Michelle

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Hi everyone.. I just wanted to emphasise that I do know there will be some disappointment about the closure, but there is so much which has needed to be done to keep things running smoothly, and it does feel the right time to make this change. I am sorry for the disappointment though.

Dear BCF members, This forum has been running now for many years, and over that time we have seen many changes. Generalised forums are nowhere near as popular as they once were, and they have been very much taken over by blogs, vlogs and social media discussions. Running a forum well takes money, and a lot of care and attention, as there is so much which goes on behind the scenes to keep things running smoothly. With all of this in mind, and after discussion within the current moderator team, the decision has been made to close this forum in its current format. I know that this will disappoint a lot of our long term members, but I want to reassure you that it's not a decision which has been taken lightly. The remaining moderator team have agreed that we do not want to lose everything which is special about our home, and so we are starting a brand new facebook group, so that people can stay in touch, and discussions can continue. We can use it for free and should be easier for us to run (it won't need to be updated or hosted). We know not everyone has FaceBook, but we hope that those of you who are interested will join the group. We will share the link, and send invites as soon as we are ready to go. The forum will close to new registrations, but will remain open for some time, to allow people to collect up any information, reading lists etc they need to, and to ensure they have contact details for those they wish to stay in touch with. The whole team feel sad to say goodbye, but we also feel that it's perhaps time and that it feels like the right choice. We hope we can stay in touch with all of you through our new FaceBook group. I personally want to thank everyone who has helped me moderate the forum, both in the past and the present, and I also want to thank every single person who has visited, and shared their love of books.. I'm so proud of everything we've achieved, and the home we built. Please visit the new section in the Lounge section to discuss this further, ask questions etc.

Many of you have been here for a long time, and others just a short while - we'd love to hear your memories of your time here, the people you've met etc.

If you have any ideas on how to save content such as threads and PMs, please discuss them here.

If there are any general questions / discussions about the forum closing, please post them here..

You may prefer to start your own introduction post, instead of using someone else's. If you can tell us a little more about your reading / favourite books etc in that thread, that can be helpful.

*You* provided a list of links, and it's those which I removed.

I can't believe how bad I've been at keeping this updated.. I kept looking to see where the next page was, couldn't believe it stopped on one page, and in Feb! A quick update.. Anyway, I've read a few books, and have given up on quite a few too, especially audio books. I may well have forgotten one or two as well. Dogs of War was indeed a good read, and I keep debating whether to try his fantasy books.. has anyone read them? After Redshirts by John Scalzi, I did try Old Man's War, which was pretty good, but I lost interest in the sequel as it just seemed to stretch things too far. Planetfall by Emma Newman was an excellent read, I do love the idea of future colonies on other planets using massive 3D printers for everything they need, plus it explores living with anxiety. My only disappointment was with the ending, as it just kinda drifted. I've just started reading Before Mars, because I do like her style, and I also started her fantasy series with Between Two Thorns, but that's on hold as I wanted to read Before Mars. This Mortal Coil was a good read, thanks @chesilbeach - I'll be looking out for the sequel later in the year. Probably my favourite read of the year though was Scythe, and the sequel Thunderhead, by Neal Shusterman. This is set in a world where control has been given over to a sentient cloud (internet cloud, not the fluffy type!) - now named Thunderhead. There are also nanites in people which repair damage, alter chemical levels etc. Because of all this, people are pretty much immortal, so to prevent a population build up, there are a revered group, known as scythes, who have to kill people. They are like priests in a way, and it's interesting to see the turn around, that the almost worshipped people are actually the ones killing. It all sounds strange, but you have to believe me that world building is great, and it all just makes sense. Honest! :-D

I'm sorry you're still not right. I won a copy of the sequel to Caraval on twitter, so assuming it does turn up when released, I can let you know what it's like. I agree about Caraval.. it's a nicely laid out book, and a colourful read.

I'm sorry but we don't allow links on the forum to any of these types of sites. In my experience, the vast majority allow access to pirated books, which we can not condone, and as you've already pointed out, we do not know if they contain virus / how they use your details etc. I've left your original query, but not the links.

That sounds very much like The Giver by Lois Lowry https://www.amazon.co.uk/Giver-Quartet-Lois-Lowry/dp/0544336267/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1522865884&sr=8-1

Can we ask you to type in English please, as there's no inbuilt translation available.

I found it hard to pinpoint how I felt about Ink.. I did like it, but something stopped it being great. I agree the cover is amazing. I have my eye on This Mortal Coil, so I'm glad you liked it. As for The Hate U Give, something is holding me back, I think maybe because it's been on twitter constantly, and feels too hyped right now.

Welcome to the forum Amy - we do specify in our rules that new members are not permitted to post links until they have 10 posts, nor are members allowed to simply point people to their own blog. We'd be happy to have you here, and I'm sure some have general blog writing tips for you, but a direct link is not permitted I'm afraid. If you become a regular member, you'r welcome to add your blog address in your signature.

This is the second book I've read by this author, and she has a way of taking complex situations, and making them approachable for young people. In Tender, Eve looks at the important subject of young carers - Marty has been living with his mum's deteriorating mental health since the death of his father, whilst Daisy has a severely ill younger brother, and exhausted parents trying to cope in their own way. Both of these teenagers are trying to persuade everyone else that everything is fine, and Marty in particular is so adamant that he doesn't need help from anyone, even though we can see he's close to destroying himself. They meet at a young carers group, when Marty is forced there by social services. They form an acceptance of each other, and help each other to understand their situations. This does develop into a romance, which I personally felt wasn't needed.. their friendship would have been enough for me. Marty and Daisy so easily found their way into my heart, and so their experiences can be difficult to read about, but this is an important subject well handled, with an overlying message of support and hope.

I listened to a bit of this, and gave up - with your comments I might try again.. thanks.

The first was a surprise hit with me, the second I pushed through a bit.. I read a tiny bit of the third, and didn't continue. I rather wish it had been kept as one book, or at the most a duology.

It's so stressful, isn't it? We had no water yesterday due to frozen pipe up in the loft. Took us ages to sort it out, and we had the same.. Glen was trying to get through to our service, and was getting no answer. I hope the plumber wasn't too expensive!

I think Karen has simply put ' ' around each title, as in 'Title of Book'...?

There was a problem on the server which was affecting a few people, which they now say is sorted. @Marie H and @pontalba - apologies for the inconvenience.. do you want to set your notifications up again, and I can see if yours was affected by the server issue.

I've just looked, and the error appears to be 'Service unavailable - try again later: retry timeout exceeded' so you could switch email notifications back on, and I'll let you know if it still happens.

Thank you @Little Pixie - is there actually a problem with your email, or is it working ok? @Marie H and @pontalba I've had quite a few more bounce messages in my inbox, so I've switched off your email notifications for now.

We sometimes get posts here asking about specific books, value etc. We're a little collection of book lovers, we're not connected to any shops or experts, so we won't be able to tell you if your book is genuine, or how much you get for it. Sorry!

Could the following please check the email they use for here. If you're set up for email notifications, and there's a problem with your email, I get the error bounce messages in my inbox. We do ask you to use a working email when you register, but if it doesn't work at the moment, please turn off your email notifications. Thank you. @Marie H @Flip Martian @pontalba @Little Pixie