Before we go any further, though, we did want to tell you about the Bloomsbury Institute. Have you ever wanted to get a glimpse inside the world of publishing? Rub shoulders with authors and listen to their talks? Well, now you can. Bloomsbury are organising a series of events at their London home in Bedford Square. The first is on 31st January and features two Bookbag favourites, [[:Category:Stephen Kelman|Stephen Kelman]] and [[:Category:Nick Lake|Nick Lake]]. You can find out more - and sign up to attend - by looking at the [http://pages.bloomsbury.com/bloomsburyinstitute website]. What a great initiative!
}}
{{newfeature
|category=interviews
|title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Katie Dale
|summary=What do you do when your mother dies of Huntington's Disease and you find out that she wasn't your mother at all? And that there is a person - a sister? - out there who may carry the gene for this terrible disease? Brilliant premise for a YA novel, no? So you can imagine we were very keen to chat to author Katie Dale about her debut book [[Someone Else's Life by Katie Dale|Someone Else's Life]].
}}
{{newfeature
|category=interviews
|title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Maudie Smith
|summary=We were completely blown away when we read [[Opal Moonbaby by Maudie Smith|Opal Moonbaby]] and we were sure that it was going to be great fun when Maudie Smith came in to talk to us and as Opal would have said, we had a balloon.
}}
{{newfeature
|category=comments
|title=Cliff McNish Talks To Bookbag About The Hunting Ground
|summary=Cliff McNish, author of [[The Hunting Ground by Cliff McNish|The Hunting Ground]] popped in to Bookbag Towers to talk to us about ghosts. We're ''almost'' convinced: see what you think!
}}
{{newfeature
|category=interviews
|title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Monica Carly
|summary=Here at Bookbag we were lucky to read [[The Golden Thread by Monica Carly|The Golden Thread]] before it was published - and even luckier to be able to chat to Monica Carly about how she came to write the book.
}}
{{newfeature
|category=interviews
|title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Anne-Marie Conway
|summary=Here at Bookbag Towers we've really enjoyed [[Phoebe Finds Her Voice (Star Makers Club) by Anne-Marie Conway|Phoebe Finds Her Voice]] and [[Star Makers Club: Polly Plays Her Part by Anne-Marie Conway|Polly Plays Her Part]] from Anne-Marie Conway's Star Makers Club series. We couldn't resist the opportunity to ask her a few questions.
}}
{{newfeature
|category=newsletters
|title=November 2011 Newsletter
|summary=Well, world news isn't exactly encouraging, is it? Everywhere a crisis. It's times like these when books become even more important. They give us the chance to escape the misery for a while and indulge in a bit of escapism. And, with a cash-strapped Christmas coming up for many of us, books also make great value presents that won't break the bank. With this in mind, we've collected some of our favourite books from 2011 as recommendations for Christmas gifts. We think it has something for everyone - including a [[Amazon Kindle|Kindle]] for those who aren't quite boracic. Take a [[Christmas Gift Recommendations 2011|look]] at our list if you're in need of ideas. We've also updated our [[Amazon Kindle|review]] of the Kindle to include the lovely new dinky version.
}}
{{newfeature
|category=interviews
|title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Pauline Fisk
|summary=Pauline has produced a reissue of her Smarties Prize-winning [[Midnight Blue by Pauline Fisk|Midnight Blue]] for Kindle herself. It has a gorgeous new cover image and lots of interesting stuff about the various inspirations that led her to write the book. We were lucky enough to chat to Pauline about the book, the reissue and about writing in general.
}}
{{newfeature
|category=interviews
|title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Ellie Irving
|summary=We really enjoyed Ellie Irving's [[For the Record by Ellie Irving|For the Record]], an engaging story full of the best kind of English eccentrics trying to save their Jersey village from the bulldozers. It's charming and fun - just like Ellie herself!
}}
{{newfeature
|category=interviews
|title=The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Keren David
|summary= Keren David's latest book is something of a departure - although she tells us that there are similarities. We couldn't resist asking her a few questions.
}}