I hate to do this. I've dreaded the day that I would have to write this.
It's taken seven minutes for this text box to work, just so that I could type out the words that I hoped I'd not have to write: I can no longer consider BookLikes my primary home for bookish chat and updates.
Over the course of this year, and especially the last weeks, it has become clear that BookLikes is running on the barest minimum of functionality.
It takes forever to load posts. It takes forever for comment boxes to appear. It takes forever for comments to load. The search no longer works. The book database has been abandoned except for the valiant efforts of a few BookLikers. The place has security issues and is overrun with spammers. Hell, I can't even block spammers anymore because the page does not load.
So, in preparation for Doomsday, aka the BookLikes Apocalypse, or just in case you want to connect on another platform, I am moving the bulk of my activity to other forums for the time being. I will still check in and try and catch up as often as I can but I just don't have the time and energy to put up with a non-functioning site.
I could spend that time and energy reading!
So, for the foreseeable future, I'll posting updates and reviews and non-reviews etc. in the following places in the first place:
Goodreads - I am not keen on returning to GR, but drastic measures are needed. I'll be mostly hanging out in The Outpost and The (Mostly) Dead Writers Society, two groups that are excellent homes from home.
Library Thing - I've gotten to grips with LibraryThing's quirks and really like it. The database is excellent and users seem to be friendly, too, even tho the forum does not lend itself to socialising as much as BookLikes or GR. If you're on LT, get in touch!
WordPress - I set up my own blog years ago as a back-up for BookLikes. In other words, I export posts to my WP account but I need to spend more time there to make it look pretty. I am keen to spend more time on the blog, tho. I would really miss the blogging activity if BookLikes went bust, and I love the place as a home for my reading projects.
As I've said so many times over the past few years - literally every time that Booklikes took a wobble - I really hope that BookLikes will get their act together, but if not please feel free to get in touch elsewhere.
BT