Features

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

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...

File:Booknewsletters.jpg March 2011 Newsletter

Greetings, fellow booklings. How goes your literary life at the moment? Our cup is overflowing with the great fortune of good books and we've chosen our favourites for March in the Book of the Month section below. Sue has been allowed to take a break from reading, but only so that she could attend an event for, you guessed it, book bloggers. We can't just let her out willy nilly you know - what if she didn't come back? Anyway, a great time was had by all and you can read about it at the Guardian's book blog here, courtesy of the charming Chris Cleaves. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Judy Bartkowiak

Judy Bartkowiak is an NLP Master Practitioner and has long experience with children, not least having four between the ages of ten and twenty two. She loves working with children and we couldn’t resist the opportunity to ask her a few questions. Read more...

Kate Lord Brown talks about The Real Thing

Here at Bookbag Towers we were converted to our Kindles with almost indecent haste, but Kate Lord Brown thinks that there are a few points which we should consider before giving up on books completely. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Michael Dhillon

Bookbag really enjoyed The Cuckoo Parchment and the Dyke with its unusual plot and pace. When we had the opportunity to talk to Michael Dhillon we couldn’t resist! Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Giles Milton

Here at Bookbag we're great admirers of Giles Milton. He writes great fiction, wonderful children's books and we've just enjoyed his latest history book. The chance to talk to him was just too good to miss. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Alma Katsu

We loved Alma Katsu's novel The Taker and couldn't resist the opportunity to ask her how she produced something quite so stunning. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Harry Leslie Smith

We thought that the first volume of Harry's autobiography 1923: A Memoir was a remarkable piece of writing and the opportunity to ask Harry some questions was just too good to miss. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Jon Mayhew

We loved The Demon Collector by Jon Mayhew, his follow-up to Mortlock. We couldn't resist the opportunity to ask him some questions. Read more...

File:Booknewsletters.jpg February 2011 Newsletter

Hello! Happy February!

What do we think to library closures then? Are we not too worried? After all, people are able to buy books for a penny at Amazon and tuppence or threepence at The Book People these days. And anyway, we'll all be reading via download soon, won't we? Why do we still need libraries? That's the argument, isn't it?

Unsurprisingly, we at Bookbag don't agree. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Melissa Wareham

We loved Take Me Home: Tales of Battersea Dogs by Melissa Wareham, her stories of what life in Battersea Dogs is really like, especially adapted for children. We couldn't resist the opportunity to ask her some questions. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Malcolm Fawbert and Asa Jones

Malcolm Fawbert has just published his first children's book whilst under the name of Asa Jones he's brought out his first novel for adults. We couldn't resist the opportunity to get both his alter egos into one room and ask them a few questions! Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Victoria L Thompson

Victoria L Thompson's Midnight Mischief is a fun romp through space, to rescue Pluto from those pesky aliens. It's got strong rhymes throughout and engaging illustrations. We couldn't wait to interview Victoria! Read more...

File:Booknewsletters.jpg January 2011 Newsletter

Hello! Happy New Year!

How was your Christmas? We had rather marvellous ones, helped along by our new Kindles. We're all used to this new reading experience now, and we're feeling very positive about ebooks. Although we are still miffed about them being VAT-able. Still, you can't have everything.

We also broke out the bubbly when some kindly soul became our 4,000th Twitter follower. It's very gratifying to think that more than 4,000 people are interested in what we have to say. Perhaps they're just being kind! If you'd like site updates more often than once a month via this newsletter, then why not join the throng? Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Dan Abnett

Dan Abnett's Primeval: Extinction Event is a perfect tie-in novel with lots of Cretaceous critters for fans, and a very good action fantasy for anyone else. We couldn't wait to interview him! Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Savita Kalhan

Savita Kalhan's The Long Weekend is an incredibly tense thriller with a really important message about 'stranger danger'. We leapt at the opportunity to interview her. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To John Saunders

John Saunders' The Vernham Chronicles is set in the beautiful countryside of Vernbury Vale. There you'll meet the villagers of Vernham. They're distinctly odd but we promise that you'll like them. We were delighted to interview John about his humorous stories. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Richard Denning

Richard Denning's Tomorrow's Guardian is an action-filled children's story about the quest to save two universes, that will really appeal to many younger readers, especially if they're interested in history. We couldn't wait to interview him! Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Philip Threadneedle

The Astronaut's Apprentice by Philip Threadneedle is a hoot of a jaunt through space for tweens with Grandpa, Bradley and Headlice. We couldn't resist the opportunity to ask Philip Threadneedle some questions. Read more...

File:Booknewsletters.jpg November 2010 Newsletter

Hello! It's that time of year. You know the one. The obsessive time during which you simply cannot find a space free of festive features. The time of relentless commercialism disguising the season's real message of goodwill to all men. We're not sure where one finds all this goodwill amongst the adverts, are you? Or is that too cynical? There is goodwill, of course, but it does tend to get buried under the flurries of suggestions for things to buy. Well, Bookbag's no different. Read more...

Amazon Kindle

Are ebooks the future of books? Is it the right time to get an ebook reader? We thought about it long and hard. Yes we did. We don't often think about things this long or this hard, because it hurts. But sometimes, cogitations are necessary. We wouldn't be here at Bookbag if we didn't love books but we knew that more and more people were enjoying ebooks. It was time to find out what it was really like to have up to 3,500 books in your pocket or your bag. 3,500! Yikes! Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Mary E Martin

The Drawing Lesson is the first book in Mary E Martin's Trilogy of Remembrance. We thoroughly enjoyed the book and took the opportunity to ask Mary some questions. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To H A Goodman

Logic of Demons: The Quest for Nadine's Soul by H A Goodman is a helterskelter ride through the afterlife that asks the reader to think about the consequences - intended and unintended - of their actions. It's a highly imaginative, sometimes touching, story, told with great pace and enthusiasm. We couldn't resist the opportunity to ask H A Goodman some questions. Read more...

Top Ten Historical Novels of 2010

We love a bit of historical fiction here at Bookbag. It's a wide genre, ranging from a bit of escapist reading to serious social comment. And the past often has a great deal to tell us about the present, so it can be instructive too. Here are our favourite historical novels from 2010. Why not tell us about yours? Read more...

Top Ten Teen Books of 2010

Actually, that title should read Top Ten Teen Books Jill Read in 2010. And she's read a few. These are her favouritest of favourites and it was a tough choice. She's discounted books that were part of a series - perhaps a bit tough, but otherwise she'd still be choosing. Why not tell us about yours? Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Marcus Chown

We've always enjoyed Marcus Chown's work, from Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You to his children's book Felicity Frobisher and the Three-headed Aldebaran Dust Devil. After devouring We Need To Talk About Kelvin, we leapt at the opportunity to ask Marcus some questions. Read more...

File:Booknewsletters.jpg October 2010 Newsletter

Right. This month we are avoiding all talk of politics and spending cuts. Now the Chilean miners have been rescued - did you cry? We did - what we need is a good book to take our minds off all the cuts doom and gloom, which has been going on since forever and a day. Just do it already!

Have you heard of the British Library's web archive? It's a thing we've been meaning to tell you about for a long time and failed miserably in getting around to. Basically, it's a collection sites of cultural, historical and political importance to the UK and you can have a look at it here. Part of the plan is to keep a record of how the web has evolved over the years by taking 6-monthly snapshots of a selection of cultural websites. And guess what? Bookbag is included in the blog section - are we a blog? - and snapshots of our site have been archived for posterity since 2008. It tickles us pink to think that we've been included. Take a look - the whole website is just fascinating! Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Lorraine Jenkin

Lorraine Jenkin has long been one of our favourite authors here at Bookbag Towers and we couldn't resist the opportunity to ask her a few questions. Read more...

Guardian Children's Fiction Prize 2010

Following hot on the footsteps of last year's winner, Exposure by Mal Peet, comes another wonderful selection of children's books in the 2010 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Mick O'Hare

The New Scientist's annual books of answers to tantalising questions have always entertained and educated us here at Bookbag, so the opportunity to interview Mick O'Hare about this year's offering - Why Can't Elephants Jump? was too good to miss. Read more...

Man Booker Prize 2010

We know that the judges are going to have a difficult time in choosing a winner - we wouldn't like to have their job! Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To L A Weatherly

If you're into that whole paranormal romance thing, you're going to love Angel by L A Weatherly. It's a breathtaking helter-skelter of a story in which two young people learn to trust in and love one another as they battle predatory angels. L A Weatherly is doing the rounds on a blog tour and she kindly called in on Bookbag. We persuaded her to tell us all about Angel and how she came to write it. Oh, and if you've happened along before the closing date (31 October 2010), hurry over to the review page, because you could win yourself a copy! Read more...

File:Booknewsletters.jpg September 2010 Newsletter

Have you bought a Kindle or another e-reader or an iPad? We Bookbaggers haven't - yet. It's not that we're Luddites. We're waiting until things settle down, everyone's stopped arguing and we can see the lie of the land. There's much to tempt us in electronic books and a lighter suitcase when we go on holiday is only the beginning. Imagine the richness possible. Imagine the convenience. And - hopefully - imagine the better prices we're all going to get. Well, we are, aren't we?

But let's face it. We readers might be ready, but is the product? Too many electronic books are badly designed, little more than a scan of the print version. What a waste. The publishers do need to catch up. And what's going to happen with DRM? Will we have to stop passing our books on to friends and family? And as web publishers, what about our review copies? The finished ones? Will we have to stop donating them to school libraries? Has anybody thought this through? Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Andy Mulligan

You will probably know Andy Mulligan best for Ribblestrop, his wonderfully absurdist comedy set in a boarding school. Now he's turned his attention to social issues and mystery adventures in Trash, a gorgeous fable that is bound to win awards. You shouldn't miss it. Andy was kind enough to have a chat with us. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Leigh Hodgkinson

Bookbag has long loved Leigh Hodgkinson's work with its unique design and great sense of humour. When Limelight Larry and Scrummy! were both released in close proximity, we couldn't resist the opportunity to ask her a few questions. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Ken Howard

Ken Howard's The Young Chieftain is a really unusual story about an American boy who finds himself on a remote Scottish island in the middle of a clan conflict. It's easy to read, but with several layers to peel back. We loved the mix of modernity and tradition and jumped at the chance to ask Ken some questions about writing it. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Rebecca Elliott

Bookbag really enjoyed Milo's Pet Egg and jumped at the chance to ask Rebecca Elliott some questions. We're delighted we did as she's provided some fascinating responses! We've subsequently read Just Because which we loved all the more, and Cub's First Winter which also really charmed us. Read more...

File:Booknewsletters.jpg August 2010 Newsletter

Hello! How are you? We're all good here at Bookbag Towers. Jill is dealing with a glut of runner beans. Sue is enjoying her new office. Keith is making new pals in deepest Wales. And we're all reading lots and lots of lovely books.

As we now have more than four thousand reviews on the site, we were wondering how you prefer to navigate them, and so we thought we'd tell you about our recommendations page this month. It gives some good options for finding a book you'd really like to read. If you're into all things new, you can check out the newest reviews sorted by category. If it's themes you're looking for, try our extensive list of top tens. The highest rated reviews by genre are the creme de la creme, although if you like browsing a bit more broadly, then you'll enjoy rummaging through all the 5 star reviews. On the other hand, if you're feeling lucky, you can just read a random review. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Alan Durant

Bookbag fell head over heels in love with Unfortunately by Alan Durant and Simon Rickerty - unfortunately we can't stop reading it, but fortunately it's super. We leapt at the opportunity to ask Alan Durant some questions. Read more...

File:Booknewsletters.jpg July 2010 Newsletter

It's windy and rainy today, here at Bookbag Towers. What's going on? Where's our sunshine? Do we have to leave the shores of this sceptr'd isle to catch some rays, always, every single time? Sometimes, it sure does feel like it. Jill doesn't mind: she's swanning off to Tuscany for a fortnight, and it's bound to be hot there, right? Right?!

We've been taking stock this month. We're not far away from a site containing five thousand book reviews and approaching that milestone has pulled us up short. At Bookbag's birth five years ago, if you'd told us Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To David Gatward

Bookbag thought The Dark, a book of zombie horror positioning itself firmly in the Darren Shan market, provided strong characters, an interesting premise and a wonderful sufficiency of gore. So, naaturally, we enjoyed asking David Gatward all about writing it. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Melanie Welsh

Bookbag thought Mistress of the Storm was full of seafaring adventure, mystery and intrigue. Naturally, we jumped at the chance to shiver some timbers and buckle some swash with her. This is what we talked about! Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Heather Gudenkauf

Bookbag found The Weight of Silence to be an impressive debut with plenty of suspense and unexpected twists. We were delighted by the opportunity to ask Heather Gudenkauf some questions about it. Read more...

File:Booknewsletters.jpg June 2010 Newsletter

Vuvuzelas, eh? Who'd 'ave 'em? Personally, here at Bookbag Towers, we prefer vuvuzelas to the World Cup but even we know that's a sacrilegious remark and so we shall say no more about it...

... ahem.

Possibly a more constructive topic is holiday reading. Do you pack books? Or do you rely on airport potboilers? Or stick to newspapers and magazines? We Bookbaggers obviously have a separate piece of luggage just for our books, and we carry it everywhere we go, no matter how heavy it gets. Fancy being stuck on holiday with nothing to read! Now that is sacrilege! Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Joel Stewart

Bookbag has really enjoyed Joel Stewart's recent work, including Dexter Bexley And The Big Blue Beastie On The Road and Have You Ever Seen A Sneep? We were delighted when he agreed to answer some of our questions. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Anthony Browne

Bookbag has long loved Anthony Browne's work - particularly Little Beauty. After being enthralled by the Children's Laureate's latest offering, Me and You, we jumped at the chance to ask him some questions. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Joanne Owen

Bookbag was really intrigued by The Alchemist and the Angel by Joanne Owen. It's a rather unique historical fantasy, well-researched and bursting with fascinating detail. Those with a taste for colourful and slightly gothic folklore will love it, and Bookbag was delighted to ask Joanne Owen some questions. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Pete Johnson

Bookbag really enjoyed The Vampire Blog by Pete Johnson, with its one liners and a horror element at a level perfect for late primary school readers. We jumped at the opportunity to interview Pete Johnson, and are glad we did: there's an exclusive revelation about a sequel! Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Mavis Cheek

We thought that Mavis Cheek's Truth to Tell was a good story, thought-provoking, beautifully written and laugh out loud funny in places. We wondered what more we could want and decided that we couldn't resist the opportunity to ask Mavis a few questions. Read more...

File:Booknewsletters.jpg May 2010 Newsletter

The good: huzzah! The sun has finally come out.

The bad: spending cuts are upon us.

The ugly: there's worse in the offing.

But fret ye not: there is a silver lining in every cloud and we at Bookbag Towers see a good book as the best response to all of the above. Books don't cost a great deal of money and most of us can afford to buy them, even in these straitened times. And even if we can't, we can always go to the library. And what better way to spend an afternoon than reading a good book in a sunny garden? You see? A good book. The answer to everything. And there's plenty to choose from on the site at the moment, so if you haven't paid us a visit lately, do come along and have a look. We've reviewed 84 books this month alone. Read more...

Carnegie Medal Shortlist 2010

We know that the judges are going to have a difficult time in choosing a winner - we wouldn't like to have their job! Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Gregory Hughes

Gregory Hughes's Unhooking the Moon came straight at us of leftfield and is one of our favourite books of the year so far. It's a bittersweet road trip of a novel, featuring a loyal brother, a street hustler, a cigar smuggler, a chart-topping rapper, some goddamn paedophiles, and the most entrancing central character you're ever likely to meet. Unsurprisingly, we jumped at the chance of asking Gregory a few questions. Read more...

File:Booknewsletters.jpg April 2010 Newsletter

We've been reading like crazy this month as the books have been pouring in - and there have been some very positive reviews from very satisfied reviewers, so do come visit. There's bound to be something you like. Overall, we're feeling rather happy here at Bookbag Towers. We have good books to read. The sun has come out. We weren't abroad when the volcanic ash cloud hit and we didn't know anybody that was, either - although we did feel very sorry for the poor people who were. Volcanos, eh? Who'd 'ave 'em? Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Anthony McGowan

Bookbag has always loved Anthony McGowan's work, including The Knife That Killed Me and Henry Tumour. After laughing throughout his latest work (Einstein's Underpants - And How They Saved The World) we couldn't resist the opportunity to ask him some questions. Read more...

File:Booknewsletters.jpg March 2010 Newsletter

Looking forward to the Easter break? We certainly are - and if someone doesn't buy Jill an egg from Montezuma's this year, her nearest and dearest are going to be very, very sorry. We have been busy fund-raising for Sport Relief, gadding about in London meeting publicists and going to birthday parties, and helping our heirs to plan gap year expeditions to Borneo - interestingly, we've also read two gap year novels recently, In the Trees by Pauline Fisk and The Island by Sarah Singleton. They're very different books, but they're both great. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Julie Cohen

Julie Cohen's Nina Jones and the Temple of Gloom is funny, quirky, compelling and intelligent - chick lit at its best - so we jumped at the opportunity to interview her. Read more...

File:Booknewsletters.jpg February 2010 Newsletter

Hello, hello, hello! How are you? Less snowy than when we last spoke? Good, so are we. It's fun for a day or so, that white stuff, isn't it? After that though, it just becomes a slog. We at Bookbag are clinging to the hope that the fabled barbeque summer comes a year late, and 2010 will be a scorcher. A little bit of snow and a lot of sunshine, that's what we like. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Ellie Sandall

Ellie Sandall's Birdsong features a superb rhyme woven around lots of different bird calls. It's a picture book that any young book fan will love, so we jumped at the opportunity to interview her. Read more...

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Gary Blackwood

Bookbag devoured Gary Blackwood's Mysterious Messages - A History of Codes and Ciphers and couldn't resist the opportunity to ask him a few questions. Read more...

File:Booknewsletters.jpg November 2009 Newsletter

Firstly, an apology: if you have visited us and had problems over the last few weeks, then we are very sorry. We had some problems (you might even call them arguments) with our hosting company and we have now moved to a home that is much more welcoming. It's more suited to our needs and we're sure there won't be any more of that nasty downtime getting in your way of a good book recommendation or two. Read more...

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