the majority of them haven't been posted on in years! Plus, I don't think posting in old threads (depending on the individual topic) is necessarily a good idea - it may not be relevant anymore, the original poster may not be around anymore, it may not add anything etc. Sometimes a clear-out is in order - I'm not saying delete the threads but maybe some of the old threads can be moved to an archive section or something as a way of tidying up the board a bit. Clearing out the clutter may encourage newer members to post newer, more relevant discussions. I have no idea how much it costs to run a forum like this - the forum I used to run and many of the ones I was previously a member on, were hosted on a free provider, but I would be more than happy to contribute if it would help. I would much prefer this, to having adverts on the board. Of course, I would need to make sure I was going to be sticking around first, but certainly in the future I would be happy to contribute. Apologies for my rather long ramble and I hope I haven't trodden on anyone's toes, or overstepped the mark!

Hi, my name is Karen and I actually used to be a member here way back in the day. On checking my old account, I first registered on the board back in 2007, and was also involved in the BCF Reviews blog too when it was a thing back then. I've been AWOL for a fair old while now due to a number of reasons; the number one reason being that life just got in the way. However, more recently I've been yearning for the camaraderie and community spirit that I remember fondly from my time here previously and I miss not being part of something special. Reading has always been my main way of escaping from reality, and as I've gotten older it has become even more important to me, and I have really missed not having like minded people to share that with. I recently registered on Twitter as 'Book Twitter' seems to be a thing now but after a month I found I just didn't really get it, and have since deleted my account (as in today actually). Social media has never been my thing and I was really struggling to connect with anyone on there. Jumping into random conversations with strangers just seems rude...like I said I just don't get it. I think it's just a bit too big, and without spending hours and hours on there I really dont see how you can have discussions, or even make friends. Not to mention I felt really, really old compared to everyone else in the book Twitter community. Anyway I thought I would give BCF another shot, and although I'm sure there have been many changes since I was last here, I'm looking forward to getting stuck in and maybe (hopefully) making some new friends along the way. On a side note I would really love to be involved in a book club and was wondering if it would be possible to have one on here? I know we had reading circles and book clubs previously but on having a brief look around it doesn't look as if it has been a thing for a while now. Anyway, just a thought. Looking forward to meeting you all, and feel free to ask me any questions as I realise my intro hasn't really told you very much! - Karen