Features

Check out the full lists of interviews, top tens and articles.

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Stephanie Pain

Farmer Buckley's Exploding Trousers is another fantastic book from New Scientist, this time looking at odd events on the way to scientific discovery. It's brilliantly written and compiled, and endlessly fascinating. We leapt at the chance to interview editor Stephanie Pain. Read more...

File:Booknewsletters.jpg May 2011 Newsletter

We keep thinking that we really must update our list of most-read reviews on the site. We are good at thinking. But thinking isn't doing and since we are are also good at forgetting, we haven't done it yet. It's on the to-do list, though. Last time we did this exercise the redoubtable Delia Smith was in pole position, with her Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course. Some might laugh at the sucking/scrambling eggs episode, but an awful lot more type her name into Google, it's clear. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Hilary Freeman

We really loved the way that Hilary Freeman's Don't Ask looks at the way a lie can spiral and deals with some tough questions. We couldn't wait to ask her a few questions. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Paul Bress

We were intriqued by The Dysfunctional Family by Paul Bress written as a diary kept by four members of the titular dysfunctional family and we couldn't resist the temptation of asking him a few questions. Read more...

Work At Home or Work Away From Home? Helen Black helps us to decide.

It's very tempting to think that someone else's grass is greener than your own, but in the matter of working at home or commuting to your job Helen Black has experienced both and wants us to know that there are a few things you need to consider, not least the fluff in the tumble drier. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To The Anonymous Editor

Clients From Hell offers a hilarious collection of user-submitted stories from designers dealing with rude, clueless and demanding clients. We were delighted to interview its Anonymous Editor. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Jenn Ashworth

Sue loved Jenn's latest book, Cold Light. She met Jenn a few months ago and really wanted to know how a nice girl like Jenn could think up a plot like that. Thankfully, Jenn was ready to talk to us... Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Peter Gill

We enjoyed Peter Gill's riff on the number 42 - 42 - Douglas Adams' Amazingly Accurate Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything and the chance to ask him some questions was too good to miss. Read more...

File:Booknewsletters.jpg April 2011 Newsletter

Do you buy books from Tesco? Is your favourite author to be found on the best-selling lists or do you like to search out a wider range of reading matter? In Selling Well Is The Best Revenge, Linda Gillard tells Bookbag why being dropped by her publisher two years ago has turned out to be a positive event. How so? you ask. Well, she published her fourth novel on Amazon for Kindle all by herself - and at a selling price of £1.90 per copy, she is making more than she did from her previous dead tree books. And her book is selling well. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Ali McNamara

It takes real skill to write a book like From Notting Hill with Love... Actually that's packed with fun and provides comfortable, easy reading, so the opportunity to ask Ali McNamara a few qestions was too good to miss. Read more...

Why is it important to have good and challenging fiction for teens? by Gillian Philip

Gillian Philip is one of Bookbag's favourite authors for teens. She can write in any genre and even blends them together sometimes. And she's always real, even when she's writing fantasy. Her latest book, The Opposite of Amber is a chilling thriller that blends with a realistic story of relationship breakdown and social issues. If anyone can tell us why teens need books to challenge them, it's Gillian. So we thank her for passing by to give us her view - and promise you she is nothing like as gnarled as Charlie Sheen! Read more...

Selling Well Is The Best Revenge by Linda Gillard

We fell in love with Linda Gillard when we read Star Gazing. Sue described it as intelligent women's fiction and since then we've searched out and read her back catalogue, but we were getting worried that there wasn't another book for us to read! Then Linda told us that she was publishing House of Silence as an ebook and she was publishing it herself. And she's agreed to explain why. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Anne O'Brien

We've really enjoyed both Virgin Widow and Devil's Consort so the opportunity to ask Anne O'Brien a few qestions was too good to miss. Read more...

Celia Rees tells us about the inspiration for The Fool's Girl

The Fool's Girl is a truly enjoyable mix of Shakespearean characters and historical people and a novel for teens and adults to savour. Here, Celia Rees tells us all about how she came to write it. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Natasha Solomons

We were really impressed by The Novel in the Viola, published in May 2011, which took us back to Dorset in the war years and we couldn't pass the opportunity to ask author Natasha Solomons a few questions. Read more...

Research? But it's Only a Romantic Novel! by Sophie Page

When we finished reading To Marry A Prince we started wondering exactly how you did the research for a book like that. I mean - you can't just tag along for a couple of week's work experience, can you? The book gives a real feel for what the life is like so we asked Sophie to tell us how she did it. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Stephen Mark Norman

Stephen Mark Norman is the author of Meklyan and the Fourth Piece of the Artefact. We realised that there was more to the book than met the eye and we couldn't refuse the opportunity to ask him a few questions. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Annette Hart

Annette Hart is a teacher, mother of four children and the author of Blood and Allegiance, the first of a series of books. We couldn't resist asking her how she managed to pack so much in to her busy life. Read more...

See older features.